True Blood 3x01 Review
Jun. 14th, 2010 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaBad Blood
• I love the little bit of further vampire knowledge we got in this episode. A Maker can call their progeny and it represents as a shiver (is the sound we hear a part of it too?) plus the progeny knows exactly where their Maker is when they called to them. I find that very neat.
• “I am duty bound as sheriff of the area in which he resides to find him. (pause) Even if I do want what is his.” – Eric. Hmmm. As a shipper I loved this scene, everything about it, but this last bit from Eric... it was kind of open. Revealing. And so I’m wondering if he just finds himself being so vulnerable, if he’s showing his vulnerabilities as a method to lure Sookie to him, or if it’s all fake/a show in order to get her?
• I loved Sookie/Pam.
“Now I don’t remember telling you lavender was my favourite colour.” – Pam
“I’m in no mood for lesbian weirdness tonight Pam.” – Sookie
Heh. I so hope we get a lot more interactions between them this season. I am really pleased that Pam now has an invitation into Sookie’s house.
“Sookie, stop, don’t, come back.” – Pam, softly and in a bored tone.
Heeee. Oh, protest harder, Pam... But with that complete lack of effort in keeping Sookie away from the basement and then her dry “She overpowered me.”</>I excuse to Eric I find myself wondering what she is playing at. She very specifically allowed Sookie to go into the basement (and why’d she go there instead of his office? Or did she go there first and the basement was her second stop?), and Eric didn’t seem pleased about it, so what was the reaction or result she was hoping for?
• I liked the look into the Eric/Pam relationship. It’s still coming off as equal as it appeared previously. I mean he tells her what to do and she has to do it but she calls him on crap and when he told her to back off he did it pretty respectfully. I like it.
• I love that Eric wrote Sookie a bigger check then the agreed upon ten thousand. I wonder just how much more it was? Also would Sookie have accepted it if Eric had given it to her? I like that he took the time to write it out for her even though he’s currently really stressed out. I wonder if Pam will tell Eric that Sookie sounded appreciative, as she says she will, or if she’d be completely truthful with him?
• I felt really horrible for Lafayette during his scene with Pam but, man, did I love her during it. She was so tough and awesome. I loved her slapping Lafayette down. I am so happy that she is a full cast member this season because she is awesome.
• I really wish that the whole deal about Sophie-Anne selling her blood wasn’t all because she needed money. It just... I haven’t read the books and I don’t know a lot about her, and maybe this is how it all plays out, but what I have read about her is that in the books that she’s this shrewd, calculated and intelligent political animal who is very dangerous which is not entirely how she’s being played on the show. What I’ve read about her replacement, a king, makes him sound like book Sophie-Anne. All that was enough to hit my gender issues button but then making her selling her blood about money instead of it being some political power-grab or solidifying her power or whatever? This really, really bugs me.
• I did not understand a couple things: like why if Sophie-Anne was the one bugging Eric’s office would it matter if they talked about a sensitive topic in there since... they’re her bugs? Plus I don’t understand why she’d even bother telling him about them instead of just telling him they wanted complete privacy. The bugs were another little bit of advantage over Eric which she has now lost, and for no reason. Then there was her deciding the new dancer could stay during their discussion... even though it’s a very sensitive conversation? The whole thing is just... bad. I really don’t like what it says about her. (And in turn it makes me unhappy on a gender scale.) Also her outfit was hideous.
• I love Sookie. Even when she’s being ridiculously foolhardy and impulsive (brave and empathetic), and refusing to give up on something well past the time she should (resolute). I loved very much her not giving an inch in her dealings with everyone – especially Eric.
But despite my love for her she was so self-absorbed in this episode it irritated even me. When she shouted at Tara that she wasn’t the only one suffering and that Bill was missing I was so not impressed. I was not impressed with her single focus on Bill to the point that she apparently doesn’t think about Tara after their short interaction. Possibly me knowing that Bill is fine, will be fine, is stopping me from empathising with her panic and fear over his disappearance but it is possible to be worried about more than one person at a time.
I loved the Sookie/Tara friendship in the beginning but we haven’t gotten near enough of it since then and this is just more of that same. Only it’s kind of worse because Tara is suffering right now and Sookie knows about it right now, is even a part of it, and yet all she can still think about is Bill. Lafayette calls her Tara’s 'best friend in the world' but she was definitely not acting like it.
In fact, her shouting at Tara about Bill during their fight pisses me off the more I think about it. Tara is suffering because her love/boyfriend was killed and Sookie reacts by telling her that she’s not the only one suffering because her love/boyfriend is missing? What the hell is that?
I think this is very much the negative side of Sookie’s unwillingness to be pushed around/inability not to stand up for herself or whatever you’d call it, that I usually love even when I shake my head at her. Usually the negative side of that part of her personality manifests by having her bitching out a vampire that hates her or getting in the face of a supernatural being that can kill her but apparently it can also manifest by her being unable to allow her suffering friend take her anger/rage out on her (even when it’s understandable).
