BuzzFeed: "Orange Is the New Black Continues The Dickensian Tradition Of The Wire"

The second season of the Netflix prison drama is a gripping, beautiful, majestic thing. Warning: Spoilers for Season 2 ahead!

At BuzzFeed, you can read my latest feature, "Orange Is the New Black Continues The Dickensian Tradition Of The Wire," in which I review Season 2 of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, which returns June 6 on the streaming platform.

There are the television shows that you love to watch but that drift from powerful and provocative to comforting background noise, and then there are those that arrive with the momentous force of a revolution, issuing a clarion cry that is impossible to resist.

Women’s prison drama Orange Is the New Black, which returns for its second season on June 6, is most definitely the latter, a groundbreaking and deeply layered series that explores crime and punishment, poor circumstance, and bad luck. (At its heart, it is about both the choices we make and those that are made for us.) It constructs a gripping narrative that owes a great deal to the work of Charles Dickens, a social-minded and sprawling story that captures essential truths about those at both ends of the economic continuum. Just as in the Victorian era, within the world of Litchfield Penitentiary, everything is in its place and in its place is everything: Each of the characters is a cog in a larger machine.

The literary tradition of Dickens — so notably captured in HBO’s 2002–2008 crime drama The Wire — is keenly felt within Orange, as the action shifts between disparate characters in each episode, exploring their inner lives and hidden pasts. There is a strong sense of righteous indignation in the face of a broken and corrupt system, the failures of Litchfield a microcosm for the breakdown within the larger society. In the sixth episode of Season 2, Officer Susan Fischer (Lauren Lapkus) — perhaps one of the more genuinely sympathetic of the corrections officers — goes so far as to make the comparison, as she eavesdrops on the inmates’ telephone conversation recordings. “It’s so interesting, all these lives,” she says, her eyes gleaming with unrestrained excitement. “It’s like Dickens.”

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The Daily Beast: "Ray Donovan: Is the Liev Schreiber–Led Showtime Drama The Next Sopranos?"

I review Showtime’s fixer drama Ray Donovan, which begins Sunday night and stars Liev Schreiber as a Hollywood fixer whose South Boston past creates present-day troubles.

At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Ray Donovan: Is the Liev Schreiber–Led Showtime Drama The Next Sopranos?" in which I review Showtime's fantastic new drama Ray Donovan, which premieres on Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

The specter of HBO’s still-mourned organized crime family drama The Sopranos, which arguably kicked off the latest golden age of television, can be glimpsed in the foundations of nearly every cable drama that has come since, ushering in an era of the male antihero that has permeated the popular culture.

The Sopranos’s mischievous, malevolent spirit flits through Showtime’s outstanding new drama Ray Donovan, which premieres Sunday night at 10 p.m. Starring Liev Schreiber as the titular character, the show—created by Ann Biderman, who also created the gripping, gritty cop drama Southland—deftly balances matters of crime and punishment, love and enmity, savagery and civility. It’s a drama that’s about the push and pull of the domestic and the professional spheres. And it must be said that Ray Donovan is also about the battle between good and evil, often within the same man.

Schreiber’s Ray is a Hollywood fixer, the sort of hard-boiled figure that you might have to call when you’re a celeb being blackmailed by a transgendered hooker or a basketball star waking up in bed next to a dead woman after a night of heavy drug use. Escaping his rough-and-tumble Irish Catholic past in South Boston, Ray has established himself as an imposing if shady figure in the boardrooms and back lots of Los Angeles, equal parts deterrent and enforcer. The rich and famous—portrayed largely as venal, vapid parasites—pay him handsomely to deal with the messes in which they find themselves. And Ray deals with everything with vicious panache, imposing whether he’s wielding a baseball bat or an unspoken threat.

Ray’s talents in this area have allowed him to set up his family in the tony enclave of Calabasas, where his children and his wife, Abby (Paula Malcomson), exist in a bubble of privilege that is a far cry from their parents’ formative years. Across the city in Hollywood, Ray’s brothers, Bunchy (Dash Mihok) and Terry (British actor Eddie Marsan, excellent here), operate a struggling boxing gym, supported by their brother. Bunchy is a self-described “sexual anorexic,” a recovering addict who was molested by a priest as a boy. Terry is a sullen and solitary ex-boxer with Parkinson’s Disease who is attracted to his nurse, Frances (Brooke Smith), but too afraid to act on it.

Ray’s past is a bit of an enigma, teased out in little morsels over the course of the first few episodes. His sister killed herself as a teenager, and her death continues to paralyze the Donovan boys in intriguing ways. Ray is additionally concealing something terrible, having colluded with his business partners, Ezra Goodman (Elliott Gould) and Lee Drexler (Peter Jacobson), in order to put his own father in prison 20 years earlier. But Ray’s demons come home when his father, Mickey (Jon Voight), gets out of prison five years earlier than expected and heads to Los Angeles to exact revenge upon those who destroyed his life. Voight radiates ferocious intensity here, rendering the surprisingly charming Mickey as a volatile presence in the Donovan clan; his every move is unpredictable and laced with danger. Loud, overbearing, and unseemly, he is the very personification of the human id in a mock turtleneck and gold chain.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "Under the Dome Is One Eerie TV Show"

From Stephen King and Steven Spielberg comes Under the Dome, a weird, scary, and potentially great excuse to stay inside this summer. I dissect tonight’s premiere.

At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Under the Dome Is One Eerie TV Show," in which I review CBS's eerie new drama Under the Dome, based on Stephen King's 2009 novel of the same name, which begins tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

In the not-too-distant future, the inhabitants of Chester’s Mill—a small and seemingly idyllic town in Anywhere, U.S.A.—suddenly discover their town is trapped inside an invisible barrier of unknown origin. Birds fall from the sky, numerous vehicles crash, and a blood-red handprint on this transparent dome becomes a sigil of awe and fear.

This is the basis for CBS’s intriguing new “event” drama series, Under the Dome, which begins its 13-episode summer run tonight at 10 p.m. (While some have referred to it as a “miniseries,” it is most definitely an ongoing series, with the strong possibility of future seasons should ratings take off.) Based on Stephen King’s 2009 novel of the same name, Under the Dome imagines a scenario that is both rife with possibility and nightmare. Trapped and with nowhere to turn, Chester Mill’s residents must either work together to survive or succumb to the terror and uncertainty of their new situation, one that has cut them off from both loved ones and the outside world. So, live together, die alone then?

If that reminds you of the now-famous words uttered by reluctant leader Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) on Lost, you’re on the right track. Under the aegis of executive producers Steven Spielberg, Neal Baer (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, ER, and far too many other credits to list here), and Brian K. Vaughan (Lost), the series imagines a terrifying “what if” scenario that positions the inexplicable as a backdrop for the intimate.

Much like Lost before it, Under the Dome presents a life-altering occurrence as a crucible by which to view a group of disparate characters. Barbie (Mike Vogel), a former soldier, is passing through Chester’s Mill on some illicit business when he’s trapped inside. Local newspaper editor Julia Shumway (Rachelle Lefevre) has a nose for news but seems oblivious to what’s going on inside her own home. Angie (Britt Robertson) is a local nurse who is desperate to escape Chester’s Mill even before the dome, but finds herself trapped inside with her emotionally unstable boyfriend, Junior (Alexander Koch). Local bigwig Jim Rennie (Dean Norris), a used-car salesman and councilman, looks to use the dome to seize control of the town. A lesbian couple from Los Angeles, Carolyn (Aisha Hinds) and Alice (Samantha Mathis), taking their troubled daughter (Mackenzie Lintz) to a “camp,” find themselves stuck as well.

Elsewhere, there are a pair of local radio DJs (Nicholas Strong and Joelen Purdy), the stoic town sheriff (Lost’s Jeff Fahey) and his trusted deputy, Linda (Natalie Martinez), and a subplot that indicates that the financial stability of the town may be based on less-than-legal solutions. It’s this latter element that is perhaps the most timely, given the recent economic downturn and its similar handling over on A&E’s Bates Motel: how does Small Town America remain viable? How creative do towns like Chester’s Mill have to be in order to survive in the 21st century?

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "17 Shows Worth Watching This Summer"

Get out of the sun—there’s recovering zombies, addictive serial-killer mysteries, and the Breaking Bad finale on TV. My take on what not to miss for this cool summer season.

At The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "17 Shows Worth Watching This Summer," in which I round up 17 shows worth watching during the sweltering months to come, from FX's The Bridge and BBC America's Broadchurch to ABC Family's Switched at Birth and CBS's Under The Dome. (Plus, Showtime's Ray Donovan, which SHOULD NOT BE MISSED.)

Summer isn’t the television wasteland that it used to be. While the broadcasters are still figuring out what to do with their real estate during these lazy months (original drama? reality competitions? burn-offs?), cable channels have long known the power of airing high-profile series throughout the heat, and there is quite a lot of original programming to be seen during these next sweltering months.

CBS is launching the event series Under the Dome and attempting to tap into the runaway success of BBC’s The Great British Bake Off (which I reviewed here) with American remake The American Baking Competition. So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelorette, Masterchef, and America’s Got Talent are all back on their respective networks’ schedules, while many of you will be too busy bingeing on the return of Arrested Development on Netflix to notice much else.

But as far as what shows you should be putting on your TiVo’s Season Pass, here are 17 new or notable returning shows—from the expected (Breaking Bad) and high-profile (FX’s The Bridge) to the more offbeat (Netflix’s The Fall and BBC America’s Broadchurch).

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

The Daily Beast: "Political Animals: Greg Berlanti on the Clintons, Fiction, and More"

I talk with creator Greg Berlanti about Political Animals, which begins Sunday, about whether his characters are analogs for Bill and Hillary Clinton, and more.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Political Animals: Greg Berlanti on the Clintons, Fiction, and More," in which I talk to Berlanti about USA's new soapy political drama, whether Sigourney Weaver's Elaine Barrish and Ciaran Hinds' Bud Hammond are stand-ins for Hillary and Bill Clinton, the future of the show, and more.

It’s difficult to avoid the Bill and Hillary Clinton comparisons in Political Animals, USA’s ambitious and soapy six-episode miniseries, which begins Sunday.

Created by Greg Berlanti (Everwood), the limited-run series’ plot revolves around Sigourney Weaver’s Elaine Barrish, a former first lady who becomes the U.S. Secretary of State after a failed presidential bid, and a highly public sex scandal involving her husband, Bud Hammond (Ciaran Hinds). Sound familiar?

“I’m not being coy about it,” said Berlanti, over breakfast at a West Hollywood café. “There is no doubt that Elaine’s ex-husband was the president. Those are similarities that I don’t pretend don’t exist.” But Elaine, Berlanti said, is drawn as much from Madeleine Albright as she is the former real-life first lady.

“For Bud, there is more LBJ in there,” he said of how the character deviates from the Bill Clinton model. “There is a big difference between them, even though they were both Southern Democrats. One was an academic who wore that on his sleeve; LBJ was not. He got people and he altered between being incredibly intimidating and using that intimidation and being very jocular … and he had a real, almost tragic dark side that we’re able to explore with this character as we go on.”

In fact, there’s an ambient darkness to many of the Hammond clan members throughout Political Animals, embodied by Ellen Burstyn as Elaine’s mother Margaret, and the twins, Thomas and T.J., played respectively by James Wolk and Sebastian Stan. Inasmuch as the miniseries is about “political machinations,” it’s also about the how our pasts do and don’t define our destinies—for both the Hammond clan and for a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Susan Berg (Carla Gugino), who covered the dissolution of their marriage—and flashbacks in each of the episodes to the Hammonds’ glory days underscore this further.

There is a strong sense within the show of what Berlanti calls “the halcyon days of when things were great, what the Hammonds kind of represent: weren’t we this great country in the ‘90s?” But in the Hammonds, it’s clear that both the country and the family that once served at its center, have fallen on hard times.

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The Daily Beast: "True Blood Season Five: Has HBO’s Vampire Drama Lost Its Bite?"

HBO’s True Blood returns on Sunday. Over at The Daily Beast, I review the first four episodes of the fifth season and ask: what happened to the vampire drama?

You can read my latest feature, "True Blood Season Five: Has HBO’s Vampire Drama Lost Its Bite?", in which I examine the first four episodes of Season Five of True Blood and write, "The first four episodes of Season Five… reflect what’s wrong with the most recent seasons of the HBO drama: they lack focus." I also explore how the lack of baseline normalcy--and the sense that everyone in Bon Temps is somehow "special"--has robbed the show of dramatic stakes.

HBO’s popular True Blood has never been known as a slow-burn drama. Instead of advancing the plot minutely from episode to episode, the Southern Gothic vampire drama has, during its four seasons to date, zoomed at a breakneck speed, hurtling toward its cliffhanger ending each year at a maximum velocity.

While that can rev up viewers’ adrenaline levels, it can also lead to severe narrative whiplash, which is exactly what has happened to the show, which begins its fifth season on Sunday evening. (It is also the final season under the eye of showrunner Alan Ball, who will depart at the end of the season to focus on his new Cinemax show, Banshee, launching in 2013.)

