It's Date Night at Merlotte's!
Lafayette gets bashful around Jesus. LAFAYETTE PLAYING BASHFUL. This is what pure joy feels like! And then Jesus says he'll stay the nine hours and just hang out. Okay, I am shipping Lafayette/Jesus HARDCORE.
My next favorite pairing is the OT3 of Jason/Paperclips/Ink Stamp. Which then gets trumped by shirtless!Jason the Fake Cop and Crystal. I swear watching Jason stroll out of the police cruiser barechested and with aviator shades on--well, it was like watching a porno movie, only an intentionally funny one! And I'm writing this as I watch, but I enjoying the chemistry between Crystal and Jason, but I'm wondering... Is Crystal a ghost or something? Something supernatural seems to be holding her back--and I say supernatural because this is True Blood and there's all these hints that she has a secret that keeps her from feeling comfortable accepting Jason's attention. During the moonlight lake scene, I started to think: Is Crystal a Selkie? The emphasis on only being able to experience fleeting love underscores this idea to me. And how much would I LOVE if Crystal was a Selkie. That'd be so fricking cool.
Finally, Jessica/Hoyt continues to pull at my heartstrings. Oh, Hoyt, you're deliberately trying to make her jealous as some form of payback for seeing her with her churchboy the other night, but you're just wrong now. So my heart is aching for Jessica. But she's got her own pettiness going on with Arlene. How hilarious that Arlene won't look Jessica in the eye because she's afraid of being hypnotized, so Jessica tells the next guests to not tip the waitress with her vampire voodoo (okay, hilarious, but also disturbing).
Speaking of hilarious but disturbing, it's amazing how Franklin and Tara's interactions took a turn this week. Okay, I was laughing/disturbed by Talbot treating Tara like a dog in the opening teaser, but there's a bizarre possessive obsession going on with Franklin and his crazy abusive husband routine. That scene was mesmerizing in how fucked up it is, but also I'm kinda pleased by Tara being able to pull Franklin's strings a bit. Go Tara! And she totally starts manipulating him to take care of her: "We need to talk" and Franklin saying whenever woman say that, he goes black and wakes up surrounded by body parts. But her insisting about her needs and him promising to do better by taking her some place really nice... like, Shoney's in Vicksburg. LOL. Okay, abusive relationships like this aren't supposed to be hilarious, but somehow True Blood is balancing on a knife's edge with the humor/abusive darkness.
Sookie and Alcide continue to bore me. Like, I get that this is the main plot that's driving the entire season forward, but can it please at least be interesting? I think Sookie and Alcide have no chemistry whatsoever and basically Alcide is this big hunk of growly manmeat who's supposed to be super honorable and hot, but I have absolutely no interest in what he has to say. He's boring.
You know who's not boring? Eric. And Bill. And the King. Oh, boy, that conversation when Eric was trying to pin the V-blood on Bill, then Bill walks in and the King turns it around so that Eric is now on the defensive. And Eric then plays the Magister is evil and I'm trying to save my progeny" sympathy card. Which totally works on Talbot. And the King, too, who hates the Magister's anachronistic practices. So now both Eric and Bill are in the same house and it's like a powderkeg waiting to explode.
Oh, speaking of Talbot, I'm loving how Eric seems to be flirting with Talbot. Yes, Eric. You like to flirt with other men, don't you? Especially GAY MEN. Seriously, Eric is racking up the male conquests in Lafayette and Talbot and he seems to quite like it. So where's the Eric slash fic, people? Okay, the lime green sweater pretty much seals the deal for me here. Eric, you are so slashable. Not only does Eric love his bondage fun, but he's totally at home with his masculine self so much so that he enjoys the sexual appreciation of other men. Oh gah, Talbot and Eric looking over Japanese vampire erotica together. And when Talbot says, "Eric, you know as well as I that there's nothing new except someone new" and Eric laughs and then eyes Talbot flirtatiously. Ha! UST. Oh god, this scene leads to an Eric flashback--the best flashbacks of all! Wow, this flashback is really making me think of Angel and how as Liam, Angel just wanted to spend all his time between women's legs and drink. Though I think with Eric, it's clear that he's more delaying the weight of responsibility because of the burden he knows it will become once accepted. There's a vast difference between having to be king and being a merchant's wastrel son. And wow, so the King and the wolves are responsible for the death of Eric's family. That is one serious vendetta. And yeah, Eric is now king and he's accepted the responsibility of what it means to be a Viking king: vengeance. Oh yeah, and it's clear Eric's been looking for his enemies for a long time and hasn't forgotten. No wonder he lost his temper in that WWII flashback with Godric, when Eric slammed the wolf woman up against the wall. This really makes for a fascinating contrast with Eric: yes, he's still always being caught in sexual liaisons with women, but he also demonstrates a fierce sense of responsibility and affection to his family, as well as a strong code of honor (his own sort). Also, what is it about scenes where Eric loses a father figure? Gah, I again teared up when Eric was watching his father die. Again, a parallel in that Eric and Angel have father issues, but completely different in that Eric doesn't resent his father figures, but more nearly worships and idealizes them as models to live up to. Okay yeah, I'm loving Eric here. I loved the way the flashback ended too. Eric, in monotone, his face without expression, saying, "It's beautiful." And Talbot watching him, uncertain, but fascinated, saying, "Quite." Great scene. Fascinating.
