True Blood Season 4 (spoilers)

[Faqa]

Hah! Paquin boob-shot!

NOW this show is back. It really isn't True Blood without that particular supporting-yet-unsupported character.

Well, at least Bill has a new excuse to mope and be all broody. It's what he does best anyway.

Jason drama-queening over his werepanther thing was hilarious. Please tell me this means we're done with the Hotshot plot. The whole thing with him and Jessica - which, remember, is not entirely natural on his part and if he shares any of Sookie's blood, not her's either - could be interesting if it was allowed time. If Jessica learns through this that the world is too large to make it small enough to tie to a single man, if it helps her come into her "own" as a vamp... well, that could be interesting. Both for her and Hoyt.

NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE STUPID LAFAYETTE WITCH PLOT. Nobody cared in the 3rd season, nobody cares now, really, really, NOBODY CARES. Scrubs' Dr. Cox will be glad to furnish a list of the things he and everyone in the universe care about more than this plot.

Aaaaaaaaand we viewers get two little continuity presents - first of all, Tommy-as-Sam FINALLY saying to Sookie what the viewership must surely have been thinking. Secondly, we got to see Felix, Terry's armadillo! The evil doll plot line is worth it for that alone. Three, actually, if we count Holly offering to buy Andy a cheeseburger - Sookie yelled at him back in the first season that that's all he ever orders at Merlotte's.

Also, the Petunia-Dursley-is-a-witch storyline got a boost in the last few minutes - as usual, from acting rather than writing. This actress can play CREEPY astoundingly well. Her staring down the video camera was as close as this show gets to scary.

And finally, Tara's plot is.... doing something unexpected. I thought we'd seen the last of her GF. Although if she gets killed to give Tara ANOTHER thing to angst over.... ugh.

Good actors continue to make the best of trashy writing. That is really the bottom line.

[Faqa]

Hah! Paquin boob-shot!

NOW this show is back. It really isn't True Blood without that particular supporting-yet-unsupported character.

Well, at least Bill has a new excuse to mope and be all broody. It's what he does best anyway.

Jason drama-queening over his werepanther thing was hilarious. Please tell me this means we're done with the Hotshot plot. The whole thing with him and Jessica - which, remember, is not entirely natural on his part and if he shares any of Sookie's blood, not her's either - could be interesting if it was allowed time. If Jessica learns through this that the world is too large to make it small enough to tie to a single man, if it helps her come into her "own" as a vamp... well, that could be interesting. Both for her and Hoyt.

NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE STUPID LAFAYETTE WITCH PLOT. Nobody cared in the 3rd season, nobody cares now, really, really, NOBODY CARES. Scrubs' Dr. Cox will be glad to furnish a list of the things he and everyone in the universe care about more than this plot.

Aaaaaaaaand we viewers get two little continuity presents - first of all, Tommy-as-Sam FINALLY saying to Sookie what the viewership must surely have been thinking. Secondly, we got to see Felix, Terry's armadillo! The evil doll plot line is worth it for that alone. Three, actually, if we count Holly offering to buy Andy a cheeseburger - Sookie yelled at him back in the first season that that's all he ever orders at Merlotte's.

Also, the Petunia-Dursley-is-a-witch storyline got a boost in the last few minutes - as usual, from acting rather than writing. This actress can play CREEPY astoundingly well. Her staring down the video camera was as close as this show gets to scary.

And finally, Tara's plot is.... doing something unexpected. I thought we'd seen the last of her GF. Although if she gets killed to give Tara ANOTHER thing to angst over.... ugh.

Good actors continue to make the best of trashy writing. That is really the bottom line.

[Crown]

Good actors continue to make the best of trashy writing. That is really the bottom line.

I actually think you hit the nail right on the head with that line. It's the one thing that unites all True Blood viewers in my opinion, the quality of the acting is what carries this show. For example; Tara's mum. Absolutely 100% obnoxious and unsympathetic character, but when she appeared briefly last episode I squealed with delight, because the woman that plays her is so good at making her so obnoxious and unsympathetic!

