Topic: True Blood Season 3 Spoilers and debate thread.

[Neomod]

Ahhhhh, that makes more sense.

[Ja'moke]

I've still got my fingers crossed for a Tara death.

[surreal]

I'm suspecting Hoyte (or however you spell it) for a death which will push Jessic over the edge - he's not in the books anyway so I understand...

[NoSleep]

He's in the first book, at least (just began trying to read it, again). Whereas in the TV series it's Rene that goes to the Rattrays for some weed and hears of their run-in with Sookie & Bill, it's Hoyt that has this role (and I guess he has further appearances down the line).
Lafayette never made it past the 2nd book, and Tara first appeared in the 2nd book.
I don't think you can rely on the books for anything other than the main plot for a series, it would seem.

[Gulftastic]

Book spoilers, book spoilers!!

[Mister Six]

I'm suspecting Hoyte (or however you spell it) for a death which will push Jessic over the edge - he's not in the books anyway so I understand...

I hope not, because the Hoyt/Jessica pairing is one of the most endearing sweet spots in the show, and because it would be a tacky, obvious thing to do. Pushing her over the edge and possibly doing a redemptive thing isn't as interesting as seeing a new vampire trying to come to terms with her supernatural urges.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I really enjoyed that, but I guess I'm in the minority. Hoyt and Jessica resolving everything, Sam finally doing something other than moping around, and Tara's development in the episode actually lead somewhere. More of Russell, Sookie and Bill's fresh start fantasy, and that ending made it a lot of fun all in all.

I do agree that there are too many characters, Sam's Brother, Arlene (but not Terry), Sam and Tara could happily be dispatched without affecting the show, and even Jason's been on dodgy territory at points. The writers use him best as a comic figure, but there's not been enough of that this year, and the series has suffered for it. And I feel that to keep it fresh they need to move on from Bon Tempts. Unless there's a reason as to why so much crazy shit happens there.

Predictions for the final episode: The whole Eric/Russell thing will be resolved quickly, with both living, but then Russell will be killed off thirty minutes in to the episode. Then we'll have a dull and annoying second half which will set up season 4. It's not what I want to happen, but I'm preparing myself for it.

[Mister Six]

I dunno - as annoying as Arlene is, it's nice to have a character who isn't in some way connected with the supernatural (until she ends up giving birth to an angel or some mad fucking shit like that) and I like her relationship with Terry. They can stay. But Tara needs to go, or at least duck into the background with Sam. In season two, their divergence from the books seemed like a strength. After a season of stunted, misshapen character arcs I'm starting to think otherwise.

Still, I hope they don't follow the books too slavishly because - as with a lot of female-written supernatural drama, it seems - it descends into the author's masturbatory fantasies, with Sookie hooking up with an ever-rotating series of undead/shapeshifting hotties. I don't think it ever quite reaches Anita Blake levels, though.

[Famous Mortimer]

I’d just forgotten until the talk of Hoyt and Jessica…Hoyt’s mother. I can’t believe they’ve gone back to that well- you could argue, if you were being very generous to series 2, that she was necessary for the push to Hoyt becoming a man. But to bring her back for this, after absolutely no mention throughout the entire series? Thumbs down.

Agreed on the Hoyt / Jessica couple being a sweet thing and worthy of keeping. There’s no need to split them up or kill them or anything like that, just a little blast of sugar amidst the blood and gore of the rest of the show.

The AV Club did a cool article recently on “showblockers” – the exact opposite of “showstoppers” (not well defined, but showblockers are those people who bring otherwise excellent shows grinding to a miserable halt. Top of the pile? Tara. I feel there’s nothing new I can say about her, other than I think her and Sam have about come to the end of their narrative arcs. Bump em to the background, kill them off, I don’t care.

We had a chuckle the other day when Tara walked into Merlotte’s and discussed her shifts. The idea that Sookie and her work there is a joke at best, and that’s why I think it’d be best to get rid of it. Eliminate them, have a new manager next season with mysterious designs on the residents of Bon Temps.

And Small Man Big Horse nails the finale.

[NoSleep]

Predictions for the final episode: The whole Eric/Russell thing will be resolved quickly, with both living, but then Russell will be killed off thirty minutes in to the episode. Then we'll have a dull and annoying second half which will set up season 4. It's not what I want to happen, but I'm preparing myself for it.

This, and various mini-cliffhangers, including something about Maxine Fortenberry's plot against Jessica.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

One thing that's been puzzling me this series: why does Eric seem to periodically[1] have blood dripping from his ears?

1.	Pun intended

[Ja'moke]

I haven't noticed that, I'll keep an eye out.

So, is the finale on tonight or not?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I first noticed it in in episode 7, when he's drinking Hadley's blood in order to learn about Sookie. The queen is also bleeding from her ears in that scene and I think Pam might have been in a later episode, too.

[NoSleep]

One thing that's been puzzling me this series: why does Eric seem to periodically[1] have blood dripping from his ears?