Finally, Bill, who is extremely interesting, but dammit that was cold how he said no to Tara begging him to help. I'm thinking Bill/Sookie is dead in the water unless Bill turns around and saves Tara. Because the Tara/Sookie bond is strong and he knows this. So while Bill's descent into darkness is intriguing, and I'm now wondering if he's not perhaps playing a deep game where he hopes to turn on the King, I think he's crossed a line and needs to majorly redeem himself to have any hope of forgiveness. And that's not even touching on the fact that he just killed that poor dancer and brazenly walked into the King's home with his face covered in blood (revolting!). And then he becomes enraged at the news that Sookie is with a werewolf--so what? He can care about enough about Sookie to protect her from all these vampires, but he doesn't care about her best friend who Sookie loves so much she'd risk her life for? That's great, Bill. Which again makes me wonder what Eric will do when he sees Tara there. Because I'm getting the feeling Eric might try to maneuver a way to help Tara, not because he cares about Tara, but because he cares about Sookie and would no doubt realize that protecting Tara is important to her. Yeah, Bill's on my shit list at the moment. Sure, he goes to save Sookie and get her away from danger, but all he cares about is Sookie apparently.
Aw, Sam and his brother are bonding by watching Animal Planet. SO CUTE. His brother is becoming way less annoying and kinda adorable now.
Seriously, though, this episode was like the greatest shippy episode ever. If I counted the number of times I had to hold back a literal squee... well, it's embarassing. If I wasn't clapping at the hilarity of Jason's antics, I was feeling glee over the shippy moments. And the conclusion was awesome with Sookie breaking out her glow power. See, that is how you glow and make it cool. Not like Cordy's AtS Season 3 "let it go, baby, let it go" hokey crap which I hated. And seems like the King knows exactly what that glow means even if Marion didn't. Iiiiiiiinteresting.
My next favorite pairing is the OT3 of Jason/Paperclips/Ink Stamp. Which then gets trumped by shirtless!Jason the Fake Cop and Crystal. I swear watching Jason stroll out of the police cruiser barechested and with aviator shades on--well, it was like watching a porno movie, only an intentionally funny one! And I'm writing this as I watch, but I enjoying the chemistry between Crystal and Jason, but I'm wondering... Is Crystal a ghost or something? Something supernatural seems to be holding her back--and I say supernatural because this is True Blood and there's all these hints that she has a secret that keeps her from feeling comfortable accepting Jason's attention. During the moonlight lake scene, I started to think: Is Crystal a Selkie? The emphasis on only being able to experience fleeting love underscores this idea to me. And how much would I LOVE if Crystal was a Selkie. That'd be so fricking cool.
Finally, Jessica/Hoyt continues to pull at my heartstrings. Oh, Hoyt, you're deliberately trying to make her jealous as some form of payback for seeing her with her churchboy the other night, but you're just wrong now. So my heart is aching for Jessica. But she's got her own pettiness going on with Arlene. How hilarious that Arlene won't look Jessica in the eye because she's afraid of being hypnotized, so Jessica tells the next guests to not tip the waitress with her vampire voodoo (okay, hilarious, but also disturbing).
Speaking of hilarious but disturbing, it's amazing how Franklin and Tara's interactions took a turn this week. Okay, I was laughing/disturbed by Talbot treating Tara like a dog in the opening teaser, but there's a bizarre possessive obsession going on with Franklin and his crazy abusive husband routine. That scene was mesmerizing in how fucked up it is, but also I'm kinda pleased by Tara being able to pull Franklin's strings a bit. Go Tara! And she totally starts manipulating him to take care of her: "We need to talk" and Franklin saying whenever woman say that, he goes black and wakes up surrounded by body parts. But her insisting about her needs and him promising to do better by taking her some place really nice... like, Shoney's in Vicksburg. LOL. Okay, abusive relationships like this aren't supposed to be hilarious, but somehow True Blood is balancing on a knife's edge with the humor/abusive darkness.
