Once Upon a Time: Season 1, Episode 2- The Thing You Love Most

 "Since when were apples a threat?"

This second episode makes it increasingly fascinating where all this is going, as our protagonist Emma digs her investigative claws further into Storybrooke, not so much discouraged but encouraged by Regina's constant harassment, while the fairytale scenes add a little depth and detail to the backstory. Is this going to be the format?

Regina seems perturbed to see the Storybrooke clock move, and time start to move forward. Does this make her suspect who Emma may be? Certainly the constant framings and harassment, which begin to stretch even the patience of sheriff Christian Grey (using Jamie Dornan's native Norn Iron tones) indicate she's beginning to be somewhat concerned, and that's before we get to the fascinating final scene with the enigmatic and charismatic Mr Gold- who seems to enjoy exactly the power and prestige that Rumpelstiltskin was promised in the fascinating fairytale scenes.

There's a constant dance between Emma, Regina and Henry, but is Emma starting to believe? It's ambiguous at this point, but I suspect her investigative nature can't help but add to her suspicions. Not only this, but does she have some sort of power to detect lies?

The flashback scenes are more the focus for this episode, though, as we see the steps the Evil Queen had to take in order to acquire the curse in the first place. So we meet Maleficent, and Rumpelstiltskin tells the Queen the true cost of the curse, which will in any case leave her forever "empty"- she must kill the person she loves most. And that's her doddery old man, who gets a scene to establish he's an awfully nice old chap before the Evil Queen stabs him brutally with her knife. Lovely. Now we know just how ruthless she can be- presumably in both realities.

This is clever, and the characters are likeable. There's perhaps a lack of sparkle in the dialogue, but I'm enjoying this.

True Blood: Thank You

"I wouldn't let you go down on me for a billion dollars!"

So we reach the final episode, and the main story between Sookie and Bill finishes predictably, with no surprises, but beautifully written and shot, as over a large proportion of screen time they come to an understanding and Sookie ends up lovingly killing him- although not, in the end, giving up her fairy powers. This leaves limited room for everyone else, yes, and some very important characters (Lafayette, Sam) are reduced to cameos, but it's the right decision.

Bill also gets to give Jessica away in a hurriedly arranged marriage to Hoyt, a beautiful extended sequence even if there is the niggling sense of an awful lot of unchallenged patriarchal assumptions going on there. Also, Eric kills Gus, and he and Pam end up as the billionaire owners of New Blood and the King and queen of vampiredom, which is nice. And Sarah ends up with a miserable but more-or-less deserved fate, pretty much as the prostitute Pam always intended her to be.

It's also nice to see Sookie advising Jason to actually sleep with Bridgette and get together with her, and the slow rekindling of the friendship between Jason and Hoyt. And it's especially lovely that Andy, who will inherit Bill's estate, agrees to perpetually rent the house to Jessica and Hoyt for a peppercorn rent.

We fast forward at the end to a few years later, and a happy community. Jason and Bridgette have children and Sookie is pregnant by a man whose face we don't see- that's the point; he isn't special. It's the perfect ending to an unexpectedly perfect final season.

True Blood: May Be the Last Time

"You're gonna die tonight."

Death stalks this episode. Bill is dying, obviously, but Sarah Newlin is being pursued by those who wish her dead, and hallucinating about her imminent death. And the episode begins with her sister Amber, after a change of heart about "Noomi", dying at Eric's hands after revealing that Sarah is the cure for Hep V. Gus isn't happy.

Meanwhile, Andy and Holly desperately search for their missing children, who may also soon be killed. But no; Violet has taken them to a well-equipped boudoir where they can have sex amongst crops, nipple clamps and assorted dildos. It really is awfully thoughtful of her. The two teens are, needless to say, overwhelmed.

Arlene, meanwhile, having had his blood, is having erotic dreams about sex concluding with sex on the pool table. Sarah seems safe for now as, in a nice bit of satire, Gus doesn't want to use her synthesised blood to find a cure for Hep V, but to create a product that people need to take for the rest of their lives. It's all about profit. And Eric has a 49% stake.

We get a sweet flashback from 1855; Bill is told by his dying father to marry Caroline, the girl next door whom he has never met, in order to acquire her land so his mother will not starve. Such was life. But their initial meeting is sweet, and they end up finding happiness. For a while. That's all we can hope for in this transitory life.

