*****WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*****
Coot, leader of the so called 'fuck you crew.'
Coot, leader of the so called 'fuck you crew.'
After what may have been the most agonising wait in history, my favourite freakshow of blood, sex, drama and hilarity is ba-ack baby! It's funnier and dirtier than ever, and now has wolves of the were variety to go with our beloved posse of vamps and resident bar-owning shifter.
There is a lot going on right off the bat this season, and even with the pretty comprehensive pre-show recap of season 2 those who didn't watch it may find themselves thoroughly at sea. Even before the opening credits roll we're given a glimpse of 6 different storylines, and boy are things sorta fucked up for um, EVERYONE.
In order to cover all these angles the ep moves at an extremely brisk pace, but I think it covered each character and progressed just enough to ensure that things can really kick into gear in episode 2 (which I think is when most of the new main characters will be introduced.) We've seen who napped Bill and figured out what they are, we've seen that Jason and Tara are both suffering in the aftermath of Eggs's death, Jessica is dealing with her first accidental death by draining, Sam is on a hunt for his folks and Sookie is still bossing everyone around.
I will admit that on first viewing this episode left me a teensy bit underwhelmed. BUT...I figure it's because my anticipation was so feverish nothing short of monu-bloody-mental could have satisfied me. I rewatched it, and the positives and things to be seriously excited about crush the couple of negatives that irked me.
The big one is that I found it difficult to feel sorry for the couple of characters that I should have the most sympathy for. I'm looking at you, Tara. The girl just lost the love of her life, yet there's a part of me that can't stop believing that she bought this, and a bunch of other craziness, on herself through sheer stupidity. And, yes, the other one would be Sookie. They had her showing initiative, which is good character-wise and makes sense considering what's at stake. But I really think at some point towards the end of the episode (especially the scene where she and Jessica find Bill's totaled car) they really needed her to drop the attitude and show some vulnerability. I found myself feeling much more sorry for Jason and Jessica living with the regret of what they've both done.
There is a lot going on right off the bat this season, and even with the pretty comprehensive pre-show recap of season 2 those who didn't watch it may find themselves thoroughly at sea. Even before the opening credits roll we're given a glimpse of 6 different storylines, and boy are things sorta fucked up for um, EVERYONE.
In order to cover all these angles the ep moves at an extremely brisk pace, but I think it covered each character and progressed just enough to ensure that things can really kick into gear in episode 2 (which I think is when most of the new main characters will be introduced.) We've seen who napped Bill and figured out what they are, we've seen that Jason and Tara are both suffering in the aftermath of Eggs's death, Jessica is dealing with her first accidental death by draining, Sam is on a hunt for his folks and Sookie is still bossing everyone around.
I will admit that on first viewing this episode left me a teensy bit underwhelmed. BUT...I figure it's because my anticipation was so feverish nothing short of monu-bloody-mental could have satisfied me. I rewatched it, and the positives and things to be seriously excited about crush the couple of negatives that irked me.
The big one is that I found it difficult to feel sorry for the couple of characters that I should have the most sympathy for. I'm looking at you, Tara. The girl just lost the love of her life, yet there's a part of me that can't stop believing that she bought this, and a bunch of other craziness, on herself through sheer stupidity. And, yes, the other one would be Sookie. They had her showing initiative, which is good character-wise and makes sense considering what's at stake. But I really think at some point towards the end of the episode (especially the scene where she and Jessica find Bill's totaled car) they really needed her to drop the attitude and show some vulnerability. I found myself feeling much more sorry for Jason and Jessica living with the regret of what they've both done.
'Get out the car! Help me out! Check for a phone! Do this! Do that!' Sheesh.
