True Blood 1x02 Review
Jun. 1st, 2010 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaFirst Taste
• So Bill/Sookie is actually really working for me. They both have really excellent reasons to be drawn to each other and to be fascinated by the other person. His mind is silent to her, she is new and different; and as reasons for people to be immediately taken with each other I completely understand it. As much as I love Buffy/Angel and Elena/Stefan and the numerous other pairings that I do love, Bill/Sookie is unexpectedly an ‘immediate connection’ pairing that works perfectly for me (beyond loving the characters in it). It makes sense. I love that. It makes me like Bill/Sookie even more. Of course this probably would be true for any or most Sookie/vampire pairing – Sookie being unable to hear their thoughts and loving it, them being drawn by her unusualness.
As for them as characters – I’m continuing to like their chemistry. We don’t really know a lot about Bill yet but I do love his fascination with Sookie. And I love her glee at being around him.
• It was actually kind of shocking how bloody Sookie was, not only after the attack on her where she looked completely horrible, but also during the time she was feeding on Bill. There was blood everywhere. I don’t think I’ve seen a vampire feeding scene (well, sort of) this bloody before.
• I was really identifying with Sookie during her and Sam’s scene in his office. God, that was so awkward for both but I was definitely feeling her side of it. Liking someone but not as much as you know they like you, and trying desperately to pretend that you don’t know what they feel so that you can hopefully keep your friendship as is – oh, yeah, been there, done that. It’s probably not the right way to do things, and isn’t the nicest but I so understand where she’s coming from.
But this does solve for me why I don’t ship Sam/Sookie even though he’s obviously a nice guy who loves her. I identify with Sookie too strongly in this circumstance – a circumstance I didn’t realise in the first episode. She likes him but doesn’t feel more and so is desperately trying to ignore his feelings for her (even when they’re shouted in her head). How can I ship them after that? I totally can’t. Or at least not until Sookie starts to return his interest.
• I am continuing to love Sookie. I love how she stands up for herself and doesn’t take crap from people but I also love that sometimes even she’s left speechless (when the douche grabbed her ass). I loved her apology to Tara, and then calling Tara out on her prejudice towards vampires (bringing up things people say about blacks and jews). I love how calmly and differently she reacts to everything – upon waking up with a vampire licking blood from her head the first thing she says is “Do I taste different from other people?” I loved her laughing in Bill’s face when the glamour didn’t work on her. I really liked her reaction at the end – there was fear and a lot of uncertainty but she didn’t freak out or run away.
• I love that it’s virginal Sookie who pulls Bill into their first kiss. Was it her first kiss ever? I liked how things went after the kiss. I liked that while she’s taken aback by his vamping out she wasn’t scared but when he says ‘I should take you home’ she agrees. He knows his limits better than her and she respects that. I like that.
• I love how the Sheriff totally buys that Sookie could beat the crap out of Mack. Tiny little Sookie. I’m amused. Just what has she done before?
• I actually found Tara and Jason kind of cute on the couch. I was not expecting that. Tara shaking her head and laughing at herself after he left made me like her more.
• "No. Because you're a man, and Sam don't feel the need to sexualize the men in his employment the same way he do the women." – Tara. I loved Tara calling Sam out on his sexism and him letting her go uniform free.
• “I’m not doing this for him; I’m doing this for me, so that I can be proud of my home.” – Adele. I love that. In fact I loved Adele throughout – from her trusting and backing up Sookie to her smacking down Jason several times. I loved how she’s the oldest in the family and it’s her house and he will respect her. I loved her “Jason, you don’t need any help looking like a fool.” Heee. I loved how Tara is basically family. On the negative side – her little bout of insensitivity towards Tara with regards to slaves and some possible latent racism on her part. But overall I really like her.
• We haven’t really got a lot on Arlene and Rene yet but I am liking what we’ve seen thus far. His accent is really interesting and different and I want to hear more. I loved him standing up for Sookie – not because she couldn’t handle herself but because it was the right thing to do. I loved that upon hearing Arlene’s fears Sookie just immediately stepped up and hugged her.
• The canon for this world is already separating itself from other vampire canons. In this world if a person rescinds their invitation a vampire has to leave/cannot enter their house. Interesting – and very useful for the humans. It kind of levels the playing field between them more. Vampires are seriously vulnerable to silver – just the little chain was enough to keep Bill immobile. Then there’s the fact that humans can drink vampire blood – not only does it have a lot of benefits (health and increased senses) but it’s also addictive (I think) and it appears there’s something in it that is delicious to people (as soon as Sookie got her first taste her reluctance was gone and she was gulping it down.) The fact that it increases a person’s libido is probably a draw for some people as well. What I find really fascinating is that this has lead to a black market in ‘V-blood’ and now suddenly vampires have become a commodity. And I’m sure some of them are selling their blood but you’ve also got human’s hunting vampires to drain them. It’s this really neat inversion of the usual trope – vampires hunting humans and draining them of blood, though that’s there too. It makes everything so much more equal – vampire may hunt and crave human blood but humans, once they know and experience it, hunt and crave vampire blood just as much. I love it.
Also interesting – “I’ll always be able to feel you. I’ll be able to find you fast. If you’re ever in trouble that could come in handy.” – does this mean then that if a vampire is captured and drained but escapes it will be able to track down anyone who drank it’s blood? Bill also doesn’t give a limit on this – will he always be able to feel Sookie now or just until his blood passes through her system?
