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TRUE BLOOD |
Sookie Stackhouse - Anna Paquin Bill Compton- Stephen Moyer Jason Stackhouse- Ryan Kwanten Tara Thornton - Rutina Wesley Sam Merlotte - Sam Trammell Maryann - Michelle Forbes 
OTHER TRUE BLOOD SEASONS Season 1 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 OTHER VAMPIRE SHOWS Buffy The Vampire Slayer Angel Ultraviolet Blood Ties Being Human Moonlight 
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Nothing But The BloodThe woman who carried out the fake exorcisms on Tara and her mother is found dead in the Merlotte's bar parking lot, leading to a rift between Tara and her mom. Maryann is on hand to help, but she clearly has an agenda with Tara and turns out to have history with Sam. Sookie learns of the death of her abusive uncle and goes to Bill to find out if he was responsible. And Eric the vampire is holding humans hostage in his basement. TRUE BLOOD returns and this episode is pure set up for the new season and so doesn't stand up on its own. There is the body in the parking lot to deal with first (no explanation is put forward) and then the groundwork for everything else kicks in. There is Sam's original run in with Maryann, which strikes as being overly artificial, though we will wait to see where that takes us and Michelle Forbes as Maryann is already proving to be an intriguingly shady character that we can't wait to learn more about. Which is more than we can say for the main couple. Even though Sookie and Bill provide the episode's dose of naked bodypopping (now that Jason's found religion) they are still damp squibs of characters who really don't manage to hold the centre ground very well and rely on all the more colourful peripheral characters to do the work of keeping the audience interested. The show treads a difficult path between being welcoming to those who are joining it for the first time and not being overly explicative for those who got through Season 1. It's not wholly successful, but this is the opening set up so we can expect more and better from later episodes. TopKeep This Party GoingSookie comes to terms with her relationship with Bill and the fact that he now has a surrogate daughter to bring up. Her advice on that score leads her to be put in babysitting charge and a visit to Jessica's old home goes badly awry. Lafayette finds a way out of the cellar and Jason makes an impression on the leaders of the religious boot camp he is attending. The stories move forward after last week's set up and there is plenty of blood to go around with Lafayette's plot strand whilst Jason's experiences at Jesus camp don't ring true for a second, but then the cult have plans for him we know so that's only to be expected. For once the Bill and Sookie story is the strongest part of the show with somewhere actually to go. It also leads to the nice cliffhanger ending that we have come to expect from the show. There is a real sense already that all these disparate stories are destined to come together towards the end and that makes it a more confident start than the beginning of Season 1. Now if we could just find someone in show that we could actually really like... TopScratchesStorming out of an argument with Bill over the events of the last episode, Sookie is attacked by a strange creature and left seriously wounded. Bill is forced to take her to Eric's bar where she can be treated, but she also finds out about Lafayette in the basement and demands his release. Just when you thought the creaturescape of True Blood couldn't get any more twisted the show comes up with a bull-headed man whose scratch infects and is resistant to the healing powers of vampire blood. It is plot manipulation at its most blatant that Sookie should storm out of the car just at the point where this thing is, thus needing Eric's help, locating Lafayette and having to strike a deal to go to Dallas on an errand for Eric, not least since the creature disappears straight afterwards. Future developments might make this seem more natural storywise. Jason's stay at the anti-vampire camp is proving to be more tedious than expected and Tara's time at Maryanne's is also going nowhere fast. Jessica's story of picking up a boy and finding him too nice to bite, though, is actually touching right up until… TopShake and FingerpopSookie, Bill and Jessica head to Dallas to look for a missing vampire, but there is a waiting committee that have harm in mind. Jason Stackhouse finds himself raised up to the elite in the anti-vampire church brigade and Maryanne uses Tara's birthday to power herself up from the emotions of the revellers. It's a surprise that the God camp is proving to be the more interesting thread of the show since it isn't all that interesting, but since the rest of the show is moving with the speed of molasses flowing uphill and the one potential moment of action evaporates before it begins, Jason's tempation by thoughts of lust is the only thing that is keeping it afloat. TopNever Let Me GoJason is getting closer to the wife of the church that is training him to kill vampires. Tara is finding that she is closer to Maryanne than she is comfortable with. Sam is close to the female shapeshifter who has come into his life. Sookie finds out what her mission in Dallas is and Eric exlains why it is so important to him. Apart from the flashback to Eric's 'turning' there is almost nothing that happens in this episode and that story itself is self-contained and could have been summarised by the line of dialogue that follows it. It certainly smacks of filler. All of the time that we are in the presence of the Dallas vampires is made up of everyone shouting at each other and getting nowhere. Much like the show itself. TopFriend Is A Four Letter WordSookie goes undercover into the church that has been training