The first four episodes of Season 5 recently sent out to critics reflect what’s wrong with the most recent seasons of the HBO drama: they lack focus. The plot, which is based in part on Charlaine Harris’s novels, zigzags in so many different directions that it often seems as though there are no less than 10 separate television shows existing side by side within True Blood. While the early seasons of the show wisely focused on a few main characters—such as Anna Paquin’s telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse; brooding vampires Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) and Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård); Sookie’s hotheaded best friend Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley); her secretive boss Sam (Sam Trammell); and her horndog brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten), along with a few other central players—the show’s success at creating vivid and engaging supporting characters has also been its downfall.

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

Summer 2012 TV Preview: 14 TV Shows Worth Watching This Summer

Summer has arrived and you might be tempted to think that, with the departure of spring, anything decent to watch on television has evaporated in the warmth and sunshine. Not so.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature,"Summer 2012 TV Preview: 14 TV Shows Worth Watching This Summer," in which I offer 14 new or noteworthy television shows to hold your interest during the sweltering months ahead.

With the imminent conclusions of the current seasons of AMC’s Mad Men and HBO’s Game of Thrones, it might look as though we’re heading into a television no man’s land this summer.

Not so: while the broadcaster networks are airing their usual fare of reality competitions—So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelorette, Hell’s Kitchen, and America’s Got Talent are all on the schedule—and second-rate fare (NBC’s Saving Hope, to name one), there is still a ton of original programming to be seen.

AMC’s Breaking Bad returns for the first half of its final season in July (you’ll have to wait until 2013 for the final eight episodes); Showtime brings back the Botwin clan for another season of Weeds and British expat TV writers on Episodes (both return on July 1); TNT serves up new episodes of Falling Skies (June 17) and Rizzoli & Isles (June 5); ABC Family delves deeper into the mysteries of Pretty Little Liars (June 5); and Starz offers more political drama on Boss (August 17). Tabloid fodder Charlie Sheen, meanwhile, returns to television with FX comedy Anger Management, beginning on June 28.

But what shows should you be putting on your TiVo’s Season Pass? Jace Lacob offers 14 new or notable shows, from the expected (True Blood) to the unusual (LinkTV’s Danish political drama Borgen and DirecTV’s Hit and Miss).

Continue reading at The Daily Beast...

Day of the Dead: Thoughts on the Season Finale of HBO's True Blood

"I'll always be with you."

I've been quiet about the last few episodes of True Blood, partly because I've had a massive amount of deadlines at work and am in the process of moving house (and taking time off as a result), but also because my enthusiasm for the series has waned considerably during the final few installments of Season Four. After a series of strong episodes, I felt the quality drop considerably out of the final third of the season.

I will say, however, that I did quite enjoy the season finale ("And When I Die"), written by Raelle Tucker and directed by Scott Winant, which is a head-scratcher as I typically don't love the True Blood season finales as a rule, as they tend to be more about setting up the next season than wrapping up storylines. (I tend to think of them more as epilogues or codas than anything else.) Given how little I've liked the rally massacre/standoff at Moon Goddess storylines, I was surprised by how much pleasure I was able to take in the final episode of the season, which paid homage to past relationships, past friends, and the ghosts of the past, and still managed to set up some intriguing twists for Season Five.

Perhaps it was the opening sequence, which gave us a Sookie-Tara scene that was laden with emotion for a change. Far too often, True Blood relishes in the rollercoaster ride of plot twists and shocking developments, but the series tends to become far too operatic and out there when it loses sight of the baseline of normalcy that has to exist in these characters' lives, given just how compact the timeline tends to be. Yes, life in Bon Temps is scary, brutish, and short, which is why we need to see our characters find pleasure when they can, whether that's in a romantic sense or just kicking back with friends. We need to feel that there's a reason people stay in this not-so-quiet burg, rather than running for the hills (or the big city). Sookie used to sunbath and eat ice cream with Tara and put on a movie every now and then, but she's been so consumed with issues of survival, of vampire-human relations, of massacre-hungry witches, maenads, shifters, werewolves, faeries, etc. that she--and the show, really--have lost focus on humanity in a way.

Which is why I was so glad to see Tara and Sookie just sit in the kitchen and have a heart-to-heart, and talk for a change about what they were feeling, to unburden themselves, and remind the audience that these two really are friends, though the writers seem to relish pitting them against one another time and time again. Of course, this being True Blood, I figured that the fact that Sookie and Tara grabbed a quiet moment together meant that it would likely signal the demise of one Tara Thornton...

It's fitting, really, that an episode about the lifting of the veil between life and death should feature so much death and despair. In just a single episode, we witnessed the demise of Jesus (which depresses me more than anything), Nan, Debbie, and possibly Tara. (As well as seeing the "return" of Adele, Rene, Steve Newlin, and Russell Edgington, but we'll discuss that in a bit.) I'm not at all convinced that Tara is dead, for several reasons: (1) It would be a piss-poor end to a character who hasn't really gotten much of a fair shot and has been--in my opinion--battered around far too much by the writers, (2) Sookie's cry for help at the end, given how many vampires she's shared blood with who are in the nearby vicinity, (3) the dangling plot thread with Sookie seeing faeries rushing at her when she's reunited with Tara earlier in the season, and (4) Alan Ball told me he has an incredible plotline for Tara in Season Five.

Of course that plotline could be that she's deader than a doornail (or Alan was just lying to me in order to conceal Tara's fate), but I think that we haven't seen the last of Tara: she'll either be saved by a vampire (and possibly turned in the process) or Sookie will be forced to bargain with the faeries in order to save the life of her best friend. It's the latter that's the most likely, I think, given that the faeries stayed largely off camera after the incident with Claudine and Eric (save for Andy's forest tryst) and Tara has some sort of connection to them, given Sookie's vision. But whatever happens, I hope it's a new beginning for Tara, who has largely been thrust into two roles: angry black woman or victim. And it's time that we see her moving forward and not back, both in terms of character and plot. More than any other character--even Sookie, really--she's been put through the ringer and had her insides scooped out and replaced by hate and rage. But I want to see Rutina Wesley get something more to do than play the victim. (And, if she is turned, I hope it's actually poor Pam who does the turning. I loved her scene with Ginger at Fangtasia as she cries and then is hugged by Ginger. Aw.)

If this is the end of Tara, however, she at least went out trying to save the life of her best friend in a moment of self-sacrifice, as she jumps in front of Sookie to protect her from Debbie's shotgun blast, taking a shot to the head in the process. It's an act of love and friendship that connects to that opening scene and to the bond that Tara has with Sookie. In those moments, it's not about the suffering she's experienced, the things she's lost, the places she's had to go, but it's about putting the life of someone she loves before her own, of risking death in order to ensure Sookie lives.

As for Sookie, she uses Tara's sacrifice to get the jump on Debbie, wrest the shotgun from her, and then SHOT HER IN THE FACE AT POINT-BLANK RANGE. I don't think I ever expected that from lil' Sookie Stackhouse, who has grown up considerably in the last four seasons. I also think that the location of the attack--in her kitchen, where Adele died in a puddle of her own blood--played a role in her righteous vengeance upon Debbie Pelt. Throughout the episode, Sookie is haunted by flashbacks to discovering her gran's corpse in the kitchen, experiencing a sensation that Adele is nearby, hovering around her. While Adele wouldn't counsel murder, Sookie's gran is clearly on her mind, her kitchen once again turned into an abattoir, the body of a loved one pooling in crimson. In that precise moment, Sookie makes a break from her own humanity, her morality, and her sense of reason: she becomes as monstrous as Debbie or the vampires, pulling the trigger and relishing in the satisfaction that comes from destroying her enemy. It's brutal and nasty, bloody and personal.

Elsewhere, the body count ratcheted up in unexpected ways. While I was intrigued by Nan's rebellion against the AVL and the Authority (whom we'll learn more about next season), I was bloody shocked that Eric and Bill partnered up to turn Nan into a puddle of goo after she called them lovelorn puppy dogs. (They must really not like puppies.) In choosing neither Eric or Bill, Sookie seemed to bring the two of them closer together, each on the receiving end of an emotional evisceration from the faerie object of their affection. In killing Nan, the two are further bonded still, operating as a single entity in their efforts to contain the secret of Sookie's identity from other vampires. Once Nan let that gem fall from her lips, her fate was sealed in their eyes. No one is going to use Sookie for their own ends...

While I was shocked by Nan's death (and stunned by Debbie's), the one that I was most upset about was Jesus', especially as it came at the hand of the possessed Lafayette, who likely won't soon recover from dispatching his boyfriend, even if it was Marnie who pushed the blade into his chest. And, yes, we're given a glimpse of Jesus on the other side of the veil, having cast off his mortal coil, able to speak to Lafayette, and promising that he'll still see him, given that he's dead and Lafayette is a medium. Which is true, but all I could think about was that Kevin Alejandro left Southland so he could play a ghost that turns up every now and then? Sigh. Jesus and Lafayette were a fantastic couple, which in True Blood parlance meant that their happiness had to be short-lived. I'm curious whether Lafayette retained any of Jesus' brujo magic or whether that evaporated after Adele plucked Marnie out of him and she went off with the dead. But I'm sad to see Jesus go, really. Alejandro added a certain something to the series that will be missed.

I'm bored to tears with Sam and Luna and the predictability of that wolf turning up at Sam's place, just as he makes a pact to be happy with Luna. (Yawn.) I did like the scene with Sam and Sookie at the bar, with his confusion about "firing" Sookie and their embrace, and the sequence at Tommy's grave with Maxine, but I feel like Sam is getting short shrift these days; he needs an interesting storyline, preferably one with out Emma. (UGH.)

Matching bathrobes? Creepy. That should have been a sign to Sookie to run to Alcide...

I really loved all of the Jason/Jessica scenes. I thought their love scene was provocative and sensual and their interesting dynamic will gladly play out beyond this season, with Jason okay with Jessica looking elsewhere for sustenance, and Jessica gladly taking a walk on the dark side with the far more sexually experienced Jason Stackhouse. As for Hoyt, I think it will be a while before he's able to accept their relationship and not beat on Jason whenever he sees him. But I see why Jessica would need to experience something beyond the safety and predictability of Hoyt, why she would crave the taste of something different, something darker, and something that's not predictable or safe. (Plus, her Little Red Riding Hood costume? Woof.)

And just when Jason thought he had found the perfect woman, he opened up his door to discover... Reverend Steve Newlin. With fangs. This was a great--if expected twist--after a season of hints and subplots about the missing Fellowship of the Sun leader. Given that Jason hasn't invited him in, I don't think that Jason is in any danger, no matter how much tension they might try to create here. I am curious to see how Steve fits into the Russell Edgington plot, and whether it was Steve who helped release Russell from his concrete prison and glamoured the security guard. Is there to be a takeover of The Authority? A mutiny? A vampire rebellion? I'm very curious about all of this... and just who managed to turn the vampire-hating Newlin. Who is his maker? Hmmm...

Finally, there was the introduction of Patrick (Scott Foley), who brought with him some long-buried secrets involving Terry Bellefleur, which the spirit of Rene warns Arlene about. I'm curious just what experience(s) Terry has blocked from his memory and just how dangerous Patrick is. What did these two get up to during the war and how nasty was it? What has Terry forgotten and what memories has he repressed in order to function? Just how many people did Terry kill? "I've met the ghosts of his past," Rene told Arlene. "They ain't gonna rest forever." Looks like trouble will find Terry next year...

Ultimately, I thought that "And When I Die" managed to capture the poignancy and humanity that True Blood can excel at when it tries, as well as the unexpected and shocking reveals that the show loves to throw at the audience. I'm also happy that it has me intrigued enough to want to watch Season Five, as my loyalty to the show was severely tested earlier this season. But it's safe to say that I'll be back next summer, though I do wish the writers would try to better plot out the season-long arcs, keep an eye on tonal consistency, and try to be as organic as possible with the numerous, sprawling subplots.

But I'm curious to know: what did you think of the season finale? And Season Four as a whole? Was I too harsh with my evaluation? Was your patience tested as mine was? Will you be watching next season? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Season Five of True Blood will air next summer on HBO.

True Blood's Downward Turn (Or Why I'm Not Writing a Typical Review This Week)

Confession: I couldn't bring myself to rewatch last night's episode of True Blood.

This hasn't happened to date. Typically, I watch the series via press screener a few weeks ahead of broadcast and then sit down on Sunday night to rewatch the week's latest installment in order to have it fresh in my mind so I can write my review. This was not what happened this week.

In fact, I was so turned off by Sunday's episode ("Let's Get Out of Here"), written by Brian Buckner and directed by Romeo Tirone, that I couldn't actually force myself to sit through it again. Which is saying something, I think. Perhaps it was the overabundance of Emma (shudder), the hostage standoff/Ghost Whisperer plot of Lafayette (double shudder), Sookie's intensely unerotic dream, or the irritating showdown at the Vampire Rights rally (yawn), this episode just got under my skin in the worst possible way.

I've been able to rationalize a lot with True Blood and find deeper meaning for some of the metaphors that the show employs on a weekly basis, whether it be the show-covered shower scene from last week or the beauty, majesty, and sacrifice of Godric's death in Season Two. But this week, I just couldn't find a way into the episode, nor muster any sympathy for the characters, which is extremely odd as I've stuck with them this long.

