Saturday, August 18, 2012

True Blood S5:E9 & E10 recap

Hello, my long lost fans of the fang! I wanted to post this recap sooner but my beloved TV-watching and blogging had to take a temporary backseat to work and parenting. You know what I mean. So without further ado...

It's so hard to believe there are only two episodes left of Season 5, which also means summer is almost over. Already we've seen a lot of Big Endings of the kind that TB used to reserve for its Actual Season Finales--

Jesus is gone but not forgotten. Lafayette has his mojo back, just like in the earlier seasons - love him. Jessica and Jason said their sad goodbyes to Alaska-bound Hoyt, who now seems to have everything he's ever wanted (and I got very teary-eyed. Literally, I cried. Well done by all three actors.) Terry and Arlene gave blood for blood and got rid of both the Ifrit curse and that pesky corpse in one fell swoop. Ghost Godric is really gone (another very sad scene, though Eric looked too hot crying - no complaints here). Sheriff Dearborn, The Dragon, and her ilk have been brought to justice. Alcide is again a lone wolf, just like his washed-up dad, aka the Cop Terminator from T2. As with killer Rene at the end of Season 1, Sookie has survived another murder attempt by a local guy she's known for years (Mike the Creepy Coroner/new vamp who got staked with chopsticks instead of simply revoking his invitation to her home - nice!). Who turned him, anyway?

There are still quite a few plotlines to tie up and only 2 episodes left to do it.

Tara and Ginger have killed the new Sheriff in town. Before he met the true death, Marilyn Manson called and asked for his look back. Lol. Ginger is an expert screamer. As I've said before, Ginger deserves a raise. The Pam/Tara dynamic is still the source of uncomfortable racial imagery, anyone else catch the Gone With The Wind - Prissy shout-out: "I don't know nothin' about birthin' no vampire babies." It was 100% intentional. Even the name of the episode is "Gone, Gone, Gone." (P.S. Pam rocked that white studded jacket.)

Beel: is he or isn't he a True Believer? I think he's an almost-there believer, or at least a wannabe convert - as I've said before, Beel's probably got a long term strategy going - like any successful vampire must, he has decided to lose some battles in the hope he'll eventually win the war. It will involve saving Sookie, but Eric will come out looking like the better, less-self-interested romantic partner for Sookie. Salome definitely has Beel under her thumb. Does she remind anyone else of another hot, brunette, elder vamp from Beel's past? Lorena, correct! I predict Beel will likewise eventually have a hand in killing off Salome.

When Beel was watching the video of Eric and Nora having the vision of Godric getting killed by Lilith it was as if he was somehow searching for some shred of concrete proof that Lilith is actually real. Like he's internally grappling with his own beliefs while externally saying what he must. The look exchanged between Eric and Beel when Russell mentioned his dream of daywalking with fairy blood said an awful lot. Then again, after Beel dragged Jessica to Authority HQ, handed her the Vampire Bible and gave her a mini-lecture on religion (and at the same time probably giving her a bit of religious homeschooling PTSD), I thought ok, so will Jessica be the one to finally slap some sense into her dear old dad? I have thoroughly admired Jessica this season - no doubt she will push back unless forced to drink the wacky Lilith V.

Russell was great to watch as usual, too. His clever exchange with Eric - Eric kissing Russell's ring and finally giving Russell the forgiveness he had asked for a few episodes back in Salome's chamber, wow. Clearly, they're both faking the religious fervor, and they both know it. Then Russell comes right out and admits it. Russell has had enough of these silly religious zealots: he's all "I'm 3,000 years old, I like to eat people, and when I'm super pissed my ancient Teutonic accent comes back!! Grrr!!!!"

Russell and Steve Newlin slow dancing in the frat house amongst the corpses of all the frat bothers they've just eaten was a great mix of scary/campy/funny. Steve Newlin's kidnapping of Emma and making her stay in wolf form - treating a child like a dog both literally and figuratively - holy hell, I'm really having trouble with it. Seeing a child being mistreated even in fictional form is just way too uncomfortable for me. Sam and Luna shifting into little white mice to keep tabs on Emma, how horrifying for any parent to watch. I think this will all come to a head in the next two episodes. They'll call in Alcide, Martha and the small handful of anti-V weres, and I bet somehow Steve Newlin meets the true death and Russell gets even crazier (if that's even possible) over the loss of yet another paramour. But I hope they don't actually kill Russell.

I found myself surprisingly enjoying the plotline about the Old Stackhouse Family Contract with Vampire Warlow found hidden under the floorboard of the bed. Good call, Officer Jason, you do have half a brain in there - and it reminded me of Lafayette's funny prior admonishments to the ghosts about getting too cute with their clues. It looks like an ancient scroll with hieroglyphics, so they first take it to the local university to have a professor examine it? Really? Did they really think he'd be able to read fairy? If this were the books, that professor would turn into a Bad Guy in the next season. Taking it to Claude should have been their first logical step, but oh well. Mirella finally translated it with her mad fairy handwaving skills - and BTW, she's pregnant with Andy Bellefleur's baby, right, right??

As their first female family fairy (I love alliteration), Sookie has been promised by her ancestor to Warlow. As a food source or as a wife? Wait, isn't this all cribbed from the Paranormal Activity movies? So that means, Sookie Is In Danger... All Over Again!! Naturally. Will getting rid of all her fae-ness make her less enticing to Warlow? Hmm...

Your thoughts?

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