Sookie and Alcide continue to bore me. Like, I get that this is the main plot that's driving the entire season forward, but can it please at least be interesting? I think Sookie and Alcide have no chemistry whatsoever and basically Alcide is this big hunk of growly manmeat who's supposed to be super honorable and hot, but I have absolutely no interest in what he has to say. He's boring.
You know who's not boring? Eric. And Bill. And the King. Oh, boy, that conversation when Eric was trying to pin the V-blood on Bill, then Bill walks in and the King turns it around so that Eric is now on the defensive. And Eric then plays the Magister is evil and I'm trying to save my progeny" sympathy card. Which totally works on Talbot. And the King, too, who hates the Magister's anachronistic practices. So now both Eric and Bill are in the same house and it's like a powderkeg waiting to explode.
Oh, speaking of Talbot, I'm loving how Eric seems to be flirting with Talbot. Yes, Eric. You like to flirt with other men, don't you? Especially GAY MEN. Seriously, Eric is racking up the male conquests in Lafayette and Talbot and he seems to quite like it. So where's the Eric slash fic, people? Okay, the lime green sweater pretty much seals the deal for me here. Eric, you are so slashable. Not only does Eric love his bondage fun, but he's totally at home with his masculine self so much so that he enjoys the sexual appreciation of other men. Oh gah, Talbot and Eric looking over Japanese vampire erotica together. And when Talbot says, "Eric, you know as well as I that there's nothing new except someone new" and Eric laughs and then eyes Talbot flirtatiously. Ha! UST. Oh god, this scene leads to an Eric flashback--the best flashbacks of all! Wow, this flashback is really making me think of Angel and how as Liam, Angel just wanted to spend all his time between women's legs and drink. Though I think with Eric, it's clear that he's more delaying the weight of responsibility because of the burden he knows it will become once accepted. There's a vast difference between having to be king and being a merchant's wastrel son. And wow, so the King and the wolves are responsible for the death of Eric's family. That is one serious vendetta. And yeah, Eric is now king and he's accepted the responsibility of what it means to be a Viking king: vengeance. Oh yeah, and it's clear Eric's been looking for his enemies for a long time and hasn't forgotten. No wonder he lost his temper in that WWII flashback with Godric, when Eric slammed the wolf woman up against the wall. This really makes for a fascinating contrast with Eric: yes, he's still always being caught in sexual liaisons with women, but he also demonstrates a fierce sense of responsibility and affection to his family, as well as a strong code of honor (his own sort). Also, what is it about scenes where Eric loses a father figure? Gah, I again teared up when Eric was watching his father die. Again, a parallel in that Eric and Angel have father issues, but completely different in that Eric doesn't resent his father figures, but more nearly worships and idealizes them as models to live up to. Okay yeah, I'm loving Eric here. I loved the way the flashback ended too. Eric, in monotone, his face without expression, saying, "It's beautiful." And Talbot watching him, uncertain, but fascinated, saying, "Quite." Great scene. Fascinating.
Finally, Bill, who is extremely interesting, but dammit that was cold how he said no to Tara begging him to help. I'm thinking Bill/Sookie is dead in the water unless Bill turns around and saves Tara. Because the Tara/Sookie bond is strong and he knows this. So while Bill's descent into darkness is intriguing, and I'm now wondering if he's not perhaps playing a deep game where he hopes to turn on the King, I think he's crossed a line and needs to majorly redeem himself to have any hope of forgiveness. And that's not even touching on the fact that he just killed that poor dancer and brazenly walked into the King's home with his face covered in blood (revolting!). And then he becomes enraged at the news that Sookie is with a werewolf--so what? He can care about enough about Sookie to protect her from all these vampires, but he doesn't care about her best friend who Sookie loves so much she'd risk her life for? That's great, Bill. Which again makes me wonder what Eric will do when he sees Tara there. Because I'm getting the feeling Eric might try to maneuver a way to help Tara, not because he cares about Tara, but because he cares about Sookie and would no doubt realize that protecting Tara is important to her. Yeah, Bill's on my shit list at the moment. Sure, he goes to save Sookie and get her away from danger, but all he cares about is Sookie apparently.
Aw, Sam and his brother are bonding by watching Animal Planet. SO CUTE. His brother is becoming way less annoying and kinda adorable now.
Seriously, though, this episode was like the greatest shippy episode ever. If I counted the number of times I had to hold back a literal squee... well, it's embarassing. If I wasn't clapping at the hilarity of Jason's antics, I was feeling glee over the shippy moments. And the conclusion was awesome with Sookie breaking out her glow power. See, that is how you glow and make it cool. Not like Cordy's AtS Season 3 "let it go, baby, let it go" hokey crap which I hated. And seems like the King knows exactly what that glow means even if Marion didn't. Iiiiiiiinteresting.