True Blood Season 4 (spoilers)

[Flagg]

Bill was allowing the rednecks to drain him knowing Sookie would either rescue him or he could stop them if he chose to.

[Dread Not]

Derp, how did I forget about that?

And Eric did end up escaping from his cement prison after all.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Pam helped him escape, right? Ugh, I should wait half an hour after waking up before I post anything on the internet.

[Crown]

Not to nitpick ...

No worries, thought someone might;

...but, I thought I'd add:

Eric being bound by the Fellowship of the Sun, with one silver chain.

Eric was giving himself up for Sookie and Godric. He was also surrounded by dozens of vamp haters wielding silver and other anti-vampire weaponry, though he likely could have just flown away.

True, but he didn't get up off the altar until Sookie removed his bonds, so regardless the circumstances of how he allowed himself to be silvered, he was still clearly incapacitated during the whole event.

The silver handcuffs that incapacitate Russell.

Russell had been exposed to sunlight for some time and was burnt to a crisp. He's also the oldest vampire to have appeared on the show, so his weakness to silver would be greater.

I was referring the the time Eric placed the cuffs on Russell before they started to toast. Well before Russell did anyway, he was still protected by Sookie's blood, Eric was starting to smoke to be fair.

Mind you this show is remarkably inconsistent with these things; notice Debbie not having a scare from lip to ear lobe from the time Sookie sliced half her face open but still having Russells mark/brand on her shoulder.

Debbie most likely consumed some vampire blood to heal up after the fight. When she was branded, Russell told her that she couldn't have any vampire blood since her brand would just heal up.

The other inconsistencies you mention are valid though.

Actually you missed the obvious one which I was thinking would get nitpicked by everyone which was;

Bill was allowing the rednecks to drain him knowing Sookie would either rescue him or he could stop them if he chose to.

That's the only really of all the examples I've listed, but consider; the junkies had done this before and they clearly thought that one little chain would be enough to incapacitate a vampire.

And Eric did end up escaping from his cement prison after all.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Pam helped him escape, right? Ugh, I should wait half an hour after waking up before I post anything on the internet.

Yes. It's pretty clear that Eric himself was unable to get out of the pit, but he 'called' to Pam and she came and got him out and undid his bonds (which was a silver bracelet for all intents and purposes).

[Dread Not]

There's also the example of the werewolves abducting Bill with Silver at the beginning of S3.

True, but he didn't get up off the altar until Sookie removed his bonds, so regardless the circumstances of how he allowed himself to be silvered, he was still clearly incapacitated during the whole event.

Well Eric is the kind of guy who would feign weakness for the purpose of deception, as he demonstrated immediately with the silver bullets in the following episode. But you do have a point.

I was referring the the time Eric placed the cuffs on Russell before they started to toast. Well before Russell did anyway, he was still protected by Sookie's blood, Eric was starting to smoke to be fair.

I would have to watch the scene again to be sure, but Eric started smoking after less than a minute. Russell meanwhile is three times his age. Exposure to sunlight clearly impedes vampire abilities since Bill was unable to do his roadrunner zoom after hopping out of his coffin to save Sookie at the end of S1. Even with the fairy blood, sunlight might still incapacitate a vampire as old as Russell enough that he would be unable to escape.

[Crown]

I really hate watching this show in installments. It's clearly written/created/directed to be watched each episode back to back in one sitting.

[loomer]

That just gives you an excuse to get some friends and some beer and watch the whole season the day the last episode airs.

[Alferd Packer]

There should have been another scene between Alcide promising not to go to Sookie's house and him showing up at Sookie's house. He did promise not to go, both indirectly to his packmaster and directly to Debbie. Even if it's him pacing in his living room for ten seconds, looking anxious/guilty, it'd be enough. But the show is only an hour long, and there's a fuckton of shit going on with the various characters.

I also really like how they handled Hoyt and Jessica, both in Jessica's dream and in reality. Tommy's Maxine getup was hilarious. The graveyard fight was fun and well executed. Sookie blasting the guy trying in futility to silver her was great.

[Dread Not]

After so many weeks of puppy dog Eric it was good to see him looking badass again, and this is probably the most badass he's ever looked.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I really want the main witch to die. And Tara.

