Death is Not the End
True Blood, episode 704
Death Is Not the End
This episode gave me a whiplash! On the one hand, it was one of the better ones in recent memory, where some things made sense, and some emotions rang so genuine it hurt. In a good way, for once. On the other hand, it was still full of WTF moments and situations where I wanted to ask my favorite characters “Who the hell are you?”
But first things first.
****
Sookie
Oh, my bby is back! I so loved how she was in this episode. She was the glue, the strength, the reason, holding everything together (only allowing herself one moment of tears, and that was with Eric, the one man she can be herself with and not fear being infantilized or judged).
Sookie and Jason.
Sookie: “Pull it together. Because you are it, Jason, you are the law. Andy’s with Holly, which is where he should be. But that leaves you!”
Jason: “I can’t, I’m not that strong.”
Sookie: “You don’t think I wanna cry? I do. It is ALL I wanna do. But I am manning up and you gotta man up, too.”
I love my Stackhouse siblings supporting each other.
And they needed support, both of them. Those phone calls, they were rough. It hurt, but I loved that, too. And it’s not just because I was glad to see Hoyt again and even Jackson (whom I liked way more than his son). It was just such a human little scene. Painful but real. There’s no good way to make a phone call like this, and the pain, and the guilt, and everything jumbled together. . . . And poor Jason, Hoyt doesn’t remember who he is.
And Sookie, the guilt there must have been terrible.
Jackson: “He loved the fuck out of you, Sookie.”
Well, crap.
Sookie and the Bellefleurs.
But she held it together. All the way to the Bellefleur mansion. Boy, did Coby and Lisa got BIG! Teacup humans no longer! When did that happen? I liked Sookie talking to them. This is where her telepathy is a good thing. She knows how they feel. She knows what they can handle. She knows what they want to hear. And how to say it. And they needed it, because yes, out of the best of intentions, everyone around them has been pretending like nothing was amiss. And that was not helpful at all.
I loved Sookie through the episode doing and saying the hard things no one else wanted to do or say. Loved her getting in Andy’s face, and getting Holly to remember, even if it hurt.
Holly is, understandably, a mess. Andy is, unsurprisingly, clueless.
Andy: “What am I gonna do with her?
Sookie: “We like to be held.”
Well, crap.
Sookie and Bill and Jessica.
It’s daytime, but some vampires aren’t sleeping. Jessica is in pain. She is not healing because she isn’t eating. She isn’t eating because a slow suicide out of guilt is … making sense to her? This is the girl who promised Adelyn she’ll protect her no matter what. You know what helps with being a functioning protector, Jess? Not dying of starvation! I’m just saying.
James can’t talk sense into her, so he tattles on her to daddy.
Bill: “So you are protecting Adelyn? And she is not feeding you in exchange for that protection?”
OMG, fucking Bill! “You are protecting her for free?” Ugggggh! Dude! Three girls are dead because you wanted to take a hike in the sunlight! And you have the gall to wonder if the remaining one should pay for your progeny’s “services”? Fuck you, Bill!
Jessica: “Well, who are you feeding of off?”
On cue: Sookie coming into the house.
Me: "Well, FUCK YOU, show!"
First, Bill, you are an ASSHOLE! Just accept it. You are an asshole now, always, and forever. Even when you consciously try not to be, you come off all asshole! You are a class A, certifiable, industrial-grade ASSHOLE!
Second, why is the door open? It’s effing daytime! And it’s a vampire house with no need for an invitation. So, what, Bill? We now sleep in daytime with doors not locked? You know, with the town overrun by armed vigilantes who want to kill all vampires? Not only are you an ASSHOLE, but you are that stupid?
It’s lucky for you this was just Sookie crushing Jessica’s inter-fucking-vention.
Sookie: “You can feed off of me.”
Jessica: “You are a fairy!”
Sookie: “I trust you.”
Me: “WHY?!! Why does everyone keep trusting people who can’t (Jessica) or won’t (Bill) control themselves?”
Bill to Sookie (all supercilious solicitude): “Be careful.”
Me: “Fuck you, Bill! Jessica is your responsibility! ASSHOLE!”
Sookie: “I don’t give a shit about any of that. Fact is, I don’t give a shit why you are not eating, ‘cause in my eyes those three dead fairy girls are just the tip of the fucking iceberg around here. So what if they are dead. Alcide’s dead. Tara’s dead. Almost everyone I’ve ever known and loved is dead. And even as we are talking right now, Jessica, you are dead, too. So, I’m sorry, I just don’t give a fuck about you or your problems. My friends are being held captive at Fangtasia, and I am gonna need a lot of help if I’m gonna rescue them tonight. And whether you care to admit it or not, I have been good to you, so are you gonna help me or not?!”
Good! Thank you! I get it, Jessica, you feel guilty. But you have been hanging around Bill for too long. You have picked up his knack for self-pity and empty promises. Snap out of it! As Sookie said, a lot of people are dead, but some are still alive and you can help save them. So get off your pity horse, get some food, and get going!
Oh and this? This from now on will be used as a reaction gif to many a situation or a character.
While Jessica waits for her breakfast, Bill is telling Sookie how she has no one but him now (well, those are not the words, but that is the implication). Aaaaaand then she feeds him. UGGGGH! Sookie! Do not fall for his manipulation! … Vomit! You are not starving, Bill, you have not been starving like Jessica. You have humans to feed on, I’m sure! Fuck you, Bill! You are an ASSHOLE! And even if you are starving …
But feed him she did.
Well, crap.
***
Eric.
Man, Eric in this episode! It felt like there were two of them. One that I kept shouting “Fuck you!” at and one that made me go “My bby!” No, seriously, show, I know you try to make the characters complex and stuff, but this is not the way to go about it. This isn’t complexity, it’s inconsistent characterization. You nail one scene, but then you go and forget who this person is at the core in the next? The hell?
Let’s start with the ugly.
Eric the dick.
