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True Blood: The Cold Grey Light of Dawn

Bill: "Killing is what led us to this."

This was another strong episode that just flew by. Maybe it was all the sex. There were people who actually complained last week that we didn't get enough Sookie and Eric. I don't think they can say that now. The porch, the floor, the bed...

The vampires

Are we seeing Eric's true personality as it would have been without his privileged Viking parental rebellion and a thousand years of power and violence? Where else could this new Eric be coming from? Eric told Sookie he doesn't want his memory back, that wants to remain who he is now. Maybe he's just a reflection of Sookie's love. Eric said that when he was close to Sookie, he could imagine her heartbeat was his own. How romantic.

It's not just Eric that changed. We're also getting a more likable Sookie. Anna Paquin has always done a great job with the character, but I haven't felt the same affection for her that I have for book Sookie. Until now.

For that matter, I have never liked Bill more than I did in this episode. His paternal relationship with Jessica has always been the best thing about him, and his gentleness with her, his inability to put the silver around her neck was very sweet. I actually thought at first that Bill was overreacting with all that silver, but no. His love for Jessica may have just backfired on him. I refuse to believe that our baby vamp Jessica is about to die. Jason will get there on time.

Bill didn't have to drop by and warn Eric, either. Bill may be a front for the Authority, but he's actually a good King, and clever. He just saved nearly every vampire in the parish.

The silver chains made for some interesting depth. Bill and Jessica talked about love and goodness and their relationship as they were literally and symbolically chained by their vampire natures. Bill even admitted that what Antonia did in 1610 was justified. And I agree. Nobody deserves what happened to Antonia; Luis and his maker were evil incarnate. But who is suffering this time? Maxine's neighbor Beulah and Jessica, the baby vamp. I really do not like the feeling that "our" vamps are in serious danger.

The Sookie, Bill and Eric love triangle is being echoed by Jessica, Hoyt and Jason. It's so sad that Hoyt knows he's losing Jessica; he just doesn't know he may lose his best friend, too. Oddly, as much as I've always liked Jessica with Hoyt, I'm starting to see her with Jason and I'm not hating it. Jason has changed a lot, and his recent horrific experience in Hotshot has made him even more sympathetic.

Witches, mediums and possible zombies

Marnie has insisted on seeing Antonia as a poor victim who suffered for practicing their "religion," but all we've seen so far is Antonia's imprisonment and death. We don't know what she did to get arrested in the first place. Whatever it was, I bet it wasn't a case of mistaken identity.

I totally get why Tara felt compelled to join Antonia. And Holly was also a victim of violence – I get that, too. I just hope joining the circle won't be the death of either of them. Well, actually, if I'm honest with myself, I've always liked Pam more, so if we're going to have a Pam/Tara death match, I'm rooting for Pam. (This is hilarious – as I was typing, I mistakenly wrote "rotting for Pam" instead of "rooting.) Poor Pam! Six shots, four times a day? And I cringed when she dropped that silver mesh over her own reconstructing face.

(Ginger riding Pam's padded pink coffin like a mechanical bull was one of the funniest, weirdest things I've ever seen on this show. It was actually kind of sweet, too.)

Jesus said that Lafayette is a medium, just like Marnie. Maybe the way to stop the escalating vampire/witch insanity will involve channeling the rather cool Tio Luca, or the lovely black ghost witch who sang to Mikey in French. Or both. I may have been wrong about Jesus and his lust for supernatural power. Maybe he just needed to see Grandpa Crazy again and say no to his face.

The Shifters

If Luna weren't a shifter, her relationship with Sam would be over. Maybe it is. How can they possibly get past this weirdness? It's too bad, because I like Luna, and I think she'd be good for Sam. I like how she's honest about her mistakes.

And speaking of mistakes, Tommy is now a total wild card. I simply cannot see him quietly leaving town. The number of ways he could screw up Sam's life are practically endless: financial, personal, romantic, possibly even fatal. It pretty much depends on how good or evil Tommy actually is, and he's not tremendously stable right now, what with killing his parents and all.

Alcide is all hang dog about Sookie, pun intended. Surprisingly, the volatile Debbie Pelt has been somewhat reasonable until now, although the jealousy she just showed didn't bode well for their future happiness with the pack and each other. If Alcide murmurs "Sookie" in his sleep, or at the wrong intimate moment with Debbie, that'll be all she wrote.