Sookie deals with an unhelpful cameo appearance by Ritger Hauer as Niall as Sam has a nice chat with Arlene about Nicole's ultimatum. And, rather sweetly, Keith wants to be with Arlene even though she's Hep V positive and they can't have sex. 

We and with Adilyn and Wade tied up and in danger, while Sookie and Bill make love for the first time in ages. Extraordinary, as always this season.

True Blood: Karma

"There are some woodpeckers moving into my frontal lobe..."

It's the day after the party and Alcide is still dead, the world is still a hard place and Bill has Hep V. It's quite the hangover.

The direction is superb from the start as Eric and Pam fall into the hands of the Yakuza and the mysterious "Gus". Meanwhile Lafayette and Lettie Mae go on a V trip to find Tara, Bill realises that, without a Vampire Rights Act, he has no rights to bequeath his property as he wishes- a clear reference to the injustice of a situation (true in many US states in 2014) where gay couples could not marry. Still, at least he gets to kill a symbolic homophobe.

And Violet, knowing that Jason is cheating on her with Jessica, is desperate to please him, changing her tune fast as she says that she is his and dresses up to give him a loving blow job. You feel desperately sorry for her, blunt and brutal though she is. But it isn't enough, and when Jasin goes running again to Jessica she is howling with rage and despair. It's over.

Gus has an interesting chat with Eric and Pam, albeit one conducted under very formal circumstances; the Yakuza Corporation has lost face with the tainting of Tru Blood. They, like Eric, want Sarah dead and there is, for the moment, a confluence of interests. 

Elsewhere, Andy goes hilariously mad at finding Wafe in bed with Adilyn, and the shouting match between him and Holly is no less funny, the whole thing being both written and played for comic relief. And Nicole announces that she's had enough of Bon Temps and she's taking her pregnant self off home; is Sam coming? It's quite the ultimatum.

The most heartbreaking moment is when Sookie realises that, not only is Bill irrevocably dying with Hep V, but he got it from her. Ouch. No wonder the two of them are growing close once again.

Amber and her annoying sister Sarah aren't getting on well at all. That is, until it turns out that Sarah is the cute firHeo V and Amber isn't going to die. This is, to put it mildly, something of a turning point for the season.

We end with Sookie and Jessica crying over Bill's illness, but not before Violet finds Adilyn and Wade and takes them away. What is she planning?

Another superb episode, needless to say.

True Blood: Lost Cause

"I have been your sex slave for fifteen years, Eric Northman, and we ain't never had sex!"

It's the aftermath of the big battle, and there's a lot of healing to be done, especially for the bereaved Sookie. This being Bon Temps, it's decided (by Lafayette, mostly) that the solution to this is a party at Sookie's. A good time is had by all, and it's left to Nicole, an outsider, to point out how weird this is, and what awaits place Bon Temps has become.

Eric and Pam meet Sarah Newlin's estranged vampire sister, Amber, who has Hep V. She wants Sarah dead too, which usual ful. But everyone else is partying, except Bull who stands outside experiencing flashbacks from the Civil War. We now learn of his scepticism towards the cause of "freedom" to own other human beings, although of course he must be shown to have such views, or he would lose our sympathies. Interestingly, it is this scene that gives the episode its title as Bill knows the war is futile.

There are lots of little character moments; Andy is finally able to forgive Jessica for what she did. Indeed, the wounds and even the distinction between human and wan pure in Bon Temps appear to be slowly withering away. Good. It's a season about subtle shifts, character development and, I think it's clear by now, no Big Bad. It's refreshing.

There are deeply touching moments; Lettue Mar makes a dignified tribute to Tara. Andy makes a sweet proposal to Holly- and she says yes. There is death, but life goes on. Sookie and Arlene have a lovely long meaningful chat about losing your man. And Jessica sees James and Lafayette, who've grown increasingly close, fucking... and Lafayette stands his ground, insisting that Jessica has been neglecting him and that he deserves as much happiness as straight, white people! As for Jessica, she still has Jason, Violet or no Violet.

Meanwhile, Eric and Pam learn that Sarah Newlin'sparents are truly evil; they're at a fundraiser for Ted Cruz and the far right Republican Party. Fortunately they're all massacred by the Yakuza; things could have got nasty. 

