True Blood Review: Season 4, Episode One: When Faeries Attack

I originally intended to do this once a week, episode by episode, but I'm pretty sure I knew that that wouldn't really happen about ten seconds after I told myself it would.  True Blood is one of my fun shows - some would call it a guilty pleasure, but it's one that I don't feel guilty about.  Like Spartacus (can't wait until 2012!), there's a lot of sex, a lot of blood, and a lot of drama, just what I need after going through a Google Reader full of racism, sexism, and politics.

So, at the end of last season:
Sookie broke up with Bill, ran into the graveyard all distraught-like, and was convinced by her faery godmother to disappear into fairyland.

Jason decided to care for the people of Hot Shot, who apparently are not capable of taking care of themselves.

Tara got the fuck out of Bon Temps.

Lafayette hooked up with Jesus.

Jessica and Hoyt stopped acting like children and moved in together.

Bill and Queen Sophie Ann prepared to face off.

Sam fired a shot at his wayward brother Tommy.

I think that's all of the majors...

Oh.  And Arlene's having a demon baby (or so she thinks).

Jason thrown in with Pam and Jess?  Hmm.

This episode began with Sookie entering the faery world led by her faery godmother.  This ... is just as stupid as it sounds, and I could have done without the entire first 10 minutes of this episode.  We discover that the faeries are basically tricking all humans who have faery blood in them into eating the light fruit, which somehow makes it so that they can never live in the human world again.  This is to keep vampires from drinking their blood, because when Bill nearly drained Sookie last season, he was able to take a trip into the faery realm, which is not good, since faery blood is like crack mixed with LSD to vampires.  Sookie finds her grandfather, who thinks he's been gone from the human world for a couple of hours, but has really been gone for a couple of decades.  Sookie can somehow see the hidden ugliness in the faery world bleed through, and she and granddad make a run for it, bad CGI and all.  Back in the human world, Granddad dies and Sookie cries (again).  Why was Sookie the only one who could see the real faery world bleed through, and for someone who is only half faery, how was she so powerful that she destroyed the rest of the illusion?  Is Sookie not only a special human, but a special faery?  She's the speshulist speshul of them all?  Gag.  When will writers learn that it's more interesting to watch/read about a normal person navigate through extraordinary circumstances, then someone who discovers that they're even more extraordinary than everyone else around them?

Upon returning home, Sookie discovers that she's been gone for over a year, and Jason sold the house that her Gran left her.  I don't get why she's all, "I can't believe you gave up on me" to Jason.  She was gone for a year, and she was mixed up with a bunch of creatures that are known for killing humans before she disappeared without taking any of her personal belongings.  After months of searching for her, it was pretty reasonable for him to assume that she was dead.  I also find it interesting, upon re-watch, that Eric feeds into her narcissism by telling her that he never gave up on her, when all of her friends and loved ones did.  Keep in mind, to a 1,000 year old vampire one year is not that much time, especially if he has knowledge of the fae world that younger vampires like Bill might not.

Sheriff Andy is a V addict.  This can't be good.

Jesus is pushing Laffayette deeper and deeper into magic, now taking him to the meeting of a coven (although he says they're not a coven, they appear to be a group of people who gather to practice magic, which I believe is a coven).  Lafayette, to say the least, is skeptical, and spooked when Marnie, the head witch, channels his dead vampire lover Eddie.

Arlene's baby pulls the head off of dolls, therefore is a future serial killer.

Tara is cage fighting in New Orleans.  Wow, her body is what I'd like mine to be, but I'd order mine with hips.  Are there cage fighting clubs here?  I would like to go to there.

Jessica and Hoyt are having a fight about why Jessica, who does not eat food anymore, never has a hot plate of food ready for him when he gets home from work.  Really Hoyt?  She does not eat food.  Why would she want to cook it?

Pam is a cynical bitch who cannot hide her contempt for humans.  We have something in common.  Eric, however, is very good at playing the media game.  "Who would you rather trust, a vampire, or a politician?"  Touche, blond viking.  Touche.

Bill, surprisingly, is also very ... appealing, when he's not mooning over Sookie and has a taste of power.

Tara looks ridiculously beautiful in this poster.