Bits and pieces:

-- A dozen WinnDixie roses, Holly touched Andy's hands, and he practically started choking. Was that an actual physical reaction to Holly's witchy power, or just V withdrawal?

-- Tara broke up with her hot girlfriend. That was unselfish, as well as the right thing to do. Bon Temps is just too dangerous for the average boyfriend or girlfriend.

-- Arlene told Holly that she and Terry and the kids were staying with the other Bellefleurs, and Andy was on the couch.

-- Couldn't they have thought of something less painful than all that silver? Like maybe chains around their coffins?

-- Eric finally moved on to some adult clothes. Better.

-- I bet Kristin Bauer has pretty much had it with the makeup department by now.

-- Gold acting stars for Fiona Shaw. She went from crunchy granola to majestic and scary without breaking a sweat.

Quotes:

Bystander: "What, now there are zombies?"
Pam: "I am not a zombie!"
Actually, she is, isn't she?

Bill: "Since when has any fanatic been held back by the improbability of their righteous mission?"

Doctor: "I can get you a bulk discount on the shots." Shudder.

Can I pause for a moment and express my happiness with season four? So far, it's been more cohesive plotwise, strongly romantic and dramatic, and I am really enjoying it. Four out of four truly painful anti-zombie shots,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

18 comments:

  1. love this ep as well and your thoughts about it reflects mine...

    loved the coffin part, even thought it was weird... for a moment i thought she'd open it up...

    anyway

    great review

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  2. "The porch, the floor, the bed..." and "rotting for Pam" had me laughing my arse off. Brilliant!

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  3. I thought Jess was going to burn.

    Jess told Bill that her life was better as a vamp than it could ever have been as a human. I thought that could be potential foreshadowing for Jess meeting the "true death" and being resurrected as a human (a la Darla) and then striving to get vamped again or just finding true happiness with Hoyt.

    They've mentioned resurrection quite a bit so far this season and I know Antonia is the main suspect for resurrection, but it could mean others.

    Perhaps one of the other current featured vampires is going to meet their "true death" during the approaching war or directly at the hands of Antonia pulling one of them up in the sun and then be resurrected as a human.

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  4. When Eric is so adorable -hat off to Alex- I cannot help thinking that the end of his amnesia is close. I love to have him loving openly Sookie, but... something has to change when he remembers. How would this be handled in the plot? Will he 'erase' this period of time? Can he 'mixed' the two attitudes or will he go back fully to 'old' Eric? As I am talking about the series not the books -no spoiler intended- I think it is a valid question.

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  5. Certainly the most tense episode in many a season. My only major complaint is that I think Sookie's fallen a bit head over heels *way* too quickly. She always liked Eric, but hasn't it only been a couple days since he lost his memory? She's practically weeping over him.

    Liking Bill quite a lot this season. And it's fun that we actually get to see him react to Sookie and Eric as the relationship progresses, something we never really got with Buffy/Angel/Spike.

    Digging the witches storyline more than I thought I would. They've done a very nice job of really interweaving them with vampires.

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  6. I also feel the same about this season, although my feelings for the Sookie/Eric hookup are mixed, I'm really digging the witch plot. I'll take witches over vampires or werewolves any day.

    When Antonia was persuading Tara to join her I kept thinking she would cast an empowerment spell on her (like Willow did in season 6) then we could've had Tara the Vampire Slayer.

    Ginger is such a minor character but each time she's on screen you can expect something hilarious, I absolutely loved her straddling the coffin.

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  7. Decent clothes at last! Huzzah!

    I love what Den of Geek have been calling Diet Eric, but some of his dialogue is actually a little too soppy for me! We love him for his snark, he could have kept some of that while becoming nicer.

    And did it not occur to Sookie to fill a bottle with her magic vampire sunblock blood, just in case? (I'm wondering if Jason's blood has the same effect, and if so, will Jess be saved by it. There has to be a reason we were reminded of Sookie's special fairy blood when Eric killed Claudine).

    Debbie's Edgington brand was really clearly visible when she was with Alcide - maybe that's just good continuity, but maybe not...

    And Felipe, I would totally watch Tara the Vampire Slayer! As long as she didn't get her hands on Eric, Pam, Jess or King Bill, obviously.

