Episode Title: I Will Rise Up
Writer: Nancy Oliver
Director: Scott Winant
Originally Aired: 08/16/2009
Grade: A+
This is going to be my longest blog ever. I didn’t want to be a Lit major because the thought of writing an essay longer than twelve pages made my brain freeze up, but I can write something twice as long about a fucking TV show. Ack.
Early teaser reviews of this episode were calling it a game changer, and I can see why. I watched the episode days ago, and I still feel gobsmacked. Nancy Oliver has always been my least favorite writer on the show, but this was an absolutely gorgeous piece of writing. I have so many interpretations and speculations whirling around in my head that I’m going to have to use headings and subheadings just to keep it all straight. I can’t say that the Bon Temps storyline was quite as heavy on changing character dynamics and setting up future storylines, but the four main characters in the Dallas storyline —Bill, Sookie, Eric, and Jason—are definitely poised to head in new directions.
Dallas
Bill, Sookie and Eric
Eric had only a split-second to decide what to do when that bomb went off, and rather than protect Godric or save his own ass, he shielded Sookie. Was it a calculated choice? This is Eric we’re talking about, so it’s possible, but I think it’s more likely that it was an instinctive choice. He is still far from being infatuated with Sookie, but she had shown concern for his safety in the church only a few hours before, and she was responsible for saving Godric, so I don’t think it’s out of the question that Eric was feeling some affection toward her and thought it was worth the risk to save her. Honestly, I don’t even think he put himself in significantly more danger throwing himself in front of her than he would have if he’d stayed where he was, statistically speaking.
As for Eric tricking Sookie into the blood bond, I think it was an impulsive decision, but one with some calculation and multiple motives behind it (as contradictory as that may sound). First and foremost, I think he did it to stick it to Bill. Bill insisted on giving him that "there's nothing you can do"/"you are powerless" speech about Sookie, and that conversation took place only minutes before Eric tricked Sookie into sucking out the silver. Tricking her was primarily about exhibiting his power to Bill through bonding Sookie, rather than about his interest in Sookie. Even Eric's snarky comments afterward were all directed at Bill. He barely even spared Sookie a glance.
On the other hand, Eric did offer to give Sookie his blood after she was attacked by Maryann, and while he was mostly just fucking with Bill, we know the thought crossed his mind several days before that bomb went off. The man knows how to scheme in the long term, and he also knows how to take advantage of a split-second opportunity. I can imagine that having a direct feed to a telepath would be something Eric would at least consider for its usefulness, not to mention Sookie had just been nearly killed for the third time that day, so perhaps bonding himself to her was his impulsive way of trying to protect his investment.
I do not think that Eric bonded Sookie to him because he finds her intriguing or because he wants to sleep with her (note that I’m not saying those things aren’t true, because they are). He bonded her to prove Bill wrong and to further secure his grip on her as a useful tool.
As for how I felt about it, I thought it was hilarious AND it was a shitty thing to do. Paquin and Skarsgård played the scene for laughs, and it was perfect that way, but there’s no getting around the fact that he tricked her into allowing him to permanently violate her privacy and created an involuntary sexual attraction (or at the very least enhanced an already-existing but reluctant attraction).
His trick also taints any future romantic interaction between them in two different ways. First of all, this was the second big push toward bringing them together (the first one being Godric), and it was accomplished through deception. Secondly, any attraction Sookie begins to feel toward Eric will always be suspect. She was beginning to realize that she'd misjudged his capacity to feel, and he was beginning to care for her because she helped rescue Godric. They were finally thawing toward one another, and this blood drinking sped up the process and shot them in the foot at the same time. (I actually kind of love this, but more on that later.)
In any case, Eric does assy things, and I don't really "forgive" him for them, I just accept it and go on enjoying the character for what he is. He does have redeeming qualities and surprising depths, and if nothing else, it's fun to try to figure out his multiple motives and objectives when he's clearly got a scheme going.
