True Blood Review – “I Smell a Rat”

It didn’t take too long to find out what Sookie is after all.  I thought for sure the revelation Sookie’s species would be dragged out until the end of this season, but that piece of information was explained in the show’s opening moments.  It was another solid episode for True Blood this week, and not only does the pacing and intrigue match that of Season One, but the social metaphors are back in a major way, too.  This week, Eric prepared for his showdown with Russell, Jason made a major confession to Sookie and Tara, and Lafayette and Jesus took an incredible trip on V.  Keep reading for the full review and, as always, there will be spoilers.

You can read a recap/review of last week’s episode HERE.

Right off the bat, we learn that Sookie is – as many of you have probably already known – a fairy, although it’s a little bit more complicated than that.  She’s part Fae – which leads me to believe that she is actually a descendant of fairies – and rather disappointed to finally learn what she is.  “How f*cking lame is that?” were her words, I believe.  Bill explains that the reasons fairies are so rare is because they were hunted to near extinction by vampires due to their intoxicating and heavenly-tasting blood.  This explains why Eric and Russell are so interested in Sookie, of course.  And all this time I thought it was because she could read minds.  It seems as though Sookie’s blood is more than just delicious, though; Bill has been able to walk in the fairy realm due to his massive consumption of Sookie’s blood, and there may be other, unknown-for-now benefits.

Jason may or may not be part fairy, too, but in this episode, he’s having a breakdown of epic proportions.  Killing Franklin to save Tara brought back all his memories of killing Eggs, and it’s not like Jason was having an easy time dealing with his mistake to begin with.  Plus, to make things worse, scooping up Franklin’s stringy remains sparked memories of the vampire that he and Amy killed, and this is easily the most distraught we’ve seen Jason.  The secret of killing Eggs became too much for Jason to bear, and he confesses to not only Sookie but Tara as well.  Methinks that maybe Jason should have kept this secret from Tara, especially considering how messed up/suicidal she’s been this season.  His timing really couldn’t have been worse, and I suppose it was sort of selfish on his part to tell Tara about Eggs right as she finally, finally felt like there was someone she could trust, but Jason is a good kid who always means well and we can just chalk up his timing to his trademark stupidity.

Later, Jason finds a panther in his house that suddenly morphs into Crystal.  I knew she was an animal of some sort, so this makes a lot of sense.  As for her loyalty to her father who constantly beats her (and more?), I suspect that there are very, very few were-panthers left and that while the hitting may look bad to humans, it ain’t no thang for a were-panther.

Doubting that Crystal’s father, Calvin, will survive even if he makes it to the hospital, Lafayette brings him to his place, accompanied by Jesus.  To Jesus’ amazement, Lafayette heals Calvin with some V.  Not surprisingly, Jesus wants to do V with Lafayette, and after some warnings, Lafayette agrees.  I’m all for a trippy V trip – I loved the ones that Jason and Amy had in Season One – but I felt like this one went on just a little bit too long.  I did like how Lafayette and Jesus were “connected” through the V, allowing them to experience each other’s past, but again, it dragged on just a bit too long.  The point of it all?  That Jesus’ grandfather used black magic.

Oh, speaking of breakdowns – it turns out that when Sam beat Calvin to a pulp, that wasn’t the first time he’s flipped out.  Sam indeed has a shady past, including murder.  I dunno, for some reason this makes me like Sam a lot more.  I always thought he was such a pushover – as Tommy pointed out – but his character is much more dynamic when we know that he had to work hard to become that pushover.  Everyone’s got a breaking point, though, and Sam is no exception.  Meanwhile, Tommy morphed into a pit bull and attacked Hoyt out of jealousy over Jessica, but Jessica came to the rescue and healed Hoyt with her blood.  This is good for two reasons.  The first is that, like everyone else, I want to see Hoyt and Jessica together.  The second is that now that Hoyt has drank Jessica’s blood, he’s bound to have sexy dreams about her…and we will likely get to see those dreams.

And speaking of dreams, Sookie had one about Eric in which he tells her that she can’t trust Bill.  Just what is Bill hiding from Sookie?  I’m betting whatever it is, that will be the big reveal and cliffhanger to end this season.  Eric is down in the dumps since he’s convinced he’s going to be killed by Russell, and takes a break from moping to leave all his assets to his progeny, Pam.  I’ve always been a big Pam fan, and I liked how she refused to let Eric accept death – bringing up how he would have done anything to save Godric was a great way of looking at their relationship.  Nevertheless, Eric finally gives in to his desires and kisses Sookie, and she certainly looked like she was enjoying it.  The bliss was short-lived, though, because just moments later, Eric chains Sookie in the basement of Fangtasia as a prisoner.  Why?  I’m pretty sure it’s to strike some sort of deal with Russell.

Which brings me to the star of Season Three, Russell Eddington, the true face of vampire.  I absolutely love this guy, and Denis O’Hare deserves an Emmy for his performance.  There are two things that stood out to me with regard to Russell in this episode.  The first is the obvious parallel between vampires like Russell and Muslin extremists.  Nan Flanagan is making appearances on the news to denounce the actions of this “vampire terrorist” and claiming that he is not representative of vampires as a whole.  Living in Manhattan, the debate over the Ground Zero (or near Ground Zero) mosque (or community center) is unavoidable and plastered all over the New York Post and Daily News, so the timing of this parallel is perfect.  Secondly, the graphic scene between Russell and the Talbot-esque prostitute was just incredible acting by O’Hare.  You could see in his face the realization that he would have to face eternity without the one he loved and the constant despair he would feel as a result.  This has been an amazing season, and like I’ve said before, a lot of that is due to the awesomeness that is Russell Eddington.

What did you guys think?