[kaeneth]

I really want the main witch to die. And Tara.

Ya...while I can understand Tara's reasons...she is applying the same kind of fucked up logic quite a few human atrocities have committed with. :/

[Dread Not]

I really want the main witch to die. And Tara.

Yeah, the whole "Why can't we just be left alone to tamper with the laws of nature?" is annoying. I mean right before Eric showed up they were planning on raising a human being from the dead. Should they really be shocked that the undead populace didn't take kindly to that?

[Darksider]

Quite frankly, I think it's about goddamn time someone hit back against the vampires. Even bill, the most pro-human vampire on the show has admitted to killing humans in the past. Yes, he did it on accident due to inexperience, but he's guilty of involuntary manslaughter at least. The sheriff eddington killed basically admitted that under vampire law, human life does not matter. This whole VRA argument in the show just baffles me. Why should the human governments grant vampires equal rights when by their own admission they think of humans as nothing more than food and/or slaves? Some of the vampires seem to have the right idea about assimilating into human society, but until they get their shit together, someone needs to fight back.

[KrauserKrauser]

The vampires have centuries of holier than though going through their heads. They could use being taken down a peg or two.... million.

Seriously I am supposed to be sympathetic for a bunch of admitted rapists and serial.killers?

Then you have Eric that goes ahead and rips someone's throat out during what is supposed to be a peaceful meeting, yeah definitely think those cuddle widely vampires should be allowed in main stream society. They should all spend time incarcerated in silver for the multiple life sentences they should be serving.

[Vympel]

What a load of shit, Bill getting blindsided by two chumps with silver, bah!!!

[Faqa]

The dude was distracted by SOOKEH! getting shot. Cut him some slack.

Which, BTW, I am glad to see the show did not attempt to parley into any suspense about her survival, because.... yeah.

Otherwise, the show should really sideline Paquin to soft-porn more often - it gives them more time to deal with interesting storylines.

I like the contrast between the fake-Hoyt-breakup and the real one. Is that how Jessica really sees him? Christ, she really does suck. I like that Jason is having no more part of her behavior than Hoyt is. LOVE to see that he knows exactly how to push every single one of her buttons - and did it all in a fury. THAT was a scene the show earned, and they spent it well. Hopefully the two don't get back together by the end of the season - that would be sickening. Unfortunately, I have the feeling they might, this show not being known for deep maturity or anything.

Bill.... actually tries to work things out by playing nice. That's unexpected. Am I the only one who thought he was just confirming Antonia was at the magic place before sending in a hit squad? But no, he's actually trying to do the good, adult, responsible thing as King. I mean, granted, he had a hit squad handy, but that was just insurance - needed insurance, as it turns out. I think they call that character development. Barely. I'm sure he'll do something creepy and selfishly obsessive shortly.

As for Tara - I really want to delve into this. I really want her to be a conflicted character, finally broken into action by her trauma. But the show insists on playing her so one-dimensionally. And now she'll PROBABLY learn a lesson about tolerance from Bill sparing her and all will be forgiven and *barf*. Tara the Vampire Slayer! C'mon, show, you know you want to. Have Antonia "empower" her the way she said!

On that note, let's hear a little bit more about why Terry Belfleur, Man O' Peace (and armadillos) is getting involved in this shit. Arlene, sure, but Terry? I thought he just wanted to be left alone? Away from people?

Also - let's hear it for Nelson Ellis getting his first interesting scenes all season! Granted, not as Lafayette, but still. Man rocked the SHIT out of his scenes as the dead black Louisiana chick (would the term for her be "Creole"? I thought that only applied to the white French slavemasters). He is astoundingly good at playing feminine - it's part of what made Lafayette so much fun - and here he plays it well, and creepily.

I am also SO over puppy-good-Eric. I now wish to barf whenever he opens his mouth. Never mind that SOOKIE ALREADY DRANK HIS BLOOD BEFORE. Seriously, show. It's not like that wasn't the whole initial basis of her attraction to him or anything. FUCK. And he's good and sweet and BORING. He manages to be boring even when he's ripping out people's throats, and that's no mean feat. Maybe Antonia pulling his strings will improve matters. Although her ridiculous kung-fu pose while doing so will not.

