"All Hail The King!" -- Talkin About True Blood, Episode 4.1.
So starts the summer TV season. I'll miss my besuited ad men, but that's okay, the vampires are back. And the shifters... and the weres, and the ::groan:: fairie and witches and Bellefleurs, oh my! I tried to build up to the new season by watching the last season, but I kind of ran out of time, and ended season three with two episodes left. Did I get to see King Russell snatch a dude's spinal cord out? Yes. That was the last thing I saw. I don't really remember what happened to most folks after that (Sam shot Tommy, Eric and Bill buried Russell in the parking lot, Tara ran off), but whatever it was it must have ended with Sookie in Fairy Land, because that's where she started the episode.
For a year. With Lumbourgh. And things went a little crazy. I don't know much about the rules of Fairy Land, but if my lifelong love of Greek mythology has taught me anything it's that if you get caught in a crazy land and you don't know what's going on, don't eat any strange fruit. If you eat the fruit you probably won't get to go home. And if you do, there will be consequences. Avoid the fruit. Plus, it's probably a good idea to stay away from anything that glows anyway. But that's not just in strange lands, that's Universal. That's my list: nothing blue and nothing that glows. Also, no peas, or coconut or things that are watermelon or strawberry flavored that are not actual watermelons or strawberries..
So, Sookie makes it back (Lumbourgh does too, but not for long. You know why? Glowy fruit. Yup, gets you very time.) and a year has passed. I probably would have been more shocked if 1. I didn't already read about that and 2. Grandpa Earl had talked about how he'd only been gone for a few hours, when in reality it had been 20 years. This means we're gonna start this episode off catching up with all of our old friends from Bon Temps. And our enemies too, we can't forget about them. Though, with it just being episode one, and last year's bad guy taking a cement nap, maybe it's not so much enemies we have to worry about, but characters who have annoyed us in the past. Speaking of which..
Jason's an honest-to-goodness cop now. I am hoping that this will be the season I actually get to like Jason. I really want to, and it's not like I dislike him, but he's just never doing anything I care about. You don't want to be the character that peaked at season one, and so far Season One Jason has been my favorite... and even he was annoying. I like Officer Jason though. He seems to have smartened up a bit, gotten more serious, more adult. Yeah, he still got caught in the freezer in Hotshot, but for once it was not because he was doing something foolish. So far, so good. Of course his status as an official officer of the law means the continuation of my hands-down favorite TB relationship, Jason and Andy! It seems Andy has taken a few steps off of the straight and narrow, with a nasty lil' V habit that does a lot to explain Jason's new maturity. And Sookie owes him a plaque!
Next up, because this is Sookie's return we're talking about. Bill. Or, shall I say, King Bill. I'd already read about that too, but it didn't make it any less great. When he ordered Eric to leave and Eric... left. Fist pump! I know everyone hates Bill, but he's always been among my favorites. That means that any story in which he finally gets to be an actual player with actual power, is a storyline I will get behind. And it's something he gets to do without Sookie? I can dig it. Of course, I will shift my allegiance swiftly and with no hesitation when/if King Edgington returns, but we'll cross that bridge if/when we get to it. I like how, even though he's the King now, he is still the Bill he always was, trying to fit in with the regular folks. Do they know his position? His ribbon cutting reminded me a lot of his meeting with Gran's lil' history group back in season one, out there rubbing elbows with the people, trying to remind them that, "Hey, vampires are people too... well, kind of." Which brings us to...
Eric. He's not my favorite, but I will admit I liked that first scene where Sookie returned and we saw that not only did Bill sense it. Eric did too. Then he showed up at Sookie's and got sent away, and I laughed. My favorite of all of his scenes though? His little PSA. "We're always happy to serve humans here at Fangtasia... and I don't mean for dinner." Yes! I go back and forth with Eric, but it's moments like this that make it so I can never truly dislike him. By all rights, with his take-no-prisoners, super snarky, win-at-all-costs personality he should be my favorite character, but like Sawyer on Lost, he has to settle for somewhere pretty high, but not as high as he'd probably like. And knowing what's coming (the fourth was the last book I read before realizing that there was no way I could go on.) I am not sure how much, if at all, I am looking forward to what he h as coming ahead. Oh, and buying Sookie's house? I should have know. I tried from the moment they said just who had bought it, to try to figure out who it really was. He was m y first guess. I just couldn't figure out why.
Who was next? Jessica and Hoyt. I had forgotten that they'd gotten back together. I'm glad though, they are one of the few TB couples I actually like (see also: Sam and Tara, Terry and Arlene... uhh... that may be it. I'll have to get back to you on that one.) I'm even more glad that they are having real fights now, like fights an actual couple would have. "I work all day and you can't even be bothered to cook dinner?!" How many times have you heard that one? Countless, right? That's like Couples Fighting 101. But the added thing of, "I don't cook food because I don't eat food!" Kind of genius. Sookie and Bill fought about big issues "You'll never die!", "You almost killed me", "Quit killing werewolves in my living room!" stuff like that. But this is an interesting look at what it would really be like, day in and day out. We all know humans think drinking blood is gross, but no one ever thinks what it must be like from the other side. Of course the grocery store isfull of dead animals, so the morgue comparison is probably not really all that off, if you really think about it. Oh, and I look forward to the exploration of Jessica's... exploration. She's really only what, eighteen? And she came from a real sheltered churchy kind of upbringing, right? Of course she's gonna start to look around and see everything that she's missing. Think about the eighteen year olds you know. Exactly.
