True Blood season 4 ep 1

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Well, that was fun. Spoilers behind cut.



The Fairy!Sookie stuff was utterly daft, just as it promised to be at the end of season 3. 'Fairyland' looked like a bad 1980s porn movie. I'm so glad it all turned out to be an illusion. The real, actual fairies were more interesting anyway. And Queen Mab? Nice one.

I think moving the action on a whole year from when Sookie went to Fairyland worked very well, especially as - unlike Joss Whedon in the Buffy comic - at least we got some reference to events from the past season and thus some context as to why everyone is doing what they're doing now. Mostly, I liked it, though have to admit my heart sank when it became plain that despite what he did, Sookie is still All About Bill. I like Stephen Moyer. He and Anna Paquin make a lovely couple. But Bill is boring. He just is.

Except when he's well away from Sookie and being just a little bit evil. I was wondering what had happened in the fight between Bill and Queen Sophie-Anne. I guess we know now. Bill is the new king of Louisiana and looks very sleek and politician-like. Which leads on nicely to one of the best sequences in the episode - the intercutting between Eric doing his media-friendly spiel about Fangtasia (you could see Pam's heart wasn't in it), to Bill as the leading light of the local community wittering on about the trees his long-dead wife had planted and cutting ribbons. Loved that.

Was also pleasantly surprised that Jason seems to have grown up a bit (Jason is such a sweetie) and is now the responsible one in the Jason/Andy bromance. Disappointed that he ended up back with the Deliverance rejects (good description), as I find them and Crystal really boring, but I knew it was coming. Oh well. Anyway, nice couple of scenes between him and Sookie.

The episode didn't dwell on Sam or Tommy much, which I'm glad about. That said, I liked Sam's anger management class. Also, all does not seem to be well chez Hoyt and Jessica. I wonder how much of that is down to the vampire/human thing and how much to the voodoo figure left in their house at the end of the previous season? Also, Arlene worrying about her half-evil baby was cute!

The Tara stuff was great. I love that Tara seems to have got her mojo back after what happened with Franklin Mott. I also like that she's gay now (though it does seem to be trying to tick as many boxes as possible with as few characters by having both African-American characters in the show also be the gay ones). In fact, the only things I didn't like about Tara's story was how indifferent Sookie seemed to be about her. Jason actually had to remind her what Tara had been through. That made me not like Sookie much.

However, I'm happy that Eric still seems to be obsessed with Sookie. They're a much hotter couple than Sookie/Bill, even if - as I understand he's said - Alan Ball thinks Sookie and Bill are soulmates (god, I hate that word). Not sure why Eric thinks Sookie is his, though, unless he thinks she's part of the fixtures and fittings.

Left Lafayette's story till last. Nelsan Ellis was great, as always. I love the new hairstyle. But my main reason for leaving him till last is Fiona Shaw's extraordinary turn as head of the coven (or whatever it is). Fiona Shaw is a well known classical actress (she played the title role in Richard II once). She has honours and everything. It was just bizarre seeing her in this setting. I guess I'll get used to it but...weird.

Good start anyway. I hope all these currently very disparate storylines will be brought back together somehow. Season 3 was too fragmented, with some stories being really enjoyable (Eric vs King Russell was best of all) and some (Sam, Jason) being forgettable verging on boring. I hope that won't happen this time.

Comments

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Had a similar reaction, actually almost an exact one, found myself nodding along to everything you wrote.

Mostly, I liked it, though have to admit my heart sank when it became plain that despite what he did, Sookie is still All About Bill. I like Stephen Moyer. He and Anna Paquin make a lovely couple. But Bill is boring. He just is.

Yep. I like Stephen Moyer and I like him as a little bit evil, but the Sookie/Bill romance never worked for me.
It's a romantic trope that I've grown tired of, yet for reasons that escape me seems to be incredibly popular?
I don't understand people's taste.

However, I'm happy that Eric still seems to be obsessed with Sookie. They're a much hotter couple than Sookie/Bill, even if - as I understand he's said - Alan Ball thinks Sookie and Bill are soulmates (god, I hate that word). Not sure why Eric thinks Sookie is his, though, unless he thinks she's part of the fixtures and fittings.

Hee. Agreed. Although I find it hard to take Ball too seriously, he's such a satirist.

I agree that the weak points may be Jason and Sam's story threads, hoping that's not the case.

And the fairy stuff had a nice dark twist.

[shapinglight]

Had a similar reaction, actually almost an exact one, found myself nodding along to everything you wrote.

:) Apparently ep 2 is available to watch online, but I think that's only in the US. I'll be waiting till next week.

It's a romantic trope that I've grown tired of, yet for reasons that escape me seems to be incredibly popular?
I don't understand people's taste.

Me neither. It's even more anaemic (heh! that's a pun) than Bangel.

And the fairy stuff had a nice dark twist.