As for Bill’s reaction to the blood-bonding fiasco, I was thrilled that he was blunt with Sookie about how her new connection with Eric is going to play out. There’s enough drama in this scenario without Sookie and Bill refusing to acknowledge to one another that Sookie is now going to be affected by Eric’s Viking vampire pheromones whether she wants to or not. The really interesting part is how shifty Bill looked when he told Sookie that her impending sexual attraction to Eric was "another consequence of the blood." Methinks Mr. Compton knows that Sookie’s early attraction to him may have been helped along by the buckets of his blood she gulped down after the Rattrays beat her to death,* and he is dreading the moment when she puts two and two together. Kudos to Nancy Oliver and the writing team for giving Sookie’s relationships with both vampires an unpleasant edge in one fell swoop!
*(There’s a theory floating around that the Eric-specific attraction is part of the deal because Eric's blood is so old and potent, whereas Bill’s blood, and the blood of younger vampires in general, simply causes a much more generic horniness. However, I’m guessing that the direction to have Bill act shifty was in the script, and the entire fiasco is rendered even more dramatically interesting if the beginning of a new relationship with Eric reveals a dark underbelly to Sookie’s current relationship with Bill.
The other theory is that all vampire blood causes general increased libido, but Bill told her she’d be specifically attracted to Eric because he’s insecure and was certain that Sookie had an underlying attraction already. I’m not sure I buy either theory. I wouldn’t put it past these writers, and I don’t think it’s impossible that Sookie is physically attracted to Eric no matter how repugnant his personality is to her, but it seemed pretty clear-cut to me that Eric’s blood made her dream about Eric.)
For her part, Sookie has handled Eric’s deception remarkably well so far. She's actually taken responsibility for her own role in the debacle, i.e. being gullible with Eric, of all people, when she should have known better. She seems as angry with herself as she is with him. I'm not even sure that's fair, but I think it's admirable of her.
And who knows, maybe being a telepath means the blood bond isn't as disturbing to her as it would be for someone else. I could even accept her ultimately seeing Eric’s trick as a minor offense in comparison to the Rattray’s beating her to death, Longshadow trying to rip her throat out, Rene trying to kill her multiple times, Maryann clawing her back and poisoning her, and even Gabe trying to rape her. It certainly doesn’t excuse the act, but it pales in comparison to those other attacks, and it even has the added bonus of providing her with another vampire protector, assuming Eric would actually pay attention to the Sookie GPS and come when she’s in danger. (Though I’d like to see a little less of this in general—I’m getting tired of Sookie being a perpetual victim and a passive prize for two competing vampires.)
Oh yeah, I believe there was a dream of some kind? Involving Sookie and Eric? NAKED! To be perfectly honest, my initial reaction to the dream was complete and utter disgust. The whole thing felt phony and gross. Not physically—seriously, they’re both gorgeous naked people—but emotionally. The whole thing was nauseating.
But the thing is, that first time through, I was understandably distracted by naked Alexander Skarsgård (and his smile) and Anna Paquin’s perfect boobs and the beyond pussified version of Eric. I was blinded by irritation at the idea that this is where the writers are taking us with Eric and Sookie.
After further reflection, and after talking to others about the scene, my common sense returned and I realized that the dream is only fun and interesting if it’s not a glimpse of the future. Knowing where the relationship is going in advance would be no fun at all. Also, these writers are big meanies. They’re the type who would love the idea of giving book fans and zealous Eric sympathizers a big mushy mess of a dream to whet their appetites, only to jerk the rug out from under them by serving up a completely different type of relationship in reality (apologies for those painful mixed metaphors).
The first notion I tossed out was that the dream was in any way prophetic of the emotional tone of their future relationship, and the second was that Eric was actually present in that dream, either showing his deeper self or trying to manipulate Sookie.
So here’s what I’ve got now: DreamEric was a construct created by Sookie’s subconscious, a darker version of pillow talk Bill combined with her changing ideas about Eric. He even had Bill’s floppy hair! This exchange?
Sookie: “I used to think you were made of cold, hard stone, and empty inside.”
Eric: “And now?”
Sookie: “You’re a big faker. You’re deep. You feel. There’s love in you.”
From Sookie’s perspective, that’s all become true, and without the sexy line delivery, she could even say that directly to Eric’s face in the real world. And he’d tell her to go fuck herself in his special, snarky way, because as true as those words are, he’s not satin sheets and warm, soft lighting and tender whispers and sharing feelings. That’s Sookie cramming Eric’s vulnerability into Bill’s trappings, because those trappings are comforting to her. Sookie is full-tilt in love with Bill, who is rather romantic and very much all about her, so of course that's what her brain would twist Eric into—a slightly darker, but just as loving and devoted, version of Bill. It's also interesting to note that DreamEric actually suggested that Sookie would ruthlessly protect him, whereas her relationship with Bill seems to revolve around Bill trying to protect her. It seems that Sookie feels a bit stifled and would like Bill to treat her as more of an equal...
