More Flashbacks, More Fairies

True Blood, S05E03

Tara tried to seek help from Sam, wanting to avoid Lafayette and Sookie.  Andy began to question about Debbie's disappearance, and Sookie had to come clean to Alcide.  Eric and Bill were saved from execution, but were tested by an Authority councilor to see if they could be trusted.  Pam continued to remember how she came to be Eric's child.  Jason encountered the teacher who taught him how to have sex and realized that sex didn't comfort him like it used to.  Jessica realized that Jason wanted more than a physical relationship and assured him that she could be a friend who was also a woman.

If there was some way I could feel sorry for Tara having to adjust to being a vampire, which she hated, and trying to resist harming innocent people, I would do it.  But she is just so damn annoying!  Tara took a bullet for Sookie, and Sookie had someone she disliked help save her life in return.  When Tara takes the moment to stop freaking out over her new found hunger and abilities, maybe she'll see that people loved her enough to not want to be visiting her grave every day. Perhaps if Pam gets annoyed enough she might take Tara under her wing and settle her ass down.  Pam, at least, is a pretty cool and collected vampire and would make a good role model for Tara.

However, she did lose it when Sookie was bothering her about Tara when Eric had been missing for days.  Sookie was lucky that she didn't get her neck bitten off, pestering her about an act that she and Lafayette made her do.  But I was surprised that Sookie was able to control her fairy powers enough to retaliate against Pam and send her flying.  Damn!  I almost wished that the fight had escalated.  Sometimes Sookie pushes her damn luck.  I know that she doesn't have full control over those powers just yet, so she should be a little more careful about attacking vampires who would gladly see her dead.

I suppose what I liked best about this episode was Pam's 1905 flashback when Eric came to her establishment.  He wanted to have Pam, but she refused him unless he would take care of the vampires who were draining some of her girls dry.  It turned out these vampires were none other than Bill and Lorena!  That wasn't interesting to me until I realized this was the first time that Bill and Eric met.  Bill was still quite the greenhorn vampire who seemed to have nothing but contempt for Eric.  But Eric recognized Bill's talent, I suppose, and was gracious enough to let Lorena and Bill (who glared at Eric instead of apologizing) go without any bloodshed.  Classy.  And it adds upon the relationship between Bill and Eric which has been horrible until recently.  I wonder when it was that they met each other again (possibly when Eric became sheriff?).  I also wonder what it was about Pam that Eric felt strongly enough not to let her die, but take her on as his child.  I dunno.  Eric can't be that compassionate.

Oh, there was a random fairy who appeared.  He was fairly good-looking (as fairies are supposed to be) and reminded me that the fairies who have been on the show so far annoy me with their average looks.  But I was worried that Jessica following the fairy was going to get her killed or something.  I've read the books and I can't get over at how vicious and sadistic fairies were (though I don't think they are as bad in the TV version).  Still, I think the fact they are still floating around town is going to have some kind of dangerous consequences down the road.  Hopefully in an interesting way, not a stupid way.

I was none too surprised that Alcide didn't accept Sookie's confession too well.  Any guy with some sense would think that Sookie wasn't a very good friend.  However, just because I like Alcide, I hope that he forgives her.  She will surely need his help to keep the Pelts off her back.  Once they find out that Sookie is the one who murdered their daughter, they'll be an addition to the list of people who will want to kill her (the foremost being Russell once he gets back on his feet).

Jason also surprised me by visiting his past when he had sex with his former teacher (again), but then realized that sex being the highpoint of his life and worth didn't fulfill him anymore (if it ever truly did).  I was really happy to see that he resisted Jessica and wished to be treated like a human not a sex robot.  It was even better when Jessica wasn't so horny to not listen to his feelings and offered to lend him her ear like a real friend.  I guess she really is serious about Jason after all.  I was worried that she was all talk and might lose interest in him if he wasn't getting naked for her.  There is hope for those two yet.