1.	Pun intended

It's when a vampire stays up during daytime (in the dark, of course). They need their sleep like anybody else.

Season finale on the 12th.

[NoSleep]

Messy & confusing finale, but I'll be looking forward to next season.

Didn't get Bill concreting Eric, rather than staking him, followed by the same for Russell. Nor did I understand why Eric hasn't pulled the Rattrays[1] card before now. Or pissing all over the eldest-vampire-wins rule in the last two episodes.

And it turns out I was right to mention Carlos Castaneda with regard to Lafayette's vision the other week; now Jesus reveals himself to be a Brujo (the Mexican term for sorceror used by Casteneda to describe Don Juan in his books).

Bets on Sookie having been spirited away to the Planet of The Fairies?

1.	The couple that beat up Sookie in the first series

[Moribunderast]

Yeah, I spent the majority of that finale confused by character's motivations and questioning the inner-logic of the show as it's been presented thus far. The writing on this show is dodgy in general but this just seemed to lack any cohesion or focus. Surprising, since this episode was penned by Alan Ball. I still enjoyed the episode. True Blood is the modern day Melrose Place, just with more blood and HBO-approved cursing.

[Ja'moke]

Thought that was quite a poor finale really. After a strong start to this season, I think it lost its way a bit, with too many of the side-plots amounting to nothing.

[NoSleep]

At least Russell will be back some time. Where was that place they were concreting him?

[Mister Six]

Thought that was quite a poor finale really. After a strong start to this season, I think it lost its way a bit, with too many of the side-plots amounting to nothing.

Yeah, I'd agree with that. The series just slowly fizzled out the moment Sookie and Tara fled the mansion (despite the odd nutty moment here or there to liven things up). I didn't loathe the last episode because I know True Blood's all about the unsatisfying cliffhanger finale, and at least they were pretty good about portioning up the time so we never lingered for too long. But I can only hope that they're planning a shitload of great payoffs for all the dropped plotlines next year.

What were the leaps of character that people mentioned? Everything made sense to me.

Anyway, the characters:

Sookie: Kind of like the way she's getting a little crazy. She's never been a particularly interesting character for me, but if they keep playing up the fact that the world she's in is sending her a little nuts I could grow to like her.

Bill: Gutted. When he put the hit out on Pam (who was Reuben again?) and buried Eric I kind of hoped he'd be revealed as next season's big bad, a scheming Machiavellian arsehole. But no - he was doing it for twue wuv. Boo. Having him as a proper villain would be far more interesting than as a mopey dumped lover-boy.

Eric: I can't see him doing much next season other than being a love interest for Sookie. Oh! There's Godric Wan Kenobi. What was THAT about?

Alcide: More beefcake. Hopefully he'll kill his evil girlfriend early on and provide some closure on the Nazi werewolf thing, because that plot thread just disappeared for no reason at all.

Fairies: Eh. They better be as awesome as people are saying.

Tara: Gone for good? Good! Let her ride away and live happily ever after.

Sam: No. Just go away. He worked as a love interest in season one and a target for Mary Ann in season two, but this season has shown that he's just not a strong enough character to carry his own story - hence all the revisionism with his dark past.

Jessica/Hoyt and Terry/Arlene: Probably the only characters I'm invested in enough that I wouldn't care if they didn't have a part in the main season's plotline. The stuff with Hoyt's mum is ludicrous but entertaining. I just hope they don't go the easy route of having Jessica kill her or something to drive a wedge between them.

Jason: King of the Were Panthers? Hmm. Hope he doesn't get turned into one. No need for more supernatural people. Could go either way.

Anti-vamp rebellion: This is never going to get the screentime it deserves, even though it's the most interesting idea in the show so far.

Lafayette: Eh. Let's hope that now they've set him up as a witch they go somewhere interesting with it. Likewise Witchy Waitress.

 

My biggest hope for season four is that they provide multiple main storylines that cover all the core characters. Because if this season has shown anything, it's that the show needs a strong focal point. I know the Mary Ann storyline was hated here, but at least it gave the various Bon Temps residents something to do when their individual storylines ran out. Alternatively, they need to lay off some more cast members or switch them to contracts that allow them to be shifted to the background a little.

[Slaaaaabs]

A Dooooom House????

[ozziechef]

Andy Belflour looks like he is going to sample some V too and he's one of my favourite characters.

I agree this series lost it's way a bit but they've set up lots of good stuff for next year, I've been loving some of the make up effects though - real old fashioned stuff!

[Famous Mortimer]

It was pretty bad, even by True Blood standards. My main problem with that episode was that it never really ended - the halfway-through-the-episode season finale we've come to know and love never really happened, and the biggest cliffhanger I could see there was that Hoyt's mum was tooling up. The AVL storyline went nowhere, they left Russell to come back rather than just KILLING HIM, and even though Bill's plan to kill everyone who'd tasted Sookie was foiled by Eric, he still went after the queen at the end...and the were-panthers storyline could have been entirely cut and it wouldn't have made the slightest difference to the show. They tried too much and achieved too little.