To continue interpreting the dream, all the vampire talk was based on the conversation she had with Hugo before they infiltrated the church, plus Eric's comment in the previous episode about her finding out about the special bond between vampire and Maker (which she probably took as a threat against her). Even DreamLorena's accusations about having already abandoned Bill may be based on Sookie picking up Bill's anxiety over losing her to Eric. Her subconscious slapped Lorena’s face onto it because she’d just had a huge possessive fight with her over Bill’s affections.
One other fascinating tidbit was DreamEric’s assertion that Sookie is ruthless when it comes to protecting the people she loves. Remember when Sookie accused Eric of sending her into a trap at the Fellowship of the Sun, and he tried to deny it, but she cut him off with, “You did know, but because it was Godric, you’d risk anything”? Some part of her understood that and recognized that she might be capable of the same thing. I have a feeling that DreamEric’s comment was a bit of foreshadowing, planting a seed in viewers’ minds. Sookie is going to do something ruthless to protect someone she loves, and the audience is probably going to collectively shit a brick.
I also found it amusing that Sookie basically did with Eric what she does with Bill, i.e. try to humanize him—you are super-awesome and emotional and full of love and worth every ounce of what I feel for you—whereas DreamEric did the complete opposite for Sookie—you’re not nearly as sweet as everyone thinks you are, you’re so totally ruthless, you’re a naughty little fuckbunny under that innocent exterior, you’d make a perfect vampire.
When Sookie sees Eric at the meeting in the hotel room a few hours later, she actually looks him up and down with parted lips (and Bill totally notices! Ouch!). I took that appraisal as equal parts "Gah, I had a dream about you, and you were naked! And kind of… nice. Is that even possible?" and steeling herself to get used to it. I can't imagine her not wondering if anything in that dream could be lurking within Eric, considering that she didn't even think he was capable of love just a few days ago. Eric certainly noticed her attention and seemed to realize that the bond was working its magic, but I don’t think he knew she’d dreamed about him cuddling and ravishing her. I also thought there was a bit of “We’ll talk about this later” to his expression, but maybe I’m giving Alexander too much credit there…
The redeeming aspect of Eric’s trickery is that he seemed genuinely regretful of creating the blood bond with Sookie when Bill confronted him. He was obviously devastated and wanted to go to Godric, so some of his attitude can be attributed to that, but I think that once he'd had time to reflect, he realized he'd done something that was just plain petty in the face of losing Godric. He looked like he thought he deserved that punch and was resigned to Bill's disgust and Sookie's unwilling attraction. His attitude toward Bill felt like, "Yes, I was an asshole. It's done, and I can't take it back, and now we all have to live with it. I suck. Please get out of my way."
So where is all of this going, this strange little triangle? Obviously I can do nothing but speculate, but I think Eric may have bitten off more than he can chew. The blood bond may influence Sookie, most likely in his favor, but I don’t think he has any direct control over how that happens. He’s also in just as much danger of being influenced as she is—if he can feel her emotions, he may also be susceptible to caring about them. He’s going to get a screaming broadcast every time Sookie is in danger, or ravenously horny for Bill, or maybe just really pissed off about something. The blood bond is probably going to bite Eric in the ass in ways both hilarious and poignant.
And while I currently believe that Eric regrets creating that bond, I also don't think he's going to waste the opportunity to get closer to Sookie. It's sort of like that saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," except he's the one who handed out the lemons in the first place. He’s certainly going to play with the involuntary attraction he knows he's created.
And on the one hand, surely she's going to fight that coercive attraction with everything she's got. On the other hand, she's naturally curious and stubborn, and she was already beginning to reassess her view of Eric, so if you toss the blood bond into that mix, I'm not sure she's going to be able to completely resist giving in to her curiosity. She may resist the sexual component for quite a while, but she may also find herself more sensitive toward him than she'd like and unable to resist drawing him into conversation at times, trying to figure him out, trying to make sure he’s okay and care for him as Godric wished. (None of which will make Bill very happy.)
