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shadowkatTrue Blood actually rocked tonight.
Well it did for me. I had fun with it, except maybe for the Andy scenes, which I found either silly or slow. But no beloved character deaths as of yet. Guessing that's in the finale? Can we kill Andy off next week? No, probably not. He definitely still has a story...with the fairy popping up out of nowhere to have sex with him. Seriously that's one hard-up fairy. For a moment I thought it was Claudine, but no...a brand new fairy. Guess we're not quite done with the fairy storyline after all.
Oh well, at least we got rid of Marcus, Tommy, and the Hotshot clan (at least I think we did, note I thought we got rid of the fairies too and apparently I was wrong about that, so you never know but OTOH can't really see any point in bringing back the Hotshot clan while I can see a point in bringing back the fairies) Anyhow...let's be happy for small favors. I'm guessing Debbie Pelt will be back to wrack havoc at some point.
Poor Lafayette. I really feel for Lafayette. Lafayette and Tara have to deal with more shit than any two characters should have to put up with. Being friends with Sookie just ain't worth this.
Apparently Lafayette had to eat his words to Jesus - when he said that you can't do that sort of shit without serious juju coming back and getting you. That we're all safe now. Nope. I knew there was a reason they laid down all that ground work regarding Lafayette being a medium, with 0 control over his ability. Ghosts can invade him willy nilly. Why Jesus did not see this as a potential problem after the whole Maisie (the baby doll ghost) story line, I've no clue. Bad Jesus. (Although to give Jesus a break, he did just make his close friend vulnerable to the vampires who ended up killing her to save well, Sookie. And is understandably traumatized as a result.) So now, he has evil Marnie inside him and Lafayette always had more power than Marnie did.
Watch out Bill and Eric - not to mention Jesus - guess who is gunning for you?
Poor Pam. Eric gets his memory back but he's so hung up on the Sookester, he can't see straight.
And Pam, being somewhat dense to this bit, takes aim and fires on the Emporium not realizing -a)if she succeeds, she kills the Sookester, and b) if she doesn't - it will most likely back-fire.
Bad Pam. As a result, Eric turns on Pam and tells her if she doesn't leave his sight, he'll kill her. Bad Eric. (Although, I was sort of rooting for Eric...because the backlash hurt and almost killed Jason. But not to worry, Jessica was at his side with a quick fix of vamp blood. Having vampires around can be incredibly useful. No one has to die. That's what they should do - become EMT's. Every time there's a fatal accident, send the vamp squad, with a hefty supply of vamp blood. No need for blood transfusions, when vamp blood will suffice. Granted there is the nasty side-effect of potentially developing feelings for the vamp blood donor, but hey you are alive and he or she is most likely hot and great in the sack, so win-win.)
Eric and Bill work as a team. Sookie in danger? We'll commit suicide. Much to Jess and Pam's chagrin. What? Why? They both ask somewhat annoyed. Which was why Pam took measures into her own hands. If you look at it in context, really, who could blame her?
The vamps were not having the best night of it. That big power walk? All to no avail. Jason finally races up to inform them that they can't fire on the place - Sookie's in there. Jason shouldn't have bothered, Marnie!Antonia had it well taken care of. Nothing was getting through that barrier field. This annoys the vamps, who state, somewhat appropriately, fucking Sookie.
Jason begs to differ - making it clear that Sookie has gone out of her way for their sorry asses.
Very true. She's even put them above friends, family, fairies, and her own continued existence.
They do owe her. Go Jason. He also informs them that there's a weird magical force field around the entire building. To add insult to injury, Marnie almost pulls the vamps into the barrier wall burning them alive. But the Stackhouses, Jason and Sookie in concert, manage to save their sorry butts, again.
Marnie shows herself to be EVIL, when she kills Cassie. My problem? Cassie was hardly much of a loss. Actually I thought she was dead last episode when she tried to run out of the Emporium, but apparently not. So, it was a bit hard to get that upset over her death. I mean...that girl had "red shirt" character written all over her. We knew she was a goner. Plus, Marnie was kind of right, Cassie did try to attack her. Although I seriously doubt she would have done much damage.
