Whoever gave the True Blood writers some V or whatever it was to suddenly make this season pretty darn brilliant, praise your light. There was surely no title more apt for an episode than this week, where in all of the story lines (though still fractured) some serious shit went down. Few dramas hit their stride as late as a fifth season, but True Blood has come into its own – finally – this year. Yes there have been missteps along the way, but for the most part this mere 50 minutes of television (followed by a “let’s discuss what the heck is going on in Bon Temps right now” video) felt longer and denser than seemed possible. Hit the jump for details on the latest weirdness, and why Hoyt needs to go back home to his mama.
Shall I begin with the decapitated head or the pile of corpses? “But which pile?” you ask. “The one set on fire that created an Ifrit, or the pile being consumed by rats?” (#JustAnotherThursday) Let’s get the rats and Russell out of the way. It’s a story that starts with Sookie, whose character has experienced a renaissance of redemption this season. Instead of falling into her usual role of Lust Object in Perpetual Danger, Sookie was vomiting on shoes and truth telling. “As you learn from any horror movie, you do not split up to go search the big scary hospital,” she says to the group, taking charge. “I have a terrible headache and have to pee something fierce, so I’d just as soon get this over with.” And so it went – after a medley of uncomfortable scenes involving dead humans or humans in peril, we finally see Russell, no longer looking like Lord Voldemort, resting peacefully in filth. But never underestimate a 3000 year old vampire! According to the previews for next week, Russell is only getting started on his reign of terror.
But chaos rules elsewhere, as a rogue band of killers target shifters and other magical creatures. It actually adds a nice bit of depth to have human foes for once – humans are so often forgotten in the show unless they are serving as food, and while the actions of this gang can in no way be condoned, showing people attempting to serve vigilante justice just as the Sanguists are saying “we toldja so” is a nice touch (unless the gang are werewolves? Hmm …).
And rounding out our Magical Creature Count to a nice even 10, we are introduced to the Ifrit. Terry’s story this season has felt unnecessary at best, acting more as a time-waster (and who has time to waste in Bon Temps right now??) than anything moving the narrative forward. Undoubtedly, as this Ifrit curse follows him and terrorizes him, his story will end up merging with the others. I hope. The Ifrit is pretty terrifying, but at the same time, it was born from a curse put on the men for something they did that was even more horrific.
On to happier things, Tara seems to finally be finding a more powerful place for herself, which is something I know many fans hoped for but never believed the writers would allow to happen. It was a lovely scene between her and Jessica becoming friends (and about ten minutes later, enemies, as Tara fed on Hoyt who looked like he just left a Cure show), and also a nice touch of world-building to discuss vampirism in the terms of those who are new to it. The struggles, the uncertainties, the impulses — these are all things that are forgotten when, as Jessica notes, we are in the presence of “old” vampires.
Speaking of old vampires, could the Authority not be of more interest? Their presence is becoming a drag, which is a shame and waste of Chris Meloni’s charm and abilities (having just rewatched Wet Hot American Summer, I wish Meloni would do more comedic roles. It would have been nice for Roman to have been more charismatic than dogmatic, but I suppose we already have a flamboyantly charming vampire in Russell).
As mentioned in the beginning, this episode was all about pulling on one’s shit-kicking boots and getting ready for some action. And this is one season where the outcomes of said action are not so readily guessed, and certainly leave us wanting more. The gore, “incest,” scattering of characters, uncontrollable fire, decapitated heads, subversive scheming, massacres and nudity are making it confusing where Game of Thrones ended and this season of True Blood began. That’s not necessarily a compliment to the former series, but it definitely is for the latter.
Grade: A
Next Week: Jessica and Hoyt rekindle some sparks, the Ifrit comes a-hauntin’, the fairies return and the vigilante gang gets gets even more violent. Oh yeah, and Russell-fucking-Edgington, Vampire King of Mississippi is back y’all!
Musings and Miscellanea:
– So what of Jesús’ head? I love that Lafayette’s mother just speaks to him like it’s any normal day (again, #JustAnotherThursday), and can understand his bound-up murmurings. I was not down for La getting possessed by yet another demon, but this trajectory intrigues me. Also, if any porcelain figures started yelling at me I would definitely smash the crap out of them as well. Not here for that.
– I want to apologize to HBO for calling them out on the non-naked Alcide sex scene that I thought they cut away from last week. Indeed, we got to see Joe M with his shirt of this week, praise Lilith.
– Jason’s dream didn’t exactly have Mad Men or David Lynch levels of depth to it, but it amused me anyway just how well Ryan Kwanten played Young Jason as such a perfectly goofy kid.
