True Blood Review – “Hitting the Ground”

At the end of the last episode of True Blood, Lorena had tortured Bill to within an inch of his life before sinking her fangs into Sookie’s neck, Tara had crushed Franklin’s head with a spiked mace and escaped Russell’s mansion, and Eric further endeared himself to Russell.  It was yet another strong episode, but it was this week’s episode, “Hitting the Ground,” that saw the deaths of two relatively prominent characters.  Keep reading for the full review.  As always, there will be spoilers.

Before Lorena could suck Sookie completely dry, Bill manages to spring up and wrap a silver chain around her neck.  This gives Sookie the opportunity to stake Lorena, whose bloody death extends the trend of over-the-top we’ve seen in True Blood this season.  It’s not like Lorena was a major character, but she has been around since the first season, and so it’s a little startling to have her killed off just like that.  I did, however, really dig the fountain of blood that erupted from her mouth after being staked.

Bill’s wrapped in a tarp so that he can escape with Sookie without being exposed to the sun, but before Sookie, Bill, Alcide and Tara (who, as I suspected they would, stumbled into Sookie and Bill) can make a break for it, a strung-out Debbie appears, waving around a pistol like a wild woman.  Tara telepathically cooks up a plan with Sookie and before long, the gun is in Alcide’s hand.  Cook comes barging in, but he’s quickly disposed of by Alcide.  There was no mention that the bullets were silver, so I think it’s clear that shooting a werewolf in the head will kill it, regardless of the bullet material.  You can also rip werewolves to pieces, as Bill proved earlier this season.  Alcide, Sookie, and Tara carry the “vampire burrito” (Deb’s term, not mine) into a van and manage to outrun a pack of werewolves, finally escaping from Russell’s mansion.

In the back of the van, Sookie cuts her own wrist to feed Bill her blood and heal him, but Bill soon becomes maniacal, leaping on Sookie and violently sucking blood from her neck.  I understand that Bill went into a feral rage and being on the brink of death needed to feed desperately, but you’d think he would have recognized the taste of Sookie’s undoubtedly ambrosial-tasting blood and calmed down a bit.  After he came out of his trance and saw Sookie, Bill seemed legitimately confused as to what had happened, but still.  Anyway, Tara’s been on a real rampage lately, so she didn’t hesitate to kick Bill out into the sunlight and speed Sookie over to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Sam’s snooping as to his family’s affairs leads him to a dog-fighting ring.  The writing was on the wall for weeks; I guess I just never wanted to accept that Sam’s dad was really using Sam’s brother for dog-fighting.  It’s not like there weren’t other possibilities, what with all the supernatural and weird sh*t that goes down on True Blood.  After sabotaging a fight in which his brother is participating, Sam gives his dad a verbal beatdown before leaving with his brother.  I still don’t get why Sam’s brother – a very tough kid – wouldn’t stand up to his dad, but it’s clear his dad was a psychological threat, not a physical one.

The most significant part of this episode was when Sookie was unconscious in the hospital.  A lot went down in her head, and it appears that she went to some higher, metaphysical realm inhabited by creatures who are of the same type as she.  Everyone in this paradise is frolicking around (like pixies? or fairies?)and Sookie is able to telepathically communicate with a woman named Claudine.  Claudine tells Sookie that it wasn’t water that killed her parents and warns Sookie not to let Bill take her light.  When Bill approaches Sookie back at the hospital, darkness envelopes the paradise realm.  Jason, who showed up to visit his sister after getting the bad news from Tara, gives Bill permission to give his blood to Sookie.  It turns out that Sookie’s body did not have a blood type and rejected all types of human blood, making Bill’s blood the only method to have her life.  Upon waking and seeing Bill, Sookie shrieks in horror, and I think this may finally be the end of the couple.  The question is, will Sookie run to Eric or Alcide?

Eric asks a caged-up Queen Sophie-Anne to tell him what Sookie is, but because the Queen refuses, Eric snags her favorite human, Sookie’s cousin, and threatens to drain her unless the Queen reveals the big secret.  The Queen still refuses, but Sookie’s cousin, fearing for her own life, spills the beans.  We don’t get to hear what Sookie’s cousin tells Eric, but he’s clearly impressed by what he hears.

Finally, Eric, Sophie-Anne, and Russell all show up at Fangtasia to find the magister torturing Pam.  Oh, speaking of Pam – Eric mentions earlier that the only vampire a vampire can trust is the one he made, which explains his fondness for and devotion to Pam.  Russell subtlety threatens the magister, questions the authority of, um, The Authority, and commands the magister to officially marry him and Sophie-Anne and to leave The Authority.  Russell isn’t just power-hungry; he’s disgusted that vampires have sat in the shadows for so long, as per the orders of The Authority, and thinks that vampires should take over the world instead of leaving it to the destructive whims of the human race.  The subtle threats don’t work so well, so after freeing Pam, Russell ties up the magister.  His final offer of defection denied, Russell decapitates the magister, and that’s where this episode ends.

Hopefully next episode, we’ll get more insight as to exactly what Sookie is.  I’m also curious to see the next step for Russell’s gang, the nWo of vampires.  What did you guys think?