If you want to read an in-depth review of the final episode of True Blood, check out the AV Club’s insightful dismantling of the shows conventions or io9’s cheerful recounting of the climactic deaths. True Blood is not a show that I spend enough of my brain on to be able to really comment on most of it. I experience True Blood like a roller coaster ride; I’m pretty sure that I (and by extension, characters like LaFayette, Eric, the King version of Bill, Pam and Jason- all of whom I love) am safe on the ride, but I still enjoy the jolts and drops as we make our way to a simultaneously expected and yet unexpected ending. As pretty as that metaphor was, it doesn’t lead towards a very good vantage point from which to write about the show.
Except to say this: just as I found the fanged protagonists in season 5 of Angel (Spike and Angel) to be the best relationship on the series, I think the best, most consistently compelling couple on this show is Eric and Bill.
I gotta say, I am really enjoying the play out with the Eric amnesia thing, mainly the almost sadistically innocent way that Alexander Skarsgaard grins out Eric’s nigh-constant “sorry”s to Sookie. On top of that, is it just me or is Bill way cooler this season? Mr. Compton has always been more fun when separate from his beloved Sookie, but seeing him take on His Majesty’s duties and have random sex with lots of people has brought him to new heights. And it’s not as though he’s entirely “dark Bill” now. I really liked his Dad monologue scenes with Jessica, even if his advice wasn’t exactly followed to the letter.
True Blood is not a show built on sophisticated plotting. It is a show built on charisma (I'm looking at you, Eric), audacity (I'm looking at you, crazy Marianne-inspired orgies), and romance. The plots themselves rarely make perfect sense, and often seem to be just crazy plot twist built upon crazy plot twist, merely for the sake of plot twisting. They play with cliches in a way that is not at all subversive, but merely serves to make the stories feel strangely familiar despite their naked orgy aesthetics.
The Bachelorette: She picked the right guy. They rode off into the sunset. I got simultaneously jealous and then ashamed of myself. It was pretty standard. Except that she let the other guy go before the last day, causing the producers to have to scramble for a new dramatic ending. I kinda liked that, it was both humane and inconvenient- right on. I fear that The Bachelorette may have made me like Ali. Well, something new every day I guess.
Big Brother: I don't know who to cheer for. Rachel is a lunatic but Kristen is a bitch. The brigade is a bumbling alliance but Brendan has terrible taste in women. Kathy is a nothing player. Britney and Ragan aren't bad but I usually don't approve of low key players. I suppose my loyalties still lie with the smartest brigade member, Matt (who's supposed mishandled HOH last week actually took the target 100% off his back) and the so-called "floaters" Britney and Ragan whom I think are playing pretty well, just subtly (and are also each good for some solid quotables each episode). See the comments section on Tim's post from earlier this week for more of my thoughts.
Drop Dead Diva: a good episode this week proclaimed that Jane and Grayson need to grow into their soulmate-ness. It was a great scene, brilliantly acted by Brooke Elliott and well written. It's a sweet concept but exists entirely in TV land, somewhere I always credited Diva for not living.
Project Runway: It's back! That is good. That is all.
My Boys: Another solid episode this week gave us some brilliant quotes as Mike planned his own birthday celebration.
Top Chef: A decent lot of chefs completely pales in comparison to last season's. Kenny keeps proclaiming that he's the man but has yet to truly prove it. Angelo is a decently strong chef but the producers are trying too hard to frame him as a villain when he's not dynamic enough to warrrant it. Alex is kind of an interestingly sketchy character and Amanda is maddening but overall these people are blandly talented and boring. Once you go Volt you never go back. Though even without the brilliant brothers, last season still had lots of great going ons like the great characters and food of Kevin and Eli, the controversy of Robin and the tough gal persona of Jennifer. This season's got none of it. It's also the kitschiest yet, and that's saying something considering last season was set in Vegas.
Life Unexpected: I'm catching up through summer re-runs. Me like.
The Good Wife: ditto.
The Last Comic Standing: Still loving my first experience with the show. Go Tommy Go!