– “They’re all fairies! Like Tinkerball!” – Jason
– The brief Andy-Arlene scene was great, and I loved how Andy later shut Jason down about their time with the fairies and waking up naked with a dismissive “no more of that homo talk!!”
– “If I had wanted to dress like a drag queen I might as well have raided Lafayette’s closet” – Tara to Pam, not appreciating her fashion choices.
– The Authority did have good advice though for anyone up against a radical opposition: “Control the message, and don’t underestimate the fanatics.”
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I realize the author of this article is a woman and by that you are prone to like True Blood as a default. Now, from a guy’s perspective I’m finding this season to be a tad well…homosexual (is the best way I can describe it). This last episode wasn’t bad, but so far I’ve found this season to be lacking in intrigue. True Blood is supposed to make me ask several questions. So far I’ve only found myself asking one, Who…is…Lilith? Where’s the mystery Alan Ball?
Lilith is believed to be the first vampire.
As Ryel414 put it, Lilith is thought to be the first vampire to have ever existed on Earth. In the context of the show, the “Vampire Bible” states that God himself is a vampire and thus created a being in his own image, Lilith. The text goes on to say that God then created Adam and Eve for Lilith’s nourishment. She is meant to be comparable to a religious figure such as Jesus to her vampire worshipers.
The Sanguinista movement is a radical group of vampire zealots whose faith in Lilith is uncompromising, as opposed to that of the Authority that values peace with humankind more.
Lilith is meant to be thought of as an idea, not a character that we should eventually expect to show up later in the season.
“I realize the author of this article is a woman and by that you are prone to like True Blood as a default. ”
Wow. Could you be a little more condescending, please? Really, I didn’t quite taste the bile in your mouth when you typed the word “woman.” Could you make that come forward a little bit more?
Do you think that being a woman intrinsically lowers our standards, and thus we truly can’t tell when a piece of art or literature, or, god forbid, TV is sub-par? I can already pretty much tell the answer to this by the quote above, but I’d absolutely love it if you could actually say it. Own your shit dude. It’d be SO refreshing.
@Dash867 – it’s been homosexual for quite a while now. The last couple of seasons of sausage fest wasn’t enough for you?
Yeah, this was a very chick centered review. I could tell a woman was writing it about a paragraph in. Not trying to be sexist (even though I know that’s what people would think) it just seemed geared towards women and not everyone like a review should. Chicks are the only people that I know that give this show such spectacular reviews and 90% of that is cause guys take their shirts off and show their butts. It wasn’t a bad episode but it WASN’T grade A level entertainment. The shows always been gay too. It has one of the best gay characters ever in it, but this season its taking a more gay turn towards Bill and Eric and I don’t like that. They’ve insinuated stuff before with them but its almost seeming like they might bang each other this season and that’s just to get chicks all hot and bothered. Yes, chicks. Not gay dudes. My brother is gay and he even said them getting together will make the show jump the shark. They’re both so hot for Sookie and then next season boom they’re a little more than bicurious with each other after they’ve been pissed and fighting each other over Sookie. Just dumb and only for water cooler chick moments on Monday. How many chicks actual come on this site? I’d like to know if its waaaay less or about as much as men.
Pro tip: If you feel the need to clarify that you’re not being sexist in a comment that you’re about to write, you’re probably about to be pretty damn sexist. And hey, check it out, you were!
I don’t understand the concept of a “womanly” tone, can you explain it to me? Especially given that you say you could tell this was written by a woman from the off. What inflection in the phrase “pile of heads” gave it away? Clearly you, as a man, have an entirely different concept of reading comprehension than I do. Please, do lay it out for me. As a woman, I need to be taught, sir.
By the way, it’s interesting that you chose this review to complain about the “gayness” on True Blood, specifically bringing up Bill and Eric, when I can’t see a mention of that relationship in that context in the entire article. This sounds like your own issue that has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Other than the fact that it was the next most offensive thing you could think to say to really round out the tone of your comment.
(I won’t waste my breath arguing with you about the ignorance of not wanting to “see that much gayness” on your TV show. Homosexuality is a fact of life, but I’m clearly not going to be the person to pull you out of your bubble of selective reality, so I won’t even try.)
I invite you to think before you comment. Think about the fact that you just called out a person who’s job it is to review a TV show for being too much of a “girl”, without any real evidence to back your outrageous statement up. Think about how much negative connotation you put on her being a woman, as if her opinion was doomed to be ridiculous from the jump. Then think about how much of an asshole you just came off to any woman who’d ever read that statement, and maybe you’ll understand why I chose to respond to you. “I’m not a sexist, but” is not going to cut it here.
Thanks for at least not pretending you weren’t making a homophobic statement. There at least you owned your shit. Try doing more of that in the future.