[Faqa]

Tara's mom is SUPPOSED to be obnoxious and unsympathetic. That's the example of a show succeeding in it's writing.

No, I'm thinking more of the amnesia plot. It. Is. Shit. It is terrible, contrived and cliche'd out the butt.

But it works on any level at all for the very simple reason that Alexander Skarsgard and Anna Paquin are acting the SHIT out of it. THAT'S professionalism.

Never mind Stephen Moyer, who actually turned Bill's terrible writing into a positive by playing him as a complete dork and wet blanket. WHO SPAYKS EEN CAYPEETAL LEYTTERS.

This is NOT working for Nelson Ellis, for whatever reason.

[Vympel]

first of all, Tommy-as-Sam FINALLY saying to Sookie what the viewership must surely have been thinking

Fucking A. Seriously, I wonder how she even supports herself, given the huge infrequency of her employment.

[Faqa]

Well, she presumably worked pretty steadily before the first season. She was living rent-free with her Gran, and she didn't seem to go out a lot or spend much outside of skimpy clothing. And remember, the first 3 seasons basically take place back-to-back over the course of a few weeks. It makes sense that she would have enough savings to not worry, especially since Merlotte's was always waiting for her. Nor would I put it past Bill to sneak some money into her account while they were together.

Of course, Sam was such an unbelievable pussy in seasons 1&2 that I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he actually paid her for every single shift she didn't do. Remember, this is the same guy who not only employs Sookie, but also Tara, who is about as absentee, and adds verbal abuse and whining to the list of Employee Of The Month qualities.

[Bedlam]

Interestingly the books themselves going Sookie's finances alot and that she can't afford to miss work very often even when various disasters pop up. However, since series 2 True blood has gone sailing away from the books.

[Crown]

Tara's mom is SUPPOSED to be obnoxious and unsympathetic. That's the example of a show succeeding in it's writing.

I know that, but I LOVE her! I LOVE it when I see her onscreen. That's the acting not the writing, she's made a very narcissistic and odious character with zero redeeming characteristics a pleasure to watch. It's brilliant!

Interestingly the books themselves going Sookie's finances alot and that she can't afford to miss work very often even when various disasters pop up. However, since series 2 True blood has gone sailing away from the books.

Didn't she hit Eric up for 10gees in Season 2? New driveway and all that.

[Dread Not]

I KNEW that I heard Plants vs. Zombies sound effects in that previous episode. My girlfriend didn't hear anything so I thought maybe I was crazy.

[FaxModem1]

Frankly, a war between all the paranormal shit sounds right as rain to me. Let all the vampires be wiped out. Even the sweetest of them all, Jessica, is a murderer who mindwipes her boyfriend because she's afraid of the consequences.

[loomer]

Here's a thought. How are the police meant to deal with a vampire, precisely? Carry a silver spray like Pam and some silver handcuffs? You couldn't put them in general population in a prison, either.

[Bedlam]

In the books its mentioned that the policy normally have a vampire or two to deal with vampire criminals and I think mention is made of super strong handcuffs for vampires.

However, in general it seems that vampires just rule everything and just sometimes pretend (badly) that they dont.

[Vympel]

God with every episode I despise Tara more and more. No matter what is happening in the show, you can guarantee she's making the fucking dumbest decisions possible.

If they kill off Jessica and I have to put up with Tara, I'm gonna quit the show.

[Alferd Packer]

I bet that Jessica survives long enough see Jason and savagely feed on him (because he's the first person she sees). The dose of fairy blood will allow her to last long enough in the daylight for the spell to end and for her to come to her senses. She'll either go to ground or crawl her way back to the house.

Of course, this predicates itself that Jason wasn't the one who got shot after getting tackled by one of Bill's goons.

[Flagg]

Jason has no fay in him.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Jason has no fay in him.

He does, it just manifests differently. Jason is incredibly fit, charming, and attractive to the opposite sex. He's Sookie's sister, and has just as much fey blood as she does.

[Crown]

Jason has no fay in him.

He gets too much pussy to not have fay in him.

