Episode Commentary: New World in My View
With their work done in Dallas after the emotional goodbye to the 2000-year-old Godric, Sookie, Bill and Jason return home. Bon Temps, however, is not how they left it, the town has gone to hell in a hand basket under the authority of Maryann. Disorder and chaos are the only rules she has and it makes for one of the strangest, episodes of the series.
“True Blood†is, thankfully, like no other show on television. It has always had the capability to be dramatic and sincere with moments of hilarity throughout. This week, there were parts where it crossed over into the absolute absurd, and it was brilliant.
Maryann’s control over the town’s residents has led to its complete ruin. Last week, she called for her minions to bring Sam Merlotte to her so they can sacrifice him to God. This entire story line was near perfect. Hiding out with the drunkard Andy Bellefleur, Sam does his best to stay away from those under Maryann’s influence. Enough cannot be said about Chris Bauer’s job as Andy this episode. Some of the funniest lines of the season came out of him this week, talking about his nanny Annie when he was a kid as well as other perfectly timed lines.
Andy wasn’t the only outlandishly funny Bellefleur this week though. His PTSD afflicted cousin Terry was just as hilarious as he took the lead in trying to capture Sam. With his military training, Terry was the one in charge and every time he spoke about military tactics, old time war music would cue and it was just spectacular.
Elsewhere, Sookie and Bill pay a visit to Sookie’s, or Maryann’s house as it has become, only to find it ruined, much like the rest of the town. It quickly become apparent that Maryann is far too powerful for Sookie and Bill to defeat by shear force, but they do learn of a weakness Maryann may have. After they escape from Maryann, they make their way to Lafayette’s house where he and Lettie Mae are trying to help Tara. This time when Lettie Mae says there’s a demon inside her daughter, she ain’t lying.
Though less pronounced than the last few weeks, the story around Hoyt and Jessica has really taken off. Under the control of Maryanne, Hoyt’s mother Maxine has become even more of a chore to deal with. With nary a nice thing to say about her son’s vampire girlfriend, the only way they could get her to behave was to play with vampire Bill’s Wii, and even then she wouldn’t shut up.
Hands down, this weeks best scene belongs to Jason. Trying to save Sam and Andy from the hordes of Maryann’s minions, Jason officially became Rambo. Though he doesn’t actually kill anyone, he put his training from the Fellowship of the Sun to good use, eventually getting the black-eyed pea brains away from Sam. The absolute greatest part though, was when Jason put on his performance as the God Maryann had been talking about. As we know, Jason Stackhouse isn’t a particularly bright guy, but with the help of Andy, he put on show that was hilarious to say the least.
By the end of the episode, Bill decides to enlist help to fight Maryann. He arrives at a heavily guarded house, and in “True Blood†fashion it cuts to the credits before who he was seeking out is revealed. Normally this would be just another, “dammit! Now I got to wait another week to see what happens,†moment. Then you realize the episode was just 45 minutes and you become really pissed off. Granted, it is hard to complain because of wonderful those 45 minutes really were.
With the final two episodes approaching, a lot is still going on in Bon Temps. Who is this vampire Bill is seeking out for help? What is Maryann and who is this God she wants to sacrifice to. Perhaps it is some variation of the Greek God Dionysus, the God of wine and madness, seems to fit, no? The answers are coming, but undoubtedly the hard part will be watching anything else when this season is over.
This episode of True Blood was insane. It felt more like a slasher film from the ’80s than anything we’ve seen all season. As a matter of fact, seeing Jason running around with a nail gun and the trio of him, Sam and Andy battle against the rest of the town feels practically taken from something out of “Army of Darkness.†All season, the writers have been taking chances with the show and they’ve all paid off. This past episode in particular however proves that this show is about much more than blood and sex.
-Patrick Hickey Jr.
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