Ahh the sweet embrace of a True Blood episode that doesn’t suck (literally and/or figuratively). After the steaming pile of camel excrement that was the previous episode (episode 6), which featured a complete and absolute lack of action and story development, In the Beginning, manages to not only return to form but exceeds expectations. Being that I just compared the last episode to camel droppings I suppose exceeding wasn’t all that difficult. Either way, it was a great episode. Sharpen your stakes people, we’re going in.
I read a lot of speculation after the last show from people claiming that Roman didn’t die when Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare) staked him. Well, the red smear on the boardroom table tells a different tale. Roman is dead and gone and Salome (Valentina Cervi) is revealed as the traitor who freed Russell and doesn’t believe in mainstreaming. The Vampire Authority aligns with Edgington and they prepare to drink the blood of Lilith (some sort of vampire god) and drag Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) along for the ride.
Sookie (Ana Paquin) wakes up at the Fairy Burlesque Club and is informed that if she uses her fairy ‘powers’ too much she’ll be drained completely and will become human. To say that the series is based on novels where Sookie is the main character she’s becoming more and more watered down as a time goes on. Which isn’t a bad thing as it leaves room for more interesting developments. At the end of the episode she decides to shoot her fairy lightening into the sky, supposedly in an effort to get rid of her super powers. Ya know, because having super powers is such a hassle…?
Sheriff Andy (Chris Bauer) pulls off the best line of the night while being questioned by one of his deputies about the shooting at the gun store when he exclaims, “jesus t!ts on christ,’ which, while being insulting to religious types, is still pretty damn hilarious onscreen. Andy seeks out help from the now retired Bud Dearborne (William Sanderson) for advice on how to deal with the supernatural elements of the job but the retired sheriff is too busy getting his freak on. Good for Bud!
Hoyt (Jim Parrrack) joins the redneck vampire/shape shifter killers but for absolutely no good reason. He’s spent the last two seasons, dating/being fed on by vampires and all of a sudden he’s all for killing them. Either he’s too tall and not getting enough oxygen up there or he’s simply lost too much blood and isn’t thinking straight.
Along that same line Sam (Sam Trammell) continues sniffing around (literally) for the killers and finds one of them working at the hospital then proceeds to beat the hell out of him. I have to question why he doesn’t turn into an animal to do these sorts of things. A tiger, a rhino, a really vicious wombat…anything!
Let’s jump to the most boring werewolves in the world for a moment. Alcide (Joe Manganiello) trains for his fight with JD (Louis Herthum) over leadership of the pack and dry humps Rikki (Kelly Overton) who, as far as I can tell, he barely knows. Must be a dog thing.
Speaking of boring storylines we are subjected to an incredibly long wedding video recap of Terry (Todd Lowe) and Arlene’s (Carrie Preston) wedding and then another unnecessarily long scene where Terry threatens to kill himself. I can’t decide which was more torturous. At least it gave me a chance to get up and make a cup of tea.
After finding out that Jesus’ (the gay ex, not the other guy) uncle was the one responsible for the lip-sewing incident, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) decides to pay the crazy old Mexican a visit. It doesn’t work out quite as planned. Lafayette finds himself tied to a chair with his lips sewn together but is saved by Dora the Explorer. Or at least it would have been more interesting if that’s how it had actually happened.
I’m finally starting to see the show’s producer’s plans to make Tara (Rutina Wesley) more interesting. They’re just going to keep removing her clothing. This week she’s on a stripper pole in Fangtasia when her mother walks in to let her know she’s disowning Tara. On the surface Tara doesn’t care but in front of Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) she actually cries and hugs Pam who has now fully assumed her ‘mommy’ role. In my mind this is a great path to go down and excellent character development.
The final two scenes owned the show this episode:
Firstly Jason (Ryan Kwanten) visits Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) at her mansion for a heart to heart about the death of his parents at the hands of a vampire. Jessica was busy feeding on a random guy and when Jason tastes the blood on her lips he gets upset. In the heat of the moment Jessica bites him and, in return, he shoots Jessica in the head which, of course doesn’t kill her, but is pretty hilarious to watch. Points go to Jason for that round.
And finally, the remaining members of the Vampire Authority, along with Russell, Bill, and Eric are all under the affects of Lilith’s blood which seems to return them to their true vampire nature. They crash a wedding and eat the guests but they’re not the only gate crashers. Lilith herself (Jessica Clark) rises naked from a pool of blood and starts breathing red mist at her vampires encouraging them to eat (like the need encouragement, silly vampire god). Eric is stopped mid-feed as he’s visited by the ghost of his maker, Godric (Allan Hyde) who tells him to save his sister. Credits.
Excellent cliffhanger and the final few scenes really felt a lot more like the crazy, quirky, True Blood and humor show that we’re all used to. Now we’re on the down-slope towards the end of the season it’s likely the pace will start to quicken and storylines are going to merge. Will Tara remove more clothing? How is Eric going to ‘save’ his sister? How awesome is Russell Edgington? Will Sookie cease to be a fairy? Will Alcide ever actually fight JD? So many questions…and only five episodes to go…
I give In the Beginning 8.5 really vicious wombats out of 10.
