Alright, it’s official; True Blood is better than it has ever been before. I would say it has reached its peak, but as someone who has read the books I know there is a ton of incredible material for the writers to work with in the future that will just make the series better and better as it goes on. All of the storylines are completely enthralling and often quite hilarious with the dark humor it embodies. All of the new characters are fitting right in and previous characters are being developed and taken in new directions.
My favorite part of this episode was the storyline between Franklin and Tara. I do feel bad for her; she is probably the biggest living victim in the show’s history, but at the same time I didn’t want their screwed up relationship to stop. Even in last week’s episode when Franklin has her tied up, under the creepy romanticism I had a feeling that he might be sick enough to have true feelings for Tara; this is just how he treats the women he likes. In Trouble he is completely hilarious in his affections for Tara. He insists that Tara wants to be with him; “hence the restraints”. He insists that they are to keep her safe. As Franklin says, what other reason could there be? Just how distressed and overwhelmed he is becomes a riot, even causing the blood tears to flow. He thinks Tara is just a big of a mess as he is and is his other half.
I also have to give credit to Tara here, even though she clearly is terrified of Franklin and wants to get as far away from him as possible, she doesn’t solely play the victim. She’s aggressive and doesn’t give up all hope. Even when that doesn’t work out so well for her, she commences with plan B. She realizes she has to play Franklin’s game if she’s going to get out of this alive. After all, angering him will just ensure her death in seconds. It really is great to have an evil and twisted vampire on the show. Eric fills this description and in so many ways is the ideal evil natured, powerful, yet seductive vampire. Still, there’s been more of venturing in to his past and of course he is always given a soft spot for Sookie. Franklin certainly has a soft spot for Tara as well, but that just makes him take more drastic and twisted measures. He can’t stand the thought of her getting away or anyone else laying a hand on her.
Speaking of Eric, we get another flashback from him. The Eric-Sookie storyline and the vampire blood situation are a main focus, but another focus this season seems to be Eric’s past. Here we get to see him in his family life where he attempts to rebel against his father since spending his life “between a women’s legs” is preferable to him. He really hasn’t changed at all. As he is in pursuit of this, bloodshed consumes in just a room away, giving us the beginnings of his hate for werewolves that is already deeply embedded in all vampires by their very nature. Another interesting moment we are given with Eric is when he gets in to the vampire king of Mississippi’s house and his plan to put the vampire blood crisis on Bill completely backfires on him. As smooth and suave as he is, it’s funny to see things turn on him once in awhile.
Lafayette has been one of my favorite characters from the beginning. He is a very unique character and gives the show great humor. I loved that the writers finally decided to give his character a love interest. We always see Lafayette as the tough, no nonsense character. Sure he can be belittled by Eric at times, but he is very rarely fragile.
Jason has some very funny moments as well. He decides he’s going to be a cop and walks on in to the sheriff’s department, baffling everyone around. The best part is when he decides to patrol, shirtless, pooling over the young, blonde bombshell, Crystal. The image of this is funny enough let alone the back and forth between the two. Jason’s dialogue is always hilarious and he’s so determined, dumbfounded, and flirtatious, yet he even reaches a level of desperation with Crystal. We get the hint that Crystal isn’t the average girl Jason is usually after. I am really looking forward to seeing more with her, her family, and the inhabitants of her town.
The episode ended on a pretty strong note, yet one that will spawn a lot of future exploration as it’s something completely new for the world of Sookie Stackhouse. It will definitely give us some interesting material and makes Sookie a stronger protagonist. Bill has now rejected her both on the phone and in person. She doesn’t want to believe it and she’s completely devastated, but she isn’t just a love sick victim. Sookie fights back towards what’s thrown at her.
