TV Reviews

True Blood – Nothing But the Blood

A lot of loose ends are tied up and a lot of new questions are asked. Basically an episode to bring everyone up to speed on what has happened and is happening in the world of Sookie, Bill, Sam, Tara, Lafayette, and Jason.

Really a major filler episode in this season premiere of True Blood. I guess it’s a good time to jump on board if you haven’t seen the show up to this point. So you wouldn’t be too lost if this was the first episode you’ve seen. Also the Dallas part mentioned in the summary for this episode did not occur yet as part of the running story.

Sookie and Bill are getting closer as all the untold stories between them are being told and accepted. Jessica’s existence is revealed to Sookie and why she has come to be there. The final scene between them is smoking hot! They are both definitely are in love. It will be great to see where this takes them as she really tries to understand his life and theirs together.

We still don’t understand everything about Maryann (I didn’t realize that was Michelle Forbes by the way!) but we understand that she isn’t a normal human being and she and Sam definitely have a past. Now we wonder what the future holds and her plans for Sam, and Tara.

Jason prayed and got his money so he will be going to the retreat he hoped for. I get the feeling that this might be a don’t wish for something because you might get it situation.

Another dead body and it wasn’t Lafayette as maybe we were lead to believe. It was Miss Jeanette and something had torn her heart out and left her in the back seat of Andy’s car. Andy has left the building (his mind) and the sheriff takes him off the case.

Finally we see Lafayette being held in a basement of the Area 5 Vampire sheriff Eric. They said don’t cross the vampires because they give out a harsh form of punishment. Remember they think of humans as cattle!

The rest of the episode wraps up old characters and introduces new ones. It definitely is worth watching to catch up with what has been going on in Bon Temps.

Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – You’ll Be The Death of Me

The killer is revealed and dealt with by Sookie, Sam, and Bill. Tara is now living with Mary-Ann who seems to be an acquaintance of Sam’s from his past. Jason is let out of jail and finds a new calling. Lafayette disappears.

Nicely done final episode and set up for next season. The killer story for the first season is wrapped up in a nice package with Sookie finally doing the deed with help from Sam and Bill. Sam helps Sookie keep Bill alive when he is burned really bad coming out in the daytime to assist her when she was in danger. It was a combination of the three of them who stopped Renee in the end.

Sam, Tara, and Lafayette are all there to comfort Sookie after the ordeal and we are wondering if Bill will really be OK. Jason is released from prison but not before Ori Dawson from a religious organization meets with him and tries to recruit him.

We see Lafayette attacked but not who did it and then he disappears and no one hears from him. You are led to believe it is Bill who did it, but who knows for sure until or if it is revealed.

Eric and his assistant drop Jessica off with Bill after their failed attempt to control her. It seems she is now Bill’s problem which could be quite bothersome going forward.

The season ends with a body being found in the back of Detectives Bellefleur’s car. I can’t wait for next season. Should be fun!

Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – To Love is to Bury

Amy gets killed while she and Jason are under the influence of V. Jessica turns out to be nothing like the girl from before. Bill turns to Eric for help. Tara’s Mom abandons her and Mary-Ann Forster bails her out and takes her home. Bill returns.

Obviously we know Jason is not guilty but now that we know who the murderer is it is no surprise that the killer follows Jason around as much as he does. Amy killing Eric was brutal and then how she tried to make up with Jason and got him to use the V the last time was devious. I did not see the killer getting her, but it does make sense.

Who is Mary-Ann Forster and is she a madam or a vampire? Bailing Tara out, beautiful house and car and a high disdain for the law in general. I have another bad feeling about this.

Paula’s Pie House turned out to be the place Cindy Marshall worked at and she was the first girl murdered by the killer. Sookie saw all of this through her visions and remember it all once she got some sleep. Sam is a good friend to her, but is he the right person for her? In a way he is as strange as Bill.

Lafayette showing up at the politicians reception was great. The politician is a real hypocrite as he has had a homosexual relationship and I don’t believe he personally had anything against vampires as well.

Bill shows up and Sookie bars him from her house and then she rebukes Sam as well. Leaving her alone for the night.

The finale should be a barn burner. Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – I Don’t Wanna Know

Sam admits he is a Shape Shifter to Sookie. The Inquisitor of the tribunal decides on a punishment for Bill. Everyone is at Arlene’s party including the killer. Tara tries to excise her demon. Lafayette knows Jason is up to something.

My favorite scene is the beginning when Sam says, “I’m a shape shifter.” Sookie says, “Shut the **** up!” How Sam kept this a secret so long is amazing and the fact he has only told Sookie tells us something. Of course he was sort of forced to when she woke up and he was nude in bed with her.

Tara gets her exorcism but it is a little different than her mother’s. She finds out later the lady is a fake and gets a DUI and ends up in jail. Somehow I don’t think her Mom is going to be able to come through for her the way she always did for her mother.

