True Blood 4x02 - NOW WE'RE TALKING

[loony_moony]

1. OKAY, SO THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED FIRST: I'm now okay with what they did to Eric. I WASN'T okay with premiere!Eric who basically went all "YEEEH EEEERRRR MEEEEEEEEN SOOKKIIE" a-la Beel (only Viking), but now it seems someone forced sanity pills on Alan Ball, and so Eric reverts to the same characterization he's had since season 2, especially his relationship with Sookie. This is the kind of relationship in which Eric and Sookie have a lovely little UST-infused powerplay that, let me tell you, hits all my buttons the right way. I LOVED their interactions, with Eric calling Sookie out on her double standards and Sookie in turn calls him a psychopathic fratboy. LOVES IT, I DOES, PRECIOUS. :D

I love it simply for the same reason I loved it in season 2's Dallas arc, because it's a great buildup to them having a relationship without the rules book 4 sets.

1.5. Btw, SEE, ANNA PAQUIN? THIS IS HOW ACTUAL CHEMISTRY WORKS. FFS that delivery on her "do you think that my legs are going to just magically open for you?" line was fucking STELLAR. Why oh why do people STILL think she acts better with Stephen Moyer. ACTUAL IRL CHEMISTRY DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN ONSCREEN CHEMISTRY, Y'ALL.

1.75. AND ALSO, I love how mob-like Eric sounds when he tries to convince Sookie to be his. "You'll need protection". LULZ YES, you could offer her SO MUCH PROTECTION WITH YOUR PENIS.

2.


'NOUGH SAID.


3. Nan Flanagan was a HBIC in the 80's and she's a HBIC now. She's even out-HBIC-ing Pam at this point, who mostly looks like TB's wardrobe department's Barbie. How much do I LOVE her sending out her hit men to get Sophie-Anne? Because really, there was no way Beel would've won that fight otherwise. But then, who would you rather having to deal with, Beel's obnoxiousness or hers? I'M LEANING TOWARDS THE LATTER TBQH.

4. Eric's sardonic bow to Beel = A+++

How telling that little scene was, in terms of the universe TB's sketching. A universe where Eric, for all his age and experience, would never advance beyond being a mere sheriff, because his views on vampires vs. humans don't fit with the AVL's, and they're the ones calling the shots. I actually like how TB is eliminating the whole royalty-states-mythologically named areas, because it was really silly already in the books.

4.5. That said, the endgame of the AVL is probably not going to be just vampires living out in the open and legally protected, so who knows how this will change.

5. HOLY FUCK THAT CURSE SCENE WAS CREEPY. Marnie's face morphing into whatever settled in her body was AWESOME and amazing and OH, ASKARS, KUDOS TO YOUR SUBTLE ACTING.

6. Which leads me to the whole "YAY BOOK 4 IS HAPPENING OMG!" section of this post:

YAY OMG BOOK 4 IS HAPPENING! WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO! SADLKJASDLAKDJAKJAJDALD GIMME ALL THE SHOWER SEX KTX

7. In the realm of whatever, though: Jason's little were-panther adventure, Andy's spiralling vee addiction, Arleen's little baby drama, Sam's horsey tiems, Jessica and Hoyt's slowly deconstructing relationship. WHY HAVE YOU MADE JESSICA AND HOYT INTO A WHATEVER, ALAN BALL, FFFFFFUUUUUUU.

7.5. Slightly more caring about: Lafayette and Jesus' mystical adventures. HOW WILL THIS EVER END WELL. D:

7.75. That said, Lafayette and Jesus knowing about everything that happened to Tara-sorry-TONI plus the conned girlfriend is slightly less wtf-y, I guess. I mean, at least she's not misleading EVERYONE.