Finally, I'd find it both amusing and compelling if the relationship between Sookie and Eric develops in two completely different ways in two completely different arenas. Sookie might keep having the bizarre, overwrought Eric-as-Bill dreams every once in a while. She might keep looking at Eric in that strange way that you do when you have an unexpected intimate dream about someone and start seeing them differently. Eric will be changed by his experience with Godric, but he will continue to be Eric, snarky and challenging and manipulative—nothing like Sookie’s dreams. Sookie will be confused and frustrated to no end by this, not realizing that their "real" relationship has actually been chugging right along into new territory while she's been caught up in lamenting the fact that the reality of Eric doesn't match up to her idealized, blood-bond-induced version of him. The last thing Sookie needs is another doting lover who saves her from every nasty thing that comes her way and doesn't challenge her to actually use her brain the same way she challenged her brother to use his.
Either reality is going to clash with her dreams, or her dreams will begin to more closely resemble reality (or both, in that order). In that way, the storyline would maintain the creepy, manipulative edge of the blood bond. We’d also get to see Sookie’s subconscious desires and expectations butting up against the harsh reality of the “A-hole” in the flesh, which could be fascinating and quite amusing. All speculation, but I love the idea, and I certainly don’t think the writers are going to give us a schmoopy romance or sweep the darker undertones of the relationship under the rug. They’ve inserted a taint to the relationship purposefully. Whatever happens between them now, it will never be pure, because neither Sookie nor viewers can be sure how much of her behavior is due to the influence of his blood, and how much is due to the fact that she was already changing her views on Eric even before she drank from him.
As for Bill, I have no fucking clue what he’s going to be doing through all this. I’m assuming he’s going to fight for her. Perhaps he and Sookie will part ways for a while for some reason organic to the story, but also to give whatever develops between Sookie and Eric some breathing room (from a writing perspective).
Sookie, Godric, and Eric
Godric could have been a generic mopey emo vampire, but thankfully, Hyde was capable of much more than a one-note performance. Godric was many different things at once—weary, loving, watchful, gentle, wise, calm, amused.
He was only actually present in four episodes, and two of those consisted of one short scene each. I'd even say that his primary functions in the story were to give Sookie a push toward maturity and help her see the good in non-Bill vampires again, to humanize Eric, and to bring Sookie and Eric closer together. And yet he was an incredibly distinctive, likable character on his own merit, one that I became attached to very quickly and hated to see go.
With that said, here’s what I have to say about Godric himself. There were some obvious Jesus parallels going on, and I do think Godric’s teachings will have lasting repercussions because two of the vampires who got the most out of it are Isabel and Eric, both of whom are powerful vampire Sheriffs. The thing is, the fact that Godric got to teach anyone anything was somewhat accidental on his part—if he’d had his way, Steve Newlin would have made a spectacle of his immolation, and that would have been that (or possibly that would have started an all-out war between the Dallas vamps and the Fellowship). His goal was suicide, pure and simple, and his death would have accomplished nothing good (he even acknowledges his own initial foolishness to Sookie on the roof before he meets the sun). There’s no indication that Godric shared his beliefs with anyone other than Stan and Isabel prior to his capture, and even they didn’t seem to know much about him.
If Eric and Sookie hadn’t mounted a rescue, he would have died without teaching anyone a thing or setting an example. Thankfully, Godric humored them and allowed their rescue attempt to be successful, and so he was able to spread his message, even if it was in a rather limited capacity, and even if he only spoke up when questioned or provoked. He explained his beliefs to a church full of both humans and vampires, he didn’t retaliate against Steve Newlin, he was merciful to the traitorous Hugo, and he gave another eloquent speech in a room full of vampires when Lorena attacked Sookie. He also ensured that Isabel, a compassionate mainstreaming vampire, would replace him as Sheriff, and he tried to get it through Eric’s thick skull that the vampires’ refusal to try to better themselves does no one any good.
Ultimately, however, despite his teaching and his comment that he would make amends for his mistakes, his death was a personal one, and it was a suicide, not a sacrifice. He was just a very, very tired being who wanted to stop existing, and I felt deeply for him despite how little we actually saw of him. It was a good death, a joyful death, which is something rare and beautiful in itself. I am happy that Godric found peace, and I wish the best for Allan Hyde, because he accomplished quite a lot with little screen time.