Tara smokes now.  Boo.  Tara also makes out with girls now.  Yay?  She also seems to have gotten her anger management problem under control (although I always thought she had every reason to be pissed off all of the time).  I don't think that having a girlfriend makes her a lesbian, but I do think that it's been very easy for the audience to assume that this is what the show is saying, since there's been no other explanation.  I don't think that that's where they're going, but if it is, I don't like the suggestion that because she's had some traumatizing relationships with men, she's decided to try women for a while.  It has little to do with her relationships with men.  My guess is that she moved to New Orleans and told herself that she wasn't going to get involved with any men for a while and focus on making friends.  Met Naomi, got close to her, then found herself surprised at feeling more then friendly feelings for her.  I think that sexuality is fluid for most people, and Tara was in a space to explore that attraction, instead of deny it like most people do their whole lives.

Sookie's looking to go back to work at Merlotte's.  Why does Sam keep rehiring her?  She disappears whenever the fuck she feels like it, often without letting him know, and she still has a job?  He has every right to be "prickly" Sookie, you've come back all perky and chirping about "super secret vampire business" and expecting everyone to treat you like they didn't mourn you and the tragedy that is your mostly dead family for a year.  I had to laugh when Terry said that they were going to name the baby after Sookie, but then it ended up being a boy, and there's no boy version of the name Sookie.  There's not a girl version of the name Sookie, either.  It's an absolutely hideous name, and I have cringed inwardly every time I typed it for this post.

Sheriff Andy is a V addict.  This can't be good.  And is now shaking down past and present drug dealers like Lafayette for any drop that he can find.  I didn't like Jason telling Lafayette that nothing happened to him.  He was harassed by a drug addicted cop.  Andy has no right carrying around a gun and a badge in his mental state.

Tommy is under Hoyt's momma's care now... Sam shot his brother in the leg?  Goddamn that's fucked up.  I liked their little exchange though.  Sam:  "How's that physical therapy I'm paying for?"  Tommy:  "Could use a couple more months.  How's that anger management class?"  Sam:  "Might need to go more often."

Sexy time with Tara and Naomi.  When are we going to see Lafayette and Jesus bump and grind?  Tara is apparently Toni from Atlanta to Naomi.  And a text from Lafayette to Tara saying that Sookie is alive turns into a text from her Dad saying that her grandmother died.  This relationship will never work if Tara still thinks that where she came from and the things that she's been through define who she is.  Who she's become, considering her past, just makes her more amazing.

Jessica is tempted by a sack of blood other then Hoyt at Fangtasia.  Pam's hip to waist ratio is fantastic.  I loved her laughing at the ridiculousness of a baby vampire living monogamously with a human.  You can't fight your nature, Jess.  You've been eating the same meal every night for a year, you might need to try someone new.

When I first watched this episode, I thought that Sam's "anger management" involved dinner and a drunken orgy.  Instead, it's dinner and drunken shape-shifting.  I'm not sure which is better.

Jason is taking care of the people of Hot Shot.  I don't understand how they can't feed themselves.  Poor country folk like them would have figured out how to feed themselves ages ago.  The depiction of the Hot Shot people bothers me.  They are just an aggregation of very single "white trash" stereotype ever, from the dirtyness, to the incest, to the poor eating habits, etc.  Are we to believe that all were-panthers are inbred freaks?  They repay his generosity by knocking him into an ice chest.  So, they're not even good people, either.  Why do you not like poor people, True Blood?

A celebration of the life of Marnie's parrot turns into raising it from the dead.  This only works when Lafayette joins the circle, which makes me think that he's much more powerful then even Marnie.  One of the mousy witches is a spy for King(!) Bill, which I'm sure doesn't spell good things for the coven.

Sookie is apparently a hot piece of meat to
be claimed by the man who out-hunks them all.

As for the most talked about scene of the episode, in which Sookie, feeling safe in a house that in her head, still belongs to her, exits the shower, takes off her robe, turns around, and finds Eric in her bedroom ... look, I know he's attractive, but that does not excuse the rapiness of that entire scene.  He's violated her privacy, made her feel unsafe in what used to be her bedroom, and told her that bought her house because owning the house meant that he would own her.  "You're mine, Sookie", he says, right before he pops out his fangs. How is that not rapy?  It disturbs me that so many female fans wet their panties at that scene.  It might be fun in a fantasy, but in real life when men think they own you it is not hot and sexy, it's downright scary, and reading the stuff that I read every day, I can't tell myself that it's just a show.  Eric creeped me the fuck out tonight, and I felt like the hook at the end was "Will Eric rape Sookie?  Tune in next week!"

"Treme" Teaser: O Beautiful Storm

So beautiful.  Less than a month now!

H/T to Watching Treme.

Battlestar Galactica Space and Timeline

This will look like nonsense to anyone who hasn't watched Battlestar Galactica, but I love that someone took the time to do this.  Oh how I loved that show...

