Truly, Madly, Deadly_ The Unofficial True Blood Companion - Becca Wilcott [57]
Anna Paquin is a revelation in the scene in which Sookie eats Gran’s pie. It’s similar to the final moments of Six Feet Under in which we’re asked to witness how each character will die. In kind, we watch Sookie systematically feed herself in an act of ritual closure. It’s a nod back to the day Gran found Sookie mowing the lawn, unsure of how she wanted to proceed with Bill. Gran insisted Sookie eat, but not because she was hungry, the implication being that life will move on with or without you, no matter what you do. So as simple as it is, you’d best have food in your belly. We’re also reminded of what Lafayette said, that people can taste the love you put into your food. Sookie continues to eat, having her last, silent, heart-to-heart with Gran at the kitchen table. She shares with no one, no pieces parceled off like on her date with Sam after the DGD meeting. We’ll also grieve the loss of Sookie’s connection to her past, with so many of Gran’s stories delivered in that kitchen. By digesting “Gran’s pie,” Sookie fuels herself for the next battle, and takes back her home as the new matriarch.
While Tara’s blood ties are strong enough to draw her back to her mother, it’s because she’d be adrift otherwise. She returns to her family home the way an abused lover returns to her mate in the hope that the honeymoon will last, or that if she pours herself into their healing it will pay itself forward. Adina Porter infuses so much terror, shame, and hypocrisy into her performance of Lettie Mae that we pity her, going back and forth between understanding Tara’s choice to be estranged from her and judging Tara for leaving a sick mother to her own devices. When Tara decides to return home, embracing her mother on the couch, it’s almost as if for Tara to survive this stretch, she’ll have to keep her mother close . . . like an enemy.
Meanwhile, Jason delves deeper into self-abuse and isolation, stuck inside his own desperate ramblings as if he’s been buried alive with his own thoughts. It’s as if he’s finally shuttered himself into casual sex, unable to connect to anyone or anything without V. His transformation into an addict is complete. He’s stuck in mortal purgatory.
While Sookie and Bill’s first sex scene is kept at a modest distance, we are offered a little release when Tara, bless her, kicks the entire town out of Sookie’s house. Lafayette is the most sober we’ve seen him, his campy performance toned down, but he still delivers his signature witticisms as well as serving up some of this episode’s most spot-on observations.
As the episode draws to a close, it feels at last that one thing is certain: Bill and Sookie’s affection for one another. Apart, however, their worlds remain as different as night and day. Bill cannot protect her during the daylight, and there’s a serial killer on the loose who knows the victims well enough that he can kill them in their homes without having to break and enter. And while Sookie is now formally Bill’s, Sam will no doubt continue to mark his territory whenever the opportunity allows.
Gran’s pantry. (Jodi Ross, courtesy of The Vault www.trueblood-online.com)
Highlight: Lafayette [about Maxine Fortenberry]: “I mean, if she talked any more shit she’d be shaped like a toilet.”
Nightcap: Alan Ball refers to this episode as “the hate sandwich,” because the director and director of photography didn’t get along, and neither was considered a good fit for the show. After reshoots and editing, he feels they produced a strong show. On the lighter side, Tara and Sam drink Steam Whistle in Tara’s motel room. Steam Whistle is not available outside of Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, Canada. (This author lives in the city in which it’s brewed! It’s delicious. Get some!) And it’s interesting to wonder why Bud and Andy haven’t considered that if Bill really wanted to mess with their