• So Bill/Sookie is actually really working for me. They both have really excellent reasons to be drawn to each other and to be fascinated by the other person. His mind is silent to her, she is new and different; and as reasons for people to be immediately taken with each other I completely understand it. As much as I love Buffy/Angel and Elena/Stefan and the numerous other pairings that I do love, Bill/Sookie is unexpectedly an ‘immediate connection’ pairing that works perfectly for me (beyond loving the characters in it). It makes sense. I love that. It makes me like Bill/Sookie even more. Of course this probably would be true for any or most Sookie/vampire pairing – Sookie being unable to hear their thoughts and loving it, them being drawn by her unusualness.
As for them as characters – I’m continuing to like their chemistry. We don’t really know a lot about Bill yet but I do love his fascination with Sookie. And I love her glee at being around him.
• It was actually kind of shocking how bloody Sookie was, not only after the attack on her where she looked completely horrible, but also during the time she was feeding on Bill. There was blood everywhere. I don’t think I’ve seen a vampire feeding scene (well, sort of) this bloody before.
• I was really identifying with Sookie during her and Sam’s scene in his office. God, that was so awkward for both but I was definitely feeling her side of it. Liking someone but not as much as you know they like you, and trying desperately to pretend that you don’t know what they feel so that you can hopefully keep your friendship as is – oh, yeah, been there, done that. It’s probably not the right way to do things, and isn’t the nicest but I so understand where she’s coming from.
But this does solve for me why I don’t ship Sam/Sookie even though he’s obviously a nice guy who loves her. I identify with Sookie too strongly in this circumstance – a circumstance I didn’t realise in the first episode. She likes him but doesn’t feel more and so is desperately trying to ignore his feelings for her (even when they’re shouted in her head). How can I ship them after that? I totally can’t. Or at least not until Sookie starts to return his interest.
• I am continuing to love Sookie. I love how she stands up for herself and doesn’t take crap from people but I also love that sometimes even she’s left speechless (when the douche grabbed her ass). I loved her apology to Tara, and then calling Tara out on her prejudice towards vampires (bringing up things people say about blacks and jews). I love how calmly and differently she reacts to everything – upon waking up with a vampire licking blood from her head the first thing she says is “Do I taste different from other people?” I loved her laughing in Bill’s face when the glamour didn’t work on her. I really liked her reaction at the end – there was fear and a lot of uncertainty but she didn’t freak out or run away.
• I love that it’s virginal Sookie who pulls Bill into their first kiss. Was it her first kiss ever? I liked how things went after the kiss. I liked that while she’s taken aback by his vamping out she wasn’t scared but when he says ‘I should take you home’ she agrees. He knows his limits better than her and she respects that. I like that.
• I love how the Sheriff totally buys that Sookie could beat the crap out of Mack. Tiny little Sookie. I’m amused. Just what has she done before?
• I actually found Tara and Jason kind of cute on the couch. I was not expecting that. Tara shaking her head and laughing at herself after he left made me like her more.
• "No. Because you're a man, and Sam don't feel the need to sexualize the men in his employment the same way he do the women." – Tara. I loved Tara calling Sam out on his sexism and him letting her go uniform free.
• “I’m not doing this for him; I’m doing this for me, so that I can be proud of my home.” – Adele. I love that. In fact I loved Adele throughout – from her trusting and backing up Sookie to her smacking down Jason several times. I loved how she’s the oldest in the family and it’s her house and he will respect her. I loved her “Jason, you don’t need any help looking like a fool.” Heee. I loved how Tara is basically family. On the negative side – her little bout of insensitivity towards Tara with regards to slaves and some possible latent racism on her part. But overall I really like her.
• We haven’t really got a lot on Arlene and Rene yet but I am liking what we’ve seen thus far. His accent is really interesting and different and I want to hear more. I loved him standing up for Sookie – not because she couldn’t handle herself but because it was the right thing to do. I loved that upon hearing Arlene’s fears Sookie just immediately stepped up and hugged her.
• The canon for this world is already separating itself from other vampire canons. In this world if a person rescinds their invitation a vampire has to leave/cannot enter their house. Interesting – and very useful for the humans. It kind of levels the playing field between them more. Vampires are seriously vulnerable to silver – just the little chain was enough to keep Bill immobile. Then there’s the fact that humans can drink vampire blood – not only does it have a lot of benefits (health and increased senses) but it’s also addictive (I think) and it appears there’s something in it that is delicious to people (as soon as Sookie got her first taste her reluctance was gone and she was gulping it down.) The fact that it increases a person’s libido is probably a draw for some people as well. What I find really fascinating is that this has lead to a black market in ‘V-blood’ and now suddenly vampires have become a commodity. And I’m sure some of them are selling their blood but you’ve also got human’s hunting vampires to drain them. It’s this really neat inversion of the usual trope – vampires hunting humans and draining them of blood, though that’s there too. It makes everything so much more equal – vampire may hunt and crave human blood but humans, once they know and experience it, hunt and crave vampire blood just as much. I love it.
Also interesting – “I’ll always be able to feel you. I’ll be able to find you fast. If you’re ever in trouble that could come in handy.” – does this mean then that if a vampire is captured and drained but escapes it will be able to track down anyone who drank it’s blood? Bill also doesn’t give a limit on this – will he always be able to feel Sookie now or just until his blood passes through her system?