So You Think You Can Dance: Kent's got this. That's been obvious since the second Alex went down. However, Lauren did have a spectacular week this week and Robert's grown on me. But Travis (LOVE) choreographed one of the most upsettingly moving pieces of the series thus far and gave it to Kent to dance with all-star Neil (also, LOVE) so he's got this, there's no doubt about it. And deservingly so. I mean, it should have been Alex but he's hurt. It could have been Anthony but the producers didn't like him enough to put him in the finals. It could have been Billy, but America didn't get him (though he REALLY should have made it past Adechike). So it's Kent. He's sweet, he's charming and boy can DANCE! He can take the prize, I'm cool with that.
Bones and True Blood: My current DVD projects. I'm still in season 1 of both but hoping to catch up to the newest seasons come fall. Loving both, especially Bones (that Christmas episode is superb!)
In some of the greatest casting news I've heard in a long time, True Blood has finally realized the potential of Kristen Bauer. As the slightly villainous and oh so devious Pam, Bauer steals every seen she's in. While most of this past season's True Blood love was directed toward Alexander Skarsgard's Eric (and rightly so), it's reassuring to hear that the big wigs also appreciate the very under appreciated Pam
Starting this season Bauer moves to series regular status. More screen time means more laughs. Nice move.
After waiting weeks for the finale of True Blood, I found myself having to wait a few more days in eager anticipation of the finale. What keep me waiting? Honestly, I had other priorities such as the Big Brother finale, the season premiere of Gossip Girl, and the series premiere of Vampire Diaries (okay that last one is totally no excuse).
So finally on my first day off since the finale...I finally got to see Sookie and company take down Maryanne. And it was pretty satisfying for the most part.
The episode begins right in the height of the action. Sookie learns that she will be the bridesmaid at Maryanne's wedding to the God That Comes. The reason for this being that Sookie is essentially bait forcing Sam to come turn himself in to protect her. The scenes between Sookie and Maryanne were very interesting. It clearly is Maryann's purpose to show Sookie that she isn't human and thus she begins to question her existence.
The best part of the finale was the over-the-top ending of Maryanne. Essentially Sam and Bill played a similar (albeit more believable) trick on Maryanne to convince her that the god had finally come. Turns out the bull who came as the god was really Sam, after he nearly escaped death. I must hand it to the special effects team on this series, it keeps getting better and better. The gore is so realistic and Maryanne's entire death scene was beautifully gruesome and artistic.
The big fight scene, however, occurred about half-way through the episode. Which left the rest of the time to somewhat awkwardly wrap up the season. For instance, Eggs was killed which confuses me a bit. I understand that he was a horribly boring character, in my opinion, and he couldn't stay past the Maryanne storyline, but I'm not sure he died appropriately. I mean really, Jason shot him! Granted he thought Eggs was trying to kill Andy but it's always kind of disappointing when a character dies mistakenly at the hands of an innocent character (unless you're Anna Lucia in Lost in which case it totally works).
Hoyt and Jessica had somewhat of an end to their relationship. Hoyt's crazy Maryann-taken-over mother was hysterical but when she finally came to Hoyt realized that he made the wrong choice by sticking with her over Jessica. Although, Hoyt was way too rough on her when he admitted to wishing Jessica had killer her. Their storyline for the season ended with Hoyt leaving decided to be with Jessica, but Jessica turning evil and feeding off a human! YAY for evil Jessica!
We also found out another semi-big reveal in this episode. Apparently, the Vampire Queen is the one who's supplying blood to Eric and making him push it. I still don't understand what's so bad about selling a little V now and then, but she doesn't want anyone but Eric to find out. I'm not sure whether or not the Vampire Queen is coming back but I kind of hope she won't. Although, her logic about the game of Yahtzee was brilliant: Yahtzee is the perfect antidote to a world where inferiority and superiority reign because it's almost entirely based on chance and luck. So true. So funny. So amazing. The big end between Sookie and Bill almost resulted in an engagement. Bill plans the perfect romantic night for the two of them filled with French cuisine, dancing, and a gorgeous purple dress for Sookie (she was beautiful!). But, Sookie melodramatically runs into the bathroom after explaining that if she doesn't know who she is she can't commit to a marriage. Of course, after looking in the mirror she changes her mind. Meanwhile, Bill is attacked and kidnapped by an unknown figure. When Sookie returns in the midst of saying "I do" she finds an empty room....and cut to the credits. Not the greatest cliffhanger but not bad. My guess is Eric is to blame for stealing Bill but this may be to obvious. Either way I have some predictions for next season:
-Evil Jessica will kick tons of ass. -Bill will be MIA for a bit leaving Sookie and Eric to grow closer (hot). -Tara has an emotional crisis after the death of Eggs. -Ditto for Jason. But I bet he gets close to Tara only to break her heart when she finds out the truth. -Even more gore. -Sookie and Eric both finally discover their routes. -Did I mention evil Jessica? Really I cannot wait.