Treme: Season 2 Extended Tease (HBO)

Soon!

YouTube - Treme: Season 2 Extended Tease (HBO): ""

The Chicago Code

I can't remember the last new FOX show that I liked.  But I heard good things about this one, checked it out on Hulu, and I really, really like it.  I hope it doesn't get canceled, but we know how FOX rolls.

Trailer for Spike Lee's "If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise"

Trailer

True Blood: 2nd Half Season Preview

Season 3: Comic-Con Second Half Preview

Ooooooh!  A lot of the pivotal stuff in this preview happened in this past Sunday's episode, but a few things stuck out to me:

Most would assume that Sookie ends up in the hospital at the end of the season, but I suspect that it will be tomorrow's episode or the next one, depending on how long Lorena's attack is drawn out.  I'm hoping that the dream sequence that occurs while she's unconscious will shed light on her powers.

Jesus is back!  I figured he would be, Lafayette is too charming to be given up on that easily.

Bill in the sunlight!  Must be a dream or fantasy, unless there's some sort of life beyond the true death that Bill was supposed to have received from Lorena.

Nan Flanagan is a bad bitch.

Debbie looks a lot less trashy whilst trying to kill Sookie.  Murderous rage is a good look on her.

I really hoped that smushing Franklin's head in would kill him, but I'm sure that he's the one who's terrorizing Tara in the preview.  Side rant:  Tara is such a better heroine than Sookie is.  She may have made a grave mistake by not cutting Franklin's head off, but she still plotted, planned, and (more than likely) successfully executed her own escape and rescued Sookie in the process.  This, after being bitten, tied to various objects for 2 or 3 days, and fed just once in the same span of time.  What would Sookie have done?  Well, if the history of 2.5 seasons tells us anything, cried and waited for one of the many men (grrrrr, now Alcide?) who are sniffing her pretty blond ass to rescue her.  All of that southern sass does not make a heroine.  Real heroines are clever and slick and fight for a way to save themselves.  Tara manipulated Franklin so well, I wish she'd known enough about vampires to finish the job.  I can't wait to see how it ends with those two.

I might almost be nerdy enough to plan a trip to Comic-Con next year.  Might be.  Maybe.

True Blood: Episode 4 Preview

Awww man, I've got to wait another week and a half for this?

3rd "True Blood" Trailer

One week to go!  Looks like a fun ride this season.

A Drop of "True Blood"

'A Drop of True Blood' Trailer
Uploaded by trentisthenewpink. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

"Treme" - Eppys 1 and 2

A Mardi Gras Indian in full regalia.

A week off from work and I haven't managed to post more then this?  Boo on me.  Anywho, there's a little show on HBO that's causing a lot of local and national buzz.  I plan on faithfully watching it, both as a lover of this city and a fan of David Simon's The Wire, so here are some of my thoughts on the first and second episodes.

Episode 1:  "Do You Know What It Means"

• It wasn't until my second viewing that I understood most of the words that were said in that opening scene.  Guess who's not a local, nor a musician?  I do like that, much like with many scenes in The Wire, the writers do not care that most people won't understand that scene without multiple viewings.  I hate how most TV shows dumb things down for the viewers.  I like it when my brain has to work to understand what's going on.
• I love the opening, and you better believe that I'm getting this song.  I wonder if they'll change the singer, or maybe the song, each season?
• Boo to Steve Zahn's ass.
• I've always loved John Goodman, and thought that he was extremely underrated as an actor.  I did not know that he lived down here.
• I really hate recognizing houses and buildings, but not being able to remember what neighborhood they're in.
• Davis is an asshole.
• Albert Lambreaux's daughter grates, but it's probably because it's hard for me to imagine things from the perspective of someone who doesn't want to be here, whose's bad memories of New Orleans are more present then her good ones.
• The guy playing the friend of LaDonna's brother, who tells her that he was locked up when the hurricane hit?  I was an extra with him in Jonah Hex last summer.  We chatted for a while between takes.  He did well, I wonder if those were his first lines onscreen.  I've got to get an agent.
• God, Albert has got to gut that place pronto.  That mold is no joke, he's going to get himself real sick.
• I'm automatically inclined to believe that any brutality claim against an NOPD officer is true, so fuck that cop for being so rude to John Goodman's wife!
• "Broke ass horn player!"
• Oh, that scene with Albert in that Indian costume.  Man.  First you see sparkles in the darkness.  Then hear the yell.  Then there's the outline of all of those pretty pretty feathers.  I'm always awed by the time and effort that is put into those costumes.  Who would ever think that men could make such things of beauty?
• That stare that Albert gives his son when he's complaining about paying the water bill on a place they don't own?  I need to learn that stare by the time I have brats old enough to argue with me.  Wordless obedience.
• I've never seen a live jazz funeral.  It always seemed morbid, to stand around and observe such a personal moment between family and friends, even if it is in a public space.