(Tara does look amazing, though)

8. AND THEN THERE WERE PUNKS.

Comments

[archanglrobriel.livejournal.com]

Yesss. I agree with you across the board. Anna P. sure seems to have much more chemistry with Skarsgaard than with her r.l. husband, but then again, given how the first year of marriage tends to go even in the best cases, I don't suppose that should be surprising. Spikey Sookie is much more fun that Sappy Sookie anyway. I'm loving the AVL "behind the scenes" politics angle. That definitely adds some meat to the bones of the story.
The only thing I went "Really? C'mon....let's not go there." with in this episode was when the badly CGI'd panthers went Om Nom Nom on Jason. Better to cut to a blood spatter on the floor with some chewing noises than have crap Jaguar animations show up. Hopefully those blew their "crappy CGI" budget for awhile because I like them better with constraints. They're more creative with the work arounds than with the special effects.
Marnie is SO incredibly creepy. Brrr. I hope Lafayette isn't going to have to pay for that last minute "Oh hell" link up with the coven.
This review = A + + +

[loony-moony.livejournal.com]

Thank you! OH GOD THE CGI PANTHERS LET'S NOT GO THERE OKAY. DEAR TRUE BLOOD, less were-panthers, more Nan Flanagan KTX.

[aislinn-tredor.livejournal.com]

Hells to the yes. Eric back to his Not!Bill2.0 self is a relief.

LOL, punk Bill. Really, True Blood?

AMNEEEEEEESIA ERIC! And in the second episode, hallelujah, now Eric and Sookie can have aaaaaaaaaaaaaaall season to get to know each other and HAVE SEX NOW HOMG. Shower, table, bed, please.

Point 7: I don't care about any of their storylines. At all. Except WTF Hoyt and Jessica :(

Maybe Lafayette will save the day this season and defeat Marnie/Hallow since Sookie will be busy with Eric's gracious plenty?

[bertee.livejournal.com]

LOLOLOL #2.

Which is to say yes, you make very sensible points and I agree with this whole episode reaction but mostly LOOOOL #2.

[whimseywisp.livejournal.com]

BOOK FOUR BOOK FOUR BOOK FOUUUURRRRRRRR

[doubtful-salmon.livejournal.com]

I still like how they decided to keep in the bit where Sookie finds Eric without some of his clothes on. In the books it was like, they transported only Eric, but not his clothes, somewhere. In the show it makes less sense, because you know at the time he got cursed, he was wearing all of his clothes, but somewhere between there and when Sookie finds him, he's lost his shirt. I wonder what it is about memory loss that just leads one to remove one's clothes. "Oh, I've forgotten who I am. Clearly, the answer is on my chest." Not that I'm complaining. Actually, that was my favorite scene, and not just because it involved Alexander Skarsgard missing some clothes. I just liked forgetful Eric in a way that I didn't care for in the book. In the book it made me kind of uncomfortable, like it was all wrong. In this case, even though he had all of like four lines since he's lost his memory, I feel like I'll still be seeing Eric, not like a whole other person in the same body. Amnesia has never been so sexy!

I am still, however, freaked out about Aunt Petunia having done this to him. And about Christine Hill being Portia Bellefleur. When worlds collide!

I am also frankly bummed about Sophie-Anne. I had just decided I liked her, and also I just finished book 7 and I actually really liked it, perhaps because I'm so fond of conventions. Actually killing her off basically eliminates the possibility that books 6 and 7 will be adapted. Then again, they basically trapped Barry the Bellboy in there as well. There aren't many situations in which characters who live in the books are killed off in the show, especially when they're kind of important later on. I guess Russell, but they didn't even really kill him, and I suspect he will show up again before long just because how fucking great was he? When they strike gold like Russell Edgington, they WILL bring him back. And Franklin, but Franklin (at least to my knowledge so far) isn't quite as integral to later developments as Sophie-Anne. I guess the thought that had occurred to me ages ago, which was that they couldn't possibly adapt ALL the books because no one will want to watch season 11 of this show, is becoming much clearer. But I won't complain because for one I'm not much of a purist, and for another, as long as they keep removing Alexander Skarsgard's clothes I'll be fine.