Some fun quotes:
"I'm a waitress...what the fuck are you?!?"- Sookie "Maryanne Forester rhymes with Martian foreigner"- Random Merlot's Attendee "God bless who made those jeans. I swear to God I'd wear him like a scrunchy"- Same Random Merlot's Attendee
I think I’m in love with this season of True Blood. I’ve mostly let Tim take over reviewing duties, because I’ve been crazy busy and watching it on a crappy site, and because Tim does a kick ass job recapping and highlighting what has been so awesome about this season of True Blood, but don’t confuse my silence for lack of enthusiasm. Although I loved the first season (helped mostly by watching it over a one week period that kept it from getting boring), I have to say that this season is what True Blood should always have been: sex scenes, awkward accents, gratuitous blood and violence, minor social commentary, and a whole bunch of witty goofiness.
After last night’s explosive (hardy har) culmination of all the awesome Fellowship of the Sun stuff, I feel compelled to at least add my two cents, even if they completely agree with Tim’s two cents, in that True Blood is giving us a whole lot of bang for our buck and is worth a million dollars and a bunch of other money related metaphors.
So here’s the top five reasons why True Blood Season Two is even better than True Blood Season One:
5. The camp- both the literal and figurative camp. First, the literal. The Fellow ship of the Sun. Hilarious. But more importantly, the figurative. The Campy aspect of the show, hiding just behind the melodrama of the first season, has really come to the forefront this season. “Sookie is mine,” was one of my favorite instances where the show let slip the serious vampire melodrama veneer in the first season, but this season has been ridiculously full of these moments. Sookie, in particular, seems more aware this season of her role: SHE’S ABSURD. She spends all her time trying to continue banging her undead boyfriend. She’s not a Buffy or Veronica style heroine. She’s the absurd beating heart in the middle of our absurd bloody favorite.
4. Jason- first of all, football matches and wife-banging? Hot. Second of all, punching people in defense of his sister? SUPER HOT. I love that his storyline has been so alone this season, because watching dummy Jason getting continually manipulated by only-slightly smarter people in his life never fails to amuse me, and damn if Ryan Kwanten doesn’t make every dumb-but-pretty look Jason shoots us intriguing, interesting and unique.
3. The Pace- The first season seemed to take forever to tell us anything, and then blurted out everything in one episode word vomit piles. This season, every episode has been consistently hilarious, interesting, and action-packed, with murders, and monsters, and gratuitous orgies to boot.
2. Jessica-When Bill first vampified a young girl last season, I groaned. The last thing the saccharine mess of Bill/Sookie (Bookie?) needed was an annoying teenage girl. But… wow. I was wrong. Jessica is great. She’s given us a unique insight into what it means to be a vampire (and whose heart didn’t break when she realized that no matter what she was going to be a perpetual virgin?) and what it means to be a human (she’s trying to be good, even though she can’t cry because ‘it’s really gross.). Her and Hoyt’s relationship is the most compelling on the show. Besides, maybe, number one -->
1. Eric- He was a periphery character in the first season, a tantalizing glimpse into the world of vampires that Bill was trying so hard to give up. But this season, Eric is a force of nature, whether it’s pursuing Sookie for dubious reasons, worshipping at the altar of Vampire-Jesus Godric, torturing LaFayette, or faking a hillbilly accent (although, really, at well over six feet and ghostly pale with that absurd hotness, Eric is never anything but conspicuous), Eric’s increasing role on the show has only meant increasing awesome.
Now if you had asked me after last season if Tara and Sam would be on this list, I would have answered strongly yes. Even though I hate the whole alcoholic/demonic mother storyline, Tara was indubitably my favorite character. And Sam - boy did I love Sam. But this season, despite heart-eating, almost-dying, neither character has been my favorite. Partially this is a testament to the power of the supporting characters, but partially it shows how far these two characters have been removed from the most interesting storyline (the vampire, as opposed to Mayaenadeeaeae storyline). Here’s hoping it all comes together soon, and not in some lame demon-pregnancy way (this is a common theory on the interwebs).
