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True Blood: We'll Meet Again

Pam: "I made her while you were gone. Congratulations, you're a grandfather."

Surprise. I'm finally on board with Tara as a vampire. Maybe I'd just had enough of the old Tara; making her a vampire might be the re-set the character needed. I loved the way she finally said she'd had enough of dying for Sookie.

Of course, the best part of her revamping was tying her to Pam, a character that I love very, very much. In fact, the real strength in the series these days are the vampire stories and relationships. The best scenes in this episode by far were Pam swearing she was loyal to Eric, and Eric releasing Pam from her fealty to him. Pam is Eric's only vampire child, and he loves her. He let her go to protect her, and she allowed it out of respect and love for him. That second, quiet scene in the basement at Fangtasia actually brought tears to my eyes.

The Bill/Jessica relationship is also just lovely, and I thought it was sweet that their scenes reflected Eric/Pam to some extent. Bill didn't release Jessica or say goodbye, but he praised her, treated her like an adult, and allowed her to make her own choices. Jessica is a good vampire; she's even being a good friend to Jason. Bill raised her well.

There were some good character moments for Sookie, too. I enjoyed seeing her melt down and get stinking drunk; it's not surprising that she's finally had enough death and mayhem and couldn't bounce back from this one. I didn't hate seeing her smooch with Alcide, either, which surprised me. Maybe it was because Alcide made points with me by managing to deflect the Pelts without betraying Sookie. And maybe it's because I'm enjoying this Bill/Eric bromance. They're bonding so beautifully over shared deadly danger from Authority and shared rejection by Sookie, and I'm loving it.

The other interesting part of the episode (for me, anyway) was the interdimensional fairy strip club. What the frilly heck is going on there? I thought at first that they'd be distributing light fruit Jason shouldn't eat and that Jason and Andy could be gone for a year, but the Judge said he went to the club every weekend, so that's out. Morella, the fairy that seduced Andy, was there. Cousin Hadley was there. Lots of very strange dancers were there. I'll admit that I was intrigued; I have no idea where they're going with this one. Especially with that parting shot that vampires killed Sookie and Jason's parents. Gee, do you think it'll be someone we know?

(If Hadley and her son Hunter are living there, are there apartments? How much for a two bedroom in a fairy dimension?)

Meanwhile back at Authority headquarters, Nora is now praying? I'm still confused about what's going on with Nora and where her allegiances lie. Was she guessing about another chancellor being a traitor? The wild-eyed Roman staking the kid chancellor was actually fun. So much for the kid. I don't think I even got his name.

Salome said that she and Nora had been friends for a long, long time. Somehow, I don't think Nora can trust Salome. You know, I bet Salome is the big traitor, the secret leader of the sanguinistas, the one who let Russell out. It fits somehow.

Way too many plot lines, recapped:

-- Lafayette's inner monster just tried again to deep six Sookie. So much for Sookie's yellow banana car.

-- What happened to Sam's two shifter friends, "Barack and Hillary"? Who shot them? Angry werewolves?

-- Jessica glamored Andy to forget the Pelt case. Now that Alcide has shifted the blame to the late, unlamented Marcus, I wonder if the Pelts are gone for good? (I doubt it, somehow.)

-- Bill thinks that there might be a bug in his office, and that's how someone (at Authority? Salome, maybe?) knew about Russell. Makes sense.

-- Terry and his buddy are in South Dakota looking for their scary third buddy, and they found him. And we got flashbacks to Iraq. Is it wrong of me to prefer 1905 San Francisco?

-- The last shot was Andy and Jason getting fairy zapped. Are they dead? I doubt it, somehow.

Other bits and pieces:

-- They seem to be retconning exactly how dead Tara was in the season finale. As far as I'm concerned, if her brains were on the floor, she was dead dead deader than dead.

-- A Judas tree stake? Really?

-- Sookie drunk and singing a vampire version of the pina colada song was funny.

-- While bartending at Merlotte's, Tara invented a drink called the "orange marzipan". Gag.

-- Roman pulled off the face completely covered with blood look. Not everyone can.

-- I love Pam's clothes. That black purple leather lacy thing was spectacular. And she sleeps in a pink track suit that goes with her pink coffin. Love it.

Quotes:

Pam: "As your maker, I command you. Do not try it again. Ever."
Tara: "Goddammit."
And Tara had to obey. Too funny.