But this week's lackluster episode tested my patience in ways that True Blood hadn't before. After a jaw-dropping cliffhanger the week before--Sookie is shot and dying!--it's quickly reversed with little fallout: Alcide rescues Sookie from the graveyard, Bill gives her his blood (which means they're bonded again!), and Sookie dreams of taking him and Eric to bed, but instead indulges in a weird '50s music-tinged daydream. Sookie nearly dying should have been a much bigger moment, but the second that that possibility was eliminated without a second thought, really, sucked all of the drama out of that scenario. Bill, it seems, is always a speedy run away from saving her life, which means a gunshot--or mortality, essentially--isn't a real danger for our Sookie Stackhouse.

Which is a bit of problem for a show that revolves around life, death, and the undead. A safety net such as that eliminates much of the tension... and the lack of dealing with consequences (whether about Sookie's shot to the gut or Jason's gang rape) is problematic as well. Yes, the plot is moving at a high-octane pace, and that doesn't leave much down time for the gang in Bon Temps, but if we're to believe that Sookie and the others are real people (or, well, former people), there needs to at least be a moment or two here and there in which they take stock of their lives, or at least process things that happen to them. This is especially an issue in a show where the main characters are largely reactive, rather than proactive (stuff happens TO them, rather than them setting things in motion), but I want to see some character growth and this was a key moment where that was entirely thwarted.

(On the other hand, I was glad to see Debbie revert back to form in a way. She's a recovering addict struggling with maintaining control over her life. While she wants to broker peace with Sookie, she's also jealous of the hold her rival has over Alcide and while she's quick to offer her help, she's also quick to sell Sookie out to Marnie/Antonia when the opportunity presents itself to eliminate the competition. But Debbie's not a lost cause either: she could have driven away, leaving Sookie to suffer at Antonia's hands, but she hesitates and lets her get in the car. There's still hope for Debbie, but it's a rocky road ahead and her imperfections are all the more apparent as she tries to become, well, perfect.)

I've been upfront about my disdain for the child actor playing Emma, whose every line of dialogue makes me cringe, but this week instead threw more Emma at me: Emma, Sam, and Luna camping; Emma playing with Sam the Bunny; Emma; Emma; Emma; Emma. Sam Trammell is acting the hell out of this season (witness him channeling Marshall Allman's Tommy a few weeks back) but putting him next to this kid is sucking the life out of these familial/domestic scenes with Luna... and not making me care about this storyline at all.

Tommy tried his hand at redemption at took Sam's place at the rendezvous with Marcus, which quickly turned bloody as Marcus and his men began to pound on Sam/Tommy, before--bloodied and broken--he shifted back into Tommy, shocking everyone there. Alcide intervened and carried Tommy away. Alcide seems to be doing a lot of this lately.

And then there was the ludicrous Lafayette storyline this week, which had him possessed by Mavis, the spirit of a long-dead grieving (and vengeful) mother, who kidnapped Mikey and held him hostage at gunpoint at Jessica and Hoyt's house. The tenseness of the situation devolved into a weird Ghost Whisperer-lite plot about Mavis coming to terms with her son's death and her own, and everyone lends a hand to dig up the grave containing the corpse of Mavis and her baby, before Mavis sings yet another lullaby and dissolving into gold dust or something. While I was intrigued by this particular storyline, this week's culmination of the plot destroyed any interest I had it in, rendering the conclusion leaden and deadly dull. Sad.

Are there really only three episodes left this season? Because this week's episode seemed a poor opportunity to shoehorn in these inane plots and crush the momentum that had been building thus far. While I'm not giving up on True Blood, "Let's Get Out of Here" severely tested my patience and loyalty. It's an episode that I will never, in any circumstance, wish to revisit, and, with just a few installments remaining, a major misstep in the fourth season. Luckily, next week brings us Nancy Oliver, and--I can only hope--more of a return to form...

Next week on True Blood ("Burning Down the House"), as all hell breaks loose in Shreveport, Sookie summons her most potent powers yet to save Bill, in the process breaking a spell and leading Marnie/Antonia to re-evaluate her mission; Jason urges Jessica to glamour him for Hoytʼs sake; Terry drags Andy to “Fort Bellefleur” for an intervention; Alcide reconsiders his allegiances after Marcusʼ fight with Tommy; Jesus, accompanied by Sookie, Lafayette and Jason, tries to breach the Moongoddess Emporiumʼs defenses to liberate Tara and Holly, while Bill leads a brigade of vampires committed to blowing the place to kingdom come.

Ep. 46 - Preview

Shot Through the Heart: Spellbound on True Blood

"She has a warrior's heart." - Eric

Upfront: I haven't read the Sookie Stackhouse novels, so I approach HBO's True Blood from a very different vantage point than I do, say, Game of Thrones, where I'm familiar with the novels, the characters, and where the story is going several seasons down the road. Not so with True Blood, which means that I'm not approaching the material with any degree of anticipation of future events, seminal moments, or the infamous shower scene, which--as promised by yours truly several weeks ago--did play out this week, albeit in a vastly different fashion than many of Charlaine Harris' fans expected.

They say that familiarity breeds contempt, but the reverse is also true: familiarity can breed passionate love, particularly where adaptation is involved. Knowledge of the source material can color one's perceptions of an adaptation, especially one which strays from the established for the new. I say this with no judgment whatsoever, as I'm as much of an avid reader as I am an obsessive television watcher, but the two media are vastly different from each other, and changes are to be expected.

Which brings us to this week's episode of True Blood ("Spellbound?"), written by Alan Ball and directed by Daniel Minahan, and the aforementioned shower scene, one of the books' most beloved Eric/Sookie moments, which was handled in an unexpected rather than literal manner here, though the underlying result was more or less the same. (And, again, I say this as someone with the most cursory knowledge of the Stackhouse novels; if I'm making a misstep, do let me know.) Given that the two have already given into their mutual passion in the woods (and the entryway of Sookie's house... and her bedroom), this moment isn't about carnal union but a spiritual one, a profound interaction that bonds their souls as much as they are already by blood.

The shared vision that they experience within the shower, as the curtain becomes a figurative gateway to a snowy paradise reminded me in some respects of the blood bond gestalt experienced by Jason and Amy way back when in Season One. Whereas they encountered a sun-drenched meadow, Eric and Sookie wander into snow-dappled woods, finding a bed with fur blankets underneath a dimly lit sky, the snowflakes melting on their skin. It's a curious juxtaposition of elements: warmth and coolness, comfort and excitement, night and day, passion and friendship. It's perhaps the moment that Sookie gives into exactly what Adele's spirit warned her against: she gives Eric her heart.

It's an impossible scene that can only exist in the fragility of dreams, a magical landscape that connects their souls and their hearts, bound by blood, by lust, by love. Sookie realizes the possibility of love here, the notion that she can fall in love after Bill, or in spite of him, that she does love this "new" Eric. But Adele's words ("it won't last") imbue the scene with a sense of dread as well: this is all perhaps fleeting, and Eric's amnesia--and therefore the couple's happiness--may be as brief as a snowflake's life. Time may not exist here, but it marches inexorably on back in the waking world.

Outside of the heart's cocoon these two form, things are not well in Bon Temps, though perhaps not as bad as they could be, considering when we last saw baby vamp Jessica, she was hurtling through the open doors of Bill's house into the daylight. There's an intentional allusion to be made of Jason Stackhouse throwing himself from the hot, white light onto Jessica's body and an angel emerging from heaven. (Though, let's be honest, Jason Stackhouse is no angel.) But Jason has saved Jessica's life, though--spellbound--she nearly rips his neck out. I loved the way that he carried her downstairs and re-silvered her before being surrounded by Bill's human guards.

Poor Jessica has found herself in quite a quandary, in fact: she still loves Hoyt, but she's drawn to Jason, perhaps not just because of their own blood bond, but because of her own (human) desires as well. She yearns for adventure, hungers for new experiences, and she's grown complacent in her relationship with Hoyt. She dreams of freedom, not in terms of solitude, but in terms of co-dependency. Her dream "Hoyt" begs her to stay, to reconsider leaving him, saying that he'll die without her, that he can't live without her. She smashes his pathetic head against the wall before climbing into Jason's truck to engage in sexual shenanigans. This is, of course, the dream of the guilty. She's determined to leave Hoyt, but not at the expense of her own broken heart, or his rejection of her. In reality, naturally, Hoyt doesn't act at all as she had imagined, instead withdrawing his invitation and casting her out of the house they shared, smashing things, and yelling at her with the hurt rage of the dejected.

Likewise, Jason isn't turned on by seeing her covered in blood (as she dreamed), but instead wary of her appearance at his house and concerned about hurting his best friend further. There is no congress to be had here at this time, no sympathetic shoulder, no sexual advances. Jessica only receives further rejection, another invitation taken back, more heartache and heartbreak. Reality rarely lives up to fantasy, as she discovers to her chagrin. Which worries me, as well, where Sookie and Eric are concerned. He will remember his past, she will discover he's not who she thought he was, and her hopes will be dashed against the (figurative) rocks. Sigh.

Alcide and Debbie settled into their new pack under Marcus' authoritarian gaze. It's clear that Debbie needs order, rules, and a rigid structure in her life: she needs to feel that she belongs but that someone else is in charge. But it's hard to do so when you don't trust your partner... and she follows Alcide when he runs off to Bon Temps in search of Sookie. Alcide is also going to have to choose between Sookie and the woman right in front of him, between fantasy and reality. Or Debbie could make that decision easier by walking out on him... or by killing Sookie and getting rid of the competition.

In the meantime, however, Alcide is being pushed towards more of a leadership role within the pack, and he appears to have forgotten all about Marcus' creepy introduction (I haven't been so lucky) and seems to now like his werewolf packmaster. But Marcus himself is revealed to be an ex-con with a parole officer and a nasty temper, shown when he shows up unannounced at Luna's, looking to tuck his daughter in. (The less said about Emma the better. This child actor is driving me up the wall with her unrealistic cutesiness and any mention of Barbies and Sam makes me break out in hives at this point. I'd ask Alan Ball and the writers to please, please, please, curtail this storyline, but there's even more of it next week. Ugh.)

While Luna has forgiven Sam for the Tommy/skinwalking/sex incident, Tommy continues his downward spiral, slipping into Maxine's skin in order to cut her out of the lease-rights to her property. I loved seeing Dale Raoul as Tommy-as-Maxine-Fortenberry, ordering tallboys and shots of tequila, growling at Arlene, and trying to "sweeten the deal" in any way she could, albeit with a sailor's vocabulary and a trucker's appetite. While there are way too many subplots going on in this season of True Blood, I am curious to see whether there is any hope of redemption for Tommy, though--SPOILER!--next week's episode does offer him a potential opportunity to balance the scales, as it were. Whether this is just Tommy's guilt eating away at him or some form of recompense remains to be seen, though.

Lafayette was possessed by the spirit of the singing woman always cooing over Mikey, the one with a penchant for French lullabies and fire-starting. It creeps me out to no end that spirits enter mediums' bodies through their open mouth; there's something ominous and nightmare-inducing about the sight of the black smoke-like substance forcibly entering Lafayette's corporeal form. We learn a bit more about the spirit, including that her child was killed by its (white) father and that she too likely died in or near Jessica and Hoyt's house, after attempting to bring the doll over as a present. But rather than sit by idly, she heads over to the Bellefleur house and takes Andy's gun, Mikey, and the dirty old doll without anyone noticing. Sigh. (I was enjoying this storyline but now it's getting a little tired at this point.)

Bill tries to broker a truce with Antonia/Marnie after appearing on the local news, and both sides bring reinforcements despite their agreement that they'll arrive at the Bon Temps cemetery alone. (Does anyone ever really do that?) Sookie is surprised to see Tara on Antonia's side; Eric reacts without thinking and eviscerates one of Antonia's witches before all hell breaks loose. And by that, I mean that Eric's body is hijacked by Antonia's spell, Tara is nearly killed by Pam (but saved in time by Bill, who tells her that she knows why he's spared her life), and Sookie is shot in the gut by someone's bullet.

As she collapses onto the fog-covered ground, red blossoming all over the front of her shirt, it seems as though her faery luck as finally run out (after she even got to use her powers properly!) and her life is slipping away. But as the two vampire men in her life can't get to her, it falls to Alcide to pick up her prostrate body and carry her to safety, the fog swirling around them.

I'm curious to know what viewers thought of this week's episode. I liked it but nowhere near as much as last week's installment, but it's also a final hurrah of atmosphere and tension compared to next week's muddled mess of an episode. What did you make of the revised shower scene? Yay or nay? And what did you take away from "Spellbound?" Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on True Blood ("Let's Get Out of Here"), convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where thereʼs room for both Bill and Eric; Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica; despite Tara and Hollyʼs misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a “Festival of Tolerance” event at Shreveport.

Ep. 45 - Preview

Bright Light, Dark Star: Fun in the Sun on True Blood

Enter the daylight.

Vampires, as we all know (or at least within the world of the Sookie Stackhouse novels and True Blood), are denied the warmth of the sun and forced to spend their existence in the cold darkness of night. Sookie Stackhouse's faerie blood allows the user to daywalk, granting limited exposure to the sunlight for the vampire in question. But this is just a taste of the sun's light; it's far from permanent and it often leaves the user even more vulnerably cast back into the shadows. Sunlight, then, is deadly: the rays of the sun bring the one true death, a crispy, sizzling, burning one as a vampire is consumed from within, their blood boiling and their skin smoldering in the heat.

