True Blood, aka summer's most erotic, ridiculous and entertaining series, is winding down, and in this third-to-last episode, a whole lot of crazy came out to play in the supernaturally appealing Louisiana town of Bon Temps.
If you haven't seen it yet, lock yourself in a cold storage room and wind up that DVR!
If you have watched, and your parsnip-and-allium-decorated meat statue is ready to go in the front yard, get in here, so we can discuss what went down and what's to come...
What We Learned
Sookie Is a...Glowworm? Everybody's favorite Louisiana waitress just gets more complex by the episode. We knew Sookie was a telepath—not to mention the cutest little trick in shoe leather—but she seems to have some sort of additional power as well. When struggling directly with Maryann she exhibited some kind of flashy light mojo—but exactly what was that? Is this newly manifested power tied to Maryann in particular, or is something inherent to Sookie that she could also deploy in other situations?
Dirty Dirty: For the second week in a row, Sookie cheated on Bill, albeit just subconsciously. But how long until Sookie can't restrain herself in the real world? As close as Sookie and Bill have always been, the mesmerizing pull of Eric seems like practically a sure thing. Sookie and the Viking are gonna happen, one way or another. How do ya'll feel about that? Post in the comments.
Delightful: The smiting of Sam Merlotte by "the horned god that comes" was brilliant! Andy Bellefleur (provider of horns), Jason Stackhouse (provider of shock, awe and killer abs) and Sam Merlotte himself (provider of smarts and shapeshifting magic) were an unexpectedly powerful team. Indeed, between Andy's drunken comedy stylings, Sam's self-sacrificing aplomb and Jason Stackhouse chainsaw performance, at least three of few Bon Temps' remaining sane male citizens were in fine form tonight. (Most shows can't get away with such things, but on True Blood, a redneck ramboing through town with a chainsaw and a nail gun just another brilliant tableau.)
Nobody Said Exorcism Was Easy: The tag team of Andy, Jason and Sam was followed shortly in awesomeness by the tag team of Lafayette ("Jesus and I agreed to see other people, that doesn't mean we still don't talk from time to time."), Lettie Mae, Sookie and Bill working on poor Tara. Now, Lafayette was right—it wasn't the all-time greatest intervention—but it worked in the end and hallelujah for that. (If you didn't cheer when Tara's saucer eyes were replaced by regular human eyeballs, you just don't have a heart.)
Ruh-Roh: Crazy Maxine just stepped on vampire Jessica's last nerve! Can Hoyt separate the two in time? Or should he even bother? Generally speaking it's not a good idea to suck the blood out of your would-be future mother-in-law, but maybe it's for the best if Maxine goes to the big bitchy bingo game in the sky. And on the topic of Jessica, many kudos to Deborah Ann Woll for creating, out of a whole cloth, such a compelling and damn fun character. Jessica has become, almost overnight, one of the story's best and most endearing characters. Well-played, "vamper."
What's To Come
Next week we finally meet Queen Sophie (Evan Rachel Wood). Bill tries to extract from her the secret to defeating Maryann, but a savvy ol' vamp like Sophie isn't likely to give up such valuable information for nothing...
In other news, Jessica's not actually going to eat Maxine, but Hoyt's still going to have major problems keeping his girl and his mad mother from trying to destroy each other.
What did you think of tonight's episode of True Blood? Are you happy the show's back home in Bon Temps or do you miss the Dallas vamps? And what's your plan for getting rid of Maryann? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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See True Blood's Sookie and Bill in our TV Couples We Love gallery!