Eric feeding on that flight attendant without informing her of his condition … this is definitely one of those “Fuck you, show!” moments. The Eric we knew would not do that. He would not infect the poor woman. He certainly wouldn’t do it without her consent. Dying or not! And now she is going to lose her job because of it. Because she works for a vampire airline and has to have clean blood. Great, infected AND losing her livelihood. Did I say it already, because it bears repeating: Fuck you, show, so much for this one! Oh, and fuck you, Eric. Yes, I said it.
I’ve been taken to task on this on another site. It’s been explained to me (as if I were stupid and missed this vital information) that Eric is sick and he doesn’t have time to look for a clean human elsewhere. Okay, so he doesn’t. Does this make what he did any less reprehensible? Did he show regret at having been put in the position to spread the infection? Did I miss the moment when he, I don’t know, attempted to compensate the flight attendant for her losses? Sorry, apologists, but what you offer is a justification, not an excuse.
Also not an excuse? “Eric doesn’t care for any other humans but Sookie.” … Ah, first of, not true, at least it hasn’t been until now. He doesn’t get deeply attached to other humans, sure, but he has never been needlessly or carelessly cruel to them. No, the dungeon is not an example: that place held those who perpetrated crimes against vampires. And no, Yvetta is not an example either. He didn’t treat her with disrespect until she revealed her own true intentions. I can go on. What happened with the flight attendant was not a comparable instance. And even if it were, how’s not caring for other humans an excuse for being a dick? It’s an indictment not exculpatory evidence. “He doesn’t care for humans…” Oh, well then, bygones! Why didn’t you say so in the first place?!
All this by way of saying that, when Bill is an asshole (which is all the time) I call him an asshole. By the same token, when Eric is an asshole (which, thankfully, isn’t all the time) I will call him on it, too. I am not going to devise additional set of standards for Eric simply because I like him. I’ll just need another title other than Asshole, because that one is so thoroughly coopted by Bill.
Eric and Willa.
Pam: “Eric, you abandoned her! She probably hates you as much as Tara hated me.”
Well, thank the fuck for acknowledging that! Because yes, both Tara and Willa had ample legitimate grounds for hating your respective asses.
Eric doesn’t care if Willa hates him, she is still his progeny and he needs to see her before he dies. I am glad he has this impulse. At least he is willing to honor some obligations. The way he goes about it, though ...
Eric: “Willa, you look beautiful!”
Willa: “Save it, asswipe! You know I wasn’t even two weeks old and you left?!”
Me: “You tell ‘im, girl!”
ASSWIPE! Yes! That’s the title! Eric is Asswipe and Bill is Asshole. It works!
Also, I kind of really like Willa a lot! I am glad she is taking him to task. I hope she presses on. There is really no excuse for what he did to her, and he’d better leave her provided for if he is planning on dying. I say “planning on,” because I still won’t believe he is actually going to die. Nope. Not until they hit me with it. At which point … well, let’s not borrow more trouble from the show already filled with it. We’ll jump off that bridge when we get there. Asswipe or not, I do not want him to die!
Eric and a ridiculous flashback #567.
Are they trying to reduce his hotness factor or amp it up by setting a comparison? Because honestly, apart from the very first (with Godric) flashback of his Viking death, his wigs and his clothing choices have been hilariously terrible. Each worse than the previous one.
Yeah … not gonna touch this.
Oh, look, the Magister! So, the Shreveport was definitely a punishment.
As punishments go, this is a weird one. Okay, the business sucks (Pam’s face when she saw the store!), but … really? That’s the form of torture the Authority came up with? I mean, sure the store is depressing and all, but it’s more like a blow to the ego than a real retribution. Granted, vampires and their egos … Maybe the Authority thought it was tantamount to a life sentence?
Eric: “Leave it to humans to make sex this depressing.”
And someone explain to me again why the punishment at all?! Eric was being reprimanded for … what? Having a private feeding and private sex on private property? Where no one could see him? While Bill Fucking Compton was in London feeding on a public street, on an unwilling victim, where he cold have been discovered easily, and … what, they patted him on the head and made him a spy?
The fuck is this Authority logic?!
But, hey! The store has the Underground Railroad tunnel! Yep, the hitherto never mentioned secret passage in and out of Fangtasia. You know, that secret passage that would have been so useful when Eric and Pam were trapped there by the same Authority in season 3? Whatever, show. You didn’t happen to invent a last minute secret helipad on the roof, did ya? ‘Cause that would help, too!
Oh, and apparently Eric and Pam were being watched by that Japanese corporation during the daytime for years … How did that work, exactly? WHEN did that work? No one from that quarter has ever showed up for anything in 6 seasons! Ugh, show.
Magister: Exits laughing.
Me: Laugh it up, asshole! You are gonna die in this basement!
Eric and Pam and Ginger.
Everyone loved that one. I … didn’t? I mean, Ginger was awesome, as always. And her reaction to Eric was hilarious. Though … why? He looked kind of awful in that flashback. Of all the times to have this reaction to him, this was not the one. But whatever, Ginger has her own aesthetic, and, as Pam pointed out, her taste is not the best.
What I found so sad about this flashback was seeing Vintage Ginger, as she used to be. Who looked like nothing she ended up looking. And before her brain was glamoured out of all IQ points. Ugh, Pam. And Eric. What did you end up doing to this lady?! Asswipes! I wish I hadn’t learned that Ginger was a Tulane student with interests and aspirations. Knowing how she ended up kind of hurts. Ginger, honey, no! Do not take that application! Sigh.
So, it turns out, Ginger was the one to bring Eric’s first “throne” to the video store. And Fangtasia was Ginger’s idea? Well, it explains the shitty pun. But you go, Ginger, for motivating your blaze vampire employers into turning the shit video store into a business they’d actually want to run! But seriously, Pam? You took the credit? Well, I sure as hell hope you compensated Ginger at least monetarily. In fact, you fucking better at the end of it, because you took years of her life, made Swiss cheese out of her brain, and put her in constant untold danger. She better get a HELL of a retirement package!