As a result of Marnie's actions - Antonia tries to leave, but Marnie binds her (honestly Antonia what did you think Marnie was thinking when she told you that humanity sucked?) Jesus with Lafayett's help and the bruja demon, manages to unbind them and free Antonia - and there goes all of Marnie's power.
Once that happens, Bill and Eric zip into the Emporium to take out Marnie, and her pet goon - the Terry look-alike. I can't remember his name. Terry look-a-like stupidly decides to be Marnie's shield against two vampires. Honestly, they are not making these red shirt characters any smarter are they? What was he thinking? He doesn't even pick up a stake. That said, I did think Eric went a bit overboard pulling out his heart and sucking on it. Because a)ewwww and b) gratituous. Couldn't he have just knocked the guy aside? If I were Sookie, I'd think twice about kissing Eric again...because again, ewww. Bill following Eric's lead, takes the simpler route and just plugs Marnie full of bullet holes. How very humane of you, Bill.
Now, everyone is happy. Except for Lafayette who once again gets possessed by an insane ghost.
Damn. Now I'm worried about Lafayette again.
Oh almost forgot the whole Alcide/Debbie Pelt/Marcus/Luna/Sam mess...which was oddly entertaining.
Sam can pack some serious punches. He may be scrawny, but he is deadly. But Alcide dealt the killer blow. Apparently Sam has enough death on his hands, we have to even the odds a bit more.
But I think Alcide may live to regret it. I'd feel sorry for Debbie, but she's such an annoying character...that it is really hard to care much one way or the other.
Meanwhile as noted in the beginning of this post...Andy made out with a fairy. So apparently Andy still has a major story line and is most likely not going to be killed off any time soon?
Anyhow...speculation regarding the finale? I have no idea who they will kill off. But I wish they'd stop teasing me about it. I don't think they'll kill off Jessica/Hoyt/Jason or Andy (fairy story line), but I'm not sure about Sam and Alcide any more. Nor do I really care. Can it be Sam that is the beloved character that gets killed off? That I can sort of live with. Tara? No, doesn't make sense at the moment. Lafayette? I am definitely worried about Lafayette, I can see some nitwit killing him to get rid of Marnie. Also a bit worried about Jesus. Those two have a target written on their heads. Sookie and Bill, I should be so lucky, they are safe. Eric? I don't know, but yeah, safe. Pam? Can't see why they'd kill her at this point - too much story potential.
But all of the above will definitely be tortured, that much I do know from the trailer for next week's episode - which looks like it will rock too.
True Blood is a bit like Buffy and Vamp Diaries, it starts out good, slows down in the middle and finishes well. Which is true of most serials. Great start, gets bogged down a bit in the middle with all the story threads, wraps things up at the end.
In other tv news? I finished watching the Pilot and episode two of Fringe - after watching them, decided to add S1 - discs 3 and 4 back to netflix list. Sort of need them. There's a lot of character bits and back story in these episodes, more than there was in The X-Files, actually.
Reminds me a little of Alias - which had a lot of back-story hidden in early episodes. Also, I'm finding that I'm enjoying it more this round than I did when I tried it four years ago, or was that three years ago? So definitely a mood thing. It is, however, very gory in places (gross) and has things that bother me. Such as parasites, metamorphosis, amongst other things. So, I keep putting my hands over my eyes. That said - it suggests, doesn't really show the gore in most cases.
OR I'm getting used to seeing it on other shows and have become woefully desensitized.
When I first watched it several years back - it reminded me of Bones, so I discounted it. Now, I don't know what I was thinking. The characters here are better drawn and less cliche, the acting is better, and the writing - a lot better, it actually makes logical sense and is twisty as opposed to predictable and somewhat cliche.
