Writer: Alexander Woo
Director: Daniel Minahan
Originally Aired: 10/05/2008
Grade: A
Favorite laugh of the episode: Lafayette removing his earrings before going to confront the redneck assholes about the “AIDS burger.”
Second favorite laugh of the episode: Gran taking the time to respond, “All right, same to you” to the rude caller’s “You will go to hell for this!” It was completely unnecessary to maintain the illusion of what Sookie was hearing.
Gran’s bizarre, stilted speech introducing Bill at the meeting was another highlight of the episode for me—it’s easy to just dismiss it as bad acting by Lois Smith, but I think, to her credit, that it was bad acting by Adele Stackhouse, which is perfectly in character. Gran likes her theatrics, bless her.
As for Bill, this episode is the first time I really began to care about him and feel curious about him (which was, presumably, the intent of the episode, so bravo on your success, Alexander Woo). I know it was there in earlier episodes, but for some reason, Bill’s loneliness and longing really came through to me when he was sitting in the church kitchen, alone, with his bottle or Tru Blood, listening to Sam talk about how when he heard Sookie was coming alone, he just had to offer himself as an escort. Sookie has another suitor, another option, and hers can go out in the daytime. Bill has no one else, as far as we’ve been led to believe--Sookie is his only way of having a chance at a meaningful relationship. So has Bill already fallen in love with Sookie? When did this happen? Why? She’s cute, to be sure, and she has a seemingly “magical” ability, and I suppose her brave, forced version of naïveté is charming and her sexual inexperience tempting. I guess I’m kind of convincing myself, here…
What was Bill’s motive in speaking at the meeting? He had quite a speech prepared. Was he doing it for Sookie, trying to assuage the fears she’d expressed earlier? Or did he have an even larger agenda, one that jives with the “mainstream” movement figureheaded by the blond vampire woman we saw on TV in the pilot? Why does Bill care so much about humans and mainstreaming? What makes him different from so many other vampires? Is it because he was seemingly turned because he was a good, moral person, whereas many other vampires are turned for other reasons?
Finally, Bill’s story about the boy wounded in battle didn’t work for me, because the question that brought it up was random and unplanned from an audience member, but Bill’s story sounded heavily rehearsed. I know he speaks very formally, but still, it sounded like rehearsed storytelling ala a darker version of Prairie Home Companion. If this were a different show with a different context, I’d think the whole thing was planned and that the man who asked was a plant.
Hoyt’s still near the top of my suspect list, due to more of his clueless mother bossing him around and his fascination with trying TruBlood. Really, how many stable, functional people are curious about drinking blood, synthetic or not? But dammit, I think he’s adorkably cute, so I don’t want it to be him! And if it’s not, can he please get a girlfriend or something? Surely there’s at least one cute girl on Bon Temps who would find him goofily charming…
As for Jason and Tara, I don’t know if I want them as a couple, ever, but they do have an endearing chemistry together. And as much of a dolt as Jason may be, and as weird as he is about vampires, he is still very open-minded. He knows perfectly well that Lafayette is both black and gay, and he doesn’t bat an eye about either. He doesn’t even indicate that it registers on his radar (which is another discussion unto itself: ignorance as innocence vs. the knowledge of reality). So he has no problem fucking in a pile of garbage, so what?
Sam and Sookie’s kiss was actually fine in my opinion--I thought they had nice chemistry there. But Sam once again flipping out over Sookie’s feelings for Bill just made me want to slap him, hard. Sam, she dated Bill. It happened. Get over it, because whining to Sookie about how silly she was accomplishes nothing. Have a little dignity, you whiny, opportunistic ass. Having said that, I actually like Sam, he was just really working the nerves here. I am completely on Sookie’s side with regards to that conflict.
We also learned quite a bit about V, the “life force of a vampire,” in this episode. Its allure, and the allure of becoming a vampire, is understandable. V allows humans to see that there is so much more going on in the world than they can experience in their day-to-day lives. Becoming a vampire offers a chance to live in that heightened state of awareness permanently, offers the ability to move beyond the life that you are living--to live in this same world you’re already in, but see it and feel it and believe it differently. That’s some pretty fucking powerful stuff, though if Eric’s world-weary attitude is anything to go by, even the vampire life grows stale.
I’m almost sad that we won’t be seeing much of the mayor again, because he rather endeared himself to me by presenting Bill with the tin-type of his old family, despite his own personal misgivings about vampires. He was still curious and prepared for kindness, which makes him a fabulous Christian in my book (and that’s not something I say often).
Finally, Terry hugging Bill in soldierly comradeship means Terry is, without a doubt, awesome. If he’s the killer, I will… throw something. Dammit.
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