Sookie: "If you do the right thing, it'll be okay."
Lafayette: "Oh, yeah, baby. You survive. You always do. But goddam you leave a trail of bodies behind. You know what? You the fuckin angel of death."

Eric: (looking at his own iStake) "Well, apart from these, your escape ploy worked brilliantly."

Sookie: "I'm turning myself in."
Jason: "Into what?"
Hilarious.

Tara: "How many of us have nearly died just to save her sorry ass? Well, I did them all one better."
Tara finally seemed like Tara. Only with even less of a filter than ever.

Dieter: "Wake up, sister. It's just a book. I know the guy who wrote it, and he was high the whole time."
He's definitely my favorite chancellor. Okay, I'm partial to the actor because he's been in everything, but still.

Andy: "They wouldn't be telling me to call off the dogs unless them dogs smelled a rat."
Jason: "What if there is no rat? What if the dogs are just tired of looking?"
Andy: "I'm the dog in this analogy. I ain't tired of looking for a rat' cause I know something's fishy."
Hilarious again. Mixed metaphors, with fish.

Lafayette: "Your car is wrapped around a pole like a giant banana split and you got no airbags. What the hell happened?"

Sookie: "The bar's open. And it's fruity."

Tara: "Who's she?"
Pam: "Nothing. And Melanie. She's here because someone needs to feed. (to Melanie) Seriously. Three days old and she has an eating disorder. Why me."

Congratulations to True Blood which just got renewed for a sixth season!

Three out of four pina colada songs,

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

13 comments:

  1. I never gave up on Tara! NEVER!!! Everyone else did and was ready for her to go, but I knew once she leveled off, she'd ease into and accept being a vampire.

    I can see Tara being "Pam" to Pam's "Eric" at Fangtasia.

    Tara will thrive as a vampire. She has power over her unlife. Being a vampire is freedom for Tara – from Lettie Mae's baggage, freedom her friends, freedom the trail of bodies left in the wake of the Stackhouses and Lala. Tara has the chance to start from the beginning and I think Pam will guide her in the right direction. Pam has grown so much since the first season.

    I agree that Salome is the traitor. She's too nice and too accommodating to Roman.

    I loved Love LOVED Roman staking the Justin Bieber vamp. With the exception of Anne Rice's Claudia, I cannot stand child vamps. They annoy me to no end. I cheered when Spike charbroiled the Anointed One and I cheered when Roman staked Bieber-vamp.

    So the little girl from WATERWORLD said that the harnesses on Bill and Eric were indestructible. I wonder if the vamps who developed the harnesses took into account fairy power? I wonder if a blast of light from Sookie could obliterate the harness and leave the wearer intact?

    Especially with that parting shot that vampires killed Sookie and Jason's parents. Gee, do you think it'll be someone we know?

    Please, NOT Bill!!! Any other vampire, but NOT Bill!!!

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  2. The scene in the basement between Eric and Pam was one of my favorite scenes ever. The vampire scenes in this episode were really good. I'm looking forward to more Pam/Tara, but as I said before, the fact that Pam is her maker is the reason I'm tolerating Tara. Didn't care too much for Terry or the Shifter stuff (loved your comment about that). I can't wait for Russell to come back too. This could be an exciting season!

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  3. I got some sanguinista vibe from Pam. The words she spoke while Tara was feeding on the human where a little creepy. Hopefully Pam will grow into the role of a parent and will continue the "greatness" Godric and Eric passed to their children. The Eric/Pam scene was heartbreaking and beautiful. One of the best scenes ever. You could see the close connection of the actors. The Bill/Jessica scene was really sweet too. The vampires are definetly the strongest part of the series - also reflecting in the Authority scenes.

    I wonder why the writers seem to be incapable to handle the fairies. The first attempt was stupid and I fear the second will be too. Maybe the fairies wiped out the memories of Andy and Jason?

    The Terry story still doesn´t interest me. Alcide/Sookie - not a must have, but drunk Sookie was funny. Lala - interesting. Sam - not a clue.

    I wonder how the writers will bring all stories together in the end. I don´t see the connection at this point.

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  4. HellBlazer, I've been thinking exactly the same thing about fairy power vs iStakes. It'll be interesting to see if Sookie finds out/gets told about those.