It is not a pleasant demise by any stretch, which must be why vengeful spirit Antonia finds it so deliciously simpatico with her needs: bring the vampires into the one thing they all crave but cannot survive.

Quite a lot happens in this week's episode of True Blood ("Cold Grey Light of Dawn"), written by Alexander Woo and directed by Michael Ruscio, but the moment that had me completely riveted was the final sequence of the installment, in which Jessica throws off her silver and attempts to walk into the sunlight, under Antonia's enchantment.

Does she succeed? Is she burned to a crisp? Well, you'll have to wait until next week's episode to find out the fate of our favorite baby vamp, last seen attempting to hurl herself through the open doors of King Bill's home into the harsh white light. It's a staggering and heartbreaking image of imminent destruction, as Jessica is forced to escape the prison of silver and bars that Bill has constructed for them. The irony isn't lost that they're the ones trapped while their former prisoner has become the jailer in this scenario: but rather than keep them chained in the basement like vermin, she seeks to drag them out into the light... and seal their fates in the process.

Is there a death wish inside each vampire? Do they long for the one true death even as they rip open the skin of their victims, bringing death with each step? As Jessica manages to free herself from her silvery imprisonment, the expression on Bill's face is a mixture of fear and jealousy, it seems. He knows what will happen to them should they breach the perimeter and enter the light of the sun, but at the same time he too craves self-destruction, another victim of Antonia's thirst for revenge.

The sequence itself is filmed exquisitely: the swaying chandelier, rocking in the force of the witches' whirlwind; the POV of the room from Jessica's dark-adapted eyes; the intense white light that spills onto her when she rips open the door, conjuring both the celestial kingdom and her doom in one shot. But it's worth noting that Jessica is not in control of her emotions, or of her actions: she wants to meet the sun more than anything in those moments, to walk out into its embrace like Beulah Carter does, bursting into flames.

I loved the fact that Jason Stackhouse attempts to come to Jessica's rescue, rushing the guards at Bill's compound in an effort to keep Jessica inside the house. While his fate is also left unclear at the end of the episode (there's that gunshot that rings out after he's tackled by one of the human guards), I don't think for a second that he's going to be killed off in such a fashion. (Hell no.) But clearly he has some sort of feelings for Jessica that go beyond the blood bond they share; he's willing to risk his own life to save her undead one.

It's the witch Antonia who drives Jessica's desire for combustion, aided by her circle of Wiccans, who are as yet fully unaware of what spell they cast. Antonia is canny, to say the least (bye, bye, Katerina!); she's not foolish enough to inform her coven of what she's attempting here. (I don't for a second think Holly would wish the one true death upon coworker Jessica, had she known that they were attempting to destroy every last vampire within twenty miles.)

She's also clever enough to bring Tara to her side as well, sensing with her a hatred of the vampires as well. Marnie says that it's written all over Tara: her rape by Franklin, countless attacks that have propelled her fear and her rage to their breaking point. She needs willing souls, and Tara has lost everything in those moments before their chance encounter on the side of the road: she believes that she's lost Sookie (who has chosen Eric and the vampires over her) and she's lost Naomi as well, remaining unwilling to allow Naomi to endanger her life by staying. She chooses Tara over Toni, casting off her false identity to reclaim her life. But with that life comes bitterness, loss, and grief; those are threaded over Tara's soul, they make up the features on her face, and it's that which Antonia sees and which she uses to draw Tara to her side.

While we see the truer side of vampires via Bill, Eric, and Jessica, I don't blame Tara for her actions. Vampires have completely destroyed her life (one could broaden this category to include supernaturals of all kinds) and I can see why she would be gently pushed into line behind Antonia. Just earlier that evening, Pam came after her and Naomi and surely would have killed one or both of them had video camera-wielding humans surrounded them. I'm actually glad that Alan Ball and the writers chose not to kill off Naomi, because Tara's had way too much death in her life already. She could lose Naomi from her life, but it had to be by choice here, rather than having the decision made for her by a hungry vampire biting down.

(Meanwhile, I loved the return of Doctor Ludwig, who performed a full-body peel on poor Pam and instructed her that she can fight off the exterior rot by injecting herself with six shots every for, well, forever. And I loved Ginger's efforts to keep Pam in her coffin.)

Elsewhere, Eric and Sookie continued their romance, moving from the woods (where they're spied on by Alcide and Debbie, once again questioning her boyfriend's fidelity) and into Sookie's house, where they explore the hallway floor and her bed. And, later, I loved the scene where she had to silver Eric to keep him in his subterranean cubby, laying down next to him as his skin sizzled under the silver. It's a contrast to the animal passions they expressed earlier, harkening back to the sweet innocence of their chaste encounters this season. Could it be that Sookie not only has passion for Eric but also love?

Sam found out about Tommy being a skinwalker (and pretending to be him) and kicked him out after confronting Luna about her sudden chilliness, which seemed to come out of nowhere. I'm trying to feel some sort of sympathy for Tommy, but it's not exactly easy to feel bad for him, despite the awful things that have happened to him. Perhaps it's because he chooses to continue doing bad, in spite of the many kindnesses shown to him. Rather than hide away, he chose to become Sam and pretend to be him, sleeping with Luna and firing Sookie. I can only hope that there's some potential redemption for Tommy down the line, because Sam was the best thing that ever happened to him (except for, say, that gunshot) and his actions have further deteriorated their already tenuous relationship. I think Sam is more than justified in throwing Tommy to the curb.

And then there was the latest twist in the Mikey storyline as Lafayette, following the events in Mexico with Don Bartolo and Tio Luca, is able to see the spirit hovering around Mikey and singing to him. Now that he's accepted his abilities as a medium, I dare say that Lafayette will become a pivotal character in the ghostly plot around Mikey, which clearly involves this woman. (I also can't help but wonder if it doesn't mean that Rene's own disembodied spirit will be turning up before the season is over.)

Finally, Andy and Holly attempted to have a date, but it went horribly awry, thanks to Andy's addiction to V. While I was intrigued by a V-addicted Andy Bellefleur, I have to say that I'm growing extremely tired of this particular storyline, as Andy continues to act continually erratic and bizarre, exhibiting super-strength and super-rudeness with equal measure. It's all a little too on the nose for me and while I was curious to see just whether Andy and Holly could make a go of things, the V storyline intruded once more. Meh.

Still, that's a minor quibble for an episode that was pretty damn strong overall. I had the luxury of watching next week's episode immediately following "Cold Grey Light of Dawn," which I needed as I think I would have combusted from anticipation and anxiety after seeing Jessica throw open those doors. (All I'll say is that next week's sensational episode--which contains a variation on the infamous "shower scene" of Charlaine Harris' novel--is not to be missed.)

I'm curious to know: what did you think of this week's episode? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate.

Next week on True Blood ("Spellbound"), as Bill and Marnie brace for a dangerous midnight faceoff, Sookie and Eric pledge their allegiance to the King; Jason is torn between friendship and passion, and Jessica is spurned from two homes; Lafayette becomes the pawn of a tormented spirit; Tommy takes a walk in someone elseʼs shoes; Sam contends with yet another adversary in Marcus, Lunaʼs ex and the leader of Alcideʼs new pack.

Ep. 44 - Preview

Howling at the Moon: The Price of Being Special on True Blood

"There ain't no such thing as normal."

As I said on Twitter last night, I thought that this week's episode of True Blood was the strongest installment the series has had in quite some time.

Beautiful and emotionally resonant (as well as overflowing with plot), this week's thought-provoking episode ("I Wish I Was the Moon"), written by Raelle Tucker and directed by Jeremy Podeswa, revolved around the full moon over Bon Temps and found the sleepy (and yet supes-teeming) town coming to terms with themselves and their true natures. This thematically made quite a lot of sense with the use of the full moon--planted several episodes ago--bringing out the "special" in quite a few of the supernatural denizens of Bon Temps.

But it was the sequence between Ryan Kwanten's Jason Stackhouse and Deborah Ann Woll's Jessica that stood out as the heart of the episode, as the two lay on their backs in the woods staring up at the moon. Would Jason transform into a panther as he feared (and perhaps secretly hoped)? Is he jealous of Sookie's own gifts, not seeing his own that he's been blessed with in life?

Linked by blood, Jessica comes to Jason's aid in the thick of the woods, but the two of them are joined by other, weighter issues: Jessica remembers all too well when her humanity was brutally ripped from her; they're both victims in their own way. But she also sees just what she's become, how her dark gift opened up new possibilities to her, bringing her into the larger world and out of the tiny one she had been living in. But there is a price, of course, and True Blood always reminds us that nothing comes for free in this world. Jessica is condemned to a lifetime of darkness and hunger, just as Sookie's gift means that she will stand apart from humanity, doomed to know what everyone is thinking around her.

These supernatural gifts are a double-edged sword, something Jason doesn't quite see in his panic attack-driven stupor, but they also don't define us completely either. For all of her vampiric strength, speed, and cravings, Jessica is still wholly innocent, something that writer Raelle Tucker and Woll remind us of here: she's still very young and very new at this fragile thing called life. But there is truth in innocence, and beauty: her acceptance of Jason, her support, and her understanding are unique to Jessica, who struggles deeply with her own self-identity. What is she exactly? A waitress? A vampire? Hoyt's girlfriend?

I'm glad, as well, to see that it's these two who find themselves alone in the woods. While I've loved seeing Jessica and Hoyt's relationship unfold, it's been far too long since Woll was in a scene with anyone other than Jim Parrack that's more than a few seconds in length. As Hoyt's best friend, Jason is in a unique position with Jessica, and it's clear that she perhaps has burgeoning feelings for the former football star since she saved his life. While they agree not to tell Hoyt about what happened that night (in all honestly, nothing untoward), it's clear that they both feel that they crossed an invisible line, one that might lead them to an unexpected romance down the line. It's a meeting of opposites here: Jessica in her innocence and wiseness; Jason in his debauchery and, well, lovable dumbness. By pairing these two, Tucker manages to give us fireworks against the moon, two souls reaching out to each other for comfort and support, two friends awaiting a transformation that never arrives.

Jason is special, in his own way, something that Jessica is able to get him to see, finally. (Beyond just his insistence to Sookie that he is "good at sex" and shooting.) He's handsome, irresistible, and was a high school football legend. He's also prone to a goofy joie de vivre that is infectious, something we see as he shrugs off his funk and transitions back to being plain old Jason Stackhouse once more. In a town like Bon Temps where everyone seems to have some sort of supernatural power, Jason's humanity is pretty darn special in its own right, especially to someone like Jessica, who had her future, her life, her freedom of choice brutally ripped away from her on the "scariest night" of her life.

Elsewhere, other characters teetered on the brink of self-acceptance: Bill opted to spare the life of Eric Northman in order to ensure Sookie's happiness at the cost of his own, as both Bill and the amnesiac Eric just want Sookie to be happy; Tommy's act of parental slaughter gifted him with a new ability, that of a skinwalker, and he takes a long walk in Sam's skin, sleeping with Luna and firing Sookie, and learning just what Maxine thinks of him; Debbie joins a new pack, despite the insistence of Alcide that she keep to herself; Tara admits just who and what she is (after almost getting strangled by her girlfriend) and takes Naomi on a tour of Bon Temps, including holding hands in plain view at Merlotte's; and Lafayette opens himself up to Tio Luca and unlocks his potential in order to save Jesus.

And Sookie and Eric finally gave into their passion under the watchful eye of the full moon, consummating their relationship after Eric is freed by Bill from execution (i.e., the one true death). But as Bill stands outside on the porch of his estate, I wonder whether he knew that his former soulmate and his sheriff had their bodies entangled in the moonlight at that precise moment. Despite Adele's warning not to give Eric her heart, Sookie gives into the feelings that she's been experiencing the last few days, giving herself over to her own hunger. But do people change, really? Eric's transformation is the result of Marnie's spell, a temporary amnesia that has locked away his understanding of who he really is, the crimes he's committed, the darkness in his soul. Once he remembers (and make no mistake, he will), what happens to this Eric, to the naive and gentle man-child whose pursuit of Sookie has been tender rather than forceful? Where does he go? And what will remain once this new identity is stripped from him by the spell's reversal?

Or doesn't it matter? Perhaps what only matters is right then and there, under the full moon, this moment of passion that they share. Can Sookie let go of her hopes and desires when she's confronted by the "real" Eric Northman? And will she still want him then when he hardens his soul once more?

