True Blood Episode 6 Blog Review:

 

“The big ol’ scary vampire went to the sun to fry! –Be here all day!” Now this is a show I can get behind! It has the humor, the camp, the welcome surprises and some of my favorite lines of dialogue and exchanges between the characters of this season. A strong open gave us a flavor of Eric’s particular…ennui – he is simply very old and bored-in search of new stimuli. It was very gratifying that the writers chose to show this with his exchange with the er…”blood donor”, rather than force it into an awkward bit of dialog.

 I had initially felt that the Lorena/Eric maniacal conspiring would irritate me. Over the past few episodes I have come to abhor the characterization of Bill and Sookie as “holier than thou” set against what appeared to be Eric’s thin mustached villain as in some 1920’s melodrama. Things began to feel too much like a soap opera to me. Elements of the soap utilized to heighten the campiness are more than ok with me. In fact, I love it. However, a series of conversations between morally superior lovers about who loves who more was taking away some of the appeal of the show for me. It also seemed for a moment that they were turning Eric into a two dimensional “Stefano” from “Days of our Lives”, always conspiring against the “good guys”. Rather than a rich and complex character that is interesting to watch.

 However I was very pleasantly surprised with the exchange between Lorena and Eric. It was done with finesse and I understood that his desire to experience something unique, to have the sensation of fresh experience again, makes him ruthless in the pursuit of that opportunity.

I was a little less sold on the exchange between Bill, Sookie, Isabelle and Hugo as well as the initial exchange between Sam and Daphne, and between Sookie and Hugo in the bar. These were the moments that had the most flattened out daytime drama feel to me. I felt that the Lafayette/Andy Bellefleur exchange could have benefited by intercutting flashback images of Lafayette locked in the Fangtasia basement. As well as a rapid build of quicker, closer cuts to build the tension, and perhaps a low hum of disharmonious sound playing beneath the scene to increase the sense of menace and oppression. Though each of the actors executed their role with excellence, I was not entirely sold. Though I loved to see Pam with Lafayette later in the episode and wonder what they are up to selling “V”. Combination money making opportunity/bring all enemies out into the “light” perhaps?

The episode really turned around for me with the scene with Hoyt and his mother. He is turning out to be a great character, he is sweet without being saccharin, and now is showing a steady strength “reactivate it, or the next step’s gonna be all mine”.  The relationship between Hoyt and Jessica is quickly becoming one of the most engaging on the show, it feels tentative and loving and real to me. I believe it, and I believe the actors. Hoyt is not playing at being “innocent” he is simply blissfully unaware that he is so vey innocent. A much more powerful choice.

The Light of Day storyline this week is where it all really came alive for me. These scenes had the best character development as well as some of the best dialog. Luke’s breakdown of the level of sexual sins to Jason was simply hilarious “Gods an open minded guy…to a point.” The absolute ease with which Jason, who truly with all he is wants to do right, is manipulated is genius. He simply cannot help that he is fundamentally selfish and stupid, nor does that detract from the fact that he is also in so many ways, fundamentally good. 

The scenes between Sookie and Sarah were some of my favorites from both characters all season. Their initial meeting was the epitome of the southern woman. Sookies “In person she looks like vanilla pudding” followed immediately by taffy dipped in ice cream dipped in powdered sugared compliments is so completely the way of the southern belle. “You are just as cute as a button!” “And you’re like a cool breeze on a hot summer day!” Later when things turned dark between them, I really felt the anguish each of the women were experiencing. Sookie and the absolute panic of knowing she was being taken, that the situation was fully out of her control and pleading with the one person she sensed may have the heart to assist her, Sarah. Sarah struggling to hang n to any semblance of herself and what she knows to be good and right, in the face of a situation, a man, a movement that she had put all her faith in that is quickly spiraling to a place of utter darkness. Steve Newlan represents a very real danger in human nature, a fantastical dogmatism that turns all good intentions into bloodthirsty hate.  Best put by Sarah, “He’s vicious and he’s cruel and he uses the C word!”