I read a lot of speculation after the last show from people claiming that Roman didn’t die when Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare) staked him. Well, the red smear on the boardroom table tells a different tale. Roman is dead and gone and Salome (Valentina Cervi) is revealed as the traitor who freed Russell and doesn’t believe in mainstreaming. The Vampire Authority aligns with Edgington and they prepare to drink the blood of Lilith (some sort of vampire god) and drag Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) along for the ride.
Sookie (Ana Paquin) wakes up at the Fairy Burlesque Club and is informed that if she uses her fairy ‘powers’ too much she’ll be drained completely and will become human. To say that the series is based on novels where Sookie is the main character she’s becoming more and more watered down as a time goes on. Which isn’t a bad thing as it leaves room for more interesting developments. At the end of the episode she decides to shoot her fairy lightening into the sky, supposedly in an effort to get rid of her super powers. Ya know, because having super powers is such a hassle…?
Sheriff Andy (Chris Bauer) pulls off the best line of the night while being questioned by one of his deputies about the shooting at the gun store when he exclaims, “jesus t!ts on christ,’ which, while being insulting to religious types, is still pretty damn hilarious onscreen. Andy seeks out help from the now retired Bud Dearborne (William Sanderson) for advice on how to deal with the supernatural elements of the job but the retired sheriff is too busy getting his freak on. Good for Bud!
Hoyt (Jim Parrrack) joins the redneck vampire/shape shifter killers but for absolutely no good reason. He’s spent the last two seasons, dating/being fed on by vampires and all of a sudden he’s all for killing them. Either he’s too tall and not getting enough oxygen up there or he’s simply lost too much blood and isn’t thinking straight.
Along that same line Sam (Sam Trammell) continues sniffing around (literally) for the killers and finds one of them working at the hospital then proceeds to beat the hell out of him. I have to question why he doesn’t turn into an animal to do these sorts of things. A tiger, a rhino, a really vicious wombat…anything!
Let’s jump to the most boring werewolves in the world for a moment. Alcide (Joe Manganiello) trains for his fight with JD (Louis Herthum) over leadership of the pack and dry humps Rikki (Kelly Overton) who, as far as I can tell, he barely knows. Must be a dog thing.
Speaking of boring storylines we are subjected to an incredibly long wedding video recap of Terry (Todd Lowe) and Arlene’s (Carrie Preston) wedding and then another unnecessarily long scene where Terry threatens to kill himself. I can’t decide which was more torturous. At least it gave me a chance to get up and make a cup of tea.
After finding out that Jesus’ (the gay ex, not the other guy) uncle was the one responsible for the lip-sewing incident, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) decides to pay the crazy old Mexican a visit. It doesn’t work out quite as planned. Lafayette finds himself tied to a chair with his lips sewn together but is saved by Dora the Explorer. Or at least it would have been more interesting if that’s how it had actually happened.
I’m finally starting to see the show’s producer’s plans to make Tara (Rutina Wesley) more interesting. They’re just going to keep removing her clothing. This week she’s on a stripper pole in Fangtasia when her mother walks in to let her know she’s disowning Tara. On the surface Tara doesn’t care but in front of Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) she actually cries and hugs Pam who has now fully assumed her ‘mommy’ role. In my mind this is a great path to go down and excellent character development.
The final two scenes owned the show this episode:
Firstly Jason (Ryan Kwanten) visits Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) at her mansion for a heart to heart about the death of his parents at the hands of a vampire. Jessica was busy feeding on a random guy and when Jason tastes the blood on her lips he gets upset. In the heat of the moment Jessica bites him and, in return, he shoots Jessica in the head which, of course doesn’t kill her, but is pretty hilarious to watch. Points go to Jason for that round.
And finally, the remaining members of the Vampire Authority, along with Russell, Bill, and Eric are all under the affects of Lilith’s blood which seems to return them to their true vampire nature. They crash a wedding and eat the guests but they’re not the only gate crashers. Lilith herself (Jessica Clark) rises naked from a pool of blood and starts breathing red mist at her vampires encouraging them to eat (like the need encouragement, silly vampire god). Eric is stopped mid-feed as he’s visited by the ghost of his maker, Godric (Allan Hyde) who tells him to save his sister. Credits.
Excellent cliffhanger and the final few scenes really felt a lot more like the crazy, quirky, True Blood and humor show that we’re all used to. Now we’re on the down-slope towards the end of the season it’s likely the pace will start to quicken and storylines are going to merge. Will Tara remove more clothing? How is Eric going to ‘save’ his sister? How awesome is Russell Edgington? Will Sookie cease to be a fairy? Will Alcide ever actually fight JD? So many questions…and only five episodes to go…
I give In the Beginning 8.5 really vicious wombats out of 10.
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