True Blood, 1x12, “You’ll Be the Death of Me”

Episode Title: You’ll Be the Death of Me
Writer: Raelle Tucker
Director: Alan Ball
Originally Aired: 11/23/2008
Grade: A

Rene as the killer didn’t really work for me as presented on the show, because they didn’t even start dropping the clues until episode 10. When it comes to mystery stories, I want to go back and watch the episodes and see the obvious clues that I missed or misinterpreted, but the closest thing here is Rene’s comment about Sookie reminding him of his sister, which was a completely innocent comment as far as we knew at the time. A good clue shouldn’t have to lean on what’s revealed at the end of the story, it should be something suspicious in its own right within its present context. I can give Ball a bit of a break on this since murder mystery isn’t really his specialty, and it’s not like I was watching the show for the mystery, but I’m still curious to see if this was handled better in the book.

I’m glad Terry and Hoyt are free to continue being awesome, though. I really hope there’s nothing ugly inside their heads besides some PTSD and a fairly innocent infatuation with vampires. And if Hoyt is going to hook up with Jessica, I hope that she will somehow actually care about him, and that he will not end up dead, because it’s gonna kill me if this guy’s first real relationship ends up being nothing but pain and danger, given what a sweetie he is.

Sookie having to kill Rene… I guess I was supposed to be cheering for her, but it really just made me sad. Taking a life is a big deal, even if the person has murdered your friends and family and is trying to murder you. I’d kind of like to see that killing Rene had an effect on Sookie, but I’m guessing it will just be glossed over in favor of pushing the new murder mystery forward.

I’m curious as to whether Sam’s outburst in the bar about Sookie and Bill getting married had more to do with his feelings for Sookie, or the fact that shapeshifters aren’t “out” the way that vampires are. I’m tempted to guess the former, since if they’re not “out,” there’s nothing to stop them from trying to fit in with the humans and get married. However, even getting close enough to someone to feel comfortable telling them the truth would be risky, since there’s no way of knowing how they’d react and what would happen if they told others. Shapeshifters have no form of legal protection unless they pretend to be human, or at least that’s what I’m assuming.

As for Jason, I’m not sure how I feel about his new storyline, but my initial reaction is that I’m definitely not thrilled. It feels like he went through a long, arduous journey and ended up right back in a same place. A poster named hardy har over at Television Without Pity may have said it best: “He's like a human incarnation of an Etch-A-Sketch. Give him a good shake and it's back to square one.”

I’m kind of hoping sweet, controlled, non-judgmental Tara is not here to stay, because I miss the old one.

I was worried after the previous episode that Jessica might become some kind of bizarre coquettish plaything for Eric, but after his attitude last night, I can't imagine it. Personally, I don't think I've seen a character on the show that would be a good match for Eric in any romantic/sexual capacity. Maybe BookSookie and BookEric have blazing chemistry, but on the show, I'm half-convinced I sense more sexual tension between Eric and Bill than Eric and Sookie, though admittedly they haven't spent much time together so far. In Bill and Eric’s last scene together in the finale, I guess you could compare the fang-bearing to dick measuring, but given Eric’s fairly effortless authority over Bill, it came off like more of Eric fucking with Bill for kicks, as in, “Hee, you’re just too easy, Bill,” with Pam rolling her eyes. And on a shallow note, it’s almost a shame that we’re not likely to see much of Skarsgård smiling on this show without fangs in the picture, because his smile is pretty guh-worthy. You could see a hint of how dazzling it is even with the fangs, but still, not quite the same.