The science fiction bit so far holds promise. I do find the whole big word location bit - we're at BOSTON COLLEGE now ...a bit distracting and unnecessary. They can do that more subtly. Also,
there's this annoying conspiracy plot in the background that I keep rolling my eyes at. Not a fan of conspiracy theories - I find that plot-line over done and a little silly. Oh the evil corporation! Oh the evil government! Folks, clearly these writers have never worked in big corporations and government in their lives, if they had, they'd know that big organizations aren't that organized or clever. Often the right hand has no clue what the left hand is doing. And there's lots and lots of paperwork. So the conspiracy really hard to hide. Bureaucracy is oddly enough our friend in this regard. The bigger the org, the more bureaucracy. Trust me, this I know.
Television always handles the business world poorly - they just don't understand it. But, my understanding is that unlike X-Files and Alias, the emphasis in Fringe really is on the relationships between the three leads and the science. The whole conspiracy theory bit sort of disappears a bit or it doesn't play out the way these things usually do. In short - it's a mislead.
I can already see hints of this in the first two episodes. The main story is Olivia, Walter and Peter, they are the key to the whole thing.
And the first two episodes are a really good start - a lot of character stuff is packed into these episodes, but in a way that is interesting. It's clear that Walter loves Peter, that Peter is the most important thing in his world. And in the second episode...it's hinted that there is something off there. Love is central to this series. Love and Betrayal. Olivia doesn't trust easily, within the first episode, she loses her lover/partner/best friend - but not in the way you think. It's complicated and twisty. And it reinforces her trust issues. Her inability to let herself go emotionally or to care too much. Peter also has trust issues regarding his father, Walter, which is reinforced in the second episode. The writer tells me just enough to intrigue me, but not enough to turn me off. That's tricky. I know Olivia has trust issues, but not where they stem from exactly or what her background really is. I know there's something more to Walter and Peter.
So...nice little seeds planted. And the case of the week works as a good metaphor, while still allowing the characters to explore their emotional issues within it. So far, so good. I'm intrigued.
Hmmm...if I can change my mind about Fringe, maybe some day I can try Breaking Bad again...when I'm in the right mood. Some tv shows like books and movies, are all about your mood. And as you all know? I'm an incredibly moody watcher and reader.
Well it did for me. I had fun with it, except maybe for the Andy scenes, which I found either silly or slow. But no beloved character deaths as of yet. Guessing that's in the finale? Can we kill Andy off next week? No, probably not. He definitely still has a story...with the fairy popping up out of nowhere to have sex with him. Seriously that's one hard-up fairy. For a moment I thought it was Claudine, but no...a brand new fairy. Guess we're not quite done with the fairy storyline after all.
Oh well, at least we got rid of Marcus, Tommy, and the Hotshot clan (at least I think we did, note I thought we got rid of the fairies too and apparently I was wrong about that, so you never know but OTOH can't really see any point in bringing back the Hotshot clan while I can see a point in bringing back the fairies) Anyhow...let's be happy for small favors. I'm guessing Debbie Pelt will be back to wrack havoc at some point.
Poor Lafayette. I really feel for Lafayette. Lafayette and Tara have to deal with more shit than any two characters should have to put up with. Being friends with Sookie just ain't worth this.
Apparently Lafayette had to eat his words to Jesus - when he said that you can't do that sort of shit without serious juju coming back and getting you. That we're all safe now. Nope. I knew there was a reason they laid down all that ground work regarding Lafayette being a medium, with 0 control over his ability. Ghosts can invade him willy nilly. Why Jesus did not see this as a potential problem after the whole Maisie (the baby doll ghost) story line, I've no clue. Bad Jesus. (Although to give Jesus a break, he did just make his close friend vulnerable to the vampires who ended up killing her to save well, Sookie. And is understandably traumatized as a result.) So now, he has evil Marnie inside him and Lafayette always had more power than Marnie did.
Watch out Bill and Eric - not to mention Jesus - guess who is gunning for you?
Poor Pam. Eric gets his memory back but he's so hung up on the Sookester, he can't see straight.
And Pam, being somewhat dense to this bit, takes aim and fires on the Emporium not realizing -a)if she succeeds, she kills the Sookester, and b) if she doesn't - it will most likely back-fire.