Woof. WTF stuff over. We can get to the some good things.
Eric and Bill.
Okay, not good yet, and some of it was a WTF alright, but some of it was at least interesting. Their dynamic was always interesting to me. It always felt kind of … odd. Not in the beginning, because that was clear enough. Eric’s (and Pam’s) disdain for Bill was completely in character and in-universe. Especially given what we've learned since of their previous acquaintance.
But later Bill seemed to have grown on Eric. At least enough for Eric to keep saving Bill’s life and not wishing to leave him behind. I have never understood that impulse, but okay. And now that Eric is sick and doesn’t have the strength, but does still posses the snark, he is back to the disdain, and Bill appears to be trying to impress him. Or at least convince him of his new-found saintliness. Who knows why. Bill is nothing if not calculating. He has not know Eric is not long for this world. So why bother with trying to establish a good impression? And don’t tell me it’s all part of Bill’s newly-reformed self! The dude stood in Fangtasia doors watching Sookie plead for a clean vampire blood for Arlene without lifting a finger and only sprung into action when there was an opportunity to do something to impress Eric. I guess Bill feels like he’s already won Sookie, since she is freshly pumped with his blood, is feeding him, and the last remaining competition (Eric) is dying. So he doesn’t need to try too hard with her (whatever Pam may say - and I will get to that one shortly). But he is trying very hard with Eric, and it makes me wonder.
Eric: “Pam tells me you wrote a book in which you claim not to be an asshole anymore … Is this true, Bill?”
Fucking thank you! That book was ridiculous and seeing people like Reverend Daniels take it seriously … Just thank you, Eric and Pam for this! And thank you, show, for confirming that your head isn’t entirely up your ass yet. Also thank you for this:
Eric and Sookie.
Eric: “So, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into?”
Sookie: “You are the one to talk.”
Eric: “Fair enough.”
Gah! The way they look at each other! There’s so much there! SO much! I don’t get this show. If the intent, as advertised, is to get Bill and Sookie back together, then why aren’t they having scenes like these? It’s not just that Bill and Sookie feel tired and awkward around each other. It’s that the sparks in this one episode between Eric and Sookie are so much more than anything between Sookie and Bill. How can the show give us this, and then claim it’s not the endgame? HOW?
Me: Ugly sobbing in fetal position in the corner.
Eric: “Sookie Stackhosue.”
Sigh, the way he always says her full name!
Eric: “How have you been?”
Sookie: “Shitty. My boyfriend died.”
Eric: “Your boyfriend?”
Sookie: “Alcide. He and I were … together.”
Eric: “The warewolf … I signed your house over to you so you can take your life back. How’s taking a wolf…”
Sookie: “Don’t. He died this morning.”
Eric: “I’m sorry.”
(“We like to be held”! GAH!)
I am glad that this remains consistent: That Eric is the guy who does not make it about himself in such situations. He listens to what Sookie says and gives her what she asks for.
And they are seriously trying to tell us he is “not the man for her”? Because I think they are failing miserably.
Eric: "Well first I went home to Sweden, which was absolutely beautiful. But unfortunately I triggered an avalanche that killed an entire ski village. Things got a little hectic after that, so I went down to South America: Bolivia, Peru… But I got bored after awhile, so I went over to Africa: Gabon, Morocco. Then up to Spain, and finally, France."
Sookie: "That’s a lot of traveling around."
Eric: "Yeah. Well, I thought I’d see the world one last time."
Me: Ugly sobbing.
***
Eric, Sookie, and some other peeps go clubbing.
Okay, so it wasn’t as festive as it sounds, but at least this was a plan that had potential. And paid off, despite some idiot gate-crashers and minor setbacks.
The group is not very cohesive, but it’ll have to do. Jessica is newly healed. Bill is posturing and sulking (Asshole!). Pam is pissed at Sookie, so it “must be Thursday.” (Consistent but that’s the kind of consistency that’s gotten boring a long time ago). Eric enlists - okay, compels - Willa to join the “party.” (Asswipe!). Sam is still wearing clothes, though why he bothers these days I’m sure I don’t know. Violet is happy to have something to kill. Jason is determined to be the law. And New Random Vampire Kieth is just happy to be included. Where did he come from, exactly?
They are going to get into Fangtasia through the conveniently invented remembered secret passage.
Sam gets inside as a rat. It’s kind of hilarious.
Arlene: “I’m sorry, were you just a rat?”
Arlene: “And don’t turn into a rat …. DON’T TURN INTO A RAT … He did. He turned into a rat.”
Aaaand I love Arlene. A lot.
Outside Eric is too ill to punch a hole in the wall, so Bill the show-off to the rescue!
It was kind of comical, actually, how he kept stepping in to show Eric just how much of a not ASSHOLE he is now. It was like telegraphing “Eric, Eric, look! Look, Eric! Look! I am not an Asshole anymore! Look! Why aren’t you looking?! I’m all heroic over here! See? See?!! Look, it’s me! Not an Asshole Anymore!”
Everyone except for Eric and Sookie get in through the wall. They need to hurry, because poor Arlene is being eaten upstairs. But in the meantime Pam takes her leisurely time to give Bill some relationship advice … THE FUCK?
Pam: “Don’t try to be too big a hero tonight. Because it ain’t gonna happen with Sookie. Not tonight, not ever.”
Me: Well, crap.
Pukes. Pukes some more, because, frankly, this is like the law of shows, isn’t it? You say the thing isn’t going to happen and in the end the thing happens.
God, I hated this line and this moment on so many levels! First of all, since fucking when does Pam give a flying vampire bat about Bill, Bill’s feelings, Bill and Sookie, or Bill anything? SINCE FUCKING WHEN?