As for Godric’s relationship with Eric, I have to say that the “father, brother, son” mantra was a stroke of genius—I don’t think their relationship would have worked for me without it. In one sense, Eric was the child, having been taught by Godric, essentially “raised” by him. Godric was the guiding force of Eric’s post-human existence for hundreds of years. At the same time, Eric was a father to Godric, who was made a vampire before he even reached full adulthood. Within the past two episodes, we saw Eric as a caretaker, trying to coax Godric to eat, trying to figure out the root of his malaise. At the meeting with Nan Flanagan, he was like a protective father sticking up for his son at a disciplinary meeting with the school principal: “Don’t talk to him that way.” And of course, brothers, comrades, having each other’s backs. The writers and actors managed to convey an incredibly complex relationship with just a few short brushstrokes.
There’s also the fact that Godric both ripped Eric’s foundation right out from under him and set him free with this exchange:
Eric: “You taught me there is no right or wrong, only survival… or death.”
Godric: “I told a lie, as it turns out.”
What short term and long term effects will these words have on Eric? Godric’s suicide brought Eric’s deeply-buried humanity to the surface, but will it stay there for a while, or will he try to bury it even deeper in angry denial? Will he go even darker, even more ruthless? Will he seem largely unchanged on the surface while he’s processing what Godric meant to him, what he should take from his last words? Sudden change or gradual change? Will he tweak the way he’s been “raising” Pam? Is he now free to “rise up” because Godric’s death released him from a need to limit his ambition, to avoid exceeding his Maker in power and position? And if he’s just been witness to Godric “rising up” in this deeply spiritual, existential way, when Eric has simply limited himself to never surpass Godric in the earthly realm, as in not gunning for King of Louisiana, then what the fuck does that mean for Eric? Is he ever going to live up to that example?
Of course, he’s already risen just a teensy bit. The fact that he allowed himself to forget his pride and sink so low as to beg, to wail, to cry, to feel that much love and that much pain… is also what allowed him to rise up, both in Sookie’s eyes and in a more general sense. For Eric to show that level of emotion was absolutely stunning. His vampire nature was the least of him in those moments, if that makes sense.
Sookie is also on the verge of great change through her interaction with Godric and Eric. She came to understand the depth of feeling between these two ancient vampires, which both helped her to see Eric in a new light and restored her early Season 1 faith in the goodness of vampires who are not Bill Compton. The Sookie/Godric/Eric emotional triangle really paid off, and it’s not even over yet. I'm intrigued by how the past week will affect Sookie in the long run, because it felt like she really came into her own and behaved like a compassionate adult with both Eric and Godric on the rooftop. I'd like to see that carry through.
I think her manic energy was toned down quite a bit in the last two episodes, as well. It's still there at times, but she seems more capable of patience than she was at the beginning of the season. I’m not entirely sure why, but I feel like Godric had something to do with this, as if his gentle, observant calm soothed her.
And now I’m going to spend several hundred words babbling praise at the actors in this storyline!
Everyone was fabulous during the meeting with Nan Flanagan, but Skarsgård really stood out to me—his reaction shots there were absolutely perfect. Each one was like a visual snapshot of the progression of Eric’s feelings. Godric admits that he offered himself to the Fellowship, and Eric perks up, looks surprised and a little worried. Nan points out that they wanted to kill him and asks if he's crazy, Eric looks down in dread of the response. Godric responds, "What do you think?", and Eric gulps, looks terrified. And when Godric officially gives up his power, you can see Eric begin to crumble with the realization that yes, this is really happening. Skarsgård could have just slapped a general look of observant unease on his face and been done with it, but instead, each expression perfectly captured Eric’s dawning realization of what was coming.
And the rooftop scene… I think that’s probably the most perfect, emotionally gut-wrenching scene ever filmed for this show, and all three of the actors completely nailed it.