Yes, and surely we haven't seen the last of it yet. There has to be more at some point.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Apparently ep 2 is available to watch online, but I think that's only in the US. I'll be waiting till next week.

Me too - it is only available on HBOGO - which is in turn only available if you have a cable servcie that provides it and I don't. Time Warner Cable doesn't have a deal in place for HBO-GO, highly annoying. (Particularly since I think HBO is owned by Time Warner's parent company.)

It's even more anaemic (heh! that's a pun) than Bangel.

Yep. Which I didn't think was possible, but it is. Who knew? The problem is how it's written - they basically have the exact same conversation over and over again. The books had the same problem, which is why Harris dropped it. The fire is in the sexual tension, and there is no sexual tension between Bill and Sookie, the actors are almost too comfortable with each other.

Yes, and surely we haven't seen the last of it yet. There has to be more at some point.

I hope not. Personally, I'm hoping for more screen time for Gary Cole - why go out of your way to cast an actor of that calibre only to use him for fifteen minutes?

[shapinglight]

they basically have the exact same conversation over and over again. The books had the same problem, which is why Harris dropped it. The fire is in the sexual tension, and there is no sexual tension between Bill and Sookie, the actors are almost too comfortable with each other.

Not surprising, I suppose, since they're married. Sookie and Eric on the other hand have UST in spades, but Alexander Skarsgard seems to be another of these actors who has chemistry with everyone and everything.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Not surprising, I suppose, since they're married.

I've found that married actors rarely have chemistry on-screen, partly because the camera picks up strong emotions. Such as passion or dislike.
There's a few exceptions - but those are usually much better actors - such as say Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy (who weren't married but had an on-going passionate love affair off-screen). But very rarely.

Sookie and Eric on the other hand have UST in spades, but Alexander Skarsgard seems to be another of these actors who has chemistry with everyone and everything.

Agreed. He even has it with Bill. It may be the character he's playing.
Not sure.

[ash-carpenter.livejournal.com]

Weren't you just dying for someone to make a "dead parrot" reference during the coven scene...? Or was that just me ;-)

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:) To be honest, until you mentioned it I hadn't even thought of it. But yes, that moment was crying out for a Monty Python reference.

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Agreed. He even has it with Bill. It may be the character he's playing.
Not sure.

I'm not sure either. He is very good looking, but it's not really down to that. He just has lots of charisma.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

He is very good looking, but it's not really down to that. He just has lots of charisma.

It's his eyes. That actor has incredibly expressive and big eyes.
Stephen Moyer's eyes are dark, and fairly small, harder to see - and not as emotive or expressive - he basically looks like a drowned puppey most of the time or a mopey puppy. Alexander Skarsgard's eyes often show the exact opposite emotion of what he is saying and they are huge and light blue.

You'll notice it in episode 2 - big time.

There's an acting trick that Judy Garland taught Liza Minelli - and Liza talked about on an interview show - she said, her mother told her to learn how to show in your eyes what the character is actually thinking when they say a line. That often we are thinking the opposite or something completely different than what we say. For example - you are having a bad day, someone asks you how you are?
You say okay or fine, but your eyes tell a different story. Actors who can act with just their eyes - are amazing on screen. Because the camera picks up every subtle twitch. Moyer's not bad, but he's not as good as Skarsgard.

[shapinglight]

No, he's not. Also, unfortunately, Eric just is a more attractive, interesting character. There's no getting away from it. His scenes are great no matter who he's with - Pam, Sookie, Bill, whoever. Bill's scenes with Sookie just fall terribly flat, even when he works fine with other characters.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agreed. The character of Eric is better written. We have a thousand year old vampire who was a former Viking, around during the Inquisition - vs. a what? 150 year old one, who has a holier-than-thou complex? And served in the Civil War? Boring. Even as a human, Eric was more interesting than Bill.

Even Charlain Harris figured out Bill was dull eventually and kicked him to the curb. Although will state Ball has made Bill more interesting than Harris ever did.

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Even Charlain Harris figured out Bill was dull eventually and kicked him to the curb. Although will state Ball has made Bill more interesting than Harris ever did.

Harris's Bill must be deadly dull, then. One thing's for sure, Ball will never kick him to the kerb.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

You have no idea. In the book's everything is told through Sookie's point of view and in first person narrative. So, all we know about Bill is literally what he tells her. We get to know a bit more about Eric - because of Pam and Bill. Bill's storyline is basically Civil War Solider, whose descendants are Andy and Portia Bellfleur (I keep waiting for that to come to light in the series - because it would be hilarious). In the books - he leaves his mansion to them, which annoys Sookie who hates them in the books. Oh, and he's Queen Sophie-Anne's spy, but I can't remember why. He never figures out she's a fairy.

The books aren't that very good. Ball is much much better writer. Actually Harris - makes Ball look like Shakespeare in comparison.

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I glanced through one of them in a shop once. Decided it wasn't for me.