Jesus and Lafayette are still together. I think I like them. I have not really decided yet, and that is mainly because I don't know where I stand on Jesus. He seems to be a cool guy, and he makes Lafayette happy, but I don't know... he gives me the same vibe as that one guy on The Mentalist who, from the day he showed up, I was like, 'I don't know. I think you're evil". And that turned out to be true. Plus, all of this witch business? I'm not feeling it. It's got that creepy skeleton-faced waitress and Aunt Petunia? Bad juju. And I am not a fan of that mohawk.
Is it time for Sam yet? This is the question I asked myself about ten times last night. And just like the show, the answer is "No".
Terry and Arlene have a baby. But it's Renee's baby and that makes Arlene a little crazier than usual... and that's a lot of crazy to have to step up from. I will admit I laughed at lil' Mikey's collection of decapitated Barbies (and must also admit that I do not find it all that strange. We used to do it too. It was easier to change their clothes without their big heads all in the way. You know what would be the worst? When the little ball thing in the neck would get lost and you'd end up having to just shove the headway down on the neck and not only would you have a no-neck Barbie, but the head would not turn anymore.) Arlene's insistence at explaining to a baby that killing is not good? Comedy. But also kind of creepy.
Tara's run off, changed her name and become a lady cage fighter. I didn't even know they had that. She also has a girlfriend. I'd say, "Wait.What?" but I already read about that too. I guess she needed to get away and clear her head, but the fact that she is so blatantly lying to her lady friend just means that eventually, when it's time for her to make her inevitable return to Bon Temps, things are gonna be pretty awkward. Someone's gonna have some serious 'splainin to do I'm glad she found a somewhat constructive way to work out her anger though, she needed that..
I think that's everyone, so that must mean it's time for Sam. I forgot that he shot Tommy, but it's good to see that Tommy is still around.( Do you know how long it took me before I realized that he was the random kid who came into Merlotte's with Hoyt's mama? Long time. I'd like to know how that happened. I am so sure he is up to something. And when we find out what it is, it will be glorious.) I'm happy that Sam has found himself a group of shifters to hang with. He's always been a loner and it hasn't really worked out for him. Then again when he tries to reach out, that doesn't really work out either. Let's hope he can make it through this season without anything too crazy happening to him.
Edpisode 2 was out on some HBOGo mobile thing, but that system got overloaded real fast, leading HBO to just go ahead and put the episode up on On Demand. This means it should be somewhere. I'm probably about to watch it now. What can I say? I have absolutely no willpower.
For a year. With Lumbourgh. And things went a little crazy. I don't know much about the rules of Fairy Land, but if my lifelong love of Greek mythology has taught me anything it's that if you get caught in a crazy land and you don't know what's going on, don't eat any strange fruit. If you eat the fruit you probably won't get to go home. And if you do, there will be consequences. Avoid the fruit. Plus, it's probably a good idea to stay away from anything that glows anyway. But that's not just in strange lands, that's Universal. That's my list: nothing blue and nothing that glows. Also, no peas, or coconut or things that are watermelon or strawberry flavored that are not actual watermelons or strawberries..
So, Sookie makes it back (Lumbourgh does too, but not for long. You know why? Glowy fruit. Yup, gets you very time.) and a year has passed. I probably would have been more shocked if 1. I didn't already read about that and 2. Grandpa Earl had talked about how he'd only been gone for a few hours, when in reality it had been 20 years. This means we're gonna start this episode off catching up with all of our old friends from Bon Temps. And our enemies too, we can't forget about them. Though, with it just being episode one, and last year's bad guy taking a cement nap, maybe it's not so much enemies we have to worry about, but characters who have annoyed us in the past. Speaking of which..
Jason's an honest-to-goodness cop now. I am hoping that this will be the season I actually get to like Jason. I really want to, and it's not like I dislike him, but he's just never doing anything I care about. You don't want to be the character that peaked at season one, and so far Season One Jason has been my favorite... and even he was annoying. I like Officer Jason though. He seems to have smartened up a bit, gotten more serious, more adult. Yeah, he still got caught in the freezer in Hotshot, but for once it was not because he was doing something foolish. So far, so good. Of course his status as an official officer of the law means the continuation of my hands-down favorite TB relationship, Jason and Andy! It seems Andy has taken a few steps off of the straight and narrow, with a nasty lil' V habit that does a lot to explain Jason's new maturity. And Sookie owes him a plaque!