[Faqa]

OK, TB. If there is one character I believe less you ever have the balls to kill off than Sookie, it's fan-favorite Jessica. Really, that is just a zero-suspense moment. I hope her survival isn't too retarded.

Also, I could totally get behind Tara as a permanent vampire antagonist. God knows she has ample reason to.

The rest of the story mostly ran in place.

[Faqa]

Ah, yes - for a moment I thought Marnie-as-generic-medieval-Spanish-chick-who-speaks-accented-English was doing something vaguely clever - terrify all the vamps into tying themselves down....

so their human caretakers realize that these terrifying creatures who treat them like adorable pets at best are.... tied down. And utterly helpless. Every single one of them is utterly in the power of humans

And then, the vampire's own nature could do the work of killing them for her. As opposed to the generic Big Evil Bad plot of luring them into the sun.

But I suppose that was expecting too much.

[TheHammer]

Ah, yes - for a moment I thought Marnie-as-generic-medieval-Spanish-chick-who-speaks-accented-English was doing something vaguely clever - terrify all the vamps into tying themselves down....

so their human caretakers realize that these terrifying creatures who treat them like adorable pets at best are.... tied down. And utterly helpless. Every single one of them is utterly in the power of humans

And then, the vampire's own nature could do the work of killing them for her. As opposed to the generic Big Evil Bad plot of luring them into the sun.

But I suppose that was expecting too much.

I'd assume most of the human caretakers are well paid and or glamored into obedience. I've seen no evidence of them being mistreated either, so I doubt they'd be likely to turn on their employers simply because they were vulnerable. After all, part of their job description is to guard them when they are at their most vulnerable already during daylight hours.

OK, TB. If there is one character I believe less you ever have the balls to kill off than Sookie, it's fan-favorite Jessica. Really, that is just a zero-suspense moment. I hope her survival isn't too retarded.

Also, I could totally get behind Tara as a permanent vampire antagonist. God knows she has ample reason to.

The rest of the story mostly ran in place.

As for Jessica, Its already established that the younger the vampire the longer they can survive in the sunlight. Bill survived long enough to run across the lawn in broad day light and try and save Sookie from the serial killer in season 1. Granted I don't know how recently or how much he'd fed on Sookie to grant him some extra survival time, but if he survived then I'm sure Jessica should last long enough for Jason to tackle her back in to the house and let her snack on his blood to recover.

If anything, the fact that she was able to break free of her silver chains, knock her human guard unconcious, and make it up the stairs with the silver ankle bracelets to be a bit more of a stretch. It seems to me that the precedent has been set that even a little silver was enough to make vampires utter weaklings - hence the silver handcuffs, or even a silver necklace rendering them as powerless as kittens. Perhaps the same rule applies as sunlight: silver not being as effective against younger vampires? Or perhaps the spell she was under afforded her the vampire equivalent of a drug induced adrenaline rush.

[Faqa]

I'd assume most of the human caretakers are well paid and or glamored into obedience. I've seen no evidence of them being mistreated either, so I doubt they'd be likely to turn on their employers simply because they were vulnerable. After all, part of their job description is to guard them when they are at their most vulnerable already during daylight hours.

Wouldn't they? Vampires have been seen to be very contemptuous of humans in general. As the show is wont to remind us, too, they live in a post-Russel Edginton era. And Hoyt and Jessica show us how the relationship between vamps and humans is likely to work even when both sides have the best intentions.

Keep in mind that vampires in their coffins, unable to go out in the sun is one thing. Having them be literally tied down by silver and unable to move is quite another. I kept wondering if the show would do something with that.

If anything, the fact that she was able to break free of her silver chains, knock her human guard unconcious, and make it up the stairs with the silver ankle bracelets to be a bit more of a stretch. It seems to me that the precedent has been set that even a little silver was enough to make vampires utter weaklings - hence the silver handcuffs, or even a silver necklace rendering them as powerless as kittens. Perhaps the same rule applies as sunlight: silver not being as effective against younger vampires? Or perhaps the spell she was under afforded her the vampire equivalent of a drug induced adrenaline rush.

