As I mentioned last week I have decided to change up Random Thoughts by not giving a step by step through the episode, but instead talk about story-lines. We’ve all seen the episode, so no need for a blow by blow recap. The Vault’s Random Thoughts is now more of a review of the episode as a whole with a sprinkling of personal insights.
This week’s episode was so much more entertaining that the previous one. I loved the dialogue and there will be some wonderful quotes to add to my list of favorite quotes this week. Finally, things are starting to cook and I’m loving it. I am less concerned about the amount of characters now because they seem to be herding together into a few separate story lines that are beginning to make sense and work better together.
Ding, Dong The Mickens dead!
R.I. P. to Melina and Joe Lee, and thank God they are gone; it wasn’t soon enough to me. And, as one of our message board members said, “Thank God we won’t have to look at Joe Lee’s filthy underpants anymore”, she is so right on!
We see Tommy end the life of both of his parents who were attempting to keep him prisoner so they could make a living by having him fight in the dog ring. I have to say that I don’t blame Tommy for killing them because those two have to be the worst parents on the planet. No wonder Tommy is so messed up. Maybe now that he is free of them, he will be redeemed, but somehow I don’t think so.
Tommy doesn’t deal well with the death of his parents, especially of his mother. He, of course, runs to Sam for help and Sam being the good guy he is, helps him. Again, if Tommy is redeemed, maybe he and Sam will bond, but I just don’t trust Tommy and wonder why Sam is. Tommy’s fear is based in whatever religious training he must have had in his life because, as he and Sam throw the bodies into the swamp, he recites two of the ten commandments, well sort of, in a hillbilly, poor white trash kind of way, when he says,”Its in the ten commandments, don’t kill shit and don’t fuck with you parents, I did both.”
The most hilarious scene in this episode was when Tommy changed into an alligator as Andy Bellefleur opened the back of the van. That was so funny. However, I’m a bit confused. I thought that shapeshifters had to see the creature or, at least an image of the creature before they could turn. I especially remember when Sam turned into a fly that they showed us a fly in the jail giving Sam something to change into and therefore escape. Could this be a foreshadowing of what Luna talked about in a previous episode, that some shapeshifters can turn into anything? However, when Sam and Tommy turned into birds in a previous episode this season, I don’t remember seeing any birds around them before they shifted. I am very confused by this and wish they’d explain it more.
If all you have to do to get rid of a body is throw it into a Louisiana swamp with some marshmallows, I wonder why the mafia isn’t headquartered there. I doubt that Melinda and Joe Lee will have too many people looking for them, but I worry for Sam and Tommy because parts of Uncle Bartlett showed up after Bill ended him and threw him in the water, so all of this might not be over for the brothers.
I don’t think Sam should have revealed to Tommy that he had killed two people before. I know he told Tommy in order to make him feel better, but I fear it will come back later on to “bite him.”
Maxine seems to be all worried about her “Hoyt replacement son” and I wonder where that relationship is going to go? Will Maxine accept him back? If Tommy goes back to her will he try to steal the income earned from the natural gas that is under her house?
Vampires and their struggle with the new foe, the witches
Vampire talk.
Bill/Bellefleur hook up – I loved that Portia had all those facts at her fingertips as to whether it was legal, or morally OK, for her to have sex with Bill. It really did seem to me that it would be fine for her to have relations with him, but somehow Bill feels different. Perhaps it’s the southern gentleman in him that makes him feel very uncomfortable with it. Honestly, I just think the writers didn’t want to go there for some reason. Will Portia be back or is she now totally gone from the story as she is now so afraid of Bill after being glamoured.
Bill had some great lines in this episode, like what he said when Pam walked in, “Oh, good, the world needs more beekeepers” and when Pam asked if he was insane for going to Marnie, I loved his reply “Insanity comes with the job.”
I am enjoying Bill as King and he seems to be adjusting to the job quite well. He is trying to be fair, but I know it’s difficult when the AVL is so dictatorial. I worry that this will not serve well for the vampire race in future since it tends to corrupt.
It was also great seeing the new sheriff’s; having more vampires on the show makes it even more interesting and I can’t wait to learn about them.
For Pam to reveal what happened to Eric was obviously a slip on her part. She is so completely beside herself from her disfigurement that it just slipped out, so I hope Eric realizes that when he finds out, and he will. We all know that she would never have betrayed Eric for any other reason.
When Bill hears this news, it’s pretty obvious that he was not only surprised, but hurt that Sookie had indeed lied to him. But he has a bigger mission to worry about at the moment and rushes off to Sookie’s house.
Learning more about the vampire past is always fascinating, but it seems really important that the vampires know something about their past. In this episode we learned that they hid themselves inside the priesthood during the Inquisition. There were some real political statements made here, especially when Bill said, “Vampires have often found it advantageous to maintain a hidden presence in humanities most powerful institutions. In the 1600’s that was the Catholic Church and today, as you all know it’s Googling and Fox News.” Wow, that is a powerful statement of our times, in my opinion!
One of the vampire sheriff’s Luis (who was also in the flashback with Marnie) tells about what happened in the inquisition and in the flashback we see that the priests used women taken prisoner as witches to feed on. No wonder Antonia wanted to see their end. Luis tells us that she performed necromancy on all the vampires in the area making them walk into the sun, finding the true death.
An interesting tidbit that I’d like to mention. On Bill’s desk, his computer monitor has the words printed on it, “Computer Alienware”, which presumably is the company that made the hardware. I thought that was funny and proves that the set design people not only think of every detail, but have a great sense of humor.
Witch talk
It’s more than apparent that Marnie is just an instrument of Antonia and is really a meek mannered woman who is “just trying to practice her religion.”