I had no idea you read our blog! I'm so excited to see you've finally taken my advice. It was just over a week ago when I asked that you not spoil the ending of your cliffhangers through previews for next weeks episode. Just when I was about to stop the DVR short I decided to give you another chance and went ahead with the dangerous preview watching. To my shock and aw you actually listened to me and there wasn't even a hint of a spoiler!
[Stop reading here if you don't want me to spoil anything] And this week you really would have screwed things up if you did spoil something. You don't disappoint again with an eye-opening cliffhanger as the vampire party ends up in smokes, literally, with some of the most pivotal characters' lives held in question (Sookie, Jason, Eric, Godric, and a slew of familiar vampire faces). In one of the greatest episodes this season (I think I say that every week) several amazing plot elements unfolded and new plot lines were developed, including:
*The Stackhouse siblings finally reunite! *Godric surprisingly demonstrates his kindhearted nature (apparently not the big bad sheriff we expected). *Andy continues to the be craziest sane person in the series. *Tara and Eggs have more Maryann inspired sex...and share a human heart pie. *The show pushes the violence envelope again showing Maryann cut up and cook said heart (RIP Daphne). *Sam is framed for Daphne's murder! *Eric shows his softer side as he offers himself for Godric and Sookie's safety. *Jessica loses her virginity only to discover her hymen grows back...damn vampire healing abilities (really? who thinks of this stuff). *THAT FREAKING FINAL BOMB!!!!!!
Oh True Blood, thank you for being the most consistently good show this summer. You were robbed out of Emmy nominations but with a killer sophomore season, I don't see this happening next year.
After a 3 episode slump, True Blood is back to on the hot tamale train (don't judge me...I'm far too excited for SYTYCD tonight). Everything is about to blow up in Louisiana and things aren't looking to great down in Texas either. The entire season has been leading up to a confrontation between Sookie the vampire-loving girl and her brother Jason the born-again-anti-vampire-fighter-in-training. Now, we didn't actually see the two come together yet but Sookie goes undercover at the Light of Day Institute and it seems as though the two will finally come together within the next few weeks. Also, in an amazing ending (SPOILER) Daphne seems to show a darker side as she delivers Sam to Maryann's massive orgy where the goddess/whatever is vibrating....and we still don't know exactly why she vibrates. This of course all happens right after Tara and Eggs are finally suspecting something fishy is going on in Bon Temps.
Hands down the greatest part of the episode was a brief moment between Jessica and Hoyt. The show has done an amazing job of pairing these two remarkable actors and creating an adolescent feel toward their entire relationship. Hoyt travels all the way to Dallas after his mother cancels his phone service and he worries Jessica will be mad he isn't texting her back. Now, this is pure genius. All adolescent lovebirds have probably experienced this all-too-human moment of worry when their loved on isn't responding to a text. It's such a little, ridiculous thing but it really makes you angry. Just as Jessica awakens to see no new messages and is on her way to order a man for some dinner, Hoyt appears at her door with flowers and his boyish charm. This entire scene was literally 2 minutes, if that, but it stole the show.
Now Emmy's I know True Blood didn't sit so well in your stomach for season one but maybe you need to mix it up with a different blood type. And if you don't vie Deborah Ann Woll a nomination next year, you are seriously mistaken.
Here's the thing about True Blood. The writers know how to write a damn good cliffhanger. This entire season has had the best cliffhangers I've seen on television in a long time, whether it's a simple question of whether Bill is going to kill Jessica's family, the revelation of Daphne's scars, or this past weeks (SPOILER ALERT) apparent sacrifice of Sam. But here's my main problem with these cliffhangers: the suspense lasts for about 30 seconds until we see the preview for next week's episode. The first clip shown is Sam talking to Daphne about Maryann, showing that he doesn't actually get sacrificed after all (not that I thought one of the main characters would die so suddenly). So here's my plea to HBO, the readers, and anyone who cares: STOP WITH THE PREVIEWS. If you must show some they should reveal nothing about the cliffhanger. This is what keeps us watching week after week and while I'm still desperately waiting to see what happens to Sam, I'm less excited knowing the outcome.
I'm a patriot. I'm all for America. I spent the Fourth of July not one hundred feet away from the Liberty Bell and the steps that Sylvester Stallone famously ran up to train for his big comeback in Rocky, getting, I admit it, a little teary eyed as I heard Barack Obama's voice blast out underneath the BOOMs of the fireworks. So don't think I don't love my country.