It's all in proportion to the amount of silver, and Beel didn't put as much he should have on her because he felt sorry for her, the show spells that out quite clearly.

Also, didn't Bill eat Pam's silver-spray-to-the-face last season and still manage to defeat her? I don't think the show ever gave the impression that silver is an instant kill button against vamps - just that it's the only thing that can hurt them at all. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that vamps react very very badly to pain, simply because they don't have to live with it for the most part.

[Crown]

It's all in proportion to the amount of silver, and Beel didn't put as much he should have on her because he felt sorry for her, the show spells that out quite clearly.

Also, didn't Bill eat Pam's silver-spray-to-the-face last season and still manage to defeat her? I don't think the show ever gave the impression that silver is an instant kill button against vamps - just that it's the only thing that can hurt them at all. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that vamps react very very badly to pain, simply because they don't have to live with it for the most part.

What The Hammer is referring to is the 'magic off button hyper spray' effect that silver has had on vampires on the show in previous instances;

• Bill getting drained by the feral junkies in the first episode with a silver chain (like a jewelry chain) all that was holding him down.
• Eric being bound by the Fellowship of the Sun, with one silver chain.
• The silver handcuffs that incapacitate Russell.
• The same silver handcuffs that incapacitate Eric when Bill wants to shove him into the cement pit.

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.

[Alferd Packer]

I believe the fact that Jessica could walk/move at all while wearing silver manacles was supposed to show us how overriding the spell was. Recall that she was able to ignore a command from Bill, her maker, to unchain him as well. This only would've taken her a few extra seconds, but even that's too long a delay.

[TheHammer]

I believe the fact that Jessica could walk/move at all while wearing silver manacles was supposed to show us how overriding the spell was. Recall that she was able to ignore a command from Bill, her maker, to unchain him as well. This only would've taken her a few extra seconds, but even that's too long a delay.

Didn't Bill release Jessica near the end of Season 3? As I recall he spoke the words, even though she was having none of it and demanded he keep her around.

My issue isn't so much that she struggled up the stairs with the silver ankle bracelets, or even ignoring Bill's command as her maker (even if that is still in effect as per the above). Its that she still seemed to have the super strength and speed to knock her human guard unconcious - as Crown has pointed out, in previous episodes contact with silver robbed them of those strengths. Again, only plausible explanation I can think of is that the younger the vampire the more resistant to silver they are which is why Russel and Eric seem to be incapacitated by relatively little of it.

I'd assume most of the human caretakers are well paid and or glamored into obedience. I've seen no evidence of them being mistreated either, so I doubt they'd be likely to turn on their employers simply because they were vulnerable. After all, part of their job description is to guard them when they are at their most vulnerable already during daylight hours.

Wouldn't they? Vampires have been seen to be very contemptuous of humans in general. As the show is wont to remind us, too, they live in a post-Russel Edginton era. And Hoyt and Jessica show us how the relationship between vamps and humans is likely to work even when both sides have the best intentions.

Keep in mind that vampires in their coffins, unable to go out in the sun is one thing. Having them be literally tied down by silver and unable to move is quite another. I kept wondering if the show would do something with that.

If it were a master/slave relationship I could see them perhaps taking the opportunity to strike.

But this is an employer/employee relationship. Employers in many businesses can be comptemptuous of "the help". However, as long as they pay well then I'm sure its something that is tolerated. I'm sure we've all had that asshole boss we couldn't stand. Doesn't mean that if we found him unconcious and helpless we'd slit his throat. I'm sure that humans in the service of vampires are given thorough background checks, including glamoring them (which has a truth serum like effect) to see if they would do harm to the vampires they are protecting. For good measure, I wouldn't be surprised to see additional glamor suggestions for loyalty.

Besides all of that, even if you were a really disgruntled human employee, and rather than simply quiting your job you decide you are going to try and kill your vampire employer, any guards still loyal to him, and rob him of whatever you can, there still has to be the over-riding fear that at some point down the road other vampires will be coming after you for the crime.

All that being said, it could go down as you say at some point. But I wouldn't find fault if it didn't.

[Dread Not]

Not to nitpick 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.

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.

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.