[SPOILERS] This episode was as fragmented and scattergun as earlier episodes have been (like an explosion of buckshot to the face), but there was a pleasing amount of time focused on season 3's more compelling ideas (Sookie's true nature, Edgington's tyranny) and that helped enormously. Plus, "Everything Is Broken" contained one of True Blood's most hilarious and provocative endings of recent memory...To recap: Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) grew even closer to Jesus (Kevin Alejandro), shortly before his runaway mother Ruby (Alfre Woodard) was taken back to her nursing home; Hoyt (Jim Parrack) went on a date with diminutive Summer (Melissa Rauch) but later admitted she's just a rebound relationship to Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll); Sookie (Anna Paquin) went to comfort her frightened cousin Hadley, realizing that her young nephew Hunter is a telepath like her; a sleeping Bill (Stephen Moyer) was transported to the effervescent meadowland of Sookie's people while he slept, assumedly because he drank so much of her blood; Jason (Ryan Kwanten) tried to protect Crystal (Lindsay Pulsipher) from her fuming father, who mistakenly believes Jason has kidnapped his daughter; Tara (Rutina Wesley) attended a support group for raped women following her ordeal with psycho vampire Franklin (James Frain), who returned to Merlotte's to torment her again; Tommy (Marshall Allman) annoyed the neighbours with a late-night sex romp, before upsetting Arlene (Carrie Preston) by stealing a tip; and Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) was interviewed by Nan Flanagan (Jessica Tuck) on behalf of the vampire "authority", about his insistence Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare) is a threat to mankind, then later received off the record permission to kill the vampire king who slaughtered his family...
Once again, the majority of storylines are difficult to critique in isolation because True Blood's like a stream-of-consciousness soap-like novel -- and each episode is just a chapter. I'm mildly intrigued about what Crystal's deal is, but the character has quickly become exasperating -- which is intentional, but I'd have preferred a more calming tone because the rest of the season's subplots are also very hectic. Most disappointingly, the allure isn't because you care about Jason/Crystal as a couple but because the story's always teasing us about what Crystal's family are (they can escape handcuffs, but not rope...)
Lafayette's romance with Jesus is a rare moment of no-frills human connection, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere now, and I'm at a loss to explain the point of Ruby. Fresh from appearing on her son's doorstep in an agitated state, she's already being sent back to her nursing home and doesn't seem concerned. Hopefully the Ruby, Lafayette and Jesus situation will become clearer in the remaining episodes, because right now it screams of the writers giving actors something to do as a way of killing time. Something to cut to, while the audience to catch their breath.
What worked brilliantly was shifting the focus onto Eric in relation to Edgington's threat, away from Bill and Sookie. Eric has more of a reason to want Edgington dead, and is generally a more compelling character with depths yet to explore. We also gained some overdue insight into the notion of a secretive "vampire authority", even if they appear to be the cliché of shadowy elders watching events via webcam and sending Nan Flanagan out into the world as their spokesperson. I'm just glad to see True Blood return to the well of vampire subculture and explaining more about their politics, social structure and values. The core idea of a world where vampires are coexisting with humans is what first attracted me to this show, and I'm grateful whenever True Blood returns to suckle at that rich vein.
The mystery over Sookie's nature is becoming slightly tiresome, but it was unexpected seeing Bill able to access the limbo-land Sookie's unconscious mind travelled to in hospital. It shows that this is a more tangible place and not a pure dream-state, although it's clearly on another plane of existence. There's plenty to see and discover here, and I'm excited to learn more, especially now Bill has been told what Sookie is and is poised to tell her. My money's still on some variant of a fairy.
I'm still not interested in Tommy's misbehavior, because there are too many characters being unruly this season, although he's more entertaining when being protective of Jessica. The writers should be pushing for more of a Hoyt/Jessica/Tommy love-triangle, if you ask me.
Finally, the climactic moment was rather marvelous, with Edgington (who's taken to carrying dead lover Talbot's sinewy remains around in a jar) interrupting a live news broadcast by punching a hole through the anchorman's back, and delivering a bloodcurdling declaration for mankind to fear the true face of vampirism he represents, before signing off with a cheery "... now, time for the weather. Tiffany?" Hilarious and disturbing, it also raises the stakes for the season and provided the first worldwide shake-up of the peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires -- which is just what this show needed.
Asides
- It was great to see Franklin again, even if it was only to give him a more definitive and literally explosive send-off, but I wasn't convinced by Tara going to rape counseling. It makes sense, but those early episodes when Tara was being tormented by Franklin were played more for ghoulish laughs than anything we should get upset about. Suddenly being asked to treat Tara's ordeal with utter seriousness makes me feel the writers did a bad job with the tone of Franklin's character.
- I don't like how waitress Holly has been introduced as a character. She was practically a background element last week, but here she was weirdly prominent in the life of Tara (at the rape support group) and giving Arlene advice about terminating her pregnancy. I suspect Holly was raped by Rene, Arlene's murderous ex and father of her child, so she's keen to make sure her rapist's child isn't born. Does that sound feasible?
WRITER: Alexander Woo
DIRECTOR: Scott Winant
GUEST CAST: Kevin Alejandro, Marshall Allman, Chris Bauer, Todd Lowe, Denis O'Hare, Jim Parrack, Carrie Preston, Lindsay Pulsipher, Alexander Skarsgård, Deborah Ann Woll, Alfre Woodard, Kristin Bauer, Lauren Bowles, Jessica Tuck, James Harvey Ward & Melissa Rauch
TRANSMISSION: 15 August 2010 - HBO, 9PM