Which brings me to the good parts.I'm loving the character development of Jessica and very much looking forward to seeing more of her this season. Her scenes showed her going from desperate to hilarious and Deborah Ann Woll pulled them all off. Her whole 'Fuck! Shit! Fuck! Shit!' freakout was superb. It must have been a good episode for the girl vampires, because Pam was also a standout. I've heard that after 2 seasons being a fairly minor character she's finally going to become a regular, and it's about damn time. Not only does she always have some of the best lines of the episodes she appears in, but I think she has the capacity to act as a really great confidante/loyal underling to Eric and it looks like that's what they'll be doing. Queen Sophie-Anne showed up at Fangtasia, wearing a horrendous outfit and still being mildly annoying. But she was scary too, scary as in I jumped a foot off the couch when she grabbed Eric and popped fang, which is a vast improvement over S2 where she simply came across as a spoiled schoolgirl.
'You're my bitch, Northman!'
However, most of my favourite scenes of the episode involved Bill and his captors. Actually, the scene where he crawled out the car, and then later on when he crawled out the ground were my highlights (and not just because of shirtless Stephen Moyer. And the fact that he has Season 1 hair back.) They had a certain type of old horror movie quality to them, like the rising of zombies from the grave. And he looked pissed. Which is a very good thing, because he became way too harmless and kinda boring in S2.
Well, I don't mind a bit of dirt.
Was also feeling big-time for that lovable imbecile Jason (when he said in that lost little boy voice 'I want to be new Jason' I almost melted into a puddle) and poor puppy dog Hoyt. Wasn't really feeling the Sam finding his family in Arkansas deelio yet, but 'tis early days. What I did feel was that blood-induced Sam/Bill manlove dream, which was undoubtedly extracted by Alan Ball directly from the minds of every female Trubie (and some of the males too.) It was hawwt, but from certain rumours I've heard about Ep. 3 that might be just a teaser...
Sam-'This must be a dream'
Gal Trubies- 'Whaat?! How did those writers get into my dreams?!'
So after the wait, 3.01 is done and dusted. Worth the wait- a resounding yes.
Best bits:
-Jessica freaking out after her dinner kicks the bucket.
-Pam flirting with Sook.
-Nekkid Alex Skarsgard
-Half nekkid Stephen Moyer.
-Eric browbeating the guy on the phone.
-Pam in the kitchen with Lafayette.
-Bill glamouring the old woman.
-Bill being surrounded by wolves (fantastic closing shot, and may I say those wolves are gorgeous creatures!)
Best quotes:
-Coot, leader of the kidnappers: 'Why don't you just call us the fuck you crew?'
-Arlene to Tara: 'I'm sorry you fell in love with a serial killer, but who here hasn't?'
-Andy to Jason: 'Conscience off, dick on, and everything's gonna be alright.'
-Eric to Sookie: 'Bill's stamina not up to snuff?'
-Jessica after finding the car: 'I am a freak of fuckin' nature.'
-Everything Pam said to Lafayette.'Are you pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?'
-Everything said by Sam or Bill in the sex dream. 'Shirt off my back...'. 'Hard water...'. The list goes on.
And I will rate this ep...8/10.
-Jessica freaking out after her dinner kicks the bucket.
-Pam flirting with Sook.
-Nekkid Alex Skarsgard
-Half nekkid Stephen Moyer.
-Eric browbeating the guy on the phone.
-Pam in the kitchen with Lafayette.
-Bill glamouring the old woman.
-Bill being surrounded by wolves (fantastic closing shot, and may I say those wolves are gorgeous creatures!)
Best quotes:-Coot, leader of the kidnappers: 'Why don't you just call us the fuck you crew?'
-Arlene to Tara: 'I'm sorry you fell in love with a serial killer, but who here hasn't?'
-Andy to Jason: 'Conscience off, dick on, and everything's gonna be alright.'
-Eric to Sookie: 'Bill's stamina not up to snuff?'
-Jessica after finding the car: 'I am a freak of fuckin' nature.'
-Everything Pam said to Lafayette.'Are you pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?'
-Everything said by Sam or Bill in the sex dream. 'Shirt off my back...'. 'Hard water...'. The list goes on.
And I will rate this ep...8/10.