Episode 2:  "Meet De Boys on The Battlefront"

• Poor bird.
• The intro song makes my hips move involuntarily.
• That must be hard for a chef to be cooking on a hot plate in her bedroom like some college student.
• I hope LaDonna hasn't given that contractor a lot of money.  Using one person's money on another job was just the beginning of the bullshit that they were on.  That man better give her what she wants, or he'll end up with a broom handle upside his head like those guys who got into a fight in her bar last eppy.
• Wow, this song "Careless Love" is awfully morbid.  Also, while I get his frustration with at dealing with the voluntourists since I've had to work with them for the past three years, I suspect that Sonny isn't a native himself, just someone who was here pre-flood.  I moved here in 2007, so I still have a little tourist in me myself.  Also, Annie is lovely, and reminds me of a friend of mines girlfriend.  I hope that her head doesn't end up in a pot.
• As someone with a degree in sociology, I fully appreciate African studies, women's studies, English, etc. but I agree with Creighton.  In an emergency situation, the courses that actually result in some sort of job straight out of college should be the ones that are kept.  I fully admit that my degree is mostly useless.
• So...Kermit Ruffins' BBQ smells like pussy.  Good to know.  And it's hilarious that out of all of the comments and commentary on all of the other local Treme blogs, no one mentioned this scene.  Am I just immature, or was that the funniest (and saddest) shit ever?  The things that men say to get out of trouble.  He knows she didn't buy that shit, but it kept coming out of his mouth.
• You can see LaDonna trying to hold her tongue about putting the bar up for sale.  I'm guessing that's going to be a strong point of contention in their relationship.  I've talked to so many people who wanted desperately to come back, it must be impossible for her to hear her husband say that Baton Rouge is their home now.
• "There's pride on Bourbon Street!"  Where?
• I just noticed on 2nd viewing that the cop that pinches Albert's son is the same douchebag that was nasty to Toni Bernette in the last eppy.
• Wasn't expecting the beatdown, but he kept warning him.  I should have seen the darkness brewing.  I still love the character, but he's definitely layered now, more realistic.  You may want to love everything and everyone about this city, but it's not all fun and games, and not every "poor New Orleanian" is a saint in need of help and sympathy.  I don't think that was built up frustration.  I think that if this had happened before 8/29, one of the lower Indians in his crew would have been sent after this guy, because you don't fuck with a Mardi Gras Indian chief.
• Slim Charles!  Aw, and their momma got all dressed up in her church clothes.  I think LaDonna's brother is dead.
• Hmm, Albert's neighbor from episode one didn't show up for this practice.  I wonder how many guys will be there next week.

I feel like it's too early for me to go into the in depth character analysis that so many others are doing.  Also, I hate repeating what's already been written many times before.  There are several blogs devoted to solely to this show, and hundreds of articles have been written since it's premiere.  I'd link to them but I'm lazy, so just click here and you'll find many useful links.  Now...previews for Sunday!

Ep. 03: Right Place, Wrong Time: Preview

2nd "Treme" Trailer

"Treme" Trailer

This looks fantastic, and I just watched Khandi Alexandar and Clarke Peters in "The Corner" playing drug addicts, and wondered "why aren't these people winning awards and shit?"  I need to find me some HBO come April 11th.



Thank you, Blog of New Orleans!

David Simon Interview on Bill Moyers "Journal"

I found this on Shadow and Act. Man, he is right about so many things.

HBO announces sequel to Spike Lee's Katrina documentary 'When the Levees Broke' | New Orleans Television - - NOLA.com

This should be good.

New Teaser for HBO's "Treme"

Love it.  The rumor is that the premier date is Sunday, April 11th.

Lost "Once Upon a Time" Promo

God I love Lost.  Can't wait until this season premieres.

Best Quotes from "The Wire"

I found this on /Film. The best quotes from one of the greatest shows to air on TV.  You may not want to watch if you haven't seen it yet and plan to.

"Dollhouse" Canceled!

Goddamn it. I hate FOX, they really make it obvious, more than any other network, that they don't know what the fuck they're doing and wouldn't know how to promote a good show if their money relied on it.

'Dollhouse' canceled: Are we peeved or pleased by this development?

Check out this page on nola.com

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