No, seriously, show. Are we the only ones who remember how Pam and Bill met? How Bill was murdering her girls in the brothel. Torturing, humiliating, making them feel worthless and then draining them? Are we going to just ignore it or are we going to assume that - due to their clearly stellar relationship since - Pam has forgiven and forgotten? Because Pam is such a sunshiny it’s-all-good person? Are we going to forget that Pam knows Bill tried to kill Eric several times? Are we going to forget that thus far Pam has shown nothing but complete and utter disdain for this asshole? Or are we going to forget that not half hour before Eric was quoting Pam on the utter ridiculousness of the book Bill wrote? So, show? Are you seriously telling me that somewhere on the road between Bon Temps and Shreveport, on that half-hour ride, Pam has contracted some sort of a flash-virus of a deep and genuine concern for Bill Fucking Compton’s feelings and well-being?
The hell?! This is too ridiculous to buy even for the bad writing.
Second, since when is Pam an expert on Sookie’s feelings regarding Bill? Why is she speaking on Sookie’s behalf? Didn’t she liken her to fungus the same 30 minutes ago? Yet now Pam is professing deep understanding of Sookie’s resolve and intentions on the matter? The hell?!!
Third, way to use your time to save people, Pam! We are here to free you, but first, some “Dear Abby”! … Fuck you, show! And fuck Bill in particular. Is just the code I live by. The only plausible explanation I can think of for this travesty is that Pam is trying to play Bill. Trying to rile him up to be extra heroic and stupid and get himself killed? THAT I could buy, if I actually could be convinced this is what it was. As it stands, I don’t know what to think.
Eric and Sookie try the polite way in and knock. And oh, look, it’s the bold douchehole who killed Tara. Someone please get him dead, quickly!
Sookie is an instant hit with the Hep-V crowd.
Diseased Vamp: “I remember you. What are you?”
Me: Ugly sobbing in fetal position in the corner.
Oh, look, it’s the idiot brigade of human vigilante morons with guns and Molotov cocktails, thinking they can take on Fangtasia. Yeah, that’s not gonna end badly at all … Kenya! Kenya! You are better than that! Ugh. RIP, Kenya. And Rosy? Sam and Jason came to you in good faith, they forgave you your earlier idiotic shenanigans, because they felt compassion for you! Way to demonstrate how misplaced that compassion was. I’d say RIP for you, too, but you are kind of a dick.
Meanwhile, Bill does heroics in his attempt to demonstrate to Eric that he is not an asshole. Anymore. And finishes them with:
Bill: “See? Not an asshole anymore!”
See, Eric?! ERIC! SEE?! SEE, ERIC? I am not AN ASSHOLE ANYMORE! I AM GOOD! SEE? SEE???!!! TAKE IT BACK ERIC! TAKE IT BACK! I AM A GOOD BOY!”
Bill, dude! I have some news for you: If you feel the burning need to tell people you are not an asshole anymore, you are an ASSHOLE!
While Bill was dilly-dyllying telling Eric how he is not an asshole anymore while Sookie needed a healthy vampire blood for Arlene who is nearly drained, the idiot vigilantes tried to take on the vampires outside. Bill ended up having to dash to save Jessica. And Eric went to call Arlene a healthy vampire, since he couldn’t give his own blood.
Arlene, who was hallucinating Terry. Ghost Terry showed up to ask the show why it killed him off ostensibly in order to cut down on storylines and then brought in Random Vampire Kieth into the storyline they asked Terry to vacate last season but clearly didn’t cut? Wait … no, he didn’t actually ask that, but he should have! I know I want the answer!
Oh, and here’s your weekly dose of FUCK YOU SHOW FOR KILLING TARA! Explain to me again, how it was her time and you couldn’t fit her in anymore? While you fit in Violet. And Lettie Mae. And Reverend Daniels. And three episodes of Vince. And James. And now it looks like we are headed for Random Vampire Kieth? Listen, Kieth, dude, you may be the best thing since sliced garlic, for all I know. Hey, I just met you and this is crazy,
Sookie and Eric exchanged a look as he leaves.
It felt like a goodbye, which, of course, from Eric’s perspective, it was. He is dying. He is on a mission but he just saw his future in those other Hep-V vamps, and he knows it’s not long for him.
But I hope (and think?) this is not the end. That the cure will be found. That Eric and Sookie will get to each other again. Yes, I still have a sliver of hope. I am masochistic. Yes I am doing this to myself. Come at me!
****
Odds and Ends.
I liked the scene with Jason and Sam in the car. Sam felt like earlier Sam, the one who actually cares. He wanted to go beard the sick vamps in the Fangtasia right away. Jason had to pull a gun on him to stop him.
Jason: “I am protecting you and your family from what you are about to do. Turn the fuck around!”
I liked Jason being the voice of reason.
I liked the scene between Lafayette and Jessica.
Lafayette: “I killed the man I loved.”
Jessica: “How did you forgive yourself?”
Lafayette: “Still haven’t. I accept the fact that I is deeply flawed-ass motherfucker. And one of those flaws being I’mma shaking in my boots scared as hell to figure out what death is like.”
Jessica: “You should be scared. Because it sucks.”
What I like here is that it’s Lafayette that puts Jessica’s head back on, so to speak. I love the mention of Jesus and the fact that Lafayette is still grieving for him. That Lafayette hasn’t managed to drug himself up to forget entirely.
****
So, all in all, this was one of the better episodes. We are starved for good things. For good interactions, for Sookie keeping it together, for Jason being her rock, for Eric and Sookie supporting each other and being tender with each other (for Eric and Sookie just being a scene together for goodness sake!), for a decent planning that works, for people taking care of each other… So our expectations are low and we are happy when we get an episode like this, with these things front and center, even if they come with the heavy side of “fuck you!”
I am still wary. I am still bitter. I am still a little bit hopeful. I am a mess.
****
Huge thanks to Switchbladekiller (http://switchbladekiller.tumblr.com/) for making awesome gifs! HUGS you!
