True Blood, 8/15

You know, until the last five minutes of tonight's episode, I didn't care much for Russel.

After that scene, he has become awesome.

That is all.

Usually an episode ends with me going "OH SH*T!"

Last night's ended with me laughing so hard I couldn't talk.

I can't wait for the remainder of the series, a.k.a. "Russell vs. The VLA."

they still managed to stall on what Sookie is. Starting to piss me off.

Now time for the weather... Tiffany?

What can I say. That was probably one of the most magnificent episodes I've seen from the series. I was wondering about Winston (think that's his name.. drawing a blank atm) and the fact that Tara smashed his brains in. That shouldn't have killed him and I was proved right last night... though his 'return' wasn't that long lol Man... I guess Sam has finally shed his 'goodie two shoes' image and gone all mirror-universe on us heheh Once again though I HATE where they are taking Jason this year and basically his whole story line with Crystal is boring as hell and I basically fast forward through it now. That's sad too because Jason when written right can actually have some really interesting plots.

I think at this point they are REALLLLY dragging out the whole 'What is Sookie' thing and personally it's starting to really get old. I mean is the revelation of what she is really THAT earth shattering that it will change everything on the programme and be a game changer? It was touching though to see Eric and Pam together and that when she's not putting on her whole 'Ice Queen' act that she's actually a totally devoted child to her maker and that she loves him very much. I love the fact that Russell has basically gone completely bonkers and is going all Terminator now on humanity. Though from the previews of next weeks episode he's 'slightly' set back the whole pro-vampire image and now vamps have a bit of a PR nightmare to clean up. Maybe though this will get them off their butts and lend resources to Eric in order to take the King down once and for all. I mean after all Russell is so old and powerful he could basically wipe out an entire room before you can blink.

Yeah the whole "Russell on TV" scene was pretty amazing.
Looking forward to seeing how the Authority deals with it.

And I also figured that Franklin (Tara's vamp) would come back for a one more appearance.
It's cool that Jason was the one to save her (yet again) from something bad.

As far as the "What is Sookie" thing goes the TV show is clearly giving that plot point a lot more significance than the books did. The books didn't even really begin to seriously hint at it until like the 5th or 6th book in the series. It's an important part of Sookie's character, but I wouldn't really quite call it the central core of the entire story. Clearly the TV show's producers and Charlaine Harris (the author of the books) had different priorities there.

The thing with Crystal and Jason has been a weird plot thread. Crystal was a girl from Hotshot that Jason gets involved with in the books. But pretty much the entire story of the two of them portrayed on the TV show has been almost 100% different (so far) than what they did together in the books. About the only thing the TV show copied from the books was that the relationship was always rocky and full of angst. I sort of prefer the book version of their story myself.

I loved the interaction with Eric and Pam as well. I always liked Pam and the TV show has translated her character pretty well from the books. The whole "Eric seeking revenge against Russell for 1,000 years" story is something they invented for the TV show, but it's turned out to be an interesting thread.

Here's looking forward to the rest of the season.

I can't wait to see how the VLA folks discredit Russell, no doubt it settles whatever doubts the Authority may have had about what Eric told them

I'm not going to give away what Sookie is based on the books, although I will say that I think they will go further with it, than they did with the books

I have a feeling that Lafayette may be something else as well

I really do want to see a showdown with Sam and his brother on one side, and the hillbillie werewolves on the other side.

Great episode. Didn't mind delaying Sookie's bit personally, just because there were far more interesting things to cover and its probably better to put it earlier in an episode rather than later. Personally, right when Sookie gasped I expected the credits to roll. Assuming its what it obviously appears to be, had Bill actually answered at the end of the episode, it would have left a pretty boring final scene. Instead we got one of the best final scenes the series has ever done.

Also, props to the classic horror movie tunes used when Russel is looming on top of Fangtasia. All he needed to go full classic Dracula there was a billowing cap against a full moon with one of his werewolves howling in the background.

