True Blood Review – “It Hurts Me Too”

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Last week, we learned a bit more about the werewolves of Mississippi and were introduced to the vampire for whom they did their dirty work – the Vampire King of Mississippi himself, Russell.  Russell had offered Bill a job as sheriff, but his offer wasn’t without ulterior motives.  Lorena made her return, and Eric made it perfectly clear that he wants to be more than friends with Sookie.  This week, we learn more about Bill, get to know the mysterious Franklin a bit better, and find out what happened to Jessica’s missing trucker corpse.

Keep reading for the full review.  As always, spoilers ahead.

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When last week’s episode ended, Eric was about to square off with a werewolf just as Sookie fired a gun in the wolf’s direction.  We’re treated to some Matrix-y bullet time effects and Eric jumps in the path of the bullet, taking the shot right to his chest so that the werewolf will remain alive and thus be open to interrogation.  The werewolf, like Jason in Season 1, has got a real hard-on for V and, losing control, morphs back into human form before drinking as much of Eric’s blood as possible.  Sookie is able to hear “Jackson” in the wolf’s thoughts – as in, Jackson Mississippi – and Eric doesn’t have too much trouble killing his opponent.  Despite Eric’s warnings and awesome line (“I’ve got your rug all wet”), Sookie is determined to set off for Mississippi and find Bill.

Eric and Sookie soon go their separate ways.  Eric goes to Lafayette with a pretty sweet gift – a sick Bentley convertible – and asks Lafayette to continue moving V for him.  Lafayette is hesitant, but he also realizes how much money he can make.  I’m hoping that Lafayette does indeed keep selling for Eric – why wouldn’t he, really? – and it’s always great to see these two on screen together.  As much as Eric despises humans, he seems to have a certain level of respect for Lafayette, a guy who has remained strong and productive despite having no family save for a crazy cousin (Tara) and being subjected to racist homophobes on a daily basis.  I’m guessing that in the future, the relationship between Eric and Lafayette will be more than just business.

Meanwhile, a vampire werewolf named Alcide shows up at Sookie’s house to escort her to Mississippi.  It turns out he owed Eric for a loan and this was his method of repayment.  Alcide’s got his own drama going on – something about his ex getting engaged to the werewolf leader of Jackson (is that my man Coot?) -but still takes Sookie to a werewolf bar in Jackson so that she can read thoughts and look for leads on Bill’s whereabouts.  It seems as though Sookie was destined to end up in Jackson, as it’s clear that Russell, Franklin, and who knows who else have been looking for her, but her love for Bill has her traveling there voluntarily.

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Speaking of Bill, he’s still at Russell’s mansion in Mississippi, and he eventually accepts the King’s offer of making him a sheriff.  Through a flashback, we learn that Bill did indeed try to reconnect with his family, only to find that his son was dead and his wife saw him as a monster.  He was heartbroken, of course, but he learned that Lorena was right: the only way for a vampire to show his love for a human is to leave them forever; the alternative is too cruel and painful.  And oh yeah – that reminds me – I was right about Bill torching Lorena.  It wasn’t a dream, it really happened…and I don’t know why some of you thought it was a dream.  In any event, Lorena healed perfectly and looked good as new.  Well, until the end of this episode when Bill did his best to deliver the hate f*ck to end all hate f*cks.  That was some freaky sh*t right there.

Anyhow, Bill’s new position is probably not going to sit well with Sookie, and that’s without a doubt going to be the window of opportunity Eric needs to seal the deal with her.

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We didn’t learn too much more about Sam aside from the fact that his dad and brother are a couple of douchebags.  Jason is still haunted by his killing of Eggs, so much so that he couldn’t concentrate on his police exam.  Always the comic relief, I loved when Jason brilliantly explained to Hoyt that he didn’t need to know the answers to the practice exam since, as it was just a practice exam, those questions wouldn’t be on the real thing.  Hoyt, too, was distracted – he’s still got Jessica on his mind.

After Franklin showed Tara the meaning transcendental sex, he continued his quest to find Sookie by showing up at Jessica’/Bill’s house.  Nice that the show addressed the issue of being invited in; if Franklin hadn’t stated that the rule doesn’t apply to vampire home, I would have called it an inconsistency.  But oh, a vampire can glamour his or her way into a human’s home?  That doesn’t really seem fair and kind of defeats the purpose of the rule, doesn’t it?  Oh well.  Anyhow, Franklin presents Jessica with the head of her missing trucker (so that’s where he went!) and asks Jessica to tell him everything she knows about Bill.  Scared, Jessica does just that.

What is Franklin’s deal?  Obviously, he’s trying to find Sookie, but who is he working for?  Russell is sending werewolves for the job; would he send a vampire, too?  Was Franklin the one we saw last episode going through drawers and finding Sookie’s family tree?  Any theories?

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Finally, Arlene told Terry that she was pregnant, and if you didn’t already root for Terry, you kind of have to now based on his over-joyous reaction.  It’s just a shame that the kid isn’t his.