Bad Pam. As a result, Eric turns on Pam and tells her if she doesn't leave his sight, he'll kill her. Bad Eric. (Although, I was sort of rooting for Eric...because the backlash hurt and almost killed Jason. But not to worry, Jessica was at his side with a quick fix of vamp blood. Having vampires around can be incredibly useful. No one has to die. That's what they should do - become EMT's. Every time there's a fatal accident, send the vamp squad, with a hefty supply of vamp blood. No need for blood transfusions, when vamp blood will suffice. Granted there is the nasty side-effect of potentially developing feelings for the vamp blood donor, but hey you are alive and he or she is most likely hot and great in the sack, so win-win.)
Eric and Bill work as a team. Sookie in danger? We'll commit suicide. Much to Jess and Pam's chagrin. What? Why? They both ask somewhat annoyed. Which was why Pam took measures into her own hands. If you look at it in context, really, who could blame her?
The vamps were not having the best night of it. That big power walk? All to no avail. Jason finally races up to inform them that they can't fire on the place - Sookie's in there. Jason shouldn't have bothered, Marnie!Antonia had it well taken care of. Nothing was getting through that barrier field. This annoys the vamps, who state, somewhat appropriately, fucking Sookie.
Jason begs to differ - making it clear that Sookie has gone out of her way for their sorry asses.
Very true. She's even put them above friends, family, fairies, and her own continued existence.
They do owe her. Go Jason. He also informs them that there's a weird magical force field around the entire building. To add insult to injury, Marnie almost pulls the vamps into the barrier wall burning them alive. But the Stackhouses, Jason and Sookie in concert, manage to save their sorry butts, again.
Marnie shows herself to be EVIL, when she kills Cassie. My problem? Cassie was hardly much of a loss. Actually I thought she was dead last episode when she tried to run out of the Emporium, but apparently not. So, it was a bit hard to get that upset over her death. I mean...that girl had "red shirt" character written all over her. We knew she was a goner. Plus, Marnie was kind of right, Cassie did try to attack her. Although I seriously doubt she would have done much damage.
As a result of Marnie's actions - Antonia tries to leave, but Marnie binds her (honestly Antonia what did you think Marnie was thinking when she told you that humanity sucked?) Jesus with Lafayett's help and the bruja demon, manages to unbind them and free Antonia - and there goes all of Marnie's power.
Once that happens, Bill and Eric zip into the Emporium to take out Marnie, and her pet goon - the Terry look-alike. I can't remember his name. Terry look-a-like stupidly decides to be Marnie's shield against two vampires. Honestly, they are not making these red shirt characters any smarter are they? What was he thinking? He doesn't even pick up a stake. That said, I did think Eric went a bit overboard pulling out his heart and sucking on it. Because a)ewwww and b) gratituous. Couldn't he have just knocked the guy aside? If I were Sookie, I'd think twice about kissing Eric again...because again, ewww. Bill following Eric's lead, takes the simpler route and just plugs Marnie full of bullet holes. How very humane of you, Bill.
Now, everyone is happy. Except for Lafayette who once again gets possessed by an insane ghost.
Damn. Now I'm worried about Lafayette again.
Oh almost forgot the whole Alcide/Debbie Pelt/Marcus/Luna/Sam mess...which was oddly entertaining.
Sam can pack some serious punches. He may be scrawny, but he is deadly. But Alcide dealt the killer blow. Apparently Sam has enough death on his hands, we have to even the odds a bit more.
But I think Alcide may live to regret it. I'd feel sorry for Debbie, but she's such an annoying character...that it is really hard to care much one way or the other.
Meanwhile as noted in the beginning of this post...Andy made out with a fairy. So apparently Andy still has a major story line and is most likely not going to be killed off any time soon?