But the 4th of July is no reason to not show a new episode of True Blood after just three episodes! I've barely even got my (pardon this pun) teeth into the new season. What's going on with Lafayette? The newly awesome, bratty, fantastic Jessica and her human lover? How are Jason's abs doing? Sookie is whose exactly*? How can I go another week without knowing the answers to these very important questions?!
So HBO, celebrate on Saturday, sleep off the hangover, then let's celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in the most awesome way possible: over a bottle of True Blood.
Last fall I started watching True Blood simply because I had a free month subscription to HBO. Every Sunday night I was accompanied by my 5 roommates as we were all oddly drawn into this ridiculous show. "Sookie is mine!" became a popular phrase in this apartment. Sadly, as the weeks progressed the roomies started abandoning the couch until only two of us were left. For most, True Blood seemed to be losing it's initial appeal. Bill was way too creepy to take seriously. Sookie and Jason were far too stupid to take seriously. The obsession with vampires in and of itself could not be taken seriously. But then something amazing happened...upon recently re-watching the series I realized that the show actually doesn't want to be taken seriously. This may seem obvious but it's really a necessary observation if you ever want to truly enjoy the show.
Season 2, which started airing last week, pokes even more fun at itself than season one. And I freaking love it. Last night's "Keep This Party Going" was hands down the best episode yet. The writing has taken a much needed refresher course and it's both wittier and more dramatic than it's freshman season. There are four characters who were introduced last season that have made a reappearance and are really adding to the quality of the show: Jessica, Eric, Pam, and Maryann. Jessica is the recently sired vampire who essentially is Bill's irresponsible adolescent daughter. Deborah Ann Woll does a tremendous job of acting both eerily evil and annoyingly immature. She brings a much needed laughter to the series which would definitely be lacking without her. The most recent episode found Jessica mourning the separation from her family and using her emotions to manipulate Sookie into bringing her home. There were a tremendous amount of touching moments between Sookie and Jessica in which Sookie compared Jessica's separation from her family to her own aunt's death. Not surprisingly, the man who brought us Six Feet Under once again dealt with loss in an honest and heartbreaking manner.
Maryann is the mysterious life-couch-esque woman who is helping Tara change her life around. All we know about this character is that she once had sex with Sam, she beats her butler/servant, and she vibrates. Last night we also learned that she has some sort of power over others as the entire bar broke into a while orgy and dance party. My guess would be Maryann is a kind of goddess or new mystical creature we have yet to be introduced to in the world of True Blood. My absolute favorite part of the new season is Eric. He was introduced as the vampire sheriff in Louisiana and was the closest thing to the big bad of season 1 (other than the human serial killer of course). This season Eric is coming to the forefront a bit more. He kidnapped Lafayette in order to find out some information about V dealing in Dallas, tore a man to shreds, and got a sexy new makeover. We still haven't seen much from his sidekick Pam but every time the two are on screen together you can expect pure entertainment. They are in almost every respect True Blood's equivalent of Spike and Drusilla...and damn it works. Watching them devour Lafayette at the end of the episode was kind of amazing. I only hope that they listen to their victim's pleas to turn him into a vampire. Now that would be the most bad ass threesome ever.
While all the other story lines are intriguing as well, what stands out the most this season is the amount of blood and gore. True Blood has the advantage of airing on HBO and because of that the audience can actually see the brutal deaths that plague the characters. Unless I'm watching a surgical drama, I never turn my head away in disgust, but last night I most certainly did. It was bad enough to watch Eric rip out a man's organs and eat him, but then you had to watch Lafeyatte rifle through those organs to begin his escape. Hands down the nastiest thing I have ever seen on television...but as a fan of horror, it was a homeroom. Way to live up to the title.
If these last two episode's are a taste of things to come, then pour me some more True Blood.
1. Eric- He was a periphery character in the first season, a tantalizing glimpse into the world of vampires that Bill was trying so hard to give up. But this season, Eric is a force of nature, whether it’s pursuing Sookie for dubious reasons, worshipping at the altar of Vampire-Jesus Godric, torturing LaFayette, or faking a hillbilly accent (although, really, at well over six feet and ghostly pale with that absurd hotness, Eric is never anything but conspicuous), Eric’s increasing role on the show has only meant increasing awesome.
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