Bill has her captured and brought to his compound to find out what powers she has. He first questions her remotely, from his office, because she might be able to do to him what she did to Pam. However, when that doesn’t work, he decides to go to her cell to glamour her. When he does so, it becomes obvious that Marnie isn’t the witch they have to worry about, but merely a vessel serving as a conduit for Antonia.
Jesus, Lafayette and Tara are in fear for their lives since Marnie/Antonia has now cast spells on Eric and Pam and will not reverse them. Tara says she has had enough and is going back to New Orleans. Jesus and Lafayette decide to go to Mexico to see Jesus’ grandfather who is a Bruja and very powerful. Lafayette is reluctant at first until Jesus tells him of the time when he felt immense power after having killed a goat as a child. The premise for going seems sort of a feeble reason to me. What are they trying to accomplish? Does Jesus think his grandfather will be able to overtake Marnie/Antonia or, does Jesus just want protection?
Sookie is also interested in finding out what the witches are up to when she asks Holly about it at Merlotte’s. Holly seems to be “done” with the whole wiccan thing and acts suspicious that Sookie is asking since she “hangs with so many vampires.” And Sookie even goes to visit with Marnie, but soon leaves after she hears Gran say that Marnie is evil.
Eric and Sookie
The relationship between Eric and Sookie as written in the books isn’t the same here, but it is still very powerful. I do like Eric as a nice guy, but I wish they had made him less of a baby.
I enjoyed seeing Godric again, but it was definitely Eric’s “dream version” of Godric. I knew right away that it must have been a dream because we all know that Godric isn’t evil. When Eric woke from the dream and went into Sookie’s room, I don’t understand Sookie’s reaction. How can Sookie allow Eric to stay in her bed after finding him standing over her with his fangs out? However my biggest complaint about this scene is that it’s night, so why has Eric been sleeping? I thought he would be wide awake, as all vampires are during the night?
The love scene at the end of the episode was well done, but it was far too reminiscent of Bill and Sookie’s love scene in season 1 for me. For example, Sookie has on a dress similar to the one she wore in the graveyard scene, she and Eric kiss outside in front of the house, and it’s Sookie who instigates the union. Also, just like for Bill and Sookie in Season 1, episodes 6 and 7, their love scene is split in two. I fully expect that next week’s episode will start off with Eric and Sookie making love. I know the split was done to entice us all to watch the next episode, but it seems just to similar to me. Why not make their scenes very new and completely different?
Eric and Sookie seem to be falling in love and I understand Eric’s desires fully, but Sookie seems to be running head first into a collision. She had warnings from both Tara and from Gran’s spirit to stay away from him, and she has chosen to ignore both of them, even though she declared to Marnie that when her Gran tells her to run, she runs. Tara laid it all out for her when she said, “this is the fucker who sold you out to Russell Edgington, he tricked you into drinking his blood, locked Lafayette in a dungeon and tortured him, you hate him.” And, without diminishing Eric’s power to fascinate or attract, I don’t see the reasons here for Sookie to do such a complete about face from when she said she “preferred cancer.” to Eric. Eric’s new personality is attractive, but, in my opinoin, the writers haven’t given us enough to justify Sookie’s attraction.
I am guessing that Eric will get his memory back before too long and I wonder if that will change their relationship? However for now, it’s time for all the Eric fans to enjoy the scenes between them.
Jessica, Hoyt and Jason
Jason is back home, THANK GOD! The Hot Shot gang would continue to stay out of the story, if I had my preference. I didn’t feel anything for the Jason/Crystal affair and obviously she is a nut job, so I’m glad he’s away from her and no longer tied to that dirty old bed.
Hoyt and Jessica take Jason to his home and tuck him into bed and Hoyt exclaims to Jessica, “You just saved my best friends life“. Jessica replies with another great line, “It’s all in the wrist,” which of course refers to her having bit her wrist and given Jason her blood to drink. She and Hoyt then hug, but when Hoyt tries to kiss her, she recoils. I am not sure why she behaves the way she does, but perhaps its the guilt she feels from the glamouring she did to Hoyt in the last episode. Hoyt notices and is concerned, but she says she is just tired.
Jason’s dream of having sex with Jessica and then Hoyt was a scream. I love when Jason asked Jessica,” Is this a dream?” and when she said, “yes,” he thought for a second and then, said glibly, “OK“. And, to add Hoyt prescence in the dream for the purpose of bringing out Jason’s guilt was hysterical and a stroke of genius. I loved it.
I do worry about Jessica and Hoyt’s relationship though. Poor Hoyt, he’s such a good man, but as Alan Ball tells us all the time, blissful relationships don’t make good drama, so I fear that the two will have to part. Jason will probably now be interested in Jessica since he has had her blood, but we can’t yet be sure if Jessica will feel the same. She might want to sow some wild oats instead of getting herself tied to another guy so quickly. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Arlene, Terry and the baby
Arlene and Terry are really still concerned about the writing on the wall and Terry says it’s time to ask for help. A good line here was when Arlene talks about praying to God for help and says “I’ve been praying to him every night, but apparently my prayers are going to his voicemail.”
The scenes with Arlene and Terry, Lettie Mae and the Reverend were a lot of fun to watch. I don’t for a minute think that what Lettie Mae and the Reverend Daniels did around their house will make a bit of difference, but Terry and Arlene seem to think so, because things are already better. The baby is sleeping quietly, Terry and Arlene have great sex, and all is well with the world, or not. Just as this happy scene closes and Terry and Arlene embrace in bed, the camera pans to a book of matches that suddenly ignites. Oh no, could their house catch on fire? Is Rene up to some evil agains?
I wonder how this fire and the evil baby story line are related to this season’s witch theme? Somehow, it must be related, in order for any of it to make any sense.