I’m liking this season so far, and the Lilith arch is fun but they are taking the story more from other vampire tombs and from the later translations of the bible, in most English/modern bible the only mention of Lilith is as a demon whom is accredited for the death of children.
In the Hebrew texts (folklore if you like, original bible sans-roman catholic dogma and edits) God created Adam, sent him out among the beasts to give them names and as Adam named each creature, he noticed that each had a mate of it’s own, and the first spark of jealousy arose in him and after laying with each best and finding none to his liking, spoke the true name of God, and demanded he be given a mate, one made for him, like all the beasts upon the earth.
God, seeing his creation unhappy chose to make him a mate, from the earth ( mud and sticks and water ) and breathed life into this new creation and set Adam forth to name his new mate.
For a time, all was good, until such time as Adam came to want to lay with Lilith in the fashion for which he wished, She denied him, demanding she was equal to Adam and shouldn’t have to be submissive to him or be under his domain.
Before Adam could utter the true name of God once more, Lilith fled the garden out into the wastelands among the fallen angles, and came to rest along side two rives ( said to be the Tigris and Euphrates ) Upon Adam’s pleas to God, The Creator sent two Angles to bring Lilith back to Adam’s side. This was not something Lilith would stand for and in her rage over the treatment from God that she be subservient to Adam, she beheaded them and fed upon they’re live force.
God being wise in all things and not wanting to deliver upon Lilith more angles to feed upon, left her to her fate in the wastelands, Adam, Upset in being without a mate pleaded with the creator once more, to make him a new mate, One more in God’s Infinite wisdom, Deemed this mate would be of Adam’s flesh and Adam’s bone, as to make her incomplete with out him. a true other half to Adam’s whole, Eve.
This enraged Lilith beyond all things that Adam and God himself could think it was that simple to replace her, that every night as Adam sleep, she would sneak into the garden under the cover of night, and usurp dominance upon Adam and than flee before morning’s first light, taking with her Adam’s offspring, birthing ( countless offspring every night) them and using they’re live force (read:blood) to further her own, God turning a blind eye upon her, thinking she would either perish or return upon her own will left her to her fate. but after seven days of this, God grew much more angry with Lilith’s display of rebellion and coming to realize that no matter waiting would convince Lilith to return willingly. God turned her into the form closest to that she was like by seeking into the garden, a serpent.
Lilith in her distant and all assuming hatred for Eve, the woman whom dared thing she could replace her as Adam’s mate, Lilith set out to destroy her rival, and went on to mock and tempt Eve (not knowing anything about Lilith), planting the seed in her mind that, the Garden was crated for her and Adam, and that all things in the Garden where created for them, including that of the fruit from the tree of knowledge, Deemed by The Creator as being forbidden, by convincing eve that, as Adam was crated in God’s own image, and that by her being of Adam’s flesh and Adam’s bone, that they where equal to God and that God was only testing Adam and Eve, and that he truly wanted them to fest upon the fruit of knowledge ( a fig by the way, it wasn’t until sir isaac newton’s Apple falling did the scriptures demonize the ruby fleshed fruit ), Lilith convinced Eve that Adam, being the first of God’s first creations, should be the first to fest upon the bounty, and Eve tricked Adam into biting into it’s flesh.
God, Angry beyond all things, cased Both Adam and Eve, from the Garden, and for her betrayal upon Adam, and for falling for Lilith’s plan God decreed that she would suffer for those betrayals, child birth would be long and painful, and that for every day that Lilith feasted upon her offspring woman would feel the pain of those deaths once over and over.
——
It’s an interesting story and I can see why the Roman Catholic chose to white wash this bit of the old testament. Bestiality, the death of angles at the hands of a lower being, and the further demonetization of women, one wouldn’t blame them for such omissions.
(please if I’ve gotten any of facts wrong about the “folklore” , feel free to let me know, I’m sure I missed something here or there)
Guys, seriously, get a clue. Sexuality of all kinds, gay or otherwise, is part of everyday life. And if you still don’t get this show’s about more….. This episode was filled with personality developement, irony, humor, how to overcome your personal shortcomings, the worth of friendship and and and. If you can’t see past a naked man or woman : don’t blame the show!
I should have clarified at the beginning of the season I guess that my grades are given within the context of the show. An A does not mean it belongs in the canon of great television, it means that it was a great episode for True Blood. You just can’t compare it to Breaking Bad or The Wire, it’s not in the same competition. For this show though, this week’s episode was definitely fantastic when compared to some of the huge follies of the last few seasons.
The storyline is getting better, but the stupidity level is rising. How do Bill and Eric not instantly suspect that Salome is the traitor, and not Nora who set them up? You know it’s bad when Sookie becomes the brains of the operation.