Jason. Her cover proves to be less than effective. Bill is in no position to help her as he is being held by the vampire who turned him, whom he can never overpower and who is conspiring with Eric to break Bill's hold over Sookie. Tara learns of Maryanne's otherworldly nature, but not before Sam's new girl hands him over as a human sacrifice. The plot summary makes it sound like a lot happened this time out, but the truth is that the pace remains unhurried throughout and then suddenly puts on a burst of speed at the end to try and keep interest up for the next episode. It is hard to keep interest from wandering away. There is another flashback for the second week in a row and this shows what a bad vampire Bill Compton was when his maker had her control over him. This makes it slightly more relevant than Eric's flashback last time out, but there's a sense of deja vu with all these flashbacks for fans of ANGEL or LOST, both of which suffered from flashback overload themselves. The multiple cliffhangers are just about enough to make us come back next time out. TopRelease MeSookie is locked up in the basement of the church where she learns the identity of the traitor amongst the Dallas vampires and reveals her true name, dropping Jason in it with the leader of the church whose wife he has just slept with. Sam, having escaped from his intended sacrifice to Maryanne learns more about what she is and Lafayette is back in the vampire blood selling business. There is a lot of talking in this episode. In fact, talking is all that anyone does. The only action is when Jason and church enforcer Gabe have a fight and that proves to be a major damp squib. There is even a flashback so that Bill and his maker, who is preventing him going to Sookie's aid, can talk not only in the present but in the past as well. As a result, Release Me is dull enough for the audience to be asking for just that. TopTimebombEric races to his maker's aid, only to find that Godric is not as much of a prisoner as everyone thought. This leaves both Eric and Sookie prepared as sacrifices for when the dawn breaks, but Jason isn't about to let anything happen to his sister. Bill finally breaks free from his maker and there is a face-off at the church. Maryanne sets Sam up as a murderer and has Tara and her boyfriend eat the evidence. After last week's talkfest, things at least happen in this episode. Quite a lot actually. The whole Dallas vampires story seems to come to a conclusion, but there is always a twist in the tail. Maryanne's revenge on Sam is elegant, but her baking a pie out of Sam's girl's heart and feeding it to Tara and her boyfriend is pretty squirm-inducing. Jessica's discovery that vampire's healing abilities aren't always a good thing is a funny and unexpected aside. TopI Will Rise UpThe suicide bomber makes a mess of the vampires' lair and Eric uses the opportunity to gain an advantage over Sookie and Bill. He is less cocky, however, when Godric announces that he is tired of the world and is going to 'meet the light'. Back in Bon Temps, Maryanne's influence is growing. Lafayette makes a bid to rescue Tara and Sam has to find a way to rescue himself. And it's back to talking and not a lot happening after all the action an twists of last week's episode. Eric's trick on Sookie and the manner in which it manifests is fun enough and the moment when Godric stands to welcome the dawn with only Sookie as his witness is a genuinely touching moment. The rest, however, feels awfully padded, especially the story of Hoyt wanting his vampire-hating mother to meet his vampire girlfriend. TopNew World In My ViewSookie and Bill return to Bon Temps to find it in thrall to Maryann, who is impervious to Bill's vampire powers, but not to a new trick that Sookie learns. Maryann's target Sam is trapped in his bar and neither Andy nor Jason seem able to help. One plot ends and another takes centre stage as Maryann continues with her plan to sacrifice Sam Merlotte. Sam's attempts to escape the bar are fun and just as they start to get a little repetitive Jason and Andy pull a little PRINCESS BRIDE moment to save the day. It's a hoot. TopFrenzyTara is determined to go back and save her boyfriend from Maryann now that she is no longer under the Maenad's spell, which is disastrous all round. Jason and Andy decide that firepower is the way to destroy her instead. Bill has to spend a day with the Vampire Queen of Louisiana in order to get the information that he needs. The whole plotline about saving Tara is completely wasted since she walks straight back into Maryann's arms and into her spell. Sam's time with the frankly dull vampire queen is, well frankly, dull. In fact, this whole episode feels a whole lot like filler before everyone gathers for the big finale, and not very good filler at that. TopBeyond Here Lies Nothin'Maryann has reached the pinnacle of her plans, her wedding to the God Dionysus, a ritual that needs Sam Merlotte to die and Sookie is the bait that will lure him out. Jason and Andy will try to spoil their plans, but it will come down to Bill and Sookie to save Bon Temps, if they can. Surprisingly, the tumultuous events of Maryann's wedding party only fill half the running time of this final episode of season two or TRUE BLOOD. There is plenty of time left for the town and its residents to deal with the aftermath and set up a whole set of new storylines for the next season. The climax to the Maryann storyline manages to be both impressive and disappointing at the same time. Bill plays little to no part and Sookie's role is merely to knock over a few things, but the scene in which Maryann meets her God, and her eventual fate, is nicely done. The ongoing storylines, though, show that the world has not yet seen the last of Bon Temps. Top |
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