Death Is Not the End
This episode gave me a whiplash! On the one hand, it was one of the better ones in recent memory, where some things made sense, and some emotions rang so genuine it hurt. In a good way, for once. On the other hand, it was still full of WTF moments and situations where I wanted to ask my favorite characters “Who the hell are you?”
But first things first.
****
Sookie
Oh, my bby is back! I so loved how she was in this episode. She was the glue, the strength, the reason, holding everything together (only allowing herself one moment of tears, and that was with Eric, the one man she can be herself with and not fear being infantilized or judged).
Sookie and Jason.
Sookie: “Pull it together. Because you are it, Jason, you are the law. Andy’s with Holly, which is where he should be. But that leaves you!”
Jason: “I can’t, I’m not that strong.”
Sookie: “You don’t think I wanna cry? I do. It is ALL I wanna do. But I am manning up and you gotta man up, too.”
I love my Stackhouse siblings supporting each other.
And they needed support, both of them. Those phone calls, they were rough. It hurt, but I loved that, too. And it’s not just because I was glad to see Hoyt again and even Jackson (whom I liked way more than his son). It was just such a human little scene. Painful but real. There’s no good way to make a phone call like this, and the pain, and the guilt, and everything jumbled together. . . . And poor Jason, Hoyt doesn’t remember who he is.
And Sookie, the guilt there must have been terrible.
Jackson: “He loved the fuck out of you, Sookie.”
Well, crap.
Sookie and the Bellefleurs.
But she held it together. All the way to the Bellefleur mansion. Boy, did Coby and Lisa got BIG! Teacup humans no longer! When did that happen? I liked Sookie talking to them. This is where her telepathy is a good thing. She knows how they feel. She knows what they can handle. She knows what they want to hear. And how to say it. And they needed it, because yes, out of the best of intentions, everyone around them has been pretending like nothing was amiss. And that was not helpful at all.
I loved Sookie through the episode doing and saying the hard things no one else wanted to do or say. Loved her getting in Andy’s face, and getting Holly to remember, even if it hurt.
Holly is, understandably, a mess. Andy is, unsurprisingly, clueless.
Andy: “What am I gonna do with her?
Sookie: “We like to be held.”
Well, crap.
Sookie and Bill and Jessica.
It’s daytime, but some vampires aren’t sleeping. Jessica is in pain. She is not healing because she isn’t eating. She isn’t eating because a slow suicide out of guilt is … making sense to her? This is the girl who promised Adelyn she’ll protect her no matter what. You know what helps with being a functioning protector, Jess? Not dying of starvation! I’m just saying.
James can’t talk sense into her, so he tattles on her to daddy.
Bill: “So you are protecting Adelyn? And she is not feeding you in exchange for that protection?”
OMG, fucking Bill! “You are protecting her for free?” Ugggggh! Dude! Three girls are dead because you wanted to take a hike in the sunlight! And you have the gall to wonder if the remaining one should pay for your progeny’s “services”? Fuck you, Bill!
Jessica: “Well, who are you feeding of off?”
On cue: Sookie coming into the house.
Me: "Well, FUCK YOU, show!"
First, Bill, you are an ASSHOLE! Just accept it. You are an asshole now, always, and forever. Even when you consciously try not to be, you come off all asshole! You are a class A, certifiable, industrial-grade ASSHOLE!
Second, why is the door open? It’s effing daytime! And it’s a vampire house with no need for an invitation. So, what, Bill? We now sleep in daytime with doors not locked? You know, with the town overrun by armed vigilantes who want to kill all vampires? Not only are you an ASSHOLE, but you are that stupid?
It’s lucky for you this was just Sookie crushing Jessica’s inter-fucking-vention.
Sookie: “You can feed off of me.”
Jessica: “You are a fairy!”
Sookie: “I trust you.”
Me: “WHY?!! Why does everyone keep trusting people who can’t (Jessica) or won’t (Bill) control themselves?”
Bill to Sookie (all supercilious solicitude): “Be careful.”
Me: “Fuck you, Bill! Jessica is your responsibility! ASSHOLE!”
Sookie: “I don’t give a shit about any of that. Fact is, I don’t give a shit why you are not eating, ‘cause in my eyes those three dead fairy girls are just the tip of the fucking iceberg around here. So what if they are dead. Alcide’s dead. Tara’s dead. Almost everyone I’ve ever known and loved is dead. And even as we are talking right now, Jessica, you are dead, too. So, I’m sorry, I just don’t give a fuck about you or your problems. My friends are being held captive at Fangtasia, and I am gonna need a lot of help if I’m gonna rescue them tonight. And whether you care to admit it or not, I have been good to you, so are you gonna help me or not?!”
Good! Thank you! I get it, Jessica, you feel guilty. But you have been hanging around Bill for too long. You have picked up his knack for self-pity and empty promises. Snap out of it! As Sookie said, a lot of people are dead, but some are still alive and you can help save them. So get off your pity horse, get some food, and get going!
Oh and this? This from now on will be used as a reaction gif to many a situation or a character.
While Jessica waits for her breakfast, Bill is telling Sookie how she has no one but him now (well, those are not the words, but that is the implication). Aaaaaand then she feeds him. UGGGGH! Sookie! Do not fall for his manipulation! … Vomit! You are not starving, Bill, you have not been starving like Jessica. You have humans to feed on, I’m sure! Fuck you, Bill! You are an ASSHOLE! And even if you are starving …
But feed him she did.
Well, crap.
***
Eric.
Man, Eric in this episode! It felt like there were two of them. One that I kept shouting “Fuck you!” at and one that made me go “My bby!” No, seriously, show, I know you try to make the characters complex and stuff, but this is not the way to go about it. This isn’t complexity, it’s inconsistent characterization. You nail one scene, but then you go and forget who this person is at the core in the next? The hell?
Let’s start with the ugly.
Eric the dick.