The party offends unpleasantly, as Lettie Mae stabs Willa, desperate for her blood. And the episode ends with Eric finding Sarah... and Bill realising he's infected with Hep V.

Another brilliant episode, then, typical of the season. But I'm not sure what the present day "lost cause" was intended to be.

True Blood: Death Is Not the End

"Please don't turn into a rat!"

If the episode wasn't already excellent enough, it ends with a top tune from Bob Dylan that I admittedly know best from the cover by Nick Cave and P.J. Harvey. But I digress. This is another superb episode of excellent, character-based writing and all centred around the devastating effect of a death- in this case Alcide's- in a very different way from the superficially similar use of Terry's death last season.

News travels. To a trailer park in Jackson, Mississippi, as a priapic father discovers he has lost a son. To an oil rig just off Anchorage, Alaska as Aston discovers he's lost a mother- and it's a shock to see Hoyt again. Both are to converge on Louisiana, as are Eric and Pam; Eric wants Sarah Newlin dead, but first there is the matter of Willa, his neglected progeny.

Cue a flashback, as the Magister (remember him?) meets Eric and Pam as they arrive in Shreveport for Eric, the rebel, to be made sheriff of Area 51 as punishment; this is an interesting retconning of the character which reconciles the Eric of the first season with the much more rebellious character he has become. Also fascinating is that the small business they initially ran was a video store with a poem section. Most fascinating of all is Ginger who, before her mind was destroyed by regular glamouring, was a highly intelligent postgrad student specialising in vampire lure. We see her choose her life, in a way, but it's impossible to argue that she knew what she was in for, and we mustn't forget that she's been horribly abused over the seasons. Her life, once full of potential, has been wasted. Much like Alcide's.

Sookie uncovers traumatic memories from Holly, revealing that the Hep V vampires are holding Arlene and the other hostages at- where else?- Fangtasia. Sam, we discover, is rather keen to rescue Nicole and the baby. No one can mourn properly while other friends are in danger. 

There's a big raid, exciting to watch, and all the people we care about are rescued from the Hep B vampires with the help of Bill- and Pam and Eric. Eric tells Sookie that he has a month left, and has been spending the time he has travelling. Death haunts everything in this episode; indeed, this season. Arlene nearly dying, and seeing the spirit of Terry as she nearly goes, is deeply moving even to an atheist like myself.

Sam is well and truly out as a shapechanger; Vince is killed; it seems the forces of bigotry and mob rule are in retreat for now. We are left to reflect on yet another extraordinary piece of television.

 

True Blood: Fire in the Hole

"I'm as big a fan of the French vagina as you are, Eric"

Another episode of superb characterisation, delightfully leisurely pace and beautiful writing here in what is shaping up to be an unexpectedly excellent season. We begin with Sarah Newlin, having swapped her addiction to fundamentalist Christianity to some faux-Hindu hippy "guru" out in LA.

Eric, meanwhile, knows he's dying and has become apathetic. What has he to live for? Cue a retcon and a flashback to the Rhone Valley in 1986, where we learn about Sylvie, a previously unmentioned human love of his. The Authority, and Nan Flanagan, end up killing her and arresting Eric and Pam; that crowbars in a good reason for him to retrospectively hate the Authority. 

Elsewhere, Bill no longer feels when Sookie is in danger after his transfusion. And relationships are shifting; Violet can't give Jason the family life he wants, and James connects far more with fellow druggie Lafayette than he does with the distant Jessica. Bill, meanwhile, has a flashback of his family in 1862, on the eve of war. All this is fascinating.

We end, though, with violence, chaos, Alcide's shocking death, and the urge for one more episode...

True Blood: I Found You

"Don't you try that NRA hillbilly shit on me!"

One episode later and, after an initially worrying first episode, it all looks so different. Can it be that True Blood has found its mojo again? This is all I wanted: character-driven storylines where character serves plot, not vice versa; bloody good writing and acting; and actually being about something, in this case with the return of Eric turning Hep B into a proper, functioning AIDS metaphor.

The whole thing is just a superb script, superbly shot, slowing down to deal with the interiority of its characters; what True Blood has always done best. We begin with a dream sequence in which Jason has sex with Eric (Eric is the bottom!) while Sam is a good mayor and all the characters we know and love are brilliant in handling a crisis which personally affects them as much as anyone. People can be magnificent. And then we have Vince, the epitome of small-minded bigotry, which is depressingly effective at whipping up a mob. People are great as individuals; as a group, less so. Consider 52% of my own country, for example.

