Truly, Madly, Deadly_ The Unofficial True Blood Companion - Becca Wilcott [69]
While it would mean death, we haven’t yet seen Bill choose Sookie over his own peril. It could be argued that after 173 years one might make room for someone else in one’s life, but vampires seem to think they own the patent on life span. To paraphrase Malcolm, what’s the point of being a human if you can’t fall in love with people?
Which is a long way of saying that, for once, the idea of Sam and Sookie getting together is not only reasonable, but appetizing. They had breakfast together. A nice, sunny, daytime breakfast with food. As viewers, had we not forgotten how many of our favorite film and television scenes revolve around food, a banquet, or a hot dog stand? We haven’t seen Gran’s kitchen sparkle with sunshine and conversation in some time, and it was a welcome alternative to dark, muddy intercourse in a graveyard, no matter how impulsive and sexy it was. When Sookie’s life ends, she wants to be able to look back and see evidence of a life lived, not a life avoided. She doesn’t outright choose Sam, though. She chooses Sookie. Sookie belongs to . . . Sookie.
This episode mercifully brings to an end Jason’s V addiction, by far the weakest storyline of the season. It also provides one of the best shots of the season, drawing Lizzy Caplan’s guest role to a close on a sunny, rainy day, with Jason lifting her into the sky — a sad and poignant departure. Jason’s confession to the murders of Amy, Maudette, and Dawn may well be the stupidest thing he’s done yet, but with no family to bail him out, or Tara to idolize him, he makes a choice. While he doesn’t know why or how, he places blind faith in the certainty that he must be a murderer. We know it’s Rene, which, looking back over the season, was hidden so well that it came as a surprise. It had to be a human with casual access to all the victims, but not enough clues were dropped along the way to make this a real whodunit.
Beyond that, there are more questions than ever, and new characters we can look forward to getting to know better, in particular, Deborah Ann Woll as Jessica Hamby and Michelle Forbes as Maryann Forrester. Jessica is the perfect tonic to Bill’s straight-edge demeanor. She’s fresh, fun, and bratty in a way we wish Sookie would be from time to time. Even though Bill pawns Jessica off on Eric, next season promises to show us Bill hot under the collar as a proud new papa. Maryann Forrester is a mystery. We’ve learned not to judge a book by its cover, so it’s fair to assume that she’s at least hiding something. She possesses far too many worldly goods to be a social worker. And why the interest in Tara? As viewers, we’re torn between wanting something good for Tara and anticipating the worst.
I’m not sure what to make of Lafayette going to confront the Senator. In the past few episodes, Lafayette’s flamboyant nature has been drastically toned down in favor of something harder. In some scenes, he feels like a thug. If there’s a bigger story there, it’s not being revealed. At this point in the series, we don’t need Lafayette to remind us that there are hypocrites and bigots in the world. With no tie to a larger narrative, it just feels like the writers used Lafayette as a politically correct ambassador.
This was a procedural episode, filled with lots of fun dialogue, facts, and recaps. But it works on an emotional level because the actors commit so fully to the personal investment of their characters, leaving lots of potential for the season 1 finale to satisfy, thrill, and surprise us.
Maryann Forrester’s mansion. Hm . . . it looks so tame in the daylight. (Lindsay Blake, www.IamNotaStalker.com)
Highlight: Tara: “I’m an excellent driver. But you cannot prepare for a naked lady and a hog in the middle of the road!”
Nightcap: Writer/director Nancy