So, what did you guys think?  Does Franklin have a connection to Russell?  Is Coot the one who is marrying Alcide’s ex?  Were you as freaked out as I was by Bill’s hate sex with Lorena?  Or better, how great was it to find out that Pam – who was looking smokin’, by the way – has a very special talent?

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16 Comments

  1. Well, they pretty much just said that Coot is the guy who is marrying Alcide’s ex, I mean the bartender said that. I thought that Alcide was also a werewolf (travelling in day and everything)? Just sayin.
    Maybe that Franklin glamouring his way in was connected to him and tara having sex?

  2. Well it was Franklin was the one going through the drawers u can tell by the shot they did of his boots in bills house and when they cut to them at the bar when he met Tara in ep. 2.

  3. I’m going to go with the theory that Franklin works for a higher power in the Vampire hierarchy. Although, I’m a bit confused as to what that could possibly be. Assuming you have either a king or queen in each state, who is higher than kings and queens? Gods?

    The magistrate seemed to have power over the queen but I doubt he’s at the top of the chain.

    I think the hierarchy of vampires is going to play a major role in this season. Perhaps Wesley Snipes will show up at some point to rule them all?

  4. i think Franklin is a bitter old connection of Bill’s from way back. and i do agree that its’ unfair that the vamps can glamor their way into a home but Bill did the same in a previous season to get into Jessica’s house.

    I’m looking forward to sookie’s reaction to Bill’s new position–i can only wonder what trouble she’ll get into to get him back

  5. generalities:
    the writing has been a little sloppy this season, too many plot threads this season and too much to mop up from last season without dragging on the many new characters. they have a little more time each episode than Heroes to explore the many characters, but not enuf. many of the threads are feeling extraneous.

    bill seems like he going to change into an unlikeable mess, while eric becomes the misunderstood anti-hero, which is a shame since there aren’t many likeable preternaturals in the show and bill was at the moral center of it for me.

    maybe the hatemail on other sites has affected me, but sookie seems more and more vacuous with every scene. i find myself hitting the mute button to get to the next scene. paquin is hanging on to the same character from the first season; after some of the traumas and freak experiences since bedding a vamp and losing her (grandma?), wouldn’t she be a little less doe-eyed?

    where the sex was fun and naughty in the previous seasons, it now feels like filler and 6 hours of yawning locomotion.

    specifics:
    eric says werewolves are badasses yet bill tore a gang of them apart with ease. is 150yr old bill more of a badass than 1000yr old eric, or inconsistent writing?

    when a were gets hurt (an ear torn off) they automatically change back: doesn’t that make them a bunch of wimps? if a vamp can dance circles around a bullet, what problem does it have with a wolf that moves at a fraction of a bullet’s speed?

    you’re right. franklin’s glamouring himself into a home was self-destructive to the show.

    jason has sookie’s empowered bloodline in him. why wasn’t he immune to marianne in the second season and pam’s glamouring in the first? his bullet hole visions means jason is going crazy. i don’t think i can handle and dumb AND crazy jason.

    bill’s suddenly throwing a lantern at lorena is out of the blue. when they were last together, he levelly told her to hit the road. he went from philosophic indifference to maniacal tendencies because of a 150 yr old flashback of his first wife?

    twisting lorena’s head around to fuck her, while keenly visual(and for some of us at times figuratively truthful), feels gimmicky.

  6. How does Lorena get hit by the lantern, but Eric can dodge a bullet?

    Maybe the baby is Terry’s, but Terry has some repressed ‘monster’ in him that is causing the baby to grow faster…

  7. Cameron: The words “Bill” and “moral” are un-mixy things. Please. (And no, I have not read the darn books.)

    Everyone: The writing on this show is so awful that it’s a complete mystery how they get away with it all.

    Writer Number One: Hey, this is a nifty scene! Don’t spoil my fun with hard questions about logic, plot and consistency.

    Writer Number Two: Hey, this an awesome new character! Don’t spoil my fun with hard questions about logic, plot and consistency.

    Writer Number Three: Hey, this a spectacular way of showing people having sex! Don’t spoil my fun with hard questions about logic, plot and consistency.

    Someone wrote on a blog last year, after the frustrating end of season two, that you need to be drunk or high to appreciate this show. I think that says it all. Also, I think it’s good advice.

  8. @Karin

    I…agree. It’s getting harder and harder for me to watch the show.

    Although you haven’t read the books, I have, and I completely understand why that can’t make the show exactly the same. But WTF was this episode supposed to do? They can’t even keep small things like Debbie’s Fiance is a shifter who prefers Owls, not a Werewolf. And they couldn’t even use the actual name of the bar. (It’s either Club Dead [the title of the book], or Josephine’s) That was really irritating.

    The writing for the last…I dunno…four episodes of season 2 was so awful, I was excited to see a change in this season. A change for the better. But…it’s just becoming a disappointment.

    And whoever mentioned Sookie’s extreme vacuous personality change…I thought it was just me. I kept thinking, “What the hell is up with her? She’s so…weird.” I hoping it’s just the whole…drinking a ton of Bill’s blood thing, making her…almost crazy stalker, and unlikeable.

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