Arlene, Holly and the pregnant Nicole are also heroic, in captivity and waiting to die as food but not giving up. Bon Temps is cut off but its population is good in an apocalypse.

We get a disturbing sense of the town's future of the neighbouring town of Saint Alice, its population entirely dead, and this made personal for us through the diary of an obvious parallel for Sookie. It's the apocalypse, but this is used as a jumping off point for character development. 

The episode is triumphant, and the end, with Pam finding Eric in France, promises even more...

True Blood: Jesus Gonna Be Here

"Your God and my God can get a hotel room and have a circle jerk for all I care - I'll be in hell, having a three way with the devil."

Meh. I know I started last season with a palpable lack of enthusiasm but felt things improved towards the end, but this feels worth. It feels like a show trapped in its own mythology, about nothing other than itself, plodding along with nothing to say about the world. Bon Temps is full of humans and vampires together bonded against Hep vampires and... that's it. There's a cool scene with Pam, and James has an interesting and druggy chat with Lafayette. Oh, and Tara dies.

Obviously Tara will be back, and soon. That would be a cheap way to kill a major character, just to liven up a dismaying my lacklustre season opener but... well, what else is there? Sookie and Alcide's relationship is fraying. Jessica is starting to connect, against the odds, with Adilyn, whom she is sworn to protect. Pam is in Marrakech hunting for Eric, who isn't in an episode for the first time in ages.

There's an obvious new villain in Vince, an annoying bigot. Jason finally gets to have sex with Vioket by acting domestic baby, as she's always secretly wanted him to. Lettie Mae and the Reverend Daniels seem to be more central characters, which is interesting. And Sookie's concluding speech is brilliant. But... I hope the season improves.

True Blood: Life Matters

"I fucked your progeny."

It's a brave and oh-so-right decision to dedicate and structure this episode around Terry's funeral, punctuated by the various poignant speeches and the flashbacks illustrating Terry's life, his effect on the community and peoples' effect on him. For a fantasy series it's a very grounded episode about everyday life and everyday tragedy. Every life matters, and every death hurts.

Before all that, Warlow isn't actually dead and Bill is still acting like a twat. But the funeral is the main event, and it is wonderful. 

In other plot threads we have Overlark's fitting death as Eric rampages his revenge in ways that will make a man wince, followed by Bill's coup de grace. And Bill gets his great Christ moment, letting all our favourite vampires eat his blood and not die from the sunlight as his visions foretold they would. Sudden death, and sudden life, both unexpected, juxtaposed. 

All our favourite vampires, that is, except Steve Newlin. Bye Steve.

Jason gets to chase Sarah for the final showdown, heroically refusing to kill her like the good bloke he is. Our vampires live, escape and rejoice... but plenty of infected True Blood is out there. This is ominous...

Wow. What a beautiful piece of telly.  Even as underwhelming a season of this can produce genius like this. I love True Blood.

True Blood: Dead Meat

"Did you just have sex with him?"

"I did."

"How was it?"

"Oozy, but productive."

Alcide's position as packmaster isn't fated to last; no surprise there. His plot thread, and Sam's, is vaguely dull. But the main plots of Warlow and the newly Nazified Sarah have become vaguely interesting of late. It throws up entertaining tangents like Jason, who always has been submissive to women in a kinky way, becoming "owned forever" by a very dominant vampire, Violet, who is going to make him beg to fuck her. This will be interesting, and is an example of how good character writing can save even a lesser season such as this one.

In parallel, Warlow only agrees to help Sookie save her friends if she is his forever, but this feels far creepier. Creepier still is our Dr Mengele making Pam have sex with him in return for better conditions. This is rape, and Mengele is sooo going to regret it. We have w three example hierarchy of twisted sex right there- consensual kinkiness, hints of an abusive nature, and outright rape.

Elsewhere, Arlene finds out that Terry has left her a millionaire, which is nice. Steve Newlin is a dirty, cowardly snitch. And Sam and Sookie meet, and hug, for the first time in ages. Sarah's covering-up of Truman's death leads, inevitably, to a gruesomely entertaining murder; she's crossed a line here and you just know she won't survive the season.

