Truly, Madly, Deadly_ The Unofficial True Blood Companion - Becca Wilcott [107]
Tribute: Valerie Cruz (Isabel Beaumont)
“[Isabel] has a penchant for humans and a vulnerability. She wants to try to find a way to coexist with them.”
— Valerie Cruz
Bill, Jessica, and Isabel Beaumont have all taken mortal lovers. Bill’s hurdle is to adjust to a strong-minded young woman, while Jessica is forced to reason with her state of perma-virginity, making gender a pervasive player in both of their relationships.
However, Isabel’s relationship with her centuries-younger companion, Hugo, gives the viewer a subtler glimpse into the ageless trials of universal love. Unlike articles that open with a physical description of a woman as aging well or otherwise, we’re liberated from that old sexist measurement of a woman’s worth, because, as a vampire, it’s Isabel who will remain, always, in her prime. (Let’s face it, there aren’t a lot of elderly vampires walking around.) This clears the path for us to ask the curious questions — for Sookie and even Eric to ask theirs, as well — because by all accounts Isabel and Hugo appear to be in a healthy, happy partnership, which, while not natural by some standards, is nonetheless normal. So much so, that when Hugo is revealed to be a coward and a traitor, you can’t help but feel that even after 600 years on this planet, the only cure for Isabel’s heartbreak remains a night on the town with the girls — nothing but Bellinis and preferred blood type.
Where you’ve seen Valerie Cruz: Nip/Tuck, Las Vegas, Grey’s Anatomy, Cellular, Invasion, Hidden Palms, The Dresden Files, La linea, Dexter, Dollhouse
2.11 ~ Frenzy
Original air date: August 30, 2009; Written by: Alan Ball; Directed by: Daniel Minahan
Eric [to Sam]: Why should I trust you?
Sam: Because until somebody starts trusting somebody, we’re all single targets, just ripe for the picking.
Bill seeks the advice of Sophie-Anne, the vampire Queen of Louisiana. Tara goes after Eggs. Sam turns to an unlikely ally. And Maxine stretches Hoyt to his limit.
There are varying definitions of “hero.” Greek mythology describes a hero as a demigod, the offspring of a mortal and a deity. The etymology of the word is “protector” or “defender.” There are also “seekers,” heroes who have had something stolen from them by a villain, and “victim-heroes,” kidnapped or driven out to initiate a conflict. The modern hero is often simply someone ordinary placed in extraordinary circumstances, who typically prevails, no matter the odds. Then there’s “hero-identification,” the notion that we as viewers are compelled to experience the story as ourselves.
Alan Ball and his writers have stuck close to classic Greek mythology, an admirable effort to sustain solidly for two seasons. In the last episode, Bill glamoured Tara long enough for Sookie to get all caught up on what they’d missed in Dallas. But it’s Bill’s bookishness that proves most useful when he recognizes the chant Sookie heard in Tara’s head — Bromios. Dendrites. Eleutherios. Enorches. Bacchus. He goes to New Orleans where he consults with the Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne (played by Evan Rachel Wood).
Sophie-Anne is a seductive, self-involved strategist. She’s 500 years old, supposedly turned when she was in her teens, but here looks a fair bit older. Thinking back to Kirsten Dunst as Claudia in Interview with the Vampire or Lina Leandersson as Eli in Let the Right One In, what works in those performances is that because the actors themselves are so young, their gaze is eerily mature. They’re at once intense and child-like. Older actors can bring a lot of posturing to their roles, because they think they’ve seen a lot when, in reality, they’re still growing up. Evan Rachel Wood, while a fine actor, doesn’t imbue Sophie-Anne with the wisdom we’d expect from a vampire of her age and influence.
She’s a poser, porcelain skin lavishly displayed like she’s a cross between a ’30s film siren and a present-day Hollywood starlet,