The introduction of “evil” Bill was a surprising and interesting twist for me. It has me wondering what they are going to do to create and inciting incident for his “reform”. Though this is a far more extreme version of both evil and good Bill than we saw last season, I am glad to see him given some dimension at this time.

Now to the episodes big twist. Daphne. I had theorized that Daphne had been sent to Sam by Maryanne but did not know she was the pig or just what they had in store for Sam. I am still unsure what they have in store for him. My guess is that they are going to command him to kill rather than be killed. This cliffhanger really does have one on the edge of the seat looking forward to what will happen next week. Overall a great twist for Daphne and culmination on all the hinting around the mystery of this character throughout the season.

 - Roth

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13 Responses to “True Blood S2 EP6 Blog Review (VIDEO)”

  1. UberFanGirl Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 12:51 AM

    i am so excited about hoyt's character development and his relationship with jessica. they are both such captivating actors (she's absolutely stunning!), and they have great chemistry on screen. love 'em!
    poor jason! you're totally right, he's always trying to do the right thing, but, bless his heart, that boy is an idiot. i think he'll have his turn to shine, however, when he finds sookie is in peril.
    not sure i liked the scene with andy and lafayette, but i LOVED terry coming in. terry is so lovely, i want to snuggle him to death!!
    great episode, and great review!
    thx

  2. Landfill Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 1:21 PM

    I was hoping Evil Bill would get a mention. That was one of the high points of the show. I really enjoyed his singing and piano playing. I thought that it was amazing how he all of a sudden turned into a good vampire.

    I liked how Sookie tried to infiltrate the church but ended up getting snatched up. I hope that all works out for the best in the end. I think it will and they'll probably realize she's related to Jason and set her free. Either that or find out what Jason's been up to and kill them both.

    Jason's storyline finally went somewhere and all the previews point to them finding out. I see Sarah turning on Jason somewhere close to the end of the season threatening to kill him. I have no idea how he gets himself out of that one. I think it's so cool that Jason and Lukinator are finally getting along. Turns out he's not that bad of a person.

    I remember seeing a glimpse of Eric at the front of the church in a clip recently. Maybe Eric tries to save Sookie and ends up being caught up in the whole church business as well? According to Comic con, the love triangle happens one of these days so there has to be something that changes the view that Sookie has of Eric and I think this could be it.

    I have to mention that I hate Daphne. Right when I was starting to like her she goes and does something terrible. Pure craziness if you ask me. I hope Sam gets away but as the clip has shown, he manages to.

    Jessica and Hoyt are awesome. Even though we saw a glimpse of her this last episode, it was cool that Hoyt decided to stand up to his mother and tell her about Jessica. I'm enjoying what he's trying to do but am wondering if it all fits into one of the main storylines.

    This season just turned great this last episode and I can't wait for this Sunday to get here. I want to see what happens to all of the characters.

  3. rothcornet Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 8:20 PM

    I am really liking Hoyts character as well. i always liked him when he was back in the background, but now we are really getting to see who he is. Funny on Jason ! He probably will have his moment and a big decision to make! Looking forward to hearing what you think next week!

  4. rothcornet Says:
    July 30th, 2009 at 8:27 PM

    I agree, I loved this episode as well. I have a feeling da[hne wont be an issue much longer :) . Looks like Jason will have a big choice before him at the Fellowship – and yeah I imagine that at some point Sarah will probably betray Jason. Kind of too bad cause that actress really cracks me up! Looking forward to the coming week!

  5. Landfill Says:
    July 31st, 2009 at 12:58 PM

    There are slight spoilers in your response that I wish I didn't read. It's really not that bad since we pretty much get used to death on True Blood anyway. I mean how many waitresses died last season? That and there's always a storyline that turns upside down right when you're starting to like the character. I mean who didn't like Rene from the first season?

    I guess that's what the show creators strive for, for the audience to feel for the characters and the show. They've got me hooked for awhile and I can't image this show being canceled or stopped abruptly.