    Argh, more fairies. The one good thing is, I like how the show uses actual fairy folklore - don't eat the food, time works differently and now wild fairy parties. And it was nice to see Hadley again. But still, urgh.

    If it turns out Eric or Bill (or Pam, or even Godric) killed Sookie's parents I will... be very unhappy. I might even cry. Especially if it's Eric. I'm hoping it was the late Sophie-Anne or Salome.

    I have a book-based half-theory about Sam's friends (teehee, Barack and Hillary, liked that) but I don't want to spoil anyone...

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  5. Forgot to say - I'm enjoying Tara as a vampire and Pam is awesome, but the two of them don't have such good chemistry as the other maker/makee couples, which is a problem. And are they going to address the fact that Pam was desperate to kill Tara only days before?

    (I'm assuming when Bill released Jessica in s3 and she refused to leave, she was officially free of him and has hung around since then out of affection?)

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  6. OMG Juliette, what a horrible idea Pam, Bill or Eric killing Sookie´s parents. If they go down that path that would be a stupid and horrible choice. A nail in the coffin so to speak.

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  7. Since in the books, other fairies killed the parents, I'm hoping they will stick to this and later discover that some fairy is telling the 'vampire killer' tale just to throw people off themselves. I don't want it to be ANY vampire at all. I'm getting tired of most every death being one of the lead vampire's fault.

    I've always loved the Eric and Pam relationship SO MUCH..it's been just about my favorite part of the show and, have to admit, I cried like an idiot. I don't want this to change their dynamic much, fingers crossed.

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  8. I think that the weird chemistry between Pam and Tara makes sense. She hated Tara. Now she's made her a vampire. She wanted nothing to do with Tara. But there are rules...and a pull, based on what Eric did for Pam. It would be weird for Pam to be all nurturing and loving at this stage.

    She can't just walk away, but it doesn't mean she has to enjoy her new job. So I think it's being played right.

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  9. I agree 100% with Kim's comment on Pam and Tara. As far as Pam being associated with Sanguinista, it's very possible, but I'm leaning towards no. If she is part of it, then I think she released Russell. Pam, Nora, and Salome are my main suspects.

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  10. It may not even be one of the current or former cast members who released Russell.

    Russell was buried under a parking lot. Maybe one of those people who wander the beaches with their metal detectors went to the parking lot, found him and dug him out.

    Maybe in the year jump, there was a minor (or major) earthquake that cracked his prison and he was able to break free.

    Maybe one of the weres he had under his command sniffed him out and dug him up.

    There are literally dozens of different ways the story of Russell's release could go.

    (What would be awesome on levels never before seen on television: Alan Ball shows a brief flashback to Russell's release where we see Constance Langdon [holding Michael's hand] standing by the spot where Russell is buried as a construction crew breaks ground and digs him up.)

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  11. I was wondering if Russell had any more children he could call. Maybe someone who was stuck in northernmost Russia or something, and took a while to get there.

    Quite why Bill's searching for bugs when his whole house has been completely renovated since the last time he talked about Russell is a mystery...

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  12. I liked this one a lot even with some least interesting parts like Terry´s plot and the fairies.
    Pam/Eric I love and also Jessica/Bill is very sweet. Not still totally convinced on Tara as a vampire though. But great improvement from the last episode!

    Favorite lines:
    Pam: Three years old and already has an eating disorder. Why me?

    Congratulations. You´re a grandfather.

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  13. Wow, those scenes with Eric and Pam just killed me: they may well be the best scenes in the show so far. Is it just me or, after his invocation of Godric, is Eric starting to act like him too? Pam's entrance into the vampire civil war plot should increase my interest in it, though Chris Meloni has been doing a good job so far. Salome just screams black hat to me.

    I'm cautiously optimistic about the fairy storyline: I can see it merging with the vampire one and Jason continues to be awesome. Sadly the same thing can't be said for Scott Foley and Terry Bellefleur, nor Sam's plot. Just. Don't Care.

    I'm not a big fan of Sookie (even though I love Anna Paquin) and for me True Blood has a major case of Will & Grace Syndrome, where the secondary characters are *far* more interesting/likeable than the primary characters, but I'm intrigued to see the direction the writers are going in. I'm impressed with how they've not only acknowledged a major criticism of Sookie, they're embracing and exploring it.

    For me so far this has been the strongest series since S2, my undisputed favourite.

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