Since this week’s episode, 308 ‘Night on the Sun’, was my equal favourite of the season so far and there are so many things to praise I’m just gonna get right into it!
Opening scene in the hospital: A heartbreaking scene superbly acted by both Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, Stephen especially who has been allowed a much wider range this season and has had many standout moments. Great dialogue which, for the most part, avoided being overly melodramatic, short and sharp like a jab to the gut, and some clever symbolism with the removing of the IV and the blood dripping onto the floor representing their separation and the resulting pain.
Russell and Talbot: Is there anybody who doesn’t adore these two? Both are fantastic characters, and their relationship has been a joy to watch, mainly because everything they say to each other is hysterically funny. They certainly kept that up with the multitude of brilliantly snarky lines they had for each other in their constant bickering, but we also saw glimpses of the love Russell has for Talbot, a little bit in the moment in the foyer and of course later when he screamed in anguish and flew off into the night. Which of course leads me to…
Talbot’s death: Obviously I’m not happy at the fact that he was killed off, since I’ve filled many a blog with Talbot-love (not to mention his lines always dominating the best quotes). But they had to set up his staking by getting him into a vulnerable position. Which involved Alex Skarsgard (Eric) removing his shirt slooowwwly and then the two of them almost having vampire man-sex. Which is of course an awesome thing. Yes, Talbot, his debonair silk robes, his amazing dialogue and his epic hissy fits will be sorely missed. But the first act of revenge has been committed, and the Russell/Eric subplot is going to kick into high gear.
Tara talking sense for the first time in ages: Even if you’re Team Bill, you have to admit that some of the things that dude has done (and the secrets he seems to be hiding) aren’t cool. Tara basically telling Sookie that she’s acting like a doormat, or in her words like a dumb bitch from a country song, was basically expressing through the mouth of a character on the show what many people were likely screaming at their TVs lately. To be fair, Sookie did make some good points about her telepathy being just as dangerous as Bill’s vampirism and knowing what’s it’s like to be afraid of what you’re capable of, but I’m just glad Tara seems to be getting back to her Season 1 style aggressiveness.
Lafayette’s mom: She’s been in three scenes with a gap of 6 episodes between appearances, but damn has she been great in all of them. Actors playing characters with mental illness will often just go for an over the top ‘Look at me, I’m kerrr-aaazy!’ approach. Alfre Woodard is playing Ruby-Jean with an incredibly fine balance of paranoia, danger and humour. She said some very interesting stuff too, stuff that, considering many characters on this show are never what they seem to be, may turn out to be not so crazy after all.
Sookie and Alcide: Just…awwww. They both fell in love with people (ok, a vamp and a were) that have made their lives messy, they wish they could have fallen in love with each other first, they share a big tight hug in the sunlight… awwww! I’m so glad they’ve made Joe Manganiello/Alcide a regular for season four cos he rocks, and these two have excellent chemistry. Speaking of…
Jessica/Bill scenes: So. Freakin’. Awesome. And waaaay overdue. I’ve been hanging out for some maker/child bonding scenes between them since, like, the beginning of last season. Now we get three of them in one episode and they were all amazing! First scene when Bill comes home was a great little story in itself: she unusually showed affection for him, he admits his failings as a maker and tries to protect her by forcing her to fend for herself, then she shows a mixture of both her childlike helplessness and inherent loyalty to him by refusing, and they eventually turn to each other for comfort. Another couple of thumbs up for Mr Moyer, and Deborah Ann Woll (who I believe is the female equivalent of Alex Skarsgard in that I think her role on this show will springboard her to an amazing movie career) was also great, and this was a perfect example of having characters go through a gamut of stages and emotions in a single scene. And fast-forward, running up the walls fight training was very cool visually, and also led to another bonding scene. They’re both in the same boat of being in love with people who are probably better off without them, and I have a feeling their uniting in misery will provide some more good scenes soon.
Final ten minutes of non-stop action: And that was action of all kinds. This was all just fast paced, exciting, cleverly edited stuff. Debbie and a couple of wolf friends storm chez Stackhouse, and a whole lot of ass kicking ensued. The two gals, both strong and full of adrenaline from huge amounts of V, have a killer fight scene in the upstairs bedroom. I ain’t talking flimsy little girl slaps, this was a hardcore, scrappy affair, and I heard the actresses did most of it without stunt doubles which is pretty awesome. And then downstairs, my new favourite duo of Bill and Jess tag team the wolf cronies and are doing a good job of it until Russell shows up. He takes a bite out of Jess, throws her to Gus, and then burns Bill’s face with his silver spur and kicks the crap out of him. He’s ironically saved from an even worse beating and probably capture or death by Eric, whose staking of Talbot causes Russell to cease his smackdown and fly outta there. Will these two reluctantly unite to attempt to defeat Russell? I hope so.
For the first time in frickin ages we get an ending that’s not a super downer. Jess’s training from daddy Bill clearly paid off as out in the woods she’s feeding on Gus like a cheetah mauling a gazelle, and Bill and Sookie have the fastest make up ever and are screwing like mad amidst the debris of the bedroom floor. I’m not going to bitch about how this totally nullifies the break-up scene, that the writers aren’t biting the bullet and breaking them up for real, and whatever else it is that whiners on message boards are whining about. People, this show is (usually) pretty unpredictable, just because something happened in this episode doesn’t necessarily mean everything will be sunshine and lollipops for these two forever, probably not even for the rest of this season. And sorry Bill/Sookie haters, I don’t think you’ll ever be fully satisfied. Alan Ball likes the Bill character, so he’s not disappearing into the ether like in the books, and since this show is pretty much a soap opera (albeit a bloody, fucked-up one) there’s likely to be that one couple that’s constantly on and off for the duration of the show. And to go back to my original point, the break-up scene to me didn’t suddenly become less well written or well acted due to a later event.
Like I said, this was my equal favourite of the season so far. Which means it will have to match the rating of my other fave, which means it’s a…
10/10.