Next up, because this is Sookie's return we're talking about. Bill. Or, shall I say, King Bill. I'd already read about that too, but it didn't make it any less great. When he ordered Eric to leave and Eric... left. Fist pump! I know everyone hates Bill, but he's always been among my favorites. That means that any story in which he finally gets to be an actual player with actual power, is a storyline I will get behind. And it's something he gets to do without Sookie? I can dig it. Of course, I will shift my allegiance swiftly and with no hesitation when/if King Edgington returns, but we'll cross that bridge if/when we get to it. I like how, even though he's the King now, he is still the Bill he always was, trying to fit in with the regular folks. Do they know his position? His ribbon cutting reminded me a lot of his meeting with Gran's lil' history group back in season one, out there rubbing elbows with the people, trying to remind them that, "Hey, vampires are people too... well, kind of." Which brings us to...
Eric. He's not my favorite, but I will admit I liked that first scene where Sookie returned and we saw that not only did Bill sense it. Eric did too. Then he showed up at Sookie's and got sent away, and I laughed. My favorite of all of his scenes though? His little PSA. "We're always happy to serve humans here at Fangtasia... and I don't mean for dinner." Yes! I go back and forth with Eric, but it's moments like this that make it so I can never truly dislike him. By all rights, with his take-no-prisoners, super snarky, win-at-all-costs personality he should be my favorite character, but like Sawyer on Lost, he has to settle for somewhere pretty high, but not as high as he'd probably like. And knowing what's coming (the fourth was the last book I read before realizing that there was no way I could go on.) I am not sure how much, if at all, I am looking forward to what he h as coming ahead. Oh, and buying Sookie's house? I should have know. I tried from the moment they said just who had bought it, to try to figure out who it really was. He was m y first guess. I just couldn't figure out why.
Who was next? Jessica and Hoyt. I had forgotten that they'd gotten back together. I'm glad though, they are one of the few TB couples I actually like (see also: Sam and Tara, Terry and Arlene... uhh... that may be it. I'll have to get back to you on that one.) I'm even more glad that they are having real fights now, like fights an actual couple would have. "I work all day and you can't even be bothered to cook dinner?!" How many times have you heard that one? Countless, right? That's like Couples Fighting 101. But the added thing of, "I don't cook food because I don't eat food!" Kind of genius. Sookie and Bill fought about big issues "You'll never die!", "You almost killed me", "Quit killing werewolves in my living room!" stuff like that. But this is an interesting look at what it would really be like, day in and day out. We all know humans think drinking blood is gross, but no one ever thinks what it must be like from the other side. Of course the grocery store isfull of dead animals, so the morgue comparison is probably not really all that off, if you really think about it. Oh, and I look forward to the exploration of Jessica's... exploration. She's really only what, eighteen? And she came from a real sheltered churchy kind of upbringing, right? Of course she's gonna start to look around and see everything that she's missing. Think about the eighteen year olds you know. Exactly.
Jesus and Lafayette are still together. I think I like them. I have not really decided yet, and that is mainly because I don't know where I stand on Jesus. He seems to be a cool guy, and he makes Lafayette happy, but I don't know... he gives me the same vibe as that one guy on The Mentalist who, from the day he showed up, I was like, 'I don't know. I think you're evil". And that turned out to be true. Plus, all of this witch business? I'm not feeling it. It's got that creepy skeleton-faced waitress and Aunt Petunia? Bad juju. And I am not a fan of that mohawk.
Is it time for Sam yet? This is the question I asked myself about ten times last night. And just like the show, the answer is "No".
Terry and Arlene have a baby. But it's Renee's baby and that makes Arlene a little crazier than usual... and that's a lot of crazy to have to step up from. I will admit I laughed at lil' Mikey's collection of decapitated Barbies (and must also admit that I do not find it all that strange. We used to do it too. It was easier to change their clothes without their big heads all in the way. You know what would be the worst? When the little ball thing in the neck would get lost and you'd end up having to just shove the headway down on the neck and not only would you have a no-neck Barbie, but the head would not turn anymore.) Arlene's insistence at explaining to a baby that killing is not good? Comedy. But also kind of creepy.
Tara's run off, changed her name and become a lady cage fighter. I didn't even know they had that. She also has a girlfriend. I'd say, "Wait.What?" but I already read about that too. I guess she needed to get away and clear her head, but the fact that she is so blatantly lying to her lady friend just means that eventually, when it's time for her to make her inevitable return to Bon Temps, things are gonna be pretty awkward. Someone's gonna have some serious 'splainin to do I'm glad she found a somewhat constructive way to work out her anger though, she needed that..
I think that's everyone, so that must mean it's time for Sam. I forgot that he shot Tommy, but it's good to see that Tommy is still around.( Do you know how long it took me before I realized that he was the random kid who came into Merlotte's with Hoyt's mama? Long time. I'd like to know how that happened. I am so sure he is up to something. And when we find out what it is, it will be glorious.) I'm happy that Sam has found himself a group of shifters to hang with. He's always been a loner and it hasn't really worked out for him. Then again when he tries to reach out, that doesn't really work out either. Let's hope he can make it through this season without anything too crazy happening to him.
Edpisode 2 was out on some HBOGo mobile thing, but that system got overloaded real fast, leading HBO to just go ahead and put the episode up on On Demand. This means it should be somewhere. I'm probably about to watch it now. What can I say? I have absolutely no willpower.