What else did I think of these week's episode? Let's take a look in a hail of bullets:

• There are a whole lot of disembodied spirits floating about this plotline: Marnie is possessed by the vengeful spirit of Antonia, a witch who was imprisoned, raped, and tortured by vampire priests during the Spanish Inquisition, who burned her alive, even as she ripped the vampires from their slumber and forced them to walk into the light. In a creepy twist, Antonia appears before Marnie and then enters her through her gaping mouth, possessing her body and soul, and working her magic through her conduit. Oh, Luis, you never saw that coming, did you? Marnie/Antonia is able to control Luis and she forces the vampire sheriff (who had raped her in 1610) to his knees. Badness lies ahead...
• Then there's the woman whom Mikey sees after the fire, the one that's clearly connected with the creepy baby doll. Who is she exactly, and what does she want? For one, she wants to go home, namely to Jessica and Hoyt's house, where she keeps bringing the doll back. But why set fire to Arlene and Terry's? And why work through wee Mikey? I still maintain that "not your baby" isn't a reference to Mikey/Rene but to her own child, symbolized by that decrepit doll. Get rid of it, Arlene!
• Tio Luca, meanwhile, inhabits Lafayette's body, drawn out by Lafayette's need to save the life of Jesus and the machinations of Jesus' grandfather, Don Bartolo. Lafayette has been resistent to the notion that he has certain abilities, but his doubts will be erased now that he too has a spirit passenger along for the ride, one with considerable magics, seeing how effortlessly he cured Jesus from his snakebite.
• I loved Sookie with the shotgun, heading off into the woods in search of her brother. A strong image that recalled Buffy, in fact: beautiful blonde girl in the dark, armed and dangerous and not afraid of anything.
• Eric's speech to Bill, seconds before his execution was to be carried out, was a thing of beauty and simplicity, expressing his innocence. ("I was born the night she found me," he says. "Because of her, I went to my true death knowing what it is to love.")
• Oh, Tara, did you really think you'd be able to parade through Bon Temps with Naomi without attracting the attention of the decaying Pam? You'll be lucky if both of you make it through the night without losing your lives or your blood. (Prediction time: Naomi's a goner.)
• Jason handcuffing himself to his bed to await the full moon? Insanely dumb. Sookie saying exactly what I thought, that the handcuffs would just slip off if he became a panther? Priceless.

Ultimately, I thought this was a fantastic installment, full of wonder and possibility, plot twists and poetry, an episode that had the characters largely in their own self-contained storylines, some of which intersected magnificently by the closing credits. And that's not just the full moon talking.

I'm curious: what did you think of this week's episode? Did you fall under its spell as much as I did? What did you like about it or dislike? Were you surprised--or elated--by the final scene? Head to the comments section to discuss, dissect, and analyze.

Next week on True Blood ("Cold Grey Light of Dawn"), with Marnie empowered by spirits of the dead, Bill issues an unpopular order to save vampires from the light; Eric embraces his amnesia; Luna discovers Sam is not the man she thought he was; Lafayette expands his consciousness; Pam gets a body peel; Andyʼs date with Holly doesnʼt go as planned; Jessica has doubts about her future with Hoyt; Alcide and Debbie join a new pack.

Ep. 43 – Preview

The Daily Beast: "True Blood’s Scene-Stealer"

As Pam, True Blood's resident bitchy vampire, Kristin Bauer van Straten has walked off with the drama’s best lines and many of its scenes.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, entitled "True Blood’s Scene-Stealer," in which I sit down with Kristin Bauer van Straten to talk about Pam, Eric, and Alexander Skarsgard, as well as her background and why she nearly quit acting.

(Plus, Seinfeld's "Man Hands!")

True Blood airs Sunday evenings at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO.

Chains: Capture and Release on True Blood

"There's a light in you, it's beautiful. I couldn't bear it if I snuffed it out." - Eric Northman

Imprisonment, both literal and figurative, seemed to be one of the underlying themes of this week's episode of True Blood ("Me and the Devil"), written by Mark Hudis and directed by Daniel Minahan, which found the various characters encountering their worst fears and darkest truths about their natures.

Tommy Mickens began the episode wrapped up in chains, ensnared by his no-good mercenary parents, but his storyline in this week's episode closed out with Tommy victorious over them, though his sense of guilt caged him anew. (In literature, there is nothing worse than a kinslayer, a grievous sin that one of the worst that anyone can perpetrate. There are cosmic consequences that come from spilling one's own blood, after all.) Tara found that she had trapped herself by the lies she's constructed about her identity; Eric by the unexpected shame he encounters (via his "bad dream") and by his amnesia (it's both freedom and slavery, in a way); Arlene and Terry by the fear they have of their son; Pam by her narcissism; and Marnie actually finds herself physically imprisoned by Bill Compton.

Cages don't always have bars; some are gilded and some are made of silver. But for those who are imprisoned, the likelihood of escape can often seem like a faded dream: Tara comes clean to Sookie but is betrayed by her best friend, who keeps a dark secret from her. Eric remembers Godric, but the memory brings with it an extraordinary amount of pain and self-loathing. Tommy squares off with his abusive parents but ends up killing them in his rage. For all of Marnie's talk of liberation and exploration, she's being taken over by a malevolent spirit.

That spirit is, of course, Antonia, burned as a witch in medieval Spain's Inquisition, a victim of the Church and of vampires, who turned the tables on her captors and forced all vampires within 20 miles to walk into the sun. A fitting act of vengeance by a woman who was imprisoned, bitten, and burned by the vampires who feared her power. In the present, she's possessing Marnie in a magical quid pro quo, granting the mousy witch a true taste of power in exchange for the ability to work further revenge against the bloodsuckers: stripping Eric of his memory, reducing Pam's face to goo.

But Marnie is a catspaw, even if she doesn't realize it. Her circle has been corrupted, her soul given over to the blackest of magic, her body a vehicle for someone else's revenge quest. Still, even she is staggered by what happens when she gives Sookie a reading at Moon Goddess Emporium, as the spirit of Adele comes through (thanks to Sookie's telepathy) and tells Sookie (A) not to give her heart to Eric Northman, and (B) that she should run and get the hell away from Marnie. (I was pleased to see that it was the actual voice of Lois Smith speaking here; it gave the scene an unexpected jolt of emotion and a true sense of frisson to hear the long-dead Adele reach out to her granddaughter.)

Marnie, of course, is betrayed by someone she thought was a member of her circle, but who was actually a spy for Bill Compton. The look of horror on her face as she's thrown to the ground and hogtied was priceless. Where is your spirit now, Marnie? But Bill also didn't bargain that Marnie was telling the truth: she has no idea how to reverse the spells she cast against Eric and Pam. Which is a bit of a problem for "beekeeper" Pam, whose face continues to fall to pieces. (Bill, meanwhile, has to glamour poor Portia in order to end their incestuous relationship, inserting himself into her mind as a figure of menace and terror.)

The only knowledge that Bill is able to glean this week comes, rather unexpectedly, from Pam herself, who lets slip--in the heat of the moment--that Marnie has stripped Eric of his memory and turned him into a shell of himself... and that he's being hidden away by Sookie. My heart ached for Pam here. It's such a slip of the tongue, such an error, that she's immediately grieved to realize the damage she's caused. (In fact, the episode ends on heartbroken Pam's plea of forgiveness to her distant maker. For more on this, read my interview with Kristin Bauer van Straten here.) Given her obsession with her appearance, Marnie/Antonia's spell niggles away at Pam's resolve, her sense of self, her very identity. Gone are the spiky denim jackets, the leather, the heels: she's the very embodiment of Death itself here.

Elsewhere, I loved Eric's dream sequence and how it contrasted with the reality of his domestic situation, as he dreams of coming upon Sookie asleep in her lingerie in her bedroom, before he and Godric feed on her. (As Godric tells him that he is unworthy of love, unworthy of anything good or pure. He is, after all, Death made flesh.) In reality, Sookie is sleeping in a grungy old t-shirt and Eric doesn't feed on her, but is reduced to a crying, mewling kitten who curls up beside Sookie in bed. His bad boy persona stripped away to reveal a purity inside that she had never encountered. (It's no wonder that she's falling for him, really.) And there's a juxtaposition between his childlike tears and his man's body. Alexander Skarsgard plays this scene with pitch-perfection, never removing the dangerous element to Eric's nature but reveling in the sudden innocence of his amnesiac state, the childlike way he wants to lay beside Sookie, to have her hold him, to comfort him after his "bad dreams." But she's in bed with a tiger and doesn't realize it...

And, sure enough, by the episode's end, the two are kissing outside Sookie's house, despite Gran's warnings not to give Eric her heart ("it's only temporary," Adele says, referring to Eric's amnesia), Sookie's own misgivings, and Tara's fury at discovering that Sookie is harboring the vampire who tortured Lafayette, sold her to Russell Edgington, and tricked her into drinking his blood. There's a sense of excitement and danger here, but also of dread, because one day Eric *will* remember, will regain his sense of self. And then it will be Sookie who's trapped, and not Eric Northman.

What else did I think of this week's episode? Let's take a look in a hail of bullets..

• Tommy: Given that he's now killed Melinda and Joe-Lee, Tommy is poised to become a skinwalker, per Luna's story that a shifter can become one after they've spilled the blood of a family member. What this means for Tommy and Sam's relationship remains to be seen, though I did think it was smart on Tommy's part (never thought I'd write that) to shift into an alligator in order to thwart Andy.
• Who knew that alligators liked marshmallows?
• Loved that Lettie Mae ended up marrying Reverend Daniels, and embraced religion like it was her true calling. It seems that she's kept her "demon" at bay all this time, though still she's more than a little off her rocker. I loved her line about "what do you mean 'you people'?" to Arlene and her insistence that the sage would work just as well for a ghost as for a demon.
• Except, of course, that the sage and the singing seem to have had no effect on the ghost plaguing Terry and Arlene whatsoever, as seen from the matches that flicker to life of their own accord. Uh-oh... I still maintain that they have got to get that doll back to Hoyt and Jessica's house ASAP.
• Jason's dream managed to be sexy, creepy, and hysterical all at the same time, with Hoyt popping up to ruin his sexual encounter with Jessica and then as Jessica, moaning and astride Jason, actually disturbingly morphed into Hoyt. Given that her blood is now in his veins, anticipate some development of the Jason-Jessica dynamic (Semi-SPOILER: there are some great scenes between the two in next week's episode) as they come to terms with the shift in their relationship. It's good to see these two get some screen time together. Meanwhile, I was surprised at how much Jason's gang-rape was played down, as he seems to have suffered no discernable psychological/emotional damage as a result. He sort of shrugs it off when talking about it with Hoyt, as though it was a punishment for enjoying sex his whole life, and balks only when Hoyt tries to compare his ordeal with the troubles he's having with Jessica.
• Lafayette and Jesus: Jesus' grandfather is very, very, very bad news. We learned that he made a young Jesus sacrifice a goat in exchange for power, and I have a feeling that before their reunion is through, something else will be sacrificed as well. It takes death to awaken power, after all. I'm more than a little worried about these two in Mexico.
• Alcide receives a visit from the Shreveport pack leader, Marcus Bozeman, who threatens Alcide unless he joins the local pack, despite Alcide's insistence that he has "free agency" at the moment, given what happened in Mississippi. Hmmm, a raging werewolf who is based locally and has some serious anger management issues? I think we just met the father of Luna's daughter.

All in all, a good episode that set up quite a lot of payoffs in next week's stellar episode. I'm curious to see where the writers are taking the Eric/Sookie romance (as I've intentionally avoided reading the books to stay spoiler-free) and what the end game of the season is, as the war between the witches and the vampires heat up, with Sookie caught in the middle. But I'm curious: what did you think of this week's episode of True Blood? Head to the comments section to discuss... Next week on True Blood ("I Wish I Was the Moon"), Sookie searches for Jason under a full moon; Marnie connects with spirits of the past; Arlene and Terry cope with a suspicious inferno; Debbie urges Alcide to join a new werewolf community; Tommy trades places with Sam; Lafayette feels the spirit in Mexico; Eric surrenders to his Kingʼs will.

Ep. 42 – Preview

The Way of All Flesh: Corruption and Decay on True Blood

"I'd never harm you." - Eric Northman

In the world of True Blood, vampires may be a part of nature, but they also exist in their own unique sphere of the natural world. After all, their status quo is vastly different than anything else on the planet: they shun the light and their bodies retain their youthful looks after centuries--or even millennia--upon this earth. There's an unnaturalness to their very naturalness, even in Charlaine Harris' and Alan Ball's vision of the world.

Which might explain why the vampires are so concerned about necromancy: it represents a real threat to the very balance of their existence. Vampires are dead, after all, and necromancers have an uncanny knack for controlling the dead. Which means that their very autonomy is at threat, and as we saw this week, necromancers like Marnie have the ability to remind the vampires that they are in fact the walking dead.

On this week's episode of True Blood ("I'm Alive and on Fire"), written by Nancy Oliver and directed by Michael Lehmann, Pam learns first hand what happens when you go up against Marnie--or, rather, the vengeful spirit that continues to possess the mousy witch at the most opportune of times--when she attempts to force Marnie to reverse the spell she cast on Eric Northman. But Pam's forceful nature backfires on her completely, when the spirit (working through Marnie's body yet again) reduces Pam to a putrefied mess, destroying her beautiful face and pushing her body through the decaying process that the blood has kept at bay these more than 100 years.

It's this, as well as the spell cast on Eric, that reveal that the spirit is gleefully malevolent, seeking to torment and torture these vampires rather than kill them outright. Which means that she very likely has a personal motivation to do so, an axe to grind, a blood debt to settle. And when there are vampires about, there are very often many blood debts that follow in their wake...

(Note: While I've already seen the next two episodes of True Blood, my comments here are limited to only this week's episode.)