What can I say, Russell's TV debut was masterful. Full-on LOL moment when that happened. So random. So "True Blood". The Urn of Talbot Sludge was a funny yet disgusting touch as well.

I love the fact that Pam (my favorite character from the books) is getting her much deserved screentime this season.

I also love the fact the spokeswoman from the AVL is a total hypocrite......it figures. I like her character though. Her scenes at Fangtasia and her interactions with Eric were fun.

I believe the "payoff" for Jason and Crystals story will be worth it though in the long run. The issue is giving the character something to do for season 3/book 3 (Jason has very little presence in the book) so they took a lot of book 4's story and are using it to set up "what's up for Jason next". I'll leave it at that for you non-bookies.

Personally, I'm not digging Sam's storyline this season.

I also don't care for how they are handling Calvin Norris. (leader of Hotshot) While his people are a bit creepy in the books (but not meth/V dealers), he is never treated as a bad guy. In fact he's downright trustworthy and a helpful ally for Sookie. It's going to be interesting how they turn his character around.......if they do at all.

while I won'r ruin what Sookie is, in the books its only impied she is a half-breed of whatever she is, based on Claudine's first talk with her, I think she can become a full blooded version of whatever she is

Also I think Jason isn't completely left out in gifts either, even though he may not have the same potential. Doesn't he seem a little TOO lucky with the ladies.

Lafayette (who if they were going stricly by the book, would've been dead in Season 1), I think is a witch/ warlock or whatever

Nobody responds when I make True Blood threads.

But might as well do my normal recap:

• Thought for a moment that the episode would start with Eric walking, or rather flying, in on Sookie and Bill doing the deed.
• Good once again to see a happier Lafayette, but I'm worried that all the homosexuality floating around will be used as an excuse for some viewers to tune out.
• Surprised that Eric played his hand against Russell so relatively early; given that he complains about Russell being three times his age later, you would think he wouldn't go the wound over the kill.
• I'm glad that Jessica survived her encounter with the werewolf, but even gladder that she wasn't the one making all that noise with Tommy that night.
• Speaking of Jessica, I'm still kind of worried that Russell will kill her since she isn't in the books as far as I know. He's had her blood so maybe he can track her, and they might have him kill her, but if they do I hope somehow Hoyt gets to be the one to kill Russell.
• I gather that if you drain one of whatever it is that Sookie is, you can become a permanent daywalker, which will make her blood so valuable; Russell may use this knowledge to turn the tables once the rest of the vamps come after him.
• Furthermore, when I saw Russell holding that jar of blood in the preview, I was worried he got a hold of Hadley's kid.
• Hadley's hawtsome.
• Jessica's hawtsome.
• Sad to see Sam start to tread steadily toward the dark side just because his little brother teases him.
• Even sadder to continue watching Jason's storyline; I'm sure they realized that's their weak point and tried to rectify it somewhat with having Jason kill Franklin and put that wooden buckshot to use.
• I hope that Jason and Tara finally get together, and maybe having Sam and Andy getting involved with the folks from Hotshot will provide another means of introducing their story, so there's no obligation to have Jason maintain that plot connection.
• Got a weird vibe from that new waitress at Merlotte's when she was talking to Arlene; could she be a spy from Hotshot?
• Eric finally came clean with the Authority about everything, but part of me was hoping they'd give him resources to take down Russell so we could have a full out vampire and werewolf war, while the other part was hoping they'd leave him to his own devices like they did.
• That chick with Flanagan at the end was just, damn.
• Speaking of the end, I somewhat saw that coming as soon as I saw the last scene involved a television; now that the country will see a tide of anti-vampirism, will any of our beloved characters be safe? And is there anyone powerful enough to take on Russell?
• And I have a bad feeling that when Russell does go down, Debbie will come back to deliver a heart-crushing blow and provide the finale's cliffhanger; if not, we can always hope for another catfight between her and Sookie.