When Eric started to beg and cry in Swedish, I was pretty much gone from that point until the episode ended. I’ve teared up a few times watching this show, but this was the first scene that got real, drippy, sniffly tears out of me (and on repeat viewings, too). Experiencing a grown man beg like that is difficult enough, and this is ERIC. Skarsgård completely sold that primal, terrifying level of emotion—when his voice hit that higher register, I felt it in my gut.* And really, how else would Eric react to losing someone that he'd known and loved for over 1000 years? Someone who made him what he is, someone who was a son, a brother, a father, and quite possibly a lover.
*(The depth of that scene also reinforced the fact that we really could’ve done without that CGI One Manly Tear a couple of episodes ago.)
Eric tells Godric that if he can’t stop him, he's going to die with him. Godric says, "No. You won't.” Eric realizes in that moment that Godric is going to pull rank and command him to leave, that Godric isn't going to allow Eric to make that choice. He knows what’s coming before Godric even says the words. Eric’s last defense against feeling the agony of losing his beloved is gently wrangled from him, and he starts sobbing again. Perfect.
Godric’s pause between “As your Maker" and "I command you" completely floored me, as well. The warm, gentle, loving smile, the way he let the fatherly pride of “As your Maker” sink in before he brought the hammer down. And Eric’s expression afterward is something that I can barely even put into words, like bitter disbelief and overwhelming emotional agony and complete and total love somehow melded together into this utterly unique expression. How the fuck? I mean, I guess that’s what they call acting, but that was amazing. And I don’t mean in the sense that I could see Alex, or anyone else, acting—I’m analyzing the acting to death, sure, but that’s because it doesn’t look like acting! It looks like the exact devastated, loving expression that Eric Northman should have at that exact moment, in that exact place.
Anna Paquin shouldn’t go without praise, either. I damn near blubbered when she quietly trembled, “Are you very afraid?” Sookie’s emotional connection to Godric—and to Eric—felt completely sincere, and I don’t think I’ve ever liked Sookie more than I did during the course of this scene. She showed more maturity in the way she handled Eric and Godric than she has to date, and as I said above, I certainly hope that was a life-changer for her, and that we'll continue to see the repercussions in her characterization.
Also, the three actors filmed the scene on the roof in pretty much one take, which renders the performances even more astounding. What a bunch of professional badasses!
Jason (and Sookie)
Jason didn’t have a lot to do in this episode, but what we got was significant. It was a very small moment, but I loved the way he took the lead and helped Isabel get everyone’s attention after the blast. I believe that Steve and Sarah had a genuine belief in his leadership abilities, and this was a very nice example of how correct they were in at least that one thing.
The heart-to-heart between Sookie and Jason was long overdue, and again, I think the theme of “rising up” applied to both characters here, especially with Sookie’s statement that they need to stick together and be good to each other, and Jason hilariously admitting that sure, he could try to use his brain from now on. I also think that Sookie very gently forced Jason to begin working through some of his deeper issues, namely his feelings about the deaths of Gran and Amy, his low self-esteem, and his loneliness.
The scene was a bit corny, full of pithy little sayings and dumb clichéd things like, “I just don’t want to feel anything,” but eh, neither character is particularly bright or creative, so it makes sense to me that this is how they would talk to each other, and it needed to happen.
Bon Temps
Jessica, Hoyt, and Maxine
I was glad to see Jessica and Hoyt already trying to work past the perma-hymen, moving forward by introducing Jessica to Maxine. Honestly, the two of them are just a tad ridiculous in that they’ve only known each other for about a week and they’re this serious already, but gah, I love them both so fucking much that I don’t care.
Hoyt’s argument with Maxine in which he calls her on all the things she hates pretty much speaks for itself (though I did transcribe it in full for the Quotes section, because it’s just that awesome). Right after that, though, when Maxine blubbers that she wants her baby boy back, and he yells, “I'm not a baby, I'm a grown-ass man!” in frustration, I actually laughed. And then I immediately stopped laughing because… it’s not funny. It’s just sad, and Hoyt knows it’s sad, and Maxine damn well knows it, too, somewhere under all that hair.
Also sad and not funny was Jessica having to point out to Maxine that, “Somebody made me a vampire against my will, Ms. Fortenberry. I don’t have a family anymore.” That “somebody” being Bill, who is too much of an emo, self-absorbed weenie this season to try to at least mend the second part of that statement (though I hope that Sookie and Hoyt might be able to talk some sense into him soon).