Anyhow...speculation regarding the finale? I have no idea who they will kill off. But I wish they'd stop teasing me about it. I don't think they'll kill off Jessica/Hoyt/Jason or Andy (fairy story line), but I'm not sure about Sam and Alcide any more. Nor do I really care. Can it be Sam that is the beloved character that gets killed off? That I can sort of live with. Tara? No, doesn't make sense at the moment. Lafayette? I am definitely worried about Lafayette, I can see some nitwit killing him to get rid of Marnie. Also a bit worried about Jesus. Those two have a target written on their heads. Sookie and Bill, I should be so lucky, they are safe. Eric? I don't know, but yeah, safe. Pam? Can't see why they'd kill her at this point - too much story potential.
But all of the above will definitely be tortured, that much I do know from the trailer for next week's episode - which looks like it will rock too.
True Blood is a bit like Buffy and Vamp Diaries, it starts out good, slows down in the middle and finishes well. Which is true of most serials. Great start, gets bogged down a bit in the middle with all the story threads, wraps things up at the end.
In other tv news? I finished watching the Pilot and episode two of Fringe - after watching them, decided to add S1 - discs 3 and 4 back to netflix list. Sort of need them. There's a lot of character bits and back story in these episodes, more than there was in The X-Files, actually.
Reminds me a little of Alias - which had a lot of back-story hidden in early episodes. Also, I'm finding that I'm enjoying it more this round than I did when I tried it four years ago, or was that three years ago? So definitely a mood thing. It is, however, very gory in places (gross) and has things that bother me. Such as parasites, metamorphosis, amongst other things. So, I keep putting my hands over my eyes. That said - it suggests, doesn't really show the gore in most cases.
OR I'm getting used to seeing it on other shows and have become woefully desensitized.
When I first watched it several years back - it reminded me of Bones, so I discounted it. Now, I don't know what I was thinking. The characters here are better drawn and less cliche, the acting is better, and the writing - a lot better, it actually makes logical sense and is twisty as opposed to predictable and somewhat cliche.
The science fiction bit so far holds promise. I do find the whole big word location bit - we're at BOSTON COLLEGE now ...a bit distracting and unnecessary. They can do that more subtly. Also,
there's this annoying conspiracy plot in the background that I keep rolling my eyes at. Not a fan of conspiracy theories - I find that plot-line over done and a little silly. Oh the evil corporation! Oh the evil government! Folks, clearly these writers have never worked in big corporations and government in their lives, if they had, they'd know that big organizations aren't that organized or clever. Often the right hand has no clue what the left hand is doing. And there's lots and lots of paperwork. So the conspiracy really hard to hide. Bureaucracy is oddly enough our friend in this regard. The bigger the org, the more bureaucracy. Trust me, this I know.
Television always handles the business world poorly - they just don't understand it. But, my understanding is that unlike X-Files and Alias, the emphasis in Fringe really is on the relationships between the three leads and the science. The whole conspiracy theory bit sort of disappears a bit or it doesn't play out the way these things usually do. In short - it's a mislead.
I can already see hints of this in the first two episodes. The main story is Olivia, Walter and Peter, they are the key to the whole thing.
And the first two episodes are a really good start - a lot of character stuff is packed into these episodes, but in a way that is interesting. It's clear that Walter loves Peter, that Peter is the most important thing in his world. And in the second episode...it's hinted that there is something off there. Love is central to this series. Love and Betrayal. Olivia doesn't trust easily, within the first episode, she loses her lover/partner/best friend - but not in the way you think. It's complicated and twisty. And it reinforces her trust issues. Her inability to let herself go emotionally or to care too much. Peter also has trust issues regarding his father, Walter, which is reinforced in the second episode. The writer tells me just enough to intrigue me, but not enough to turn me off. That's tricky. I know Olivia has trust issues, but not where they stem from exactly or what her background really is. I know there's something more to Walter and Peter.
So...nice little seeds planted. And the case of the week works as a good metaphor, while still allowing the characters to explore their emotional issues within it. So far, so good. I'm intrigued.
Hmmm...if I can change my mind about Fringe, maybe some day I can try Breaking Bad again...when I'm in the right mood. Some tv shows like books and movies, are all about your mood. And as you all know? I'm an incredibly moody watcher and reader.