But we end with Warlow apparently dead. Has Eric killed him? This is a brilliant episode. Is the season coming good at the very end?

True Blood: Hopeless

"You're no better than humans with your absurd magical thinking. There is no Lilith!"

Predictably, Sookie saves everyone with her mysterious powers before the Authority arrive to take custody of Edhington, who is seemingly at their mercy. Fatally, they spend most of the episode underestimating him while he mocks their religious certainties.

Hoyt, still desperate to get Jessica back, is getting quite kinkily submissive, while Sam is at Luna's bedside; it seems she isn't dead but they want revenge. And we see more of Lafayette's delightfully twisted relationship with his mother. And Sookie hears how it was a vampire that killed her parents, leading Jason to introduce her to his new-found fairy mates.

Bill and Eric are, it seemed, now heroes to the Authority, their misdemeanours forgotten. Edgington is to be executed. But we know by now that Russell is bound to end up on top and, sure enough, the villainous vampire takes full advantage of an unexpected Sanguinistas coup against Roman from within the highest ranks of the Authority...

This is where the unexpected twists start. Yes, this is the season where True Blood perhaps begins to become over-reliant on its own past mythology. But it's excellence goes on and on. 

True Blood: We'll Meet Again

"The man who wrote [the Vampire Bible] was high the whole time.."

At last Pam reluctantly steps up to be a maker/mother to Tara, in her usual comically curmudgeonly fashion- it's been obvious that she would for some time. Meanwhile, Bill and Eric are still loose, albeit under pressure to find Russell Edgington, while Nora is still being tortured.

Sookie finally confesses to Jason about Tara- and killing Debbie; thankfully he's quite sensible, and Andy is amenable to a little clamouring from Jessica. Oddly enough, Jason is actually quite a good cop. Lafayette starts to explore his powers as a magician while Patrick and Terry head to South Dakota to track down the arson suspect, their former comrade who was with them when they shot civilians in Iraq.

I love seeing Sookie getting pissed on vodka; Anna Paquin plays this brilliantly. Andy and Jason are also partying, courtesy of a corrupt judge, except this is an invisible club- run by fairies. And Andy sees and shags Maurella again! Isn't he supposed to be going steady with Holly? Tsk.

There's more bad news for Sam as his shifter friends are murdered, while Terry and Patrick find themselves at gunpoint. A drinker Sookie has a bit of a fumble with Alcide, with Bill and Eric watching. But it's Jason, in the club, who gets the big revelation: his and Sookie's parents were murdersd by a vampire...

The emotional heart of it all, though, is when Eric, on the run, lovingly releases Pam to protect her, approving of the fact that she is now maker to Tara, his "granddaughter". These are surprisingly moving scenes.

More excellent stuff. I'm enjoying this.. 

True Blood: Turn! Turn! Turn!

"There is dirt in my bra!"

So Tara's dead. Actually dead. There's absolutely no way that a distraught Sookie and Lafayette, in this season opener to a vampire-based series, can possibly save... oh. Cool.

Meanwhile Eric and Bill are both in trouble with the Authority, and duly caught by Nora, Eric's "sister" and also progeny of Godric. I suppose that, technically, their constant shagging of each other isn't actually incest...

Steve Newlin is indeed a vampire, which is a huge surprise, and a "gay vampire-American", which isn't. Nor is it particularly surprising that he has a thing for Jason, although unfortunately "the dog don't bite that way". Pam spends the whole episode being awesome.

Meanwhile Sam, Luna and Emma all have to leave as they're being pursued for the death of Matcus but, alas, it's too late. Andy has an embarrassing Facebook incident. And Alcide takes time to tell Sookie, at an inconvenient moment, that Russell Edgington is free. You can certainly tell that this is a season opener; stuff is happening and being set up all over the place.

In yet another plot thread, Terry's old sergeant explains that, of their whole unit, all of them have had house fires. Is the remaining veteran an arsonist? My bet's on something more supernatural. It seems Terry has a dark secret from Iraq. Is this what "Rene" was alluding to?

Jessica is living the party lifestyle without Bill- I love her rendition of "Cherry Bomb"- but her and Jason's relationship is very uncertain. A lot is in flux as we end this excellent episode with Tara's resurrection as a vampire...