I had a post about this ep a few days ago, and (minus the books vs. show analysis) I had pretty much the same take on it. Sookie is addicted. To Bill's blood and to this rush she gets with the love/whatever. Although I do think they are stressing this point, and that's why she is appearing stupider and stupider by the minute. They have been drawing the parallels the entire episode. It's all about abused women addicted to their abusers. From Tara to Arlene, to Jessica (to a degree), to Crystal, to Melinda, to Hadley. To Sookie. All forms of addiction/abuse. Heck, they even have Tommy shout at his mother when she says she is going back to Jo Lee: "What has he done but knock you up and DRAIN YOU DRY?"
Then there is the song by Otep they play over that truly ugly, violent sex scene. The song pretty much says it all. The lyrics are very telling.
I am glad you saw many of the same things I did. I was beginning to think I was perhaps reading it wrong. Someone linked my stupid episode musings over at some True Blood sites, apparently, and I got an invasion of anonymous replies. Most of them positive (though saying that they didn't necessarily notice the things that seemed so glaringly obvious to me), and some truly angry, vitriol-filled, badly-misspelled rants calling me all sorts of names and accusing me of hating Bill only because I am a no-good-stupid-Eric-lover. lol.
Because, naturally, liking Eric completely invalidates my opinion on anything Bill. Snort.
Sigh. If these people are the faithful representatives of the part of the audience that embraces Bill, Alan Ball must be very proud of his achievement: He really got that coveted "sub-literate moron with impulse control issues" demographic.
Either way, she's a weaker character than Book!Sookie without the ability to feel the mixed emotions that tore up Book!Sookie.
That. In a nutshell. Yes, Book Sookie wasn't ideal. But she was conflicted, she was resistant to manipulation, she hated being lied to. She could defend and even attempt to understand certain actions, but deliberate lying? Not on your life. I am hoping against hope that this is going somewhere, with her overhearing Hadley's internal "It's all my fault, I'm the one who told them about you." And that once she comes down from whatever blood-and-fight induced high -- she really WAS almost inhuman by the end of that ep! -- she starts at least asking some questions. And you know Bill will be lying to her. I hope that it's played the way it should. Yes, I am an idiotic optimist. Urgh.
I had a read of your anonymous replies. I confess, I seldom watch my typos on LJ and usually find a lot - but those anonymous comments were certainly special. :) I know some people don't have LJs and that's why they're anonymous, but mostly I think it's cowardly to not sign in if you have an account before you call someone personal names. If you want to spill vitriol, have the guts to own your words. (One time an anonymous person left a preachy biblical passage to one of my TV reviews - it was about expectations being a sin bound to lead to disappointment...I was too stunned to be angry and/or amused. It was just strange given that everyone whines and extrapolates on their opinions on LJ.)
The anons didn't have to track down on your journal and read what you wrote. Any anger they felt was self-inflicted and it's just bad manners to respond the way a couple of them did. I'm glad it was mostly positive. Your review deserved recognition because it was well thought out, constructed and most importantly it was calm. lol Many of us Eric fans are just getting angry and don't make much sense when we rant so our opinions are considered invalid despite the fact we are reacting to specific things on the show (See nonsensical ramblings above). I enjoyed your take as usual.
It's hard to keep the faith because fanfic couldn't fix this show for me. My problem is largely with Sookie (a lot of my Sookie/Bill issues in this post stem from my frustration with Sookie's non-reaction to revelations and her addictions...not necessarily Bill's behaviour). Thus I don't think I'd be able to read TV!Sookie/Eric fanfic with any joy unless they twisted up Sookie's character to be more like Book!Sookie.
Then there is the song by Otep they play over that truly ugly, violent sex scene. The song pretty much says it all. The lyrics are very telling.
I am glad you saw many of the same things I did. I was beginning to think I was perhaps reading it wrong. Someone linked my stupid episode musings over at some True Blood sites, apparently, and I got an invasion of anonymous replies. Most of them positive (though saying that they didn't necessarily notice the things that seemed so glaringly obvious to me), and some truly angry, vitriol-filled, badly-misspelled rants calling me all sorts of names and accusing me of hating Bill only because I am a no-good-stupid-Eric-lover. lol.
Because, naturally, liking Eric completely invalidates my opinion on anything Bill. Snort.
Sigh. If these people are the faithful representatives of the part of the audience that embraces Bill, Alan Ball must be very proud of his achievement: He really got that coveted "sub-literate moron with impulse control issues" demographic.
Either way, she's a weaker character than Book!Sookie without the ability to feel the mixed emotions that tore up Book!Sookie.
That. In a nutshell. Yes, Book Sookie wasn't ideal. But she was conflicted, she was resistant to manipulation, she hated being lied to. She could defend and even attempt to understand certain actions, but deliberate lying? Not on your life. I am hoping against hope that this is going somewhere, with her overhearing Hadley's internal "It's all my fault, I'm the one who told them about you." And that once she comes down from whatever blood-and-fight induced high -- she really WAS almost inhuman by the end of that ep! -- she starts at least asking some questions. And you know Bill will be lying to her. I hope that it's played the way it should. Yes, I am an idiotic optimist. Urgh.
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The anons didn't have to track down on your journal and read what you wrote. Any anger they felt was self-inflicted and it's just bad manners to respond the way a couple of them did. I'm glad it was mostly positive. Your review deserved recognition because it was well thought out, constructed and most importantly it was calm. lol Many of us Eric fans are just getting angry and don't make much sense when we rant so our opinions are considered invalid despite the fact we are reacting to specific things on the show (See nonsensical ramblings above). I enjoyed your take as usual.
It's hard to keep the faith because fanfic couldn't fix this show for me. My problem is largely with Sookie (a lot of my Sookie/Bill issues in this post stem from my frustration with Sookie's non-reaction to revelations and her addictions...not necessarily Bill's behaviour). Thus I don't think I'd be able to read TV!Sookie/Eric fanfic with any joy unless they twisted up Sookie's character to be more like Book!Sookie.
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