I just thought it was weak, unfocused and silly. The only good point is that Tara may finally be gone.

[Famous Mortimer]

After a few days of pondering (and reading other reviews) I wanted to continue sticking the boot in to this series, really.

A short list of the storylines it would have been fair to expect to have been resolved / come to a crescendo this season, but weren't / didn't:
The serial killer's baby
Jesus and Lafayette's relationship, or him becoming a bruja himself
Hoyt's fucking mother
Jason and the people of Hotshot
Werewolf dude
Tara (will she please fuck off forever? You know she'll be back in season 4)
Sheriff Andy and the V
Why Godric melted in the sunlight right away, but Russell was out there for fucking hours and only got singed

I got a bit more angry towards the end of that list, but the thing that really bugged me was the lack of resolution to so many storylines. It felt like any other episode, not a season finale. Seriously, can anyone point to an event and go, "yep, that was the season finale, right there- the moment the show was building to"?

Oh, and Alan Ball apparently did a video after the end of the credits promising that the next season would be great, and would have witches, more vampire politics, etc. etc. in it. When the show creator has to effectively beg people to keep watching his show, you know there's something wrong somewhere.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Godric melted in the sunlight right away, but Russell was out there for fucking hours and only got singed

He drank Sookie's sunblock blood and was only out for a few minutes or so.

[Famous Mortimer]

He drank Sookie's sunblock blood and was only out for a few minutes or so.

He was out there for who-knows-how-long with Eric, then was knocked into a wall, then Eric got dragged in and they sat healing him for X amount of time, then went out again for Russell. Hardly "a few minutes". And yes, I know how silly questioning the internal logic of True Blood is.

[NoSleep]

Jesus and Lafayette's relationship, or him becoming a bruja himself

As the whole Brujo thing seems to be following the Castaneda model (he is taught the art of the brujo by Don Juan) and that took book after book, we can safely say Lafayette's status as a Brujo would amount to not-even-a-novice-indeed-not-even-an-aspirant.

Jason and the people of Hotshot

There was a conclusion, inasmuch as he decided he'd done the right thing (despite fucking up his prospects as a deputy). Jason is going to be some kind of vampire-slaying hero at some point in the future I'd bet (look at how he dealt with Franklin).

Werewolf dude

He's been set up for the next series (as he will be in that). I'd say the unresolved problem of a load of V-head ex-employees of Russell were more of an issue.

Tara (will she please fuck off forever? You know she'll be back in season 4)

I watched the start of Season 1 and Tara was a promising character back then. The writers & directors have fucked with the character and there never seems to be the time to invest in the reasons for some of Tara's behaviour, although that is the general problem with True Blood; too many stories, not enough time.

Sheriff Andy and the V

We know he has an addictive personality, but I wonder if that was merely a "moment" that has passed[1].

Why Godric melted in the sunlight right away, but Russell was out there for fucking hours and only got singed

Aside from Russell drinking Sookie's blood, there is the matter of his regular use of human blood. If you recall, Godric had been refusing to take blood for a sustained period of time before taking his own life. He just vaporised, too; no burning.

I got a bit more angry towards the end of that list, but the thing that really bugged me was the lack of resolution to so many storylines. It felt like any other episode, not a season finale. Seriously, can anyone point to an event and go, "yep, that was the season finale, right there- the moment the show was building to"?

Oh, and Alan Ball apparently did a video after the end of the credits promising that the next season would be great, and would have witches, more vampire politics, etc. etc. in it. When the show creator has to effectively beg people to keep watching his show, you know there's something wrong somewhere.

More time, more episodes per series, and, most importantly, steering away from the books. Or phasing season finales to moments like Russell's TV appearance.

I feel a lot of useful, logical sequences are written & filmed, and then they don't have enough time to include them. I feel True Blood probably works better viewed on DVD, where you can watch two or three episodes in a sitting, or over a couple of days, to get over those "quiet" episodes that tend to occur. It would, retrospectively, be good if Ball could vindicate himself with a director's cut version of the series.

Do I take it the overall response to the end of Series 3 has been similar to our own, with people predicting it would lose the wind from its sails even before they saw it?

1.	has he shown any inclination toward V before that scene?

[Mister Six]

Aside from Russell drinking Sookie's blood, there is the matter of his regular use of human blood. If you recall, Godric had been refusing to take blood for a sustained period of time before taking his own life. He just vaporised, too; no burning.

Godric also said that it wouldn't take long to burn because he was so old.

[NoSleep]

He also said his lack of need for blood was because he was old, so the two might be linked. Not being a literal "blood bag" (I've heard that used to describe humans & vampires in True Blood; initially I thought it referred to the explosive end a staked vampire comes to) due to abstinence made his ending far less messy (he had been preparing for death from before we saw him in the series).