• “Are you crazy?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! That’s Sookie. You best friend is this whole fucking world!” – Lafayette. I knew that things were going to go sour between Sookie and Tara over the Eggs situation but I was still hoping that they would deal with it better.
• I loved that Sookie called Isabel, Dallas Isabel, in her search for Bill. I missed it the first time, or rather I couldn’t figure out who she was talking to, but I love this so much. Sookie has even more vampire contacts now.
• When Jessica was freaking out about his dying trucker why the hell didn’t she call Pam or Eric for help? She knows exactly where they are and for the first two weeks or so of her vampire life they were the ones she learned from and turned too. In fact I’d think she’d want to turn to them instead of Bill anyway considering everyone’s general attitudes on drinking and killing humans (that is Bill: no, Pam and Eric: yay). Why wouldn’t she call Fangtasia for help anyway? Especially after he died.
• Jason continues to be the least interesting part of the show for me. I once again found myself fast-forwarding through most of his scenes.
• I actually liked Bill in this episode. I loved Bill kicking werewolf ass. I liked that he kept his cool during the car ride, I liked that he took control and got away by crashing the car, I liked that he gave the old lady a bunch of money (which she clearly needed) and let her think it was from her son because he cared about her, which was really sweet, and I liked his aggressiveness in his final scene against the werewolves.
• The Bill/Sam scene at the beginning had me slowly going ‘wtf’ as it went on and on. This show is not shy about sex, though only m/f at this point, but if there were any two characters I would least expect to have sexy times Bill/Sam would have been near the top of that list. I went huh about Bill showing up at Sam’s hotel room, and then shaking my head at Bill apparently having found Sam via the blood bond which I liked, but then things got more and more intense, and then there was Bill using the blood bond on Sam and the almost kiss and, yeah, I was going ‘WTF’. But at the same time it was kind of working for me. I love that it was a blood dream. It makes me really want to see one of Lafayette’s now. How would that compare to Sookie and Sam’s? What I am most interested in though is whether what happened in the dream – Bill using the blood bond to compel Sam like that – is something that a vampire can do? Cause that’s pretty scary even for them and there are implications there.
• I wonder if Sookie is still having dreams about Bill along with her dreams about Eric or has the Eric blood taken over the Bill, or does the blood bond fade over time?
• I love the little bit of further vampire knowledge we got in this episode. A Maker can call their progeny and it represents as a shiver (is the sound we hear a part of it too?) plus the progeny knows exactly where their Maker is when they called to them. I find that very neat.
• “I am duty bound as sheriff of the area in which he resides to find him. (pause) Even if I do want what is his.” – Eric. Hmmm. As a shipper I loved this scene, everything about it, but this last bit from Eric... it was kind of open. Revealing. And so I’m wondering if he just finds himself being so vulnerable, if he’s showing his vulnerabilities as a method to lure Sookie to him, or if it’s all fake/a show in order to get her?
• I loved Sookie/Pam.
“Now I don’t remember telling you lavender was my favourite colour.” – Pam
“I’m in no mood for lesbian weirdness tonight Pam.” – Sookie
Heh. I so hope we get a lot more interactions between them this season. I am really pleased that Pam now has an invitation into Sookie’s house.
“Sookie, stop, don’t, come back.” – Pam, softly and in a bored tone.
Heeee. Oh, protest harder, Pam... But with that complete lack of effort in keeping Sookie away from the basement and then her dry “She overpowered me.”</>I excuse to Eric I find myself wondering what she is playing at. She very specifically allowed Sookie to go into the basement (and why’d she go there instead of his office? Or did she go there first and the basement was her second stop?), and Eric didn’t seem pleased about it, so what was the reaction or result she was hoping for?
• I liked the look into the Eric/Pam relationship. It’s still coming off as equal as it appeared previously. I mean he tells her what to do and she has to do it but she calls him on crap and when he told her to back off he did it pretty respectfully. I like it.
• I love that Eric wrote Sookie a bigger check then the agreed upon ten thousand. I wonder just how much more it was? Also would Sookie have accepted it if Eric had given it to her? I like that he took the time to write it out for her even though he’s currently really stressed out. I wonder if Pam will tell Eric that Sookie sounded appreciative, as she says she will, or if she’d be completely truthful with him?
• I felt really horrible for Lafayette during his scene with Pam but, man, did I love her during it. She was so tough and awesome. I loved her slapping Lafayette down. I am so happy that she is a full cast member this season because she is awesome.