Eric feeding on that flight attendant without informing her of his condition … this is definitely one of those “Fuck you, show!” moments. The Eric we knew would not do that. He would not infect the poor woman. He certainly wouldn’t do it without her consent. Dying or not! And now she is going to lose her job because of it. Because she works for a vampire airline and has to have clean blood. Great, infected AND losing her livelihood. Did I say it already, because it bears repeating: Fuck you, show, so much for this one! Oh, and fuck you, Eric. Yes, I said it.
I’ve been taken to task on this on another site. It’s been explained to me (as if I were stupid and missed this vital information) that Eric is sick and he doesn’t have time to look for a clean human elsewhere. Okay, so he doesn’t. Does this make what he did any less reprehensible? Did he show regret at having been put in the position to spread the infection? Did I miss the moment when he, I don’t know, attempted to compensate the flight attendant for her losses? Sorry, apologists, but what you offer is a justification, not an excuse.
Also not an excuse? “Eric doesn’t care for any other humans but Sookie.” … Ah, first of, not true, at least it hasn’t been until now. He doesn’t get deeply attached to other humans, sure, but he has never been needlessly or carelessly cruel to them. No, the dungeon is not an example: that place held those who perpetrated crimes against vampires. And no, Yvetta is not an example either. He didn’t treat her with disrespect until she revealed her own true intentions. I can go on. What happened with the flight attendant was not a comparable instance. And even if it were, how’s not caring for other humans an excuse for being a dick? It’s an indictment not exculpatory evidence. “He doesn’t care for humans…” Oh, well then, bygones! Why didn’t you say so in the first place?!
All this by way of saying that, when Bill is an asshole (which is all the time) I call him an asshole. By the same token, when Eric is an asshole (which, thankfully, isn’t all the time) I will call him on it, too. I am not going to devise additional set of standards for Eric simply because I like him. I’ll just need another title other than Asshole, because that one is so thoroughly coopted by Bill.
Eric and Willa.
Pam: “Eric, you abandoned her! She probably hates you as much as Tara hated me.”
Well, thank the fuck for acknowledging that! Because yes, both Tara and Willa had ample legitimate grounds for hating your respective asses.
Eric doesn’t care if Willa hates him, she is still his progeny and he needs to see her before he dies. I am glad he has this impulse. At least he is willing to honor some obligations. The way he goes about it, though ...
Eric: “Willa, you look beautiful!”
Willa: “Save it, asswipe! You know I wasn’t even two weeks old and you left?!”
Me: “You tell ‘im, girl!”
ASSWIPE! Yes! That’s the title! Eric is Asswipe and Bill is Asshole. It works!
Also, I kind of really like Willa a lot! I am glad she is taking him to task. I hope she presses on. There is really no excuse for what he did to her, and he’d better leave her provided for if he is planning on dying. I say “planning on,” because I still won’t believe he is actually going to die. Nope. Not until they hit me with it. At which point … well, let’s not borrow more trouble from the show already filled with it. We’ll jump off that bridge when we get there. Asswipe or not, I do not want him to die!
Eric and a ridiculous flashback #567.
Are they trying to reduce his hotness factor or amp it up by setting a comparison? Because honestly, apart from the very first (with Godric) flashback of his Viking death, his wigs and his clothing choices have been hilariously terrible. Each worse than the previous one.
Yeah … not gonna touch this.
Oh, look, the Magister! So, the Shreveport was definitely a punishment.
As punishments go, this is a weird one. Okay, the business sucks (Pam’s face when she saw the store!), but … really? That’s the form of torture the Authority came up with? I mean, sure the store is depressing and all, but it’s more like a blow to the ego than a real retribution. Granted, vampires and their egos … Maybe the Authority thought it was tantamount to a life sentence?
Eric: “Leave it to humans to make sex this depressing.”
And someone explain to me again why the punishment at all?! Eric was being reprimanded for … what? Having a private feeding and private sex on private property? Where no one could see him? While Bill Fucking Compton was in London feeding on a public street, on an unwilling victim, where he cold have been discovered easily, and … what, they patted him on the head and made him a spy?
The fuck is this Authority logic?!
But, hey! The store has the Underground Railroad tunnel! Yep, the hitherto never mentioned secret passage in and out of Fangtasia. You know, that secret passage that would have been so useful when Eric and Pam were trapped there by the same Authority in season 3? Whatever, show. You didn’t happen to invent a last minute secret helipad on the roof, did ya? ‘Cause that would help, too!
Oh, and apparently Eric and Pam were being watched by that Japanese corporation during the daytime for years … How did that work, exactly? WHEN did that work? No one from that quarter has ever showed up for anything in 6 seasons! Ugh, show.
Magister: Exits laughing.
Me: Laugh it up, asshole! You are gonna die in this basement!
Eric and Pam and Ginger.
Everyone loved that one. I … didn’t? I mean, Ginger was awesome, as always. And her reaction to Eric was hilarious. Though … why? He looked kind of awful in that flashback. Of all the times to have this reaction to him, this was not the one. But whatever, Ginger has her own aesthetic, and, as Pam pointed out, her taste is not the best.
What I found so sad about this flashback was seeing Vintage Ginger, as she used to be. Who looked like nothing she ended up looking. And before her brain was glamoured out of all IQ points. Ugh, Pam. And Eric. What did you end up doing to this lady?! Asswipes! I wish I hadn’t learned that Ginger was a Tulane student with interests and aspirations. Knowing how she ended up kind of hurts. Ginger, honey, no! Do not take that application! Sigh.
So, it turns out, Ginger was the one to bring Eric’s first “throne” to the video store. And Fangtasia was Ginger’s idea? Well, it explains the shitty pun. But you go, Ginger, for motivating your blaze vampire employers into turning the shit video store into a business they’d actually want to run! But seriously, Pam? You took the credit? Well, I sure as hell hope you compensated Ginger at least monetarily. In fact, you fucking better at the end of it, because you took years of her life, made Swiss cheese out of her brain, and put her in constant untold danger. She better get a HELL of a retirement package!