And if anyone in this episode did not rise up, it was Maxine. Maxine sank even lower, essentially pointing out to a murder victim that she can’t have babies with her beloved son. Way to go, you pea-brained old whale.
Sam
I wish I cared more about Sam this season, but he just feels like a perpetual afterthought. I don’t dislike him, I just forget about him for large chunks of time, and then I’m not engaged when he finally does pop up on the screen. I’m glad he’s stepping up, though. He’s been trying to run away all season, so it was a nice touch to see him overcome that urge and head into the belly of the beast to spy on Maryann. I’m rather curious to see whether he and Andy comparing notes will actually amount to anything useful. I’m not sure how it can, but trying is certainly better than running or doing nothing!
Maryann, Tara, and Eggs
There is a great deal of “don’t confuse the message with messenger” when it comes to Maryann. Some of the things she says are ugly, and some are true outside of any sort of moral judgment, and some are only true and beautiful for her and those like her. For example, I’ll never believe that “Feeling sorry for things is just an excuse not to celebrate your own happiness” is anything but nastiness, though obviously from Maryann’s point-of-view, it’s a beautiful truth because she should be able to do everything she wants to do. “Why be embarrassed about pleasure and laughter?” Indeed, why? They’re lovely! But Maryann possessing Eggs and Tara to beat shit out of each other and then fuck was about Maryann’s pleasure and laughter, not the pleasure and laughter of Tara and Eggs, who don’t even remember it and would be neither pleased nor laughing if they did. (Er, I guess Eggs has become a bit questionable in that regard.)
The struggle between repression and abandon, how to find the middle ground, is something I struggle with personally. Some very ugly, destructive things can come out of veering too far in one direction or the other, especially if you make your home there. Losing control can be a healthy thing, but you can’t stay that way. And Maryann isn’t even helping people to lose control, because she’s become the one in control.
There was a certain level of choice in the beginning, as if Maryann was simply lifting a flood gate, loosening inhibitions, but people were still acting of their own free will. I didn’t actually condemn the people of Bon Temps for wanting to drink and be merry and smashcake and dirteat and even screw indiscriminately (in a broader existential sense, because in the down-to-earth sense, STDs are no fun). To lose control and let that shit out for a bit. It may be incredibly shallow in the face of what Maryann is really about—ecstasy, uniting with god—but I wasn't condemning people for letting loose.
Now that Maryann is possessing people with her essence, nobody’s getting a choice anymore. They’re being controlled like sockpuppets to do things that push them toward complete abandon/chaos/nihilism, but they have no memory of it, they only have a sick feeling inside that they’ve done something horrible. If they were doing these things of their own free and fully conscious will, they’d be treading so far into Maryann’s territory that they’d probably never come back from it and they’d truly be her disciples (or disciples of Dionysius? I’m not sure where they’re going with Dionysius yet). That may very well be what she wants for Tara, but I can’t say I approve of her methods (it’s certainly not what I want for Tara), and all I see is Maryann using multiple bodies to experience her own bliss over and over again.
Maryann’s way isn’t balance. She’s only pulling in one direction. Tara and Eggs and the people of Bon Temps are just people being forcefully dragged in one direction, not people being taught to be whole. You have to go hang out in the dark place, journey into the woods or the labyrinth, but the point is coming back out again, wiser, renewed, stronger. You don’t live there. Maryann, though? She lives there. So do the vast majority of vampires. Godric lived there for couple thousand years, and when he finally crawled out and saw the sun again, it burnt him to a cinder, cleaned him out. He didn’t want that fate for Eric, or for anyone else. Lettie Mae lived there for most of Tara’s life, but she came out again, and I hope she’ll be able to help Tara do the same.
Miscellaneous Stuff
- Eric’s hammy death performance at the beginning of the episode was hilarious, and along with his sarcastic “I think I’m going to cry” comment, it makes a nice contrast to the Eric we saw at the end of the episode.
-There are still a lot of unanswered question about Godric and Eric’s relationship, and I’d like to think that his death doesn’t mean we won’t get some of those answers—flashbacks don’t really have an expiration date, after all—but unless next season is a bit slower-paced than this one, I don’t know where they’d find the time. The beginning of the next episode would be a great place for one, since it would make sense for Eric to be remembering and mourning Godric, so I hope they were able to fit it in.