While Pam draws the short straw here, as her face literally falls apart before Lafayette, Jesus, and Tara's eyes, it's Eric Northman who gets a second chance at post-death life, thanks to Marnie's spell. This Eric is vastly different than the one who stalked Sookie, who callously installed himself in her home. He's far more innocent, a blood-thirsty naif who, in a child-like fit of hunger, devours Claudine and turns her to dust... and then, fangs out, turns towards Sookie for more. His insatiable hunger--still a deep, intrinsic part of him--is presented as being far more innocent. He feeds because he's starving: starving for life, for sunlight, for warmth, for the day.

And we see that reflected in the real jubilation he presents in the water, flapping about like he's having the time of his life, swimming in the sun like there's no tomorrow. But it's an ecstasy that's short-lived: his ability to daywalk is limited only so long as Claudine's faerie blood remains in his system. There's a drunkenness to this Eric, a boozy upbeatness (witness him pinching Sookie's butt and racing around her front yard) that's at odds with the darkness that follows when it becomes clear that he's burning up in the sun. Then, there's a sullenness to Eric, a child who has been sent to his room, a kid who wants Sookie to stay by his side, to hold his hand. But Eric isn't a child and he's not human, no matter how much more in touch with his humanity he may be right now. He's able to control his impulse not to feed on Sookie despite his addled senses after killing Claudine, but he's a wild animal in her house.

And, unfortunately, when you try and domesticate a wild animal, you can often get bitten.

It's clear that Sookie cares for this new Eric in a way she didn't his former self. So much so, that she's able to casually lie to Bill about Eric's whereabouts in order to keep him secreted away in the basement of her house. I thought their showdown on the porch was perfectly played, as Sookie reminded Bill that she had never lied to him. And Bill, acting our of duty rather than conscience, nearly crossed the threshold into Sookie's house, anyway. But the fact that he doesn't, that he refrains from breaking her trust, shows that he does still care about her, even in his new position as King of Louisiana. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, after all. Pam does her best to remind Bill of this at the beginning. His responsibilities are weighing on him, his moral compass attempting to point towards north, even as he searches for Eric (sent into the Wiccan group on his orders) and breaks up with Portia (he creepily discovers--thanks to Who's the Boss' Katherine Helmont--MONA!--that he's her blood ancestor). For all of the talk of decay and corruption, Bill tries to remain pure, retain his humanity, control his anger and the power that comes with his position. He chooses to trust Sookie, to not invade her space, to not literally cross that line.

Jason, meanwhile, learns that death is often the only way out of a situation. After being raped by dozens of Hot Shot townies while in captivity, he's able to escape when he convinces Becky to let him go rather than force him to have sex with her. (Which she doesn't want to do anyway, despite the orders of her uncle-father Felton.) Feverish and exhausted, he's able to get the jump on Felton (Jason, for once, shows signs of being clever) and kills him... before threatening to end Crystal's life as well if she doesn't leave him alone. Staggering through the woods, Jason collapses at the side of the road and is very conveniently found by Hoyt and Jessica, who rips open her arm so Jason can feed off of her.

I'm intrigued as to where this storyline is going. While Hoyt and Jason's friendship has been well developed since the very early days of the series, we haven't really seen Jason and Jessica interact at all, and the fact that Jessica's blood is now inside his veins may present some rather interesting side effects. Very curious to see just what the writers have in store for these two, and whether Jason could actually represent a threat to the fragile relationship between Jessica and Hoyt. Hmmm...

I absolutely hated all of the scenes this week between Sam and Luna, if only because of the irritating saccharine quality of the Emma stuff. No offense to the child actor playing Luna's daughter but I find it blood-curdling when kids don't act like normal kids and dial up the cuteness unrealistically. Emma was just that, with her "Sam, stay!" line, the Barbie dolls, and the "I'm going to sit next to you bit." It felt like we were watching an entirely different show than True Blood here, one that was far more cheesy than anything we've seen to date. The scene's main focus, however, was to demonstrate why Luna is so secretive and has been keeping Sam at a distance: (1) she has a kid, and (2) her ex is a werewolf with a serious jealous streak. As for who he is, I wonder if he knows Alcide and Debbie, and if the writers are going to try to bind those two storylines together soon.

Elsewhere, poor Tommy realized that he made a Very Big Mistake going back to see Melinda, when his mother and the sadistic Joe-Lee spring their trap, lacing a chain around Tommy's neck and squeezing the life out of him so he'll be "obedient" and go back into the ring for them. (I was happy to see Jason get out of Hot Shot (finally!), hopefully ending that creepy/gross/depressing storyline for a while, but now the Mickens are in it again? Argh. I'm so tired of the low-rent elements of these storylines.) While Tommy's actions are in response to Sam's disinterest in his brother (particularly in fleecing Maxine), I think he's realized now which members of his family really don't care about him. To his parents, Tommy is a commodity, an investment, a money-making scheme. Their true corruption and mercenary nature is all the more apparent here. Just look how willingly Melinda is to betray her flesh-and-blood, to pull the wool over his eyes so that Joe-Lee can throw that chain around his neck. Like Jason discovered, the only way out of her might be to bring Death to this circle...

And speaking of Death, what do we make of little Mikey's writing efforts on the wall of Arlene and Terry's living room? "Not your baby," it reads in a child-like scrawl, but I'm not entirely convinced it's referring to their baby. After all, Arlene is his mother. But there's the matter of that creepy, creepy doll that Jessica gave them, one that's connected to Jessica and Hoyt's house and which likely wants to go back home. We've seen what happens when they tried to drown it or toss it into the dump... It has an uncanny way of making its way back to their place, which means it has some deep connection to their house, rather than to Mikey. I think his parentage is a red herring and that there's something else going on here. The automatic writing reminded me of the way that Marnie found the book containing the counter-spell for Eric, which means that a spirit is guiding Mikey's hand. But for what purpose? And why are things escalating the way that they are here? Curious...

What did you think of this week's episode? Were you bothered by the Sam/Luna/Emma stuff? Where do you think Tommy's storyline is heading? Feeling sorry for poor Pam? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on True Blood ("Me and the Devil"), Sookie nurtures Eric; Bill gets involved personally in the necromancy crisis; Pam takes the veil; Sam becomes Tommyʼs accomplice; Arlene and Terry look to religion to solve their problem; Jesus and Lafayette head to Mexico to harness a shamanʼs power; Jason convalesces.

Ep. 41 - Preview

Strength of Conviction: An Advance Review of Season Four of Damages

"If you have to ask the question, you already have your answer." - Patty Hewes

Serpentine legal thriller Damages returns for a twisty fourth season of backstabbing and betrayal, though if you don't have DirecTV, you'll have to wait until the inevitable DVD release to check in with Glenn Close's Patty Hewes and Rose Byrne's Ellen Parsons. The show, which aired its first three seasons on FX, moves over to the satellite platform's The Audience Network (formerly called The 101 Network) for an exclusive run. (That's right, exclusive. You're not going to see it anywhere else.)

Given its nature, Damages is one of those tense, labyrinthine dramas that's nearly impossible to discuss without spoiling the plot in some fashion, making it really, really difficult to review in advance. The first two episodes of Season Four ("There's Only One Way to Try a Case" and "I've Done Way Too Much for This Girl"), which I watched a few weeks ago, require little knowledge of the previous three seasons, but--as always--avid viewers are rewarded for their patience and attention. (Minor spoilers follow.)

In this case, the central mystery revolves around High Star, a Blackwater-style private military contractor in Afghanistan, and the wrongful death lawsuit against the company and its founder, Howard T. Erickson, played with pitch perfection by John Goodman. But there are, once again, personal stakes for Ellen and Patty as well, as Ellen--now working for Hollis Nye's former firm--attempts to try the case, reaching out to her high school boyfriend Chris Sanchez (Chris Messina), who worked for High Star. Questions of government malfeasance, of bureaucratic protection, of greed and moral obligation, loom large over the season.

"What price success?" seems to be the major throughline here, seen not just in the motivations of Erickson and his High Star cohorts (including an enigmatic and deadly fixer played by Dylan Baker), but also within the dynamic between Ellen and Patty. Both women have been changed by their collision with one another, not necessarily for the better. Each has taught the other, blurring the line between student and teacher further still. There's a sense that Ellen has perhaps learned too well at Patty's knee, that her mentor's methods have perhaps corrupted her inexorably.

In Season Four, these two are on far more equal footing, and the question that Ellen asked at the end of the third season--unanswered, hanging in the air--colors their interaction. Was it all worth it? Both Patty and Ellen's lives have changed considerably since their first meeting at the beginning of the series, and their encounters here are charged with both distrust and co-dependence. As wary as they each are of each other, they need one another more than either would care to admit. Their lives may have gone in very different directions--SPOILER ALERT!--as three years have gone by since we last saw them. While everyone in Patty's life has seemingly moved on or died or disappeared, she has remained ever constant, never changing, just as vengeful and malevolent as she ever was, just as ruthless to her opponents in court or her adversaries in her personal life. (Witness the firing of a subordinate in the first episode of the season to see what I mean.)

We know that Patty wasn't a very good mother to her son Michael; we saw just how far she was willing to take her punishment of Michael's girlfriend Jill last season, and we're forced to see the ramification of those decisions: the alienation and estrangement from her son, the result of her meddling come to life. Look for Tom Noonan's Huntley--now retired from the police force--to return as a private detective, hired by Patty to track down her missing son. I'm happy to see Huntley back here; his lupine way of interrogating, of asking questions, and turning evidence over in his mind haven't diminished with retirement. He's just as keen and perspicacious as he was before, seeing instantly the skull beneath the skin, the truth behind the lie.

Close is once again in fine form in Season Four, demonstrating that callous and insensitive streak we know so well from Patty, the way that she refuses to back down from any challenge because she can't admit defeat. We get to see that both in her own class action suit--against a pharmaceutical giant accused of killing test patients--and in her interpersonal relationships, as she's forced to contend with self-evaluation in the midst of court-mandated therapy sessions after a (humorous) assault charge. (I won't say who with.) Byrne, strangely attired in 1980s-style throwback businesswoman ensembles, is tougher than she has been in a while, presenting a far more determined and obstinate Ellen Parsons, one who is less of a shadow of her mentor than a lighter photocopy, proving herself willing to resort to tactics and sleight-of-hand to get her way.

Elsewhere, Messina gives a searing performance as Sanchez, particularly in a scene in his van towards the end of the first episode, Baker shines with malevolent intensity, and Goodman is mired in moral greyness, a man who believes in "the gift of our convictions," even as he tries to keep his private military afloat under the scrutiny of a Congressional evaluation of his military contracts.

The move to DirecTV hasn't diminished the whiplash-inducing plot twists nor the socially-conscious plotting of Damages, though there is clearly much more leeway here for harsh language than on FX. (Just the first two episodes alone are particularly rife with swearing, lending the installments a little more gritty realism.) The first episode of the season ("There's Only One Way to Try a Case") is particularly strong, asking difficult questions about society, war, terrorism, guilt, and loss. The price of life in the free world and just how far removed Patty and Ellen's lives are from the front lines in the longest war America has ever known. Ellen's question to Patty has never felt more relevant, really.

The second episode ("I've Done Way Too Much for This Girl"), alas, drags a bit and squanders some of the momentum of the season opener. But there's a lot of set up here, between Patty's sessions with her shrink (Fisher Stevens), her quest to find Michael, Chris' uncomfortable situation, and the lengths High Star's associates will go to keep certain matters under wraps, all jockeying for center stage. Still, that's a minor complaint with so much new content--and a revised status quo--to set up at the start of the fourth season.

Ultimately, Season Four of Damages may lack the visceral crackle of the first season's opener, but there's more than enough dread and mystery to go around here. You'd be wise to spend your Wednesday evenings with Patty and Ellen this summer... or wait for the DVD, if that's not an option.

Season Four of Damages begins tomorrow night at 10 pm ET/PT on DirecTV's The Audience Network.

A Doll's House: Games People Play on True Blood

As often happens in Bon Temps, people don't seem to be falling together, but rather falling apart.

Case in point: star-crossed lovers Jessica and Hoyt, who have embarked on a life of domesticity together, only to find that playing house isn't as easy as it looks from the outside. Over the last few weeks, we've seen these two engage in all manner of domestic sparring, as insignificant squabbles blow into something bigger and more indefinable about their relationship: an argument over dinner turns into a raw-egg-eating contest, a trip for Advil becomes a case of Jessica feeding on another man, and a confession turns into something brutal and heart-breaking here.

On this week's episode of True Blood ("If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyinʼ?"), written by Alan Ball and directed by David Petrarca, the widening chasm between Jessica and Hoyt looked all the more vast and empty, as something terrible came between the two young lovers on opposite sides of the vampire-human divide. And in the middle, that awful, creepy doll sat smiling its menacing grin, emblematic of both what these two will never share together... and of something else. Something that slouches towards Bethlehem, in a way.

While these two have had their ups and downs, I never thought that I'd see the day where Jessica forcibly glamoured Hoyt so he would forget something he learned. We've seen what happens to those who undergo glamouring way too often (waving at you, Ginger!), so I'm a little concerned about the precedent that this sets within Jessica's mind. It was bad enough that she went outside of their relationship for sustenance (her explanation: she wanted to eat something different), but to erase the knowledge from Hoyt's mind crossed another line altogether. It was a gross invasion of his mind, as she ripped away the unpleasant memory from Hoyt and reduced him to a lovelorn schoolboy once more. What's worse is the fact that Hoyt immediately knew what she was doing to him and tried to stop her, before she slammed him against the door.

