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True Blood – Video Recap – Episode 11 (23) “Frenzy” Review

Cyn — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:02:09 +0000

This episode of True Blood seemed to have more mixed reviews than any other of Season 2.
Although Eric’s leering reference to children as “teacup humans” may have been one of the most memorable lines of the season, in the dozens of comments on a number of sites (like EW, for example) the vast majority of True Blood fans had very strong opinions about Evan Rachel Wood’s Sophie-Anne, Vampire Queen of Louisiana.
I’m a fan of Evan’s. She’s still very young and I think she’ll continue to really shine if cast in the right roles. Unfortunately, I don’t think Alan Ball, who wrote episode 11 was objective enough about her ability to pull off the task of portraying the Queen in a convincing fashion. It seemed like stunt casting with ERW neither scary, nor amusing, which whether or not you read the Sookie Stackhouse book from whence she sprang, you would still expect an ancient Vampire Queen to be (amusing, because True Blood is tongue-in-cheek). She was just…annoying. It felt to me like they plopped her down in the middle of the story and we had no build-up, no frame of reference for her or to her and disappointingly, it just did not work at all.
The failure of the scenes with Sophie-Anne and Vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) really dragged down the episode as a whole and without Alexander Skarsgård in a dress and Pam (Kristin Bauer) doing her best deadpan about how thankful she was that she never had kids, we’d be left only with more Sam (Sam Trammell) on the run, more Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) trying to reclaim his rightful place (in his mind, anyway) as a guardian of the law, more crazy, blacked-out-eyed orgiastic Bon Temps residents and Lafayette having another bout of PTSD. Jason (Ryan Kwanten) got off a couple of good lines, though the conversation between him and Andy seemed like it was kind of shoe-horned in just so they could “bond” before going into battle.

It’s a tall order for a show that is hyped as much as True Blood is to always measure up. “Frenzy” fell really short of great, landing somewhere in the vicinity of “meh.”

I still love the show–I’m not that fickle–but I don’t think Alan Ball is the best choice to write the show. His strengths truly lie in guiding it and I hope he continues in that role–and stays out of the writer’s room. Ball is a big reason True Blood is worthy of all the hype so as we close out Season 2 let’s hope he and his team blow our minds like we know they can!

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True Blood – S2xE9 Pt 1 – Hi Def Screen Caps – Sookie A Sucker For Eric – Godric Death Scene

Cyn — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:00:30 +0000

Beautiful scene: Eric & Godric Talk ; Sookie Stays With Godric Till The End (True Blood) (2 x 09 – I Will Rise Up)

All the actors involved, Anna Paquin, Allan Hyde, Alexander Skarsgård–stellar work done by all.
All images property of HBO.

I know this sounds kind of gross but especially after reviewing the scene where Sookie reluctantly (to put it mildly) sucked the silver bullets from Eric’s neck and chest and hearing and seeing that she looked as if she would vomit–why didn’t she? Especially after she learned that Eric would now have the power to know her feelings and whereabouts at all times. She could have definitely stepped away, taken a good look at say, Luke’s severed hand and then quite easily vomited up everything in her stomach–including Eric’s blood. No one digests within a couple minutes–it all would have come back. Then a good rinse with salt water and voila!–Sookie gets the last laugh.

I know, I know, then we couldn’t go into our Season 3 angsty love triangle between Sookie and Bill and Eric but SPOILER!!! (after the screen caps).

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There is a time that Sookie is severely injured with no Bill to donate his blood–just Eric and that could have been the jumping off point for Eric’s hold on her.

This way, though very amusing in Eric’s manipulation of Sookie, she was sort of made to seem like a dummy–which she certainly is not. Anyway, who am I to tell the writers what to write? It was a great episode just the same. The Godric suicide scene is now one of my all-time faves in the series. I’ve watch the entire episode twice and both times wept as soon as Eric broke down and right straight through Godric’s death.

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Update – True Blood – Season 2 – LA Finale Behind The Scenes Set Video! – E2x04 – ‘Shake & Fingerpop’ – USA Today Review

Cyn — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:55:26 +0000

HBO’s “True Blood” Behind the Scenes in Clinton, Louisiana
Thanks to batonrougetravel!

This video gives us a good glimpse of Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), blue eyeshadow and all–and he’s looking mighty fine! Also featured is Anna Paquin (Sookie) and Ryan Kwanten (Jason) in their “work clothes” and makeup.

Added photos:

Photo Credit

True Blood – Episode 2.x04 – Shake and Fingerpop – USA Today Review

“Not that the first three episodes haven’t been great, gory, sexy fantasy fun, or that it hasn’t been a pleasure to see new characters arrive and new stories begin. But with Sunday’s episode, the first this season written by creator Alan Ball, you can just feel the show’s main plots kick into another gear.

That is, by the way, par for the True Blood course: It was around this same time last go-round that Gran died, the event that jump-started the first season. Nothing quite that series-shaking happens Sunday, but major answers do arrive, including some important new information about that heart-coveting monster, as major shifts send the characters off and running in new directions.

For Sookie and her beloved blood-sucker, Bill (the perfectly teamed Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer), that means a trip to Dallas to hunt for a kidnapped vampire sheriff, with Bill’s vamp ward Jessica (an amusingly petulant Deborah Ann Woll) in tow. No, the show hasn’t left the backwoods of Bon Temps. But by taking a big-city sojourn, True Blood can explore a whole new humorous side of its out, loud and proud vampire metaphor, complete with luxury vampire hotels that play vampire porn. (Sample title: Intercourse With a Vampire.)

Happily, the new plot continues to stoke the fire Paquin and Moyer bring to their hot, star-crossed romance while adding a new layer of domestic comedy. Somewhat reluctantly, they’re now raising a teenager — and underneath the vamp-vs.-human overlay is a smart exploration of the accommodations two very different people have to come to when parenting.

Other stories perk along, including one that reunites two terrific actors and characters: Alexander Skarsgard’s Eric and Nelsan Ellis’ Lafayette. Indeed, sparing Lafayette the deadly fate he met in Charlaine Harris’ first book was one of the biggest and smartest departures the show has made.

The only story line stumble so far is Jason’s (Ryan Kwanten) stint with an anti-vampire cult. It has been entertaining, but too much of the humor plays as an overly familiar attack on fundamentalists. If the plot (like the show itself) hasn’t already shot over the top, it’s skimming right along the border, and the writers would be wise to resist the urge to soar higher.

That qualm aside, what we’re seeing this season is a show that has grown confident and comfortable enough to expand its universe while maintaining its tonal control. Almost every comic scene includes the threat of horror, and almost every horrific scene has some small touch of comic relief.

All in all, True Blood is one of TV’s true joys. Drink deep.”

Source: USA Today

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