"Frenzy" is the penultimate episode of this enjoyable second season, but it again felt rather forced and dull compared to what's come before. I think the problem is that the Dallas-set storyline with the Fellowship Of The Sun was twice as interesting as the Maryann storyline; the latter offering us pure hokum where the former gave us a compelling allegory of religious fanaticism.
Still, "Frenzy" is at least thick with incident to help pull you through its sillier moments. Bill (Stephen Moyer) has arrived to meet with the ancient vampire Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood), hoping she'll know how to destroy the Maenad that has taken over Bon Temps. I do like how Maryann's treated as a sinful infection, I have to say. The good news is: Sophie-Anne does have helpful knowledge of Maenads. The bad news is: Sophie-Anne's written as a narcissistic bitch, so she insists in having Bill hang around her indoor pool in his swimwear -- for no apparent reason, other than to drag out the story and keep Bill on the sidelines for a whole episode. Wood was good fun as the spoiled royal, which gave these scenes a certain appeal, but it was still a fairly disappointing debut for a character we'll assumedly be seeing a lot more of next season.At Bon Temps, it's business as usual now the town's overrun by brainwashed locals: headstrong Tara (Rutina Wesley) insists on rescuing her boyfriend Eggs escape Maryann's stronghold, but she's prevented from leaving by her mother Lettie Mae (Adina Porter), cousin Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) and best-friend Sookie (Anna Paquin), for her own protection. Later, Tara successfully convinces her mother to let her go, by offering to forgive her every peccadillo if she does so, and Lafayette is easily relieved of his shotgun with a simple trick by Lettie Mae, who leaves him cowering on the porch at gunpoint -- clearly suffering from post-traumatic disorder after his dungeon encounter with Eric earlier this season. Of course, it inevitably ends with Tara brainwashed again, making you wonder what the narrative point of her rescue and rehabilitation was. One step forward, two steps back.
Across town, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), Andy (Chris Bauer) and Sam (Sam Trammell) debate their next move at Merlotte's. Jason and Andy agree to put aside their differences for the good of their town and head to the Sheriff's office to stock up on weapons. It wasn't a great storyline, but I had fun watching this mismatched pair, and hearing Jason's thoughts on Sam's shape-shifting abilities were hilarious – has he ever had sex with a dog while a dog himself, or eaten an egg he laid while he was a chicken! The interplay and dialogue rescued what was a pretty dumb subplot.
Sam himself has to take care of Arlene's starving children, Lisa and Coby, before travelling to Fangtasia to ask Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) for help defeating Maryann – and I had to wonder if the fact children aren't affected by Maryann's abilities will prove useful in next week's finale, as they're assumedly too innocent to be corrupted.
Mostly, "Frenzy" was an episode that existed to deliver information necessary to defeat Maryann and move a few pieces on the board, while hiding its exposition in a plot that didn't really progress much beyond last week's events. According to Her Royal Fangness then, Maryann's an ancient being who's only immortal because she has such unwavering faith in that fact (no, I didn't buy that bit either), but she's susceptible to attack at the moment she succeeds in offering a supernatural sacrifice to her God. It's revealed to be an obsession of all Maenads to try and relinquish their immortality this way, although they're considered laughable creatures by the rest of supernatural society because Dionysis, their exalted bull-headed God, has never been successfully summoned.
A few other titbits to chew on: Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Hoyt (Jim Parrack) are again underserved, with a very brief scene that finds Hoyt possibly ending their relationship because Jessica attacked his brainwashed mother; Lafayette confides in Sookie that as a result of ingesting Eric's blood to cure his leg injury, he's likewise been having erotic dreams of the vampire he hates; and Eric takes great pleasure in reminding Bill that he similarly gave Sookie his own blood shortly after meeting her -- prompting the intriguing notion that Sookie's love for Bill is little more than a biochemical con. A "drug"-induced infatuation. Judging from Bill's reaction, he's probably been trying to ignore the fact it's even possible Sookie's been "blood charmed" and has instead found true love with a human girl...
It was also interesting to see Bill get some leverage over bullying Eric at last, by threatening to tell their monarch about the fact he's using humans to sell V-blood, unless he backs off from Sookie. How did Bill know about that, though? And Eric demonstrates a new ability vampires have: he can fly! I'm assuming this is an ability that develops in older vamps, though, as Bill needed to fly Anubis Airways inside a coffin to get to Dallas earlier this season. So, is flying a fun new quirk for the show, or will the writers come to regret giving Eric and other antediluvian vamps a Superman complex? It certainly seems that True Blood will have to be careful not to make vampires too powerful, as that's often detrimental to any sense of their personal danger.Overall, I can't disguise my disappointment with "Frenzy", particularly considering it's the penultimate episode of a great season that possibly hit a premature crescendo when that suicide-bomber blew up Godric's apartment. How better would that have been as a season finale, making us wait to see who survived? I guess we'll see how well the finale erases the past few weeks of noticeably stupid developments, but it's a finale where the events feel largely predictable going in, although I'm hoping there are still some surprises and twists in store for us. And, seriously, I hope they have a good explanation for why Eggs (Mehcad Brooks) and Tara are seen building a nest with a giant egg inside in the final scene – as that's potentially a very, very stupid thing indeed.
30 August 2009
HBO, 10pm
written by: Alan Ball directed by: Daniel Minahan starring: Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse), Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton), Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse), Rutina Wesley (Tara Thornton), Michelle Forbes (Maryann), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica Hamby), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette), Carrie Preston (Arlene Fowler), Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman), Mehcad Brooks (Eggs), Jim Parrack (Hoyt Fortenberry), Chris Bauer (Andy Bellefleur), Adina Porter (Lettie Mae Thornton), Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur), Patricia Bethune (Jane Bodehouse) & Dale Raoul (Maxine Fortenberry)