But that's not the only sense of darkness that's emerging between these two. There's that wholly creepy baby doll that both Jessica and Hoyt claim to have gotten rid of, that keeps turning back up in the house once more. Which means two things: (1) that it's most definitely supernatural in origin, and (2) that it's connected to that house. Which means likely that whoever--or whatever--is moving it back inside has more of a claim on the house than neither of them do. Worse still is the fact that Jessica gives said doll--and whatever preternatural leanings it might have--to Arlene and Terry's baby to play with. Given that said baby is the spawn of serial killer Rene and that Arlene has been plagued by visions of Rene and exploding blood vessels in her eyes, it's probably not the best plaything for a growing boy... and makes me wonder just what evil it will awaken within him. Eeek.

Elsewhere, Sookie had to deal with the fallout from Eric's amnesia as she brought him back to her house and tried to figure out what to do next, turning first to Pam (who got her ass handed to her by Eric) and then to Alcide, who has made a go of things with Debbie in the last year. (Now clean and sober, Debbie seems to be playing the perfect housewife, offering Sookie Vienna sausages and crawfish dip and a hug.) But it appears that Sookie will have to tend to Eric on her own and we get some suggestive scenes in which she washes Eric's feet and Eric appears dreamily innocent, all wide-eyed about the world... Though that doesn't stop him from chowing down on Claudine until she bursts into bright light and white dust. (Convenient that faerie corpses turn to dust.) While he seems to be extremely naive about his identity and the world (love how he called Sookie "Snooki"), his true nature isn't lost to him. He's still predatory and hungry, still drawn to the light that the faeries possess and to the sunshine in their veins.

As for Claudine, she's gone poof into a flash of light after she reverts to her true faerie form, replacing the beautiful elegance of her features with something base and repulsive behind the gilded facade. However, we do finally get confirmation that it was Claudine who came to Sookie's aid during her fight with the Rattrays in the pilot episode, "awakening the light" within her so she could telekinetically wrap that chain around her assailant's throat. (Interestingly, in the original, unaired pilot, we actually do see an actress playing Claudine, as she crouches in the bushes and furtively helps Sookie from afar.) As for why Sookie still ended up in such trouble time and time again, Claudine says that with so many vampires out there, she had to keep her distance. But all of the faeries' scheming is for naught: Sookie has no intention of returning to their realm, and Claudine becomes a midnight snack for Eric Northman. (One friend of mine--who is obsessed with the books--wailed about Alan Ball's decision to kill off Claudine here. I did, however, love the tongue-in-cheek shout-out to Charlaine Harris here; as Sookie waits up for Eric, she's reading a Harris novel.)

I loved the showdown between Tara and Pam, as Tara cocked a wooden-bullet-laden gun at Eric's protege. I'm not entirely sure I believe Lafayette willingly going into the belly of the beast to throw himself upon the mercy of Eric Northman after everything that happened between the two of them, but my disbelief there was paid off by that fantastic standoff. Alan Ball told me a few weeks back that there are major things in store for the dynamic between these two, so I can't wait to see how things develop here.

However, I'm beyond tired of the awful Jason/Crystal storyline, the werepanthers, and Hotshot in general. The whole hillbilly-junkie-shapeshifting creature thing has gotten really old, really fast and the grotesque nature of Jason's imprisonment, his rape by Crystal, and this whole notion that she and Felton are transforming him into one of them so he can help conceive a new generation of werepanthers is so entirely over the top and off-putting. Every time we come back to this storyline, I feel a queasy unease in my stomach, and I just what this plotline to come to an end already... While we know that Andy is under the influence of V and not thinking clearly (hence his antagonism towards Sam Merlotte), I'd think that somebody would notice a deputy sheriff going missing several days ago and look around Hotshot for clues. Sigh.

Sam, meanwhile, isn't falling back into Tommy's life easily, despite the effort Tommy seems to be making to try and bond with his estranged brother, offering him a ploy to buy Maxine out of the natural gas-lease rights she unwittingly has. Given the line about killing one's blood--and Luna's story last week about how to become a skinchanger--these two seem to be on a collision course as one of them will likely try to kill the other once more, continuing the vicious cycle that they seem to be trapped in. It was good, however, to see Sam relax a little, enjoying a drink with Tara even as they didn't exactly come clean about who they're seeing nowadays.

And not surprisingly Bill and Portia Bellefleur ended up in bed together, though he didn't end up feeding off of her, surprisingly. Bill admitted that he's too old for love (it takes "a young heart"), but I can't decide if he's just toying with Portia or if he means it, that he's still hung up on Sookie and is just using Portia for sex. Either way, I'm glad to see Bill--who is slipping quite easily into his role as King of Louisiana (witness the casual way he condemns a vampire to the one true death)--paired with someone who is his intellectual match. I'm glad to see the writers using Portia as a woman who knows what she wants, both in the boardroom and in the bedroom. Curious to see where this new addition to the love rhombus (now a love... pentagon?) goes...

What did you think of this week's episode? Are you as turned off by the Jason Stackhouse arc as I am? Wondering whether Alcide will end up putting Eric in one of those abandoned houses... and whether Debbie will fall back into her old ways? Are you shocked that Ball killed off Claudine? Sound off in the comments section.

Next week on True Blood ("Iʼm Alive and on Fire"), Alcide helps Sookie hunt for Eric; Marnie searches for guidance to break a spell; Bill discovers a common bond with the Bellefleurs; Jason begs for liberation from Hotshot; Sam penetrates Lunaʼs inner circle; Arlene sees the writing on the wall; Tommy returns to his roots.

Ep. 40 Preview

Sunshine in a Pretty Blonde Bottle: Bargains on True Blood

There is a price for everything.

Whether it's a spell to resurrect the dead or a new screen door (plus a microwave, to boot), there are strings attached to every bargain, no matter how slight or how severe. Whether or not that toll is immediately clear remains to be seen, but what is inexorable is that the collector will come courting eventually, whether it's for your blood or your soul.

This week's fantastic installment of True Blood ("You Smell Like Dinner"), written by Brian Buckner; directed by Scott Winant, presented the residents of Bon Temps with some new bargains thrown into their already overwrought status quo. After last week's lackluster season opener, this week's episode represented a seismic leap forward in terms of quality. No B-grade sci-fi shenanigans here, but rather a taut (and at times quite funny) installment that depicted Sookie integrating back into her old life, only to find that things--including her best friend Tara and her childhood home--had been changed.

Eric's purchase of the Stackhouse home makes him believe that he has ownership over everything inside of it, including Sookie, as he has a very different definition of landlord than, well, anyone else on the planet. He believes it makes Sookie his... and he's gone so far as to install a cozy "cubby" in Sookie's house, emblematic of the liberties he's taken during this transaction. But, hey, at least Eric didn't sink his fangs into Sookie when he had the chance, right?

I loved Sookie's reaction upon discovering that the antique wardrobe in her sitting room actually contained a ladder leading to said cubby, though I was hoping we'd actually get to see Sookie and Tara have a domestic scene together. (Instead, Sookie jilts Tara to head off to confront Eric about his moving into her house.) I'm curious about why Sookie saw the faeries rushing towards her when Tara surprised her at the house. While Sookie shrugs it off, there's something more at play here, something more sinister. Is Tara being set up to represent some obstacle or adversary to Sookie? Is she a gateway to the faerie realm? Eh, I'm okay with not knowing right now because it kept Mab and the other faeries away from Sookie this week. And that's a Very Good Thing in my book.

But while Sookie might chafe against the new status quo at home (she didn't make that deal with Eric Northman, after all), there were a slew of other bargains being made across town. Jessica struggled with the demands of being a dutiful girlfriend and those of being a vampire, ultimately opting to forgo picking up Advil for Hoyt (after he sustained injuries defending her honor outside Fangtasia) to return to the club and pick up some dinner instead.

Lest we forget, Jessica is trapped in a bit of a limbo: sexually active, she'll forever return to being a virgin once she heals; a repressed home-school teenager, she had been shut out of the world; she's moved in with a human, only to feel her vampire side pulling ever stronger. She's destined to chafe at the shackles she herself has put on, unable to give herself a full identity without crushing one sphere of her life. And she definitely doesn't need "stepmom" advice from Sookie, who catches her biting a guy in the Fangtasia bathroom. There's a likely price to pay for this "infidelity" as well.

Elsewhere, Sam's new love interest Luna realizes the price of being a skinwalker; having inadvertently killed her mother during childbirth, she has the ability to shift into other people as well as animals. Her Navajo upbringing views skinwalkers as filthy, demonic beings, which might be why she has some troubles opening up to Sam... and I can't help but wonder whether Sam will seek to join her in skinwalker-hood. He did shoot his brother, even if he didn't kill him, and Sam of late has a lot of anger... especially towards Tommy, who is lurking on the periphery of Sam's newfound shifter group. Death opens the door to new powers, it seems.

Poor Jason. That's all I'll say on that front. The licking of the head wound nearly did me in...

The coven of witches convening under Marnie's aegis also aren't aware of the cost of their own actions. Lafayette and Jesus bring Tara along to their Wicca meeting, only for the entire meeting to turn to chaos when Eric Northman shows up, under the instructions of Bill Compton. (Bill, as we learned this week, was recruited in the 1980s by Nan Flannigan to infiltrate the vampire monarchies and spy for the AVL. As someone who believes in integration, he represents the future of the vampires... and he's been rewarded for spying on Sophie-Anne by receiving her crown after he orders his human staffers to kill her.) Eric throws his weight around, biting Marnie and attempting to cow Lafayette and the others with threats. (It's only Tara who reacts, grabbing a stake and attempting to *kill* Eric.)

But he too doesn't see the consequences of barging into a room containing a necromancer, even if Bill warned him ahead of time. Marnie goes into chanting mode, channeling something dark and ancient, and the coven manages to not only drive Eric from the room, but also erases his memory in the process. But what sort of magic is Marnie playing with her, just what ancient evil has been unleashed from whatever mystical prison it has been contained within. Power doesn't come without a price, and Marnie has just tapped into something strong and vengeful. Her hubris is immediately apparent. No sooner does the coven raise her dead familiar, than Marnie announces her intentions to raise a human from the dead. There are lines that are not to be crossed, and bargains that are not to be made. In choosing to step over that threshold, Marnie may be in a position to pay with her soul, but she doesn't see the eternal results of her actions.

This mousy housewife, all faded print dresses and croaking little voice, might just represent the greatest threat that the vampires have ever known... and out of the innocence of Wicca might come a darkness strong enough to swallow Bon Temps in the process.

All in all, a thrilling episode that brought the tension, pacing, and cliffhanger ending that the season opener seemed to be lacking. Seeing Eric wander aimlessly down the road, with no direction and no identity, sets up an array of intriguing story possibilities, and makes me wonder just what's to come. I'll say that Alexander Skarsgard is absolutely amazing in next week's episode, playing Eric as a blank slate in search of answers. Or at least a shirt.

What did you think of this week's episode? Did it make up for last week? What do you make of Fiona Shaw's Marnie? Do you miss Tara and Sookie's old relationship? What did you make of Arlene's eye bleeding? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on True Blood ("If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyinʼ?"), Sookie makes a deal with Eric, and reconnects with Alcide; Bill punishes an errant vampire and counsels a guilt-ridden Jessica; Jason is cast as a reluctant savior; Tommy eyes a scam and alienates Sam; Marnie flexes her newfound powers; Pam delivers an ultimatum to Lafayette, Tara and Jesus; Eric spoils Sookieʼs faerie reunion.

Ep. 39 Preview

Time Flies: Thoughts on the Season Premiere of HBO's True Blood

I don't know about you, but I'm kind of sick of faeries, and it's only the first episode of the season...

In my advance review, I was extremely upfront about my feelings about the handling of the faerie court and the opening sequence of the first episode of Season Four of True Blood ("She's Not There"), written by Alexander Woo and directed by Michael Lehmann, which depicted just what happened to Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) after she disappeared into the light at the end of last season. What we encounter is a seemingly, well, fairy tale kingdom where human-faerie hybrids snack on light fruits and hang out interminably by a lush fountain courtyard.

Alas, nothing is as it seems and all that glitters is not gold... the tranquility that the tableau presents is once more a false front, a shiny facade concealing the waste and desolation of the faerie realm, which looks rather like the dusty canyons near Calabasas. What follows is a B-movie chase as faeries lob light grenades at Sookie and her granddaddy Earl (Gary Cole), who attempt to flee back to the earthly realm of man once Sookie goes all microwave fingers on Queen Mab.

Yawn. Not how I would have started us back in Season Four. There was something entirely... off about the whole sequence which seemed tonally out of place from True Blood as a whole. Yes, this is a series that is constantly reinventing itself and reimagining its own limits, but I never thought I'd actually find myself watching some weird Syfy Saturday night telepic whilst I was actually watching True Blood. Wisely, this sequence seems to exist to (A) demonstrate that the faeries in question are not actually Disney versions, but the darker versions glimpsed in folklore, and (B) to get Sookie back to Bon Temps as quickly as possible.