I think overall this episode wasn't that exciting, possibly because nothing really happened.  Bill and Eric were still stuck on Authority grounds, Tara was still being a bitchy newborn vampire, and Arlene was no closer to finding out what was going on with Terry than she was before.  Truly, if there wasn't a Pam flashback and Jason's revelation that sex wouldn't whitewash all his problems, I would have been pretty bored.  Next time, I'd like to see Pam have a bigger role (that wasn't in a flashback) and find out what's going on with these fairies in town.  Hopefully, Russell won't make a move any time soon because I'm not quite ready for him to come in and cause havoc just yet.  That's either going to be really great or really terrible.

How Much Would You Pay For Jason?

True Blood, S05E02

Sookie and Lafayette struggled to look after Tara who was raging around the house.  Eric and Bill were interrogated and tortured at an Authority holding area.  Arlene tried to get to the bottom of what was wrong with Terry.  Luna gave Sam the boot when he tried to give his two cents about Emma.  Steve offered money to Jessica to hand over Jason to him.

The winner this week for best scene in this episode was hands-down when Steve approached Jessica for the use of Jason for 10 grand--cash.  I had hoped that he hadn't given up on Jason so easily, and this time he really showed that he was indeed determined to get his hands on him.  I was dying with laughter when Jessica was teasing him about how hot Jason was so he would double his offer.  Luckily, she wasn't about to pimp out her friend.  Still, Steve seems that he is going to keep causing trouble for Jessica until he gets what he wants.  I'm very interested to see what else he might do.  Also, I loved when he just barged into her party and was getting along with those college students so well.  Wow.

The second best scene for me was when Lafayette had to offer Tara some True Blood, and he looked terrified and pulled up his sweater around his neck.  I freaking love when Lafayette is kinda scared shitless--his expressions are so funny!  But I felt myself feeling sorry for him when he was about to stake Tara, and he confessed that he had her turned because he didn't have anyone without her now that Jesus was gone.  Aww!  As much as I hate Tara, I don't want to see Lafayette so sad and lonely!  If Tara can just manage to be there for him, I can tolerate her ass still being alive.

Another scene that had me very interested was Bill and Eric being interrogated.  I was amazed at how they refused to sell one another out, no matter what happened to them.  Even better, I love that Eric can still be sarcastic when his life is on the line.  He cracks me up.  Of course, it would feel a little out of character for him if Eric was cowering in fear or something.  Not only is he brave no matter what, but he's also so damn loyal!  I was surprised that when it looked like "Guardian (who the hell is that guy?)" was going to stake Bill, Eric tried to throw all the blame on himself to save him.  Man, they are really going to be friends forever once this Authority business is done (perhaps it's all due to the fact they don't have to fight over Sookie anymore?).

Their interrogation also brought up the issue of the Vampire Bible, where it was said that God was a vampire and created the first vampire in his image, and humans were just created to feed vampires.  That's interesting.  Then they showed the chancellors engaging in this very religious ceremony where they all consumed blood (like communion or something).  It was weird seeing vampires engaging in their own religious rituals.  

The last thing that I liked in this episode was seeing Eric circa 1905.  Since it was Pam's flashback, I'm pretty sure that many fans like myself were just waiting for Eric to make an appearance dawned in that century's style of clothing.  I think that it suited him pretty well, and I loved him calmly licking his bloody hand before he started chatting with Pam.  Since Eric left right after giving Pam some money to cover her ruined dress, we still haven't seen when she was turned by Eric.  I'm guessing that he probably showed up another time at her place of employment another day.  Though, I can't see Eric really needing to pay anyone to sleep with him.  Hopefully we'll get to see the continuation of the vampire Pam origin story.

Lastly, I just want to mention how insane Luna is for kicking Sam out of her house (and life, basically).  He almost got himself killed by wolves for her and her daughter's sake!  I'm sure he would do it even if they weren't dating, but she is all kinds of crazy to tell him that it's her way or the highway like that.  Hopefully now that she's seen that her daughter is indeed a wolf after all, maybe she'll stop acting like a bitch and lean on Sam.  She could do a lot worse for someone in the supernatural world, anyway.  At least when things go to hell, Sam would be around for support.  That's enough to keep him around, considering her connection with the werewolves in town.  But I wonder if she'll break down and go to Emma's grandmother for help or will she apologize to Sam?  Either of those choices are better than her being a stubborn bitch and trying to handle everything for herself.  She best come to her senses and realize Sam's the best thing that's happened to her in a while (although, he can be a bit of trouble magnet himself).