The showdown in the graveyard - fairly cool, although a bit confusing. I had to rewind to understand who Eric attacked and why.

EDIT: I actually care what happens with the whole Debbie-Alcide plotline. Also, Werewolf vs Weredog has good potential. That's two whole plotlines without Jessica that I care about. Well done, show.

[Dread Not]

On that note, let's hear a little bit more about why Terry Belfleur, Man O' Peace (and armadillos) is getting involved in this shit. Arlene, sure, but Terry? I thought he just wanted to be left alone? Away from people?

If you're referring to that bearded guy who joined up with Antonia's crew, I'm almost certain that's not Terry.

The showdown in the graveyard - fairly cool, although a bit confusing. I had to rewind to understand who Eric attacked and why.

Did I miss something? I thought Eric just ripped a woman's face off because he's hotheaded. Sookie seemed slightly shocked by his feral side, so I hope that isn't just swept under the rug next episode.

[Alferd Packer]

I think it's her own words coming back to bite her on the ass. Remember, Eric wanted to go away to...wherever it is vampires want to go when they want to get away from it all. He was willing to abandon his violent nature, but Sookie said, "No, you're a warrior, and Bill is your king," or somesuch. When Marnietonia is casting the spell and Sookie points it out, my first guess was that Eric's move is a retaliation for breaking the cease-fire and the deception. "You break the peace, I rip your flunkie's face off."

Upon a little more thought, however, I came upon another realization: up until Sookie read the thoughts of Marnietonia, the negotiations were to reverse the spells placed on Eric and Pam. Eric, having repeatedly stated that he doesn't want to remember and doesn't want to go back to what he was, decides to take matters into his own hands and flat out destroy any chance of a peaceful resolution, and thus any chance that the spell would be reversed and he would get his memory back. So, acting within the confines of fealty to his king, he takes the opportunity of the minor breach of the peace that is Marnietonia's silent spell to rapidly escalate matters and turn the meeting into an all-out brawl, thus ensuring that he will never get his memories back.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Yeah, Terry wasn't with the witches. Its another guy with a similar haircut. I had to rewind to check.

[Johonebesus]

EDIT: I actually care what happens with the whole Debbie-Alcide plotline. Also, Werewolf vs Weredog has good potential. That's two whole plotlines without Jessica that I care about. Well done, show.

Actually, he's a shape shifter, not a were-dog. My thoughts while watching the scene were, "yeah, good move picking a fight with someone that could turn into a lion or polar bear."

[Meest]

I thought it was implied shifters aren't that strong no matter what they shape into? Seemed like a filler'ish episode, some closure on Mavis and not much more.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I really, REALLY want to see Sophia get killed. A lot.

[Vympel]

I like it how they just skipped over Bill getting seemingly subdued with silver without elaboration, guess he threw them off

Anyway, the episode was alright, except I found the resolution of the Lafayette / possession / baby C-plot incredibly camp.

And holy shit, Anna Paquin has a v-thing (the muscle definition in the abdomen, not the blood) going on.

[loomer]

Why couldn't Sookie's dreams have involved more baby oil and wrestling? So close to seeing Skarsgarad grapple another man, and yet so very far. Damn vanilla dream.

[FaxModem1]

Is it bad that I didn't care one wink what happened to Sookie and I'm much more invested in everyone else's plotlines?

[Dread Not]

I really, REALLY want to see Sophia get killed. A lot.

I'm guessing you mean Marnie/Antonia given she's the character you've routinely wished harm and death upon after every episode. And yeah, she's becoming more annoying and less sympathetic with every passing episode.

This show's cliffhanger endings are getting tiresome. Everyone almost always emerges unscathed, so the cliffhanger serves as more of an annoyance than a hook. Something I liked in the Wire was how if a character was walking into the jaws of death at the end of an episode, the show actually followed through and the character was dead in the next episode.

And the show seems to have just abandoned some plot threads. Have the fairies just lost all interest in Sookie? Has Crystal lost all interest in Jason? I can't say I love those storylines, but it seems lazy to just sweep them under the rug.