Eddie is playing Jason against Amy and vice versa and it seems to be working. Amy has backed off on her negativity toward him and is acting all sweet.

Arlene’s party was great until someone tried to kill Sookie. Again it was the same person who had killed everyone else. We know this because Sookie sees visions in his mind.

Probably the most interesting part of this episode is the Vampire Inquisition. It is amazing how much in this world the vampires have forgotten that they were human in the past. Their overall feeling of superiority does not bode well for humanity or themselves in general. I have to admit the Inquisitors judgment was an interesting finding. Make Bill become a sire to an ultra religious girl. He has never been a maker and it is truly a clever punishment.

Somehow I think Bill needs to get back to Sookie soon. We’ll see what happens? Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – Plaisir D’Amour

Bill kills Longshadow while he is attacking Sookie and now he must pay through some tribunal. Tara goes and sees Miss Janette. Sookie’s cat Tina is the next to die. Jason and Eddie bond.

The opening sequence is quite spectacular. I especially love the scene when the female vampire tells Sookie she has some vampire in her cleavage and then she says let me get it for you and reaches in and plucks it out. Then the other girl who had been glamored comes in acting all sweet and saying how great the vampires are. All the while Sookie is standing there dripping in blood.

Amy is psychotic and Jason better watch out. It was sort of interesting how Jason and Eddie bonded and in the end Jason was feeding him.

Sookie’s cat Tina is the newest casualty of the town. That was sort of interesting. Who is doing all the killing and why? It’s not the vampires so who is it? What was the reason for this one other than a hate crime or just trying to scare her? You’d think they’d be smart enough to realize she is not going to scare that easily by now.

Tara and Sam are getting closer. It was predictable that he would give her the money. Let’s just hope it helps her as much as it seemed to help her mom.

Bill asking Sam to look out for Sookie was interesting. It just secured in my mind about Sam and what he was. Bill knew it and I wondered how long he has. The ending was not that much of a surprise. They tried to throw you off by showing more than one dog, but it was pretty obvious Sam was a shape shifter and I was wondering when we would find out the truth. It makes you wonder if he has been protecting Sookie all these years for other reasons.

We’ll see, thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – The Fourth Man in the Fire

Sookie is in mourning. Tara’s mom is a big surprise. Sam is seen out for morning run in the nude and he denies it at first but then admits he is a naturist. Amy is one interesting girl. Finally the vampires come to Sookie for help.

Sam running naked through the forest was about the most normal thing to happen. He did claim to the detective later on that his parents were nudists from Beaumont, TX, but that doesn’t seem to jive with the locals records. I guess we’ll see where that goes.

Tara’s Mom is cured and acts as if she was never possessed making Tara breakfast and doing the clothes, going to church and bringing a friend home. Tara seems possessed now not that she always hasn’t seemed that way. She fights with Sookie, and then Sam and at the end we see her going to see Miss Jeanette. Again we’ll see where that goes.

Amy is really weird and without giving a blow by blow she sounds like she is sort of like those people from the first few episodes and that is where she gets her V. Jason sure knows how to pick them. Of course we will have to wait to see how all of that goes, but she did say she had faith in Jason. At least someone does. We get to see Lafayette’s source and in a way I felt sorry for that Andy vampire character in the end. You sort of feel like Amy is going to kill him. We’ll see.

The way Bill grabs Sookie in the cemetery really should have creeped me out but it didn’t. It was a little startling but he knew to hide himself and that was a good thing for him and Sookie. Eric shows up and has a “request” of Sookie. I like the way he says to Bill something to the effect, “you didn’t think you could keep her for yourself only did you?” Sookie is a smart girl though as much as she is stubborn. She makes choices and requests and sort of evens the playing field with the other vampires. At the end it was not a surprise what was occurring and we’ll see how it all turns out in the next episode. Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – Burning House of Love

We find out why Sookie has been so reluctant to live her life. Tara and her mother go to have the demon excised. Randy Sue is a smart girl. Jason goes to Fangtasia and meets a new girl. Bill saves the townspeople and then something terrible happens.

Sookie finally reveals what has been troubling her for many years to Bill. Her Uncle Bartlett is a pervert and touched her as a child. Of course part of the problem was she could hear what he was thinking besides. It is a surprise she ever trusted any man ever. No wonder she waited for a honorable man like Bill.

You still feel what Bill does is a little drastic, but those silly vampires they do seem to hold a grudge if you hurt the one they love!

The scene with Tara, her mother, and Miss Jeanette was great. The exorcism was very well done if a little quick and it was intriguing how it effected Tara as much as her mother. Jason tells Randy Sue he is going to Fangtasia and we finally meet a girl with some sense when she dumps him on the spot. He meets a girl named Amy who seems like the ultimate hippie as she lives one with the Earth and the moment. What’s really going on with Tara and Sam? Where is this going? It really seems to be a love/hate relationship.