• I really wish that the whole deal about Sophie-Anne selling her blood wasn’t all because she needed money. It just... I haven’t read the books and I don’t know a lot about her, and maybe this is how it all plays out, but what I have read about her is that in the books that she’s this shrewd, calculated and intelligent political animal who is very dangerous which is not entirely how she’s being played on the show. What I’ve read about her replacement, a king, makes him sound like book Sophie-Anne. All that was enough to hit my gender issues button but then making her selling her blood about money instead of it being some political power-grab or solidifying her power or whatever? This really, really bugs me.
• I did not understand a couple things: like why if Sophie-Anne was the one bugging Eric’s office would it matter if they talked about a sensitive topic in there since... they’re her bugs? Plus I don’t understand why she’d even bother telling him about them instead of just telling him they wanted complete privacy. The bugs were another little bit of advantage over Eric which she has now lost, and for no reason. Then there was her deciding the new dancer could stay during their discussion... even though it’s a very sensitive conversation? The whole thing is just... bad. I really don’t like what it says about her. (And in turn it makes me unhappy on a gender scale.) Also her outfit was hideous.
• I love Sookie. Even when she’s being ridiculously foolhardy and impulsive (brave and empathetic), and refusing to give up on something well past the time she should (resolute). I loved very much her not giving an inch in her dealings with everyone – especially Eric.
But despite my love for her she was so self-absorbed in this episode it irritated even me. When she shouted at Tara that she wasn’t the only one suffering and that Bill was missing I was so not impressed. I was not impressed with her single focus on Bill to the point that she apparently doesn’t think about Tara after their short interaction. Possibly me knowing that Bill is fine, will be fine, is stopping me from empathising with her panic and fear over his disappearance but it is possible to be worried about more than one person at a time.
I loved the Sookie/Tara friendship in the beginning but we haven’t gotten near enough of it since then and this is just more of that same. Only it’s kind of worse because Tara is suffering right now and Sookie knows about it right now, is even a part of it, and yet all she can still think about is Bill. Lafayette calls her Tara’s 'best friend in the world' but she was definitely not acting like it.
In fact, her shouting at Tara about Bill during their fight pisses me off the more I think about it. Tara is suffering because her love/boyfriend was killed and Sookie reacts by telling her that she’s not the only one suffering because her love/boyfriend is missing? What the hell is that?
I think this is very much the negative side of Sookie’s unwillingness to be pushed around/inability not to stand up for herself or whatever you’d call it, that I usually love even when I shake my head at her. Usually the negative side of that part of her personality manifests by having her bitching out a vampire that hates her or getting in the face of a supernatural being that can kill her but apparently it can also manifest by her being unable to allow her suffering friend take her anger/rage out on her (even when it’s understandable).
• “Are you crazy?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! That’s Sookie. You best friend is this whole fucking world!” – Lafayette. I knew that things were going to go sour between Sookie and Tara over the Eggs situation but I was still hoping that they would deal with it better.
• I loved that Sookie called Isabel, Dallas Isabel, in her search for Bill. I missed it the first time, or rather I couldn’t figure out who she was talking to, but I love this so much. Sookie has even more vampire contacts now.
• When Jessica was freaking out about his dying trucker why the hell didn’t she call Pam or Eric for help? She knows exactly where they are and for the first two weeks or so of her vampire life they were the ones she learned from and turned too. In fact I’d think she’d want to turn to them instead of Bill anyway considering everyone’s general attitudes on drinking and killing humans (that is Bill: no, Pam and Eric: yay). Why wouldn’t she call Fangtasia for help anyway? Especially after he died.
• Jason continues to be the least interesting part of the show for me. I once again found myself fast-forwarding through most of his scenes.
• I actually liked Bill in this episode. I loved Bill kicking werewolf ass. I liked that he kept his cool during the car ride, I liked that he took control and got away by crashing the car, I liked that he gave the old lady a bunch of money (which she clearly needed) and let her think it was from her son because he cared about her, which was really sweet, and I liked his aggressiveness in his final scene against the werewolves.
• The Bill/Sam scene at the beginning had me slowly going ‘wtf’ as it went on and on. This show is not shy about sex, though only m/f at this point, but if there were any two characters I would least expect to have sexy times Bill/Sam would have been near the top of that list. I went huh about Bill showing up at Sam’s hotel room, and then shaking my head at Bill apparently having found Sam via the blood bond which I liked, but then things got more and more intense, and then there was Bill using the blood bond on Sam and the almost kiss and, yeah, I was going ‘WTF’. But at the same time it was kind of working for me. I love that it was a blood dream. It makes me really want to see one of Lafayette’s now. How would that compare to Sookie and Sam’s? What I am most interested in though is whether what happened in the dream – Bill using the blood bond to compel Sam like that – is something that a vampire can do? Cause that’s pretty scary even for them and there are implications there.
• I wonder if Sookie is still having dreams about Bill along with her dreams about Eric or has the Eric blood taken over the Bill, or does the blood bond fade over time?