I liked this episode a lot more than I did the first.  I was worried that I was going to be watching, but not that invested in what was mostly going on, but I'm surprised by how much I like the Jessica versus Steve battle and Eric and Bill's involvement with the Authority.  I'm not looking forward to Eric and Bill taking down Russell, but it's good that they were able to use his escape to prolong their lives for a while.  I'm sure that they will find a way to redeem themselves by stopping the ex-King from causing more havoc.  But of course, more than that I want to see Steve try another way to get Jason.  I have a feeling that's going to be the funniest storyline this season.

Worst Episode Ever. April Fools!

Ugly Americans, S02E17

Mark prepared to propose a proposal to Callie on April Fools' Day, but the DOI was under lock down due to Mark's predecessor's escape from jail.  Barney had swore murderous revenge on all of them, so they were taking precautions by escaping to a cabin out of town.  Mark found it hard to believe that their emergency was real and resisted sharing their panic until he started to see his friends dead in the woods.  He also learned that Callie used to date Barney and was likely still in love with him.  When Mark, Grimes, and Callie were captured by the madman, they were forced to participate in a twisted dating game show, where Barney seemed to have won Callie's heart again.  Mark fell into a jealous rage and tried to kill the man, but his friends stopped him by letting him know it was an elaborate prank after all.  While all of this was going on Leonard and Randall tried to get back to town to cash a lottery ticket.  They managed to escape from some rapist, hillbilly pig people, but when they tried to redeem the ticket, the clerk refused to accept it because it was ripped in half.

I thought it was kind of half-assed of Mark to want to ask Callie to be engaged to be engaged.  For someone who always pretends to be so responsible, it just sounds like a shallow commitment to trick someone into thinking they were actually serious.  I did like that when he brought up doing it that Randall did seem a little worried that Mark would move out of the apartment one day.  But with them one stage below engaged, I doubt that Randall has to worry about that any time soon.  Even though I thought his proposal was pointless, I still thought Callie would appreciate the gesture, but she barely paid attention to him when he asked her in Randall's van.  I wonder if they weren't all trying to trick Mark would she have been a little more happy about it.

Once Mark made it known that he didn't care for pranks and suspected that the whole DOI emergency was a ruse, I knew that no matter what happened that he was going to be right.  I also assumed that Callie would propose to him in the end since she was a little too disinterested in Mark and his ring in the car.  I feel like she would be the tiniest bit more concerned that her boyfriend was making such a grand (or not) gesture of their love.  However, I enjoyed watching the horror movie-like setting unfold.  It was an interesting idea that Callie's ex was a much better match for her than Mark, and I liked how he was doubting that they belonged together at all (since he was the exact opposite of Barney).  It was also nice to see Mark get mad and stabby.  He rarely lets his temper get the best of him, and it's even rarer that he would resort to violence to solve a problem.  He must really love Callie to get that upset.

I know that they were pranking Mark, but did Eric really use to be a human?  I mean, obviously the guy they paid to play Barney hadn't really worked at the DOI in the past, but I could believe that ridiculous story that someone killed Eric and he was rebuilt as a robot.  He's not made out of anything organic, so someone had to put him together.  So for what purpose was he built?  I usually don't pay attention to his character at all, but that scene where they explained his origins made me curious about his actual story.  But who knows if they will ever address that.  It's only important to people as random as me, I guess.

I actually thought that Leonard's winning lottery ticket was an April Fools' joke too, but it was real after all.  I'm not surprised that Randall became a part of it and tried to swindle him out of the ticket.  What was an interesting turn of events was when those hillbilly pigs captured them.  Never saw that coming.  Glad we didn't have to see too much gross stuff in that department.  I could just laugh at their horrible predicament without having to witness the creepy, sexual things they were exposed to.  Sucked that after all that mess, the clerk refused to honor the ticket.  He made things worse by saying that if Leonard had taped the ticket together first, he might not have noticed it was torn and accepted it.  Oh, well.  Leonard would have surely been a bastard as a millionaire.  He's not the most grounded person to begin with.