  6. rothcornet Says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 3:23 AM

    No spoilers I promise! Daphne and Sarah are not in the book! These are JUST guesses! On all! Your guess is as good as mine!

  7. Landfill Says:
    August 1st, 2009 at 7:13 AM

    Wow that's great news. I was sure both were from the book. I guess this is awesome news. Well I really can't wait to see what Sunday will bring since no one knows what's going to happen. Great guesses by the way and you're probably right since, like I said, death is a big part of the show.

  8. h2onymph1 Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 1:08 AM

    I felt that the writers could have made the meeting between Eric and Lorena more subtle, and Eric's motivations more ambiguous. One of the ways I think the Sookie-Bill-Eric love triangle has continued in the books is the constant debate over Eric's true nature and motivation. HBO has made Eric's motivation too upfront, setting up an obvious good vs evil approach. Instead, if Eric and Lorena had met, and Eric acted unsurprised that she's there, there might continue to be more mystery/ debate among the fans of the show – did he do it, didn't he do it, what's he up to, maybe there's a rational underlying reason, etc). In fact, there are many moments where I think HBO takes too simplified an approach to setting up the characters, and it's starting to wear on viewers.

  9. h2onymph1 Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 1:08 AM

    The show could also continue to play up Eric's humorous cat-and-mouse side, which fans loved earlier in season 2 with the Eric-Pam-Lafayette dynamic. It's an important part of Eric's charm, but more importantly, it would serve to continue to make us love-to-hate and hate-to-love the charismatic charming Eric.

    I totally applauded the evil Bill glimpse, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the writers manage to develop that.

  10. h2onymph1 Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 1:09 AM

    I read that Alan Ball is not really that steeped in vampire lore, I find the current approaches with Bill (he's self-loathing) and Eric (he's bored with being 1000 years old, which they mention WAY too many times — OK we get it!) to be well-treaded ground. Nothing really new from a vampire lore standpoint, besides the exploration off vampires coming out of the closet. But self-loathing is too common a character approach with vampires, and Eric's ennui doesn't really cut it with me. Hey, Eric is "full of life" in the books, and if you are 1000 years old, you have to have learned flexibility with changing times and developed interest in the constant change of life. The TB "bored" Eric approach is not really a convincing direction, in my opinion. (PS I'm making many references to Anne Rice's vampires, where she has explored these dynamics through her characters already. The ones that last the longest are full of life. The ones that become bored will end up committing suicide).

  11. h2onymph1 Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 1:14 AM

    PS Let me just add that I love your reviews and I'm so glad I came across this site. Even better, I'm glad to see a fellow female fan of the sci-fi comic genre. Yeah!

  12. rothcornet Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 9:03 PM

    Hi! Thanks for watching and thanks for your comments! Very insightful – AND I really agree! I am too am saddened by the oversimplified "good" vs. "evil" approach they now seem to be taking in this show. It seemed less black and white in season one and even in some of the better parts of season two. I agree that it is inconsistent with the tone of the book. Alan Ball and the show have done a great job of expanding characters like Lafayette from the book and creating interesting characters in order to explore different aspects of the world – like Amy Burly from season one – who was great because she was as interesting and smart as she was a thieving “V” addict – as loving as she was depraved.I had some hopes when we saw the Bill/Lorena flashback last week but was disappointed with where it went this week. I also miss epics humor :) they did a good job with it in the early part of the season and I would like to see more of that and his zest for life and joy! I do really like the way Alexander Skarsguard plays him though. I loved the Anne Rice Vampire books and she sure did cover the self loathing vamp with Louis!

  13. rothcornet Says:
    August 3rd, 2009 at 9:03 PM

    To some degree I feel like HBO may be hesitant to cast Bill/Stephen Moyer in any negative light because the fear the fans will be disappointed – but these more black and white character choices are taking away from what could be a much more rich and interesting dynamic between all three of them – and journey of exploration for Sookie. Thanks again for watching and commenting!

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