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  8. This was by far the best episode of the season. I agree with Billie, I'm finally starting to feel like these characters are more like those in books and therefore more likable. This season doesn't feel rushed and crazy with too much going on like last season did.

    So I was super excited when I read Alcide was going to be a season regular this year. Sorry boys, I'm a straight woman who finds Alcide extremely attractive. The man's a God. Anyway, totally bummed with all this Debbie on screen time. Who cares? Lol! Since AB has ventured from the books in so many ways I'm hoping a Sookie/Alcide hookup is somewhere in the future. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the Sookie/Eric scenes but maybe next season there will be some hot blooded lovin going in??

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  9. I have some theories about Sookie and Alcide but don't want to give book spoilers...

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  10. I've just finished watching this episode and I'll tell you - my stomach hurts! What a tense, and fabulous episode! I totally agree with you Billie, time flies by when we're having fun. And fun is what we can't say we're not having in this season. We've had lots of Eric&Sookie (#jealousykills), naked Alcide for two episodes in a row (hahaha, sorry boys), the new love triangle, the way Bill has softened and become a more fair and trully loyal king, and now Jess is walking into the Sun! Man, I hate Antonia! SHe's the greatest villain of all seasons - the strongest by all means. I feel that Lafayette will be THE key to dealing with her. Now she wants to get rid of vampires, but what's next? Will she ever allow (stupid)Marnie's spirit back? I surely doubt so( though that sounds a controversy, lol) I really can't wait till next week's episode. In fact, I'm felling like Andy already, in a huge withdrawal!

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  11. Oh, and I forgot it, you've got to give it up for a show that makes you laugh out loud in the middle of all that tension: Ginger's ride on the coffin was hilarious!

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  12. Heehee great review Billie :)I love you description of Fiona Shaw's transformation into Antonia.

    What a wkd episode! I can't believe babyvamp Jess will burn, but didn't we hear a gunshot from outside just before she opened the door? If it was Jason and he is injured he may not get to her in time. ARGH, can't wait a week to know what happens!

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  13. You mean to tell me in that big ole Bellefleur Mansion there are not enough bedrooms that Andy was put on the couch???

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  14. Per a request from Billie Doux: someone on another forum asked about the lullaby the ghost was singing to Mikey. It's in French, in this case, Cajun French. My husband is from South Louisiana, and I recognized the opening line immediately. Google did the rest.

    In the 08/14 episode, you hear her say "mon petit bebe", which in this case means "my little baby" - it can go either way, depending on who's singing, of course - and now we know why she is singing that to Mikey!

    Fais do do, mon petit frere
    Fais do do, t’auras du lolo.
    Maman est en haut,
    Elle fait des gateaux
    Papa est en bas,
    Il fait du chocolat.
    Fais do do, mon petit frere
    Fais do do, t’auras du lolo.

    Go to sleep, my little brother,
    Go to sleep, and you’ll have a treat.
    Mama is upstairs making cakes,
    Papa is downstairs making chocolate.
    Go to sleep, my little brother,
    Go to sleep, and you’ll have a treat.

    It’s funny that they bring in elements of south Louisiana’s Cajun culture into True Blood. In reality, north Louisiana, where Shreveport and “Bon Temps” are located, tries like heck to pretend that everything south of Alexandria is invisible. To me, there’s nothing north of Alexandria that’s even interesting… Guess that’s Hollywood for you...

    BTW – I always enjoy your recaps…

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  15. For once, True Blood made a point of commentary on actual society that I didn't find to be heavy-handed. In an episode full of references to characters' past rape, I found it very compelling when Bill talked about indulging their lustful urges and blaming it on their nature. That comment reminds me of the general attitude regarding men that it is, again, their nature to desire women, and that they can't help themselves if a woman is dressed provocatively or "leading them on" or in a situation where she cannot consent. Perhaps True Blood wasn't aiming to make this connection, but I like to think they were. At the very least, he was most definitely making the point that one has to do the right thing, and that hurting others shouldn't be blamed on one's "nature." This is a theme they've explored quite a bit: Lettie Mae, Tara and their "demons," Alcide's ability to resist the pack and Debbie's inability, etc.

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  16. I liked this episode but the whole Sookie/Eric hookup and how fast she is in love with him doesn´t feel right and feels a bit corny.

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  17. hope im not the only one who wonders this

    but i wonder if vamps get kinky with silver lol

    great episode and great review

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