It took four episodes, but with ‘We’ll Meet Again,’ True Blood finally felt like it got somewhere. Whether that’s good or not remains to be seen.
Pam, the shining light of this season, finally did something I hated; she saved Tara from her tanning bed suicide. While I can’t believe the writers were again given an out on the Tara character and didn’t take it, she did serve to further make Pam this season’s MVP. Pam has taken to being Tara’s maker and is feeling a sense of power she’s never known. There were also some subtle reactions on Pam’s part to seeing Tara’s burnt face, obviously reminding her of her cursed appearance throughout much of Season 4. Kristin Bauer van Straten has been above and beyond this season. She deserves better than this show.
Bill and Eric’s Bogus Journey didn’t really move along much, but both of them got to have some heart to heart times with their own progeny, albeit with differing outcomes. Bill and Jessica have a sweet moment with Bill comforting Jessica and feeling like a proud parent. Eric, on the other hand, met Pam not with the sweet return she was hoping for but with a literal chokehold and interrogation about Russell Edgington’s escape. It’s a heartbreaking moment for Pam, knowing that even after 100 years together, Eric still doesn’t trust her and it ends with Eric renouncing his maker-dom. These scenes featured some more Pam greatness here and Eric got some good moments in the process.
There was a bunch of Sookie hate this week, which always brings a smile to my face because every single bit of it is well deserved. Alcide can’t believe she killed Debbie and lied to him about it. Lafayette flat out tells her she’s the “Angel of Death” before he Brujo’s out and casts a spell on her car causing it to almost kill her later on (SO CLOSE!). The whole town thinks she’s a terrible person for what she did to Tara. She confesses to Jason about killing Debbie, a move that even simple Jason thinks is stupid, but when she tells him what she did to Tara, he flips out on her. Even Tara herself, loathsome character and all, had a high moment when she pointed out that Sookie will always have some fool ready to die for her. She’s obviously very stoked about the choice Sookie made for her. So, with everyone in town against her, Sookie does something that, for once, is quite logical. She gets hammered.
Getting Sookie drunk must have seemed like an excellent opportunity to have her hook up with Alcide. I know this is something that fans have been waiting for, but it couldn’t have happened at a worse time, narratively. This is literally one night since she confessed to killing his ex-girlfriend and completely lying to him about it. Not to mention the constant cold shoulder she’s given the character even though he’s constantly at her beck and call. Just like anyone else dumb enough to get caught up in Sookie’s web of destruction, Alcide acts like nothing has happened and it’s time to get busy.
Roman (Chris Meloni) finally unleashed some bad-assery to back up all his talk and made The Authority a bit more interesting. After some intense interrogation of Nora, Roman discovers there is another traitor in their midst. It turns out the young vampire Alexander Drew (Jacob Hopkins) is part of the Sanguinista movement and is gloriously and messily made an example of (Yay, someone died!). Roman seems to be a bit at his wits end and seems to be on the verge of ruling with an iron fist.
As far as the other story lines go, Andy and Jason take a trip to a Faerie Harem, complete with Jason’s long lost cousin and Andy’s one night faerie stand from last season. There’s talk of “refugees” and the anti-climatic bombshell that Sookie and Jason’s parents were killed by vampires. Of course they were.
There’s also the Terry storyline that while finally getting fleshed out a bit, is so out of place and dumb on this show. It’s even filmed to look like modern war films, taking it even more out of the show. The worst part is that there is no way any of it is going to matter. Terry would be so much better being cooking with Lafayette and laying out some silly banter about his pet armadillo. He and Arlene are totally being squandered this season.
Other notable moments :
– Pam teaching Tara to feed was an excellent scene.
– Lafayette’s Brujo face is not only some of the best make-up work on the show, it also seems like a nod that Jesus isn’t completely gone. Not that this show needs even more people around, but Jesus and Lafayette were awesome together.
– Roman blood covered and wild eyed was the kind of strong image this show used to do all the time.
– I’ve got a feeling some other members of the Authority are also lacking in loyalty.
– Drunk Sookie was the most tolerable Sookie has been since the show began
– I really hope they aren’t laying the groundwork for Bill to come back to Sookie.
– Jessica helping Jason was awesome, even if it was a cheap way to wrap up the Debbie plot.
– Does anyone at all care about the Terry PTSD storyline?
– I really wish they’d quit shoehorning Sookie into working at Merlotte’s. In no comprehensible way would she still be employed there.
– The writers need to quit with the teasing and BRING BACK RUSSELL EDGINGTON!!!
– Not only did the show kill a character (RIP, Littlest Vamp), they killed three! Even if we know little to nothing about Sam’s shifter friends, at least the writers discovered how to make something at least intriguing.
We’ll Meet Again was definitely the best episode of this season, but that’s really not saying a whole lot. The show still suffers from way to many characters and even more plots; far too many that have no bearing on anything. The teasing of Russell needs to pay off and pay off quick.
In other True Blood news, the show just got renewed for a sixth season. It will be the first without series creator Alan Ball. I can’t help but feel that a changing of the guard is exactly what this show needs. It feels like everyone involved is just burned out and running on fumes.
– Matt Hardeman