Woof. WTF stuff over. We can get to the some good things.
Eric and Bill.
Okay, not good yet, and some of it was a WTF alright, but some of it was at least interesting. Their dynamic was always interesting to me. It always felt kind of … odd. Not in the beginning, because that was clear enough. Eric’s (and Pam’s) disdain for Bill was completely in character and in-universe. Especially given what we've learned since of their previous acquaintance.
But later Bill seemed to have grown on Eric. At least enough for Eric to keep saving Bill’s life and not wishing to leave him behind. I have never understood that impulse, but okay. And now that Eric is sick and doesn’t have the strength, but does still posses the snark, he is back to the disdain, and Bill appears to be trying to impress him. Or at least convince him of his new-found saintliness. Who knows why. Bill is nothing if not calculating. He has not know Eric is not long for this world. So why bother with trying to establish a good impression? And don’t tell me it’s all part of Bill’s newly-reformed self! The dude stood in Fangtasia doors watching Sookie plead for a clean vampire blood for Arlene without lifting a finger and only sprung into action when there was an opportunity to do something to impress Eric. I guess Bill feels like he’s already won Sookie, since she is freshly pumped with his blood, is feeding him, and the last remaining competition (Eric) is dying. So he doesn’t need to try too hard with her (whatever Pam may say - and I will get to that one shortly). But he is trying very hard with Eric, and it makes me wonder.
Eric: “Pam tells me you wrote a book in which you claim not to be an asshole anymore … Is this true, Bill?”
Fucking thank you! That book was ridiculous and seeing people like Reverend Daniels take it seriously … Just thank you, Eric and Pam for this! And thank you, show, for confirming that your head isn’t entirely up your ass yet. Also thank you for this:
Eric and Sookie.
Eric: “So, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into?”
Sookie: “You are the one to talk.”
Eric: “Fair enough.”
Gah! The way they look at each other! There’s so much there! SO much! I don’t get this show. If the intent, as advertised, is to get Bill and Sookie back together, then why aren’t they having scenes like these? It’s not just that Bill and Sookie feel tired and awkward around each other. It’s that the sparks in this one episode between Eric and Sookie are so much more than anything between Sookie and Bill. How can the show give us this, and then claim it’s not the endgame? HOW?
Me: Ugly sobbing in fetal position in the corner.
Eric: “Sookie Stackhosue.”
Sigh, the way he always says her full name!
Eric: “How have you been?”
Sookie: “Shitty. My boyfriend died.”
Eric: “Your boyfriend?”
Sookie: “Alcide. He and I were … together.”
Eric: “The warewolf … I signed your house over to you so you can take your life back. How’s taking a wolf…”
Sookie: “Don’t. He died this morning.”
Eric: “I’m sorry.”
(“We like to be held”! GAH!)
I am glad that this remains consistent: That Eric is the guy who does not make it about himself in such situations. He listens to what Sookie says and gives her what she asks for.
And they are seriously trying to tell us he is “not the man for her”? Because I think they are failing miserably.
Eric: "Well first I went home to Sweden, which was absolutely beautiful. But unfortunately I triggered an avalanche that killed an entire ski village. Things got a little hectic after that, so I went down to South America: Bolivia, Peru… But I got bored after awhile, so I went over to Africa: Gabon, Morocco. Then up to Spain, and finally, France."
Sookie: "That’s a lot of traveling around."
Eric: "Yeah. Well, I thought I’d see the world one last time."
Me: Ugly sobbing.
***
Eric, Sookie, and some other peeps go clubbing.
Okay, so it wasn’t as festive as it sounds, but at least this was a plan that had potential. And paid off, despite some idiot gate-crashers and minor setbacks.
The group is not very cohesive, but it’ll have to do. Jessica is newly healed. Bill is posturing and sulking (Asshole!). Pam is pissed at Sookie, so it “must be Thursday.” (Consistent but that’s the kind of consistency that’s gotten boring a long time ago). Eric enlists - okay, compels - Willa to join the “party.” (Asswipe!). Sam is still wearing clothes, though why he bothers these days I’m sure I don’t know. Violet is happy to have something to kill. Jason is determined to be the law. And New Random Vampire Kieth is just happy to be included. Where did he come from, exactly?
They are going to get into Fangtasia through the conveniently invented remembered secret passage.
Sam gets inside as a rat. It’s kind of hilarious.
Arlene: “I’m sorry, were you just a rat?”
Arlene: “And don’t turn into a rat …. DON’T TURN INTO A RAT … He did. He turned into a rat.”
Aaaand I love Arlene. A lot.
Outside Eric is too ill to punch a hole in the wall, so Bill the show-off to the rescue!
It was kind of comical, actually, how he kept stepping in to show Eric just how much of a not ASSHOLE he is now. It was like telegraphing “Eric, Eric, look! Look, Eric! Look! I am not an Asshole anymore! Look! Why aren’t you looking?! I’m all heroic over here! See? See?!! Look, it’s me! Not an Asshole Anymore!”
Everyone except for Eric and Sookie get in through the wall. They need to hurry, because poor Arlene is being eaten upstairs. But in the meantime Pam takes her leisurely time to give Bill some relationship advice … THE FUCK?
Pam: “Don’t try to be too big a hero tonight. Because it ain’t gonna happen with Sookie. Not tonight, not ever.”
Me: Well, crap.
Pukes. Pukes some more, because, frankly, this is like the law of shows, isn’t it? You say the thing isn’t going to happen and in the end the thing happens.
God, I hated this line and this moment on so many levels! First of all, since fucking when does Pam give a flying vampire bat about Bill, Bill’s feelings, Bill and Sookie, or Bill anything? SINCE FUCKING WHEN?
