Writer: Alan Ball
Grade: A
So this Maryann stuff is starting to drag. We’ve had, what, three or four episodes now of her doing the same thing over and over? She manipulates, she chants creepy shit in Greek, and she creates orgiastic frenzies. I am now well aware of what the woman can do. I want them to give us an inkling of why she’s doing it, because watching her do the same things over and over with no explanation is getting dull, no matter how much bare boob and dirt eating they toss in there. I realize that these initial episodes have only covered about four days—it’s not like the woman has been throwing epic orgies for a month and no one’s noticed anything weird—but this is almost like the opposite of my Sookie and Eric relationship issue. Maryann is obviously tied to Sam and to Tara, but still, her orgies are primarily plot, not relationship, so it really fucks with the pacing to have her keep doing the same thing over and over again within such a short span of time.
And on the flipside of that equation, I’m really glad that Bill’s “I hate being a vampire, and I hate that I made you a vampire, thus you should hate yourself” shit with Jessica is already out in the open with all concerned. It’s one thing for me to know it, and quite another for Bill, Sookie, and Jessica to know. Hopefully some positive progress will be made in that direction sooner rather than later.
Sookie was all over the map in this episode. The picture with Gran was a bizarre choice for a birthday gift to Tara—no one wants to be reminded of dead loved ones on their birthday, Sookie—but Gran was a mother to Tara, as well, and Tara was moving into Gran’s home. I think Sookie was trying to create a “sister moment” more than a “please feel sorry for me on your birthday, and feel sorry for yourself while you’re at it” moment.
Her attitude with Sam was genuinely appalling, though. Really, Sookie, that’s what you open with? “Clearly this is all about me, and you should totally cut me some slack for making out with you while my boyfriend was missing for a couple of days,” followed up with a pissy, “Yeah, well, I got serious shit that I’m dealing with, too!” It doesn’t matter if the words are all true if the attitude behind them is shit, and this is not one of those scenarios where she deserves special attention because she’s telepathic. She acted like a twat. Of course, so did Sam by not telling her was leaving, so they both sucked in that scene.
Sookie did a good thing in guilt-tripping Bill into bringing Jessica to Dallas, though, and I was glad to see her trying to stay calm, interested, and open-minded with the glamoring, rather than freaking out about it (probably partly because she was still drunk—loved her playing along with Bill's glamoring with the big cheesy smile). I felt like she did some of the same old irritating Sookie bullshit she always does, but there were enough positive moments to offset it for me.
I’m about 95% sure that Eric's comment about being intrigued by Lafayette because he means something to Sookie was far from Eric admitting to having an emotional investment in Sookie. That doesn't seem like his style. I'm not sure Eric is even to the point where he'd consciously admit that to himself, let alone to Lafayette. He's got a little vamp boner for her because she's cute, because she challenges him, and because she has an interesting and useful supernatural power, but I don't think he was having a woobie moment with Laf there.
It’s much more likely that Eric is intrigued that sanctimonious little Sookie loves a V-selling prostitute. Eric knows that Sookie values the concept of being a "good person," he knows that she can read minds, he knows that Laf is a drug dealer and a prostitute, and he knows that Sookie still cares for Lafayette a great deal, enough to risk her own safety to bargain for his life and freedom (I think she would have done that for just about any random stranger she found in that basement, too, but it was still pretty clear from her attitude that she loves Lafayette). I can easily imagine Eric wondering what's going on under the surface with Lafayette, what Sookie has seen in this seemingly unsavory character to make her care so much rather than write him off as a loser.
In that context, it makes sense that Eric would be intrigued by Lafayette because he means something to Sookie. I think Eric was already mildly intrigued, and Sookie's loyalty ramped it up. Of course, this is Eric, who knows how to play chess with real people, so I’m sure there’s an ulterior motive. I bet Lafayette was on the right track with his theory that Eric wants a psychic connection to him for sneaky vampire business purposes. I wouldn’t doubt that he’s also hoping Sookie might hate him just a teeny bit less if she finds out, not because he cares what she thinks yet, but because he wants to be able to use her skills, and he seems to want to do so without doing anything too horrible to her. He'd rather earn her trust than keep her in a cage.
I think I've gotten to the point where I see Eric's mind sort of like a powerful supercomputer whose primary purpose is figuring out how to manipulate people into giving him what he wants, with as little use of force as possible. I don't think he'd be bothered if she never found out that he healed Lafayette, but he strikes me as the sort of person who puts a lot of different traps in place, knowing that not all of them will catch a rabbit.
On an even darker note, I'm a little hesitant about the possibility of an Eric/Lafayette hookup. I do think there's chemistry there, and seeing them toe the line with it might be interesting, but more than that and I think it would just feel like an extremely unhealthy "giving in to the abuser" storyline. Eric abused Lafayette horribly. Eric feels that his actions were justified, but the fact still stands that Lafayette suffered at Eric's hands. There's also no getting around the uneven power dynamic there, and Ball was already playing with that abuser/power dynamic issue with Laf on his knees "sucking off" Eric, who was disinterestedly watching TV in a wifebeater. I think some innuendo and flirtation between them could be titillating, but I'd find a more defined erotic relationship between them to be a bit of a downer. That's not to say there'd be no value in it if Ball wants to go there, I just don't think I'd enjoy it.
Finally, I loved Bill and Eric’s bratty big brother/little brother routine in the hotel lobby. Moyer and Skarsgård have a strangely charming chemistry together. And Eric’s drama queen snit about Godric was hilarious. It could have come off as Skarsgård simply overacting, but I thought it was a nice take on the character. Eric is normally reserved, nonchalant, quietly amused, etc., but mention Godric and he goes all Shakespearian drama. Perfect.
Other Stuff
-The Sarah Newlin BBQ fantasy sequence was awesome (and reminded me of the Sarah Walker fantasy sequences on Chuck). The chemistry between Kwanten and Camp is… intriguing. I find myself equally mesmerized and squicked, even more so than I was with Amy. And surely there’s something weird going on between the Newlins, but I can’t quite put my finger on it yet.
-Lettie Mae broke my heart yet again. I have a feeling that gift will find its way back to Tara, because Maryann didn’t toss it very far. (And by the way, how did Adina Porter not get an Emmy nod? Do those fuckers even watch TV?)
-Hee to Jessica ruining Bill’s badass vamp moment by getting stuck in her coffin.
-Maryann throwing that party was a pretty desperate move even for a master manipulator—a lot of people would get pissed when 75% of their birthday party attendees are non-friends. Tara has been a tough nut for her to crack, and clearly Maryann is willing to let her technique get a little sloppy to accomplish… whatever the hell she’s up to.
Quotes
Bill: “Are you gonna get out, or am I going to have to throw you out? Through a window. That is closed!”
Jason: “Evil is making the pre-medicated choice to be a dick.”
Eric: “And I’m here to give you something else: the healing elixir that is my 1000 year old blood.” (I’m actually pulling this out because it was godawful. I know Eric can be very dramatic, and I know Ball wants the show to poke fun at itself at times, but that was still a clunker, and Skarsgård really couldn’t make it work. Know who could make it work? Probably Johnny Depp. But Alexander Skarsgård is not Johnny Depp.)
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