-The writers need to have some kind of rule book for the way the blood bond works, because this shit is confusing a lot of viewers. We need more info. Is Lafayette having erotic dreams about Eric, despite the fact that he’s terrified of him? Did Amy have erotic dreams about Eddie?
- I'm curious as to whether Eric will apologize to Sookie and/or Bill for tricking her. I could actually imagine him sincerely apologizing to Sookie at some point, but not to Bill. Of course, I can also imagine Eric feels that making an apology implies a desire for forgiveness, and that's not something he's interested in from either of them at this point, even if he does regret what he did.
-Sadly, the kissing in the dream sequence didn’t live up to my standards. The beginning of the first kiss was actually very gentle and sensual as far as Skarsgård is concerned, but Paquin just didn't seem like she could go with that, and they ended up doing the "sloppy, tight-lipped kissing" sort of thing that's supposed to mimic passion, but never quite works for me. I can give it a pass, since they were both fully nude and it was their first intimate scene together, but I hope they’re eventually able to sell intimacy and emotion along with that raw animal passion.
- It’s interesting to compare Sookie drinking Bill’s blood after the Rattrays attacked her to Sookie being tricked into drinking Eric’s blood. Sookie initially drank Bill’s blood with no real knowledge of what it would mean as far as the blood bond, and if Eric’s blood really has created a sexual attraction, then that means Bill’s blood did the same, which he never explicitly revealed to her (he only told her that it would increase her libido). Their relationship may, in the end, have some of the same ooky, magical coercive undertones that her impending closeness with Eric will have. The difference, for me, is that Bill shared his blood with Sookie because she was dying, and he felt that he owed her his life. Eric did pretty much the complete opposite by preying on Sookie's compassion and making her believe she was saving his life. Sookie’s bond with Bill was accidental, and drinking his blood healed her, not to mention Bill hadn't tortured any of her friends yet, so she had no reason to dislike him. I even believe that Bill and Sookie could have hooked up without the intense blood-induced push. However, Sookie has many reasons to loathe Eric in spite of the depths of emotion she’s seen from him, so the more Sookie warms to him, the more I will question how much of that thawing is due to the blood bond.
-I found it odd that Bill seemed to have no interest in Godric and nothing to say about Godric's views. It made Bill look even more self-absorbed than Sookie often does...
Quotes
Sookie: “Hurry up and heal yourself. What are you waiting for?”
Eric: “Can’t. Silver…”
Sookie: “Fuck, okay, Godric.”
Eric: “No time. Suck it… out…”
Sookie: “Eric, I can’t! It’s too gross, and it’s… you…”
Eric: “I’m… dying…”
Sookie: “No. No! NO! You big lying a-hole!”
Eric: “Bill, you’re right, I believe I can sense her emotions.”
Arlene: “She was clumsy, stupid, and mean, but I wouldn’t wish that kind of death on a possum!”
Maxine: “What do you think your daddy would say?”
Hoyt: “I don’t have any idea, because the only time you mention him is when you’re tryin’ to make me do somethin’ that I don’t wanna do.”
Maxine: "I haven't done anything to deserve this. And what are you doing with vampires, anyway? They are wrong, wrong, wrong. They are devils!"
Hoyt: "Why do you have so much hate in you?"
Maxine: "I don't..."
Hoyt: "That's a flat lie."
Maxine: "Who do you think you're talkin' to?"
Hoyt: "My mama. Who hates Methodists."
Maxine: "I got my reasons."
Hoyt: "And Catholics!"
Maxine: "Just priests. And nuns."
Hoyt: "African-Americans."
Maxine: "Hush. That's a secret."
Hoyt: "People who don't take care of their gardens and people who park their trucks up on their lawns and ladies who wear red shoes."
Maxine: "It looks cheap!"
Hoyt: "Families with lots of kids and checkered curtains and cats. And dogs. And bait. Every girl that I ever liked. And the more that I like 'em, the more that you hate 'em."
Maxine: "I simply object to a girlfriend who will kill you and eat you. I think that's reasonable."
Hoyt: "You don't even know her! Full. Of hate. I see you now."
Maxine: "Well it's not my fault. It's the way I was raised up.”
DreamEric: “This is the beginning.”
Maryann: “Ms. Thornton, what’s your drink?”
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