It's the second reason that's the most successful, revealing just what happened to Barry the Bellhop from Season Two (he's also part faerie) and what ever happened to Sookie's missing grandfather, who has spent the last twenty years in the faerie realm, unaware that time has been passing. His death is the rare emotional beat in the opening sequence, as he turns to dust on Adele's grave, finally reunited with his lost love. But the return to earth actually has a third and more important purpose: it allows Alan Ball and the True Blood writing staff to achieve something they haven't done in the past. Yes, a time jump.

Throughout the series, each season has started just seconds or minutes after the conclusion of the previous one, but it was absolutely necessary to get us out of the doldrums of last season and advance the plot significantly. Thus, a one-year jump that finds Sookie grappling with the fact that only a few minutes have past for her while over a year has gone by during which everyone else in Bon Temps is existing in a new status quo. While Sookie blinked, everyone else changed, allowing the series to jump ahead to explore the new circumstances that the characters find themselves in. It's a smart way of breaking the series' time-based narrative device, while allowing the audience to share Sookie's perspective, as she's forced to come to grips with the changes in Bon Temps.

So what's going on with everyone? Let's take a look, character by character.

Eric: He's now purchased Sookie's house right out from underneath her, allegedly as proof of his faith that she was still alive and would come back to Bon Temps eventually. While this makes him her landlord of sorts, it also seems to demonstrate that Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) feels he has certain, er, property rights as the owner of Sookie's ancestral home. In other words, "You're mine!"

Bill: William Compton (Stephen Moyer) is now--wait for it!--the Vampire King of Louisiana, and Eric's boss. Looks like he managed to get one over on old Sophie-Anne, though we'll get more on what happened there in the next few weeks. And Bill seems to be operating under the shared notion that the vampires need to reform their image, something that the AVL agrees with. (Hence that hilarious public service message from Kristin Bauer van Straten's Pam about Fangtasia being for everyone.) He's been under suspicion as Sookie's killer, and provides her with an alibi when she returns to town, saying that she was acting on his authority.

Jason: Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is now a deputy sheriff, serving under Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer), who appears to be addicted to vampire blood. And, despite the fact that no one has heard from Crystal in over a year, Jason has continued to care for the poor, in-bred denizens of Hotshot, bringing them food and supplies, and repeatedly fixing their refrigerator... That is, until he's clocked over the head and locked inside said fridge. Oh, Jason...

Lafayette: Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) hasn't gone soft in the last year, though he did find a new coif to go along with his saucy attitude. He and Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) are still going strong in a committed relationship, though Jesus pulls one over on Lafayette and brings him to his Wicca group, where Lafayette is introduced to Marnie (Fiona Shaw). And just like that, their circle is completed as Lafayette's innate abilities seem to super-charge the group. Marnie is able to successfully bring her dead familiar back to life, thanks to Lafayette's presence... and he's scared out of his wits when Marnie channels poor Eddie to deliver a rose to Lafayette. Eeek.

Tara: Tara is now living in New Orleans under a new identity. As Toni, she's a foxy boxer in a lesbian relationship, though she seems to be far more level-headed than angry. (Notice: she keeps the $20 from the drunken would-be john, rather than kicking his ass.) But she's also living a lie, telling her girlfriend all number of falsehoods as she slips deeper and deeper away from her life as Tara. A text from her dad about her dead grandmother? Please. But whether she comes back to Bon Temps now that Sookie's back in the land of the living remains to be seen...

Sam: After shooting his brother (who is now living with Maxine Fortenberry as a Hoyt manque), Sam (Sam Trammel) is trying to deal with his anger management issues, and he's found a collective of other shifters with whom he can open up about his true nature... and go riding in the woods as a horse. (I loved the bait-and-switch here; while it seemed like they were swingers, they're actually secret shifters.)

Jessica and Hoyt: Bon Temps' resident romantic couple is going through some serious problems one year after moving in together. As Hoyt (Jim Parrack) bristles against the fact that Jessica isn't performing any of her duties as his girlfriend (no food in the house, despite the fact that he's feeding her with his own blood), Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) snaps. What follows might just be one the most disgusting scenes ever on True Blood as Jessica cracks some eggs into a pan and slops the uncooked eggs--shells and all--onto a plate as Hoyt tucks in. Their stubbornness and anger, at least, quickly turns to humor, indicating that there's still some hope for these two. Sigh. But that scene at Fangtasia, as Jessica finds herself wanting a taste of someone else, doesn't bode well...

Arlene and Terry: Our Merlotte's mainstays (Carrie Preston and Todd Lowe) have already given birth to their darling little baby boy, thanks to the time jump. But a year hasn't assuaged any of Arlene's fears about her son, the offspring of a sadistic serial killer. And he's already decapitating dolls the second no one's looking. Look for things to get seriously weird there over the next few weeks. Is it fitting that the Arlene/Terry storyline is unfolding at the same time as the witches' one? Hmmm...

All in all, it's good to be back in Bon Temps and as soon as we got away from the faeries and lumieres and canyon runs, I felt a lot better about this episode, though it wasn't the most exciting and gripping season opener. It's no surprise then that HBO made the second episode available a week early over on HBO Go, though I personally would have gone with a two-hour opener if possible, as Episode 402 has a hell of a lot more momentum and a better cliffhanger ending. But that's just me. Still, I'm hoping that the witches come more into prominence than the faeries and that things begin to move together quickly... But not too quickly. (I can also honestly say that Episode 402 is a huge improvement on this week's slightly lackluster season opener. Something to look forward to, at least, if you haven't caught the early showing on HBO Go.)

Still, I'm curious to know what you thought about the season opener? Did the faerie bits make you cringe just as much as they did me? Did you overlook the opening sequence to focus more on the character bits back in Bon Temps? Quality-wise, how would you rate this week's episode? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on True Blood ("You Smell Like Dinner"), Sookie adjusts to Bon Tempsʼ new realities; Bill reveals pieces of his past; Eric crashes a witchesʼ meeting; Jason gets his wounds licked; Andy struggles with his addiction; Sam learns of Lunaʼs special talents; Jessica satisfies her blood cravings; and Arlene witnesses strange behavior from her family.

Ep. 38 Preview

Time Flies: Thoughts on the Season Premiere of HBO's True Blood

I don't know about you, but I'm kind of sick of faeries, and it's only the first episode of the season...

In my advance review, I was extremely upfront about my feelings about the handling of the faerie court and the opening sequence of the first episode of Season Four of True Blood ("She's Not There"), written by Alexander Woo and directed by Michael Lehmann, which depicted just what happened to Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) after she disappeared into the light at the end of last season. What we encounter is a seemingly, well, fairy tale kingdom where human-faerie hybrids snack on light fruits and hang out interminably by a lush fountain courtyard.

Alas, nothing is as it seems and all that glitters is not gold... the tranquility that the tableau presents is once more a false front, a shiny facade concealing the waste and desolation of the faerie realm, which looks rather like the dusty canyons near Calabasas. What follows is a B-movie chase as faeries lob light grenades at Sookie and her granddaddy Earl (Gary Cole), who attempt to flee back to the earthly realm of man once Sookie goes all microwave fingers on Queen Mab.

Yawn. Not how I would have started us back in Season Four. There was something entirely... off about the whole sequence which seemed tonally out of place from True Blood as a whole. Yes, this is a series that is constantly reinventing itself and reimagining its own limits, but I never thought I'd actually find myself watching some weird Syfy Saturday night telepic whilst I was actually watching True Blood. Wisely, this sequence seems to exist to (A) demonstrate that the faeries in question are not actually Disney versions, but the darker versions glimpsed in folklore, and (B) to get Sookie back to Bon Temps as quickly as possible.

It's the second reason that's the most successful, revealing just what happened to Barry the Bellhop from Season Two (he's also part faerie) and what ever happened to Sookie's missing grandfather, who has spent the last twenty years in the faerie realm, unaware that time has been passing. His death is the rare emotional beat in the opening sequence, as he turns to dust on Adele's grave, finally reunited with his lost love. But the return to earth actually has a third and more important purpose: it allows Alan Ball and the True Blood writing staff to achieve something they haven't done in the past. Yes, a time jump.

Throughout the series, each season has started just seconds or minutes after the conclusion of the previous one, but it was absolutely necessary to get us out of the doldrums of last season and advance the plot significantly. Thus, a one-year jump that finds Sookie grappling with the fact that only a few minutes have past for her while over a year has gone by during which everyone else in Bon Temps is existing in a new status quo. While Sookie blinked, everyone else changed, allowing the series to jump ahead to explore the new circumstances that the characters find themselves in. It's a smart way of breaking the series' time-based narrative device, while allowing the audience to share Sookie's perspective, as she's forced to come to grips with the changes in Bon Temps.

So what's going on with everyone? Let's take a look, character by character.

Eric: He's now purchased Sookie's house right out from underneath her, allegedly as proof of his faith that she was still alive and would come back to Bon Temps eventually. While this makes him her landlord of sorts, it also seems to demonstrate that Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) feels he has certain, er, property rights as the owner of Sookie's ancestral home. In other words, "You're mine!"

Bill: William Compton (Stephen Moyer) is now--wait for it!--the Vampire King of Louisiana, and Eric's boss. Looks like he managed to get one over on old Sophie-Anne, though we'll get more on what happened there in the next few weeks. And Bill seems to be operating under the shared notion that the vampires need to reform their image, something that the AVL agrees with. (Hence that hilarious public service message from Kristin Bauer van Straten's Pam about Fangtasia being for everyone.) He's been under suspicion as Sookie's killer, and provides her with an alibi when she returns to town, saying that she was acting on his authority.

Jason: Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is now a deputy sheriff, serving under Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer), who appears to be addicted to vampire blood. And, despite the fact that no one has heard from Crystal in over a year, Jason has continued to care for the poor, in-bred denizens of Hotshot, bringing them food and supplies, and repeatedly fixing their refrigerator... That is, until he's clocked over the head and locked inside said fridge. Oh, Jason...

Lafayette: Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) hasn't gone soft in the last year, though he did find a new coif to go along with his saucy attitude. He and Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) are still going strong in a committed relationship, though Jesus pulls one over on Lafayette and brings him to his Wicca group, where Lafayette is introduced to Marnie (Fiona Shaw). And just like that, their circle is completed as Lafayette's innate abilities seem to super-charge the group. Marnie is able to successfully bring her dead familiar back to life, thanks to Lafayette's presence... and he's scared out of his wits when Marnie channels poor Eddie to deliver a rose to Lafayette. Eeek.

Tara: Tara is now living in New Orleans under a new identity. As Toni, she's a foxy boxer in a lesbian relationship, though she seems to be far more level-headed than angry. (Notice: she keeps the $20 from the drunken would-be john, rather than kicking his ass.) But she's also living a lie, telling her girlfriend all number of falsehoods as she slips deeper and deeper away from her life as Tara. A text from her dad about her dead grandmother? Please. But whether she comes back to Bon Temps now that Sookie's back in the land of the living remains to be seen...

Sam: After shooting his brother (who is now living with Maxine Fortenberry as a Hoyt manque), Sam (Sam Trammel) is trying to deal with his anger management issues, and he's found a collective of other shifters with whom he can open up about his true nature... and go riding in the woods as a horse. (I loved the bait-and-switch here; while it seemed like they were swingers, they're actually secret shifters.)

Jessica and Hoyt: Bon Temps' resident romantic couple is going through some serious problems one year after moving in together. As Hoyt (Jim Parrack) bristles against the fact that Jessica isn't performing any of her duties as his girlfriend (no food in the house, despite the fact that he's feeding her with his own blood), Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) snaps. What follows might just be one the most disgusting scenes ever on True Blood as Jessica cracks some eggs into a pan and slops the uncooked eggs--shells and all--onto a plate as Hoyt tucks in. Their stubbornness and anger, at least, quickly turns to humor, indicating that there's still some hope for these two. Sigh. But that scene at Fangtasia, as Jessica finds herself wanting a taste of someone else, doesn't bode well...

Arlene and Terry: Our Merlotte's mainstays (Carrie Preston and Todd Lowe) have already given birth to their darling little baby boy, thanks to the time jump. But a year hasn't assuaged any of Arlene's fears about her son, the offspring of a sadistic serial killer. And he's already decapitating dolls the second no one's looking. Look for things to get seriously weird there over the next few weeks. Is it fitting that the Arlene/Terry storyline is unfolding at the same time as the witches' one? Hmmm...

All in all, it's good to be back in Bon Temps and as soon as we got away from the faeries and lumieres and canyon runs, I felt a lot better about this episode, though it wasn't the most exciting and gripping season opener. It's no surprise then that HBO made the second episode available a week early over on HBO Go, though I personally would have gone with a two-hour opener if possible, as Episode 402 has a hell of a lot more momentum and a better cliffhanger ending. But that's just me. Still, I'm hoping that the witches come more into prominence than the faeries and that things begin to move together quickly... But not too quickly.

Still, I'm curious to know what you thought about the season opener? Did the faerie bits make you cringe just as much as they did me? Did you overlook the opening sequence to focus more on the character bits back in Bon Temps? Quality-wise, how would you rate this week's episode? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on True Blood ("You Smell Like Dinner"), Sookie adjusts to Bon Tempsʼ new realities; Bill reveals pieces of his past; Eric crashes a witchesʼ meeting; Jason gets his wounds licked; Andy struggles with his addiction; Sam learns of Lunaʼs special talents; Jessica satisfies her blood cravings; and Arlene witnesses strange behavior from her family.

Ep. 38 Preview