Bill does the chivalrous thing at the end when he draws the Vampire Nest out of Merlotte’s and away from the humans. He realized the danger everyone was in. The vigilantes torch the new nest the next morning and kill four vampires that were inside. We are led to believe on is Bill and Sookie goes into a deep funk as the episode ends.  Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – Cold Ground

Adele Stackhouse is found murder in a pool of blood by Sookie. Bill and Sam come to her aid and her friends try to shield her from everyone. Tera and Sam hook up and Sookie and Bill’s relationship goes to a new level.

Adele is dead and Sookie feels all alone. At the funeral she hears what everyone is thinking and tells them to shut the …. up. 🙂 I really enjoyed Lois Smith as Adele and everything I have ever seen her in like the movie Twister. On a similar point I would like to say I am impressed with Anna Paquin and her work so far in this show.

Adele’s death was inevitable in the maturation of Sookie’s character. It forces her to make choices which she hadn’t been doing. She had been playing at life and as we see by the end of this episode she jumps in with both feet. Also I think they will have to explore the fact that Sookie was the target of the murder not her grandmother.

Jason is a screw up as he invited their Uncle Bill to the funeral and this obviously upset Sookie. He never seems to do the right thing. We see him continuing his “relationship” with Randy Sue.

Tera and Sam hook up again mostly because he needs someone and she is trying to escape from her mother. Something is obviously coming to head with that as well as her mother claims she needs to excise a demon from herself. The graveyard seems like a peaceful place and I don’t usually get that feeling about graveyards. I like how they have made it a focal point in the story and it is what separates Bill and Sookie physically and spiritually.

The ending is great when Sookie actually lives her dream with Bill and they end up together. Quite moving.  Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – Sparks Fly Out

Bill presents for Adele at the Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting. Jason goes back for more V despite his earlier problems and he continues his earlier ways. Sookie is in for a terrible surprise ending.

The presentation before basically the whole town was great. Bill uncovered the cross and made some very important statements about Old Glory and the descendants of the area and the Civil War. You come away thinking he may have swayed some people to like him.

Poor Jason! He keeps getting himself in deeper and deeper. After his unbelievable experience with V the first time he manages to get himself hooked again. You really have to wonder about Lafayette and how smart it is for him to be giving it to Jason who can’t keep his mouth shut.

Sam finally talks Sookie into at least going out with him but then he gets weird and aggressive and she rebukes him. Jason seems to see the light about Tera. Then at the end the V really gets to him and she finds him with Randy Sue, the divorcee out by the garbage. He really is a randy little boy. 🙂

Sookie gets home after taking a cab and gets a life altering surprise. Another terrible death. This is truly horrible!  Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman

True Blood – Escape From Dragon House

Dawn was dead and Jason is the main suspect. Jason drinks the whole bottle of V resulting in some problems for him. Sookie gets Bill to take her to the Vampire Bar in Shreveport where both of the dead women visited shortly before their deaths.

This is getting interesting. I love the music by Nathan Barr by the way it reminds me of soundtracks from Walter Hill movies with the music by Ry Cooder like The Last Man Standing starring Bruce Willis among others.

Dawn is indeed dead. Hey! Dawn of the Dead! Sorry 🙂 She was strangled! Jason and the women next door come in after Sookie screams and of course she puts Jason there last night.

Sookie starts using her abilities to try to figure out who did it as she is pretty sure her brother Jason didn’t. Tara even shows up at the police station and claims that she was with Jason the night before and gets him released. Jason has a bigger problem though. He took the whole bottle of V and swallowed it when he was in the police car after he was told to use a drop or two at the most. He has Priaprism which can be very painful. I won’t go into the cure for those who are squeamish.

Bill comes to Merlotte’s and Sookie asks him to take her to the Vampire Bar Fangtasia. Both of the murdered women had gone there before their untimely deaths. Bill agrees and they go. She calls it a Disneyland for Vampires. They meet the oldest vampire Eric and he speaks with them. To be honest we don’t really learn that much other than we get to see how single minded the vampires are in general.

A great scene at the end of the bar finds a State Trooper pulling Bill and Sookie over in his BMW and Bill proceeds to use his glamor on the patrolman with devastating results. In this world vampires have weaknesses but they definitely have some pretty intense powers. A surprise in that this weeks episode does not end in a cliff hanger. I think enough goes on for you to think about that a high powered ending may overwhelm the story line each week. There is a lot to ponder about this episode and where things are going. The ending was a little strange with Sam smelling Dawn’s sheets and pillows for some reason. The explanation for this ought to be really interesting. Thanks for reading…

Jeffery Yarter
The Lizardman