No, seriously, show. Are we the only ones who remember how Pam and Bill met? How Bill was murdering her girls in the brothel. Torturing, humiliating, making them feel worthless and then draining them? Are we going to just ignore it or are we going to assume that - due to their clearly stellar relationship since - Pam has forgiven and forgotten? Because Pam is such a sunshiny it’s-all-good person? Are we going to forget that Pam knows Bill tried to kill Eric several times? Are we going to forget that thus far Pam has shown nothing but complete and utter disdain for this asshole? Or are we going to forget that not half hour before Eric was quoting Pam on the utter ridiculousness of the book Bill wrote? So, show? Are you seriously telling me that somewhere on the road between Bon Temps and Shreveport, on that half-hour ride, Pam has contracted some sort of a flash-virus of a deep and genuine concern for Bill Fucking Compton’s feelings and well-being?
The hell?! This is too ridiculous to buy even for the bad writing.
Second, since when is Pam an expert on Sookie’s feelings regarding Bill? Why is she speaking on Sookie’s behalf? Didn’t she liken her to fungus the same 30 minutes ago? Yet now Pam is professing deep understanding of Sookie’s resolve and intentions on the matter? The hell?!!
Third, way to use your time to save people, Pam! We are here to free you, but first, some “Dear Abby”! … Fuck you, show! And fuck Bill in particular. Is just the code I live by. The only plausible explanation I can think of for this travesty is that Pam is trying to play Bill. Trying to rile him up to be extra heroic and stupid and get himself killed? THAT I could buy, if I actually could be convinced this is what it was. As it stands, I don’t know what to think.
Eric and Sookie try the polite way in and knock. And oh, look, it’s the bold douchehole who killed Tara. Someone please get him dead, quickly!
Sookie is an instant hit with the Hep-V crowd.
Diseased Vamp: “I remember you. What are you?”
Me: Ugly sobbing in fetal position in the corner.
Oh, look, it’s the idiot brigade of human vigilante morons with guns and Molotov cocktails, thinking they can take on Fangtasia. Yeah, that’s not gonna end badly at all … Kenya! Kenya! You are better than that! Ugh. RIP, Kenya. And Rosy? Sam and Jason came to you in good faith, they forgave you your earlier idiotic shenanigans, because they felt compassion for you! Way to demonstrate how misplaced that compassion was. I’d say RIP for you, too, but you are kind of a dick.
Meanwhile, Bill does heroics in his attempt to demonstrate to Eric that he is not an asshole. Anymore. And finishes them with:
Bill: “See? Not an asshole anymore!”
See, Eric?! ERIC! SEE?! SEE, ERIC? I am not AN ASSHOLE ANYMORE! I AM GOOD! SEE? SEE???!!! TAKE IT BACK ERIC! TAKE IT BACK! I AM A GOOD BOY!”
Bill, dude! I have some news for you: If you feel the burning need to tell people you are not an asshole anymore, you are an ASSHOLE!
While Bill was dilly-dyllying telling Eric how he is not an asshole anymore while Sookie needed a healthy vampire blood for Arlene who is nearly drained, the idiot vigilantes tried to take on the vampires outside. Bill ended up having to dash to save Jessica. And Eric went to call Arlene a healthy vampire, since he couldn’t give his own blood.
Arlene, who was hallucinating Terry. Ghost Terry showed up to ask the show why it killed him off ostensibly in order to cut down on storylines and then brought in Random Vampire Kieth into the storyline they asked Terry to vacate last season but clearly didn’t cut? Wait … no, he didn’t actually ask that, but he should have! I know I want the answer!
Oh, and here’s your weekly dose of FUCK YOU SHOW FOR KILLING TARA! Explain to me again, how it was her time and you couldn’t fit her in anymore? While you fit in Violet. And Lettie Mae. And Reverend Daniels. And three episodes of Vince. And James. And now it looks like we are headed for Random Vampire Kieth? Listen, Kieth, dude, you may be the best thing since sliced garlic, for all I know. Hey, I just met you and this is crazy,
Sookie and Eric exchanged a look as he leaves.
It felt like a goodbye, which, of course, from Eric’s perspective, it was. He is dying. He is on a mission but he just saw his future in those other Hep-V vamps, and he knows it’s not long for him.
But I hope (and think?) this is not the end. That the cure will be found. That Eric and Sookie will get to each other again. Yes, I still have a sliver of hope. I am masochistic. Yes I am doing this to myself. Come at me!
****
Odds and Ends.
I liked the scene with Jason and Sam in the car. Sam felt like earlier Sam, the one who actually cares. He wanted to go beard the sick vamps in the Fangtasia right away. Jason had to pull a gun on him to stop him.
Jason: “I am protecting you and your family from what you are about to do. Turn the fuck around!”
I liked Jason being the voice of reason.
I liked the scene between Lafayette and Jessica.
Lafayette: “I killed the man I loved.”
Jessica: “How did you forgive yourself?”
Lafayette: “Still haven’t. I accept the fact that I is deeply flawed-ass motherfucker. And one of those flaws being I’mma shaking in my boots scared as hell to figure out what death is like.”
Jessica: “You should be scared. Because it sucks.”
What I like here is that it’s Lafayette that puts Jessica’s head back on, so to speak. I love the mention of Jesus and the fact that Lafayette is still grieving for him. That Lafayette hasn’t managed to drug himself up to forget entirely.
****
So, all in all, this was one of the better episodes. We are starved for good things. For good interactions, for Sookie keeping it together, for Jason being her rock, for Eric and Sookie supporting each other and being tender with each other (for Eric and Sookie just being a scene together for goodness sake!), for a decent planning that works, for people taking care of each other… So our expectations are low and we are happy when we get an episode like this, with these things front and center, even if they come with the heavy side of “fuck you!”
I am still wary. I am still bitter. I am still a little bit hopeful. I am a mess.
****
Huge thanks to Switchbladekiller (http://switchbladekiller.tumblr.com/) for making awesome gifs! HUGS you!