For some reason, this episode made me feel like it was a season finale.  That could be possible since they just started the season where they left off before.  I don't think that there's anything really special about Mark and Callie's engagement to engagement, but maybe for them that's a huge step (since I get the feeling that Callie was pretty serious about the reason she was with Mark didn't amount to much more than getting used to him being around).  I didn't have a lot of laughs in this story, but I still liked that everyone worked together to fool Mark.  Despite it being a predictable development, I enjoyed the ride to the obvious conclusion.

Four Yawns And An Eyebrow Raise

Happy Endings, S02E21

It's already the season finale of this show!  What?  It really feels like it flew by.  I have to say that I wasn't too impressed by the second season, especially when the first one was so funny.  Anyway, this time the gang went to Derrick and Eric's wedding.  Penny tried to hook up with a guy via Skype after looking forward to having a real date at a wedding for the first time that didn't pan out.  Brad lost his job and hesitated telling Jane while she was covering Eric's ass for not having enough money to cover the reception.  Max was reluctant to join his old Madonna cover band because he was worried about how much he had changed physically since his singing heyday.  Penny wondered if she had unrealized feelings for Dave, which led to a possible return of Dave and Alex's relationship somehow.

For someone as interesting as Derrick, his wedding was sure boring.  I did like the wedding party's matching suits (even if Jane looked awkward in her yellow one), but beyond that, I was disappointed the six weren't involved in an event that would let loose all of their crazy and funny tendencies.  I would say that everyone behaved well, and there wasn't much drama (insert Derrick's voice) at all.  Even Max was just sitting around feeling sorry for himself.  What a shame.  If there wasn't a shortage of food at the reception, I would have liked to see him stuffing his face in a ridiculous way at least once (I only got to see him licking a cake wrapper or something).  What a waste.

Does anyone really care about Penny dating someone?  I don't think even her friends do since they were betting how long it would take her to mention the new guy she had met.  Speaking of the beginning of the episode, the pace of their conversation led me to believe that it would just get funnier from there.  Major let down.  Instead of finding Penny's seat at the Skype table and her later dance with a laptop to be amusing, I just felt pity for her.  She's really sad.

Jane wasn't even that aggressive when she tried to get into the wedding party.  Basically, all she had to do was "poison" the person who matched her height, and she was in.  I would have enjoyed her trying slip in there after many failed, underhanded attempts.  Disappointing.  And when she was a part of it all and had to get creative with the food, her innovations (such as the napkin as the brie) weren't that great.  I at least wanted to see someone catching onto what she was doing, and Jane running in to remedy that in some outlandish way.  Things just went smoothly for the most part.

I don't know why Penny was exploring the possibility of liking Dave.  I can't imagine a worse couple.  Even though she has suggested she might have something for him, it hasn't crossed my mind since then.  What do they have in common?  And there's no attraction between them.  There was such a connection once between Alex and Dave (it feels so long since they were almost walking down the aisle together), but even with them having slept together a few episodes ago, I have no desire to see them rekindle that flame.  But since they had a few suggestive moments and were seen holding hands, I guess next season they will be back to old tricks.  Ugh.  Good thing I won't have to see that headache for a good while.

If I had to pick my favorite thing in the story (and I have to really scrap the bottom of the bowl here), I would say that I liked when Max was performing on stage and suddenly Brad was there dancing next to him.  That was a little cute and random.  I could see Brad a part of that band too (maybe he wouldn't be as "pitchy" as Pete).  Brad and Max scenes are great.  Wish they had more this season.

I don't know if I'll want to watch this show as much next season.  The first season was so good, I couldn't wait for it to start again, but the stories certainly haven't been as consistently on point as they used to be.  I definitely will want to watch so I can see what Max's up to, but if they don't do a little better next time, I don't know if even he can continue to carry the show for me.  Let's step it up a notch in the fall (providing they are picked up again)!