Recap 310 True Blood: “I Smell a Rat”

Eric: “It’s not just the blood. You know you have feelings for me.”
Sookie: “Eww.”

Eric, Eric, Eric. Can you say ‘mixed signals’?

"You know you want me..."

Eric usually plays it close to the chest, but he is sure he’s going to die and he’s obviously torn. He needs to take revenge for his family, and he has feelings for Sookie, and he needs to use Sookie in order to take revenge for his family. So basically, he’s screwed.

Talk about a volatile romance. Eric kissed Sookie passionately, carried her off, and chained her in the basement. Sookie may say “eww,” but she has feelings for Eric, too. She (1) visibly started when he said he wouldn’t be around much longer, (2) ran to Shreveport to confront him, and most importantly, (3) kissed him back. And she’s finally starting to internalize the fact that Bill hasn’t been honest with her (hence the title of the episode). What does Eric have in mind? Is he protecting Sookie, or using her for bait? Possibly both?

People get high on vampire blood. Vampires get high on fairy blood. Do fairies get high on human blood? Did I just pass right over the revelation that Sookie is a fairy? I like the interesting twist that fae blood protects vampires from sunlight. It’s a biggie, and it explains Sophie’s and Russell’s deep and abiding interest in Sookie.

Bill says his love for Sookie is pure, and unaffected by the intoxicating taste of fairy blood. Except that I don’t believe him. I want Sookie with Eric. And I’m starting to think I’m going to get my wish. If Eric meets the true death instead, my enthusiasm for this series is going to plummet.

In other news, gold acting stars for Ryan Kwanten, because this was Jason’s best episode so far. That scene with Tara was so touching, and of course, Tara would be much better for Jason than the confused and duplicitous Crystal. I was hoping he wouldn’t blow it by telling Tara about Eggs, but he couldn’t help it. What a Jason thing to do.

The Lafayette/Jesus acid trip… well, I was turned off and uninterested, but I’ll reserve judgment. There were a couple of interesting things, though. Jesus’ grandmother did spells to protect people from evil, and his grandmother could cure infertility, definitely not using their powers for evil like his grandfather appeared to be. And I think Lala’s g’ g’ g’ grandmother Mae and Jesus’ g’ g’ grandmother Winnie were lovers. Did anyone else come to that conclusion?

Jesus and Holly, the new waitress, both seem to be kind people who are truly interested in helping others; let’s hope that’s true. I am assuming this is season four set-up?

What just happened with Sam? Did the writers completely assassinate his character? The revelation that he committed a double homicide came out of freaking nowhere. Yes, they swindled him and she shot first, but it didn’t make me happy that he was stealing as recently as 2003; I thought it was something he did as a teenager only to survive. Are those bodies buried in Bon Temps? Sam was sitting in front of the same tree. Again, is this season four set-up?

And what’s with our star-crossed Jessica and Hoyt? I’ve actually lost a bit of interest in that romance, but it just heated up and turned a corner. How will Hoyt react to V? Actually, the best part of that scene was Jessica picking up Tommy and tossing him into the woods like a football. I could watch that about twenty more times without getting tired of it.

Russell’s homicidal farewell to Talbot’s stand-in was bizarre. I thought at first that he was going to pick up a stranger that looked like Talbot and create a replacement, and that it could have been how he found the original Talbot, and maybe their love wasn’t deathless, after all… but no. The “anti-vampire backlash” was fun, too (just seeing Steve Newlin on television was worth it) although the flaming cross was a bit much. Like the persecuted minority metaphor wasn’t strong enough already.

Bits and pieces:

— Eric made out his will and left everything to Pam. Lovely. We learned Pam’s full name: Pamela Swynford de Beaufort. You know, I’d love some Eric meeting Pam flashbacks. It would be so much fun.

— Eric has a farm? That doesn’t seem like Eric.

Can Bill be trusted?

— I really enjoyed the Eric/Bill confrontation. Good times.

— Crystal is a werepanther. Cooler than a werewolf. I prefer cats, anyway. Not that I have a high opinion of the Norrises. I pretty much concur with what Lafayette said about them. See Quotes section below.

— Tara is now Vehemently and Voraciously anti-Vampire. And who can blame her?

— How did Hadley know about the fae thing?

— I hadn’t realized that this makes three kills for Jason; I forgot about poor Eddie. At least Franklin’s death was unambiguous.

— Terry is a sweetheart. I think Arlene’s timing was way off, though, if she’s going to get rid of it now. Bon Temps is apparently the supernatural capital of Louisiana. Who knows what Arlene could give birth to?

— Summer was wearing an electric pink lacy bra. Very in character.

— Congratulations and best wishes to Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, who got married this past Saturday. Is it wrong of me to hope for the irony of their characters breaking up directly afterward?

Quotes:

Sookie: “I’m a fairy? How fucking lame.”

Pam: “Why are you doing this?”
Eric: “Because, Pam, Russell Edgington was maybe the oldest and strongest vampire on the planet before he eviscerated a newsman live on TV. Now he’s also the craziest, and his rage is directed at me. Do the math.”

Lafayette: “Them fuckers is a whole new dimension of trash.”

Steve Newlin: “If I were less of a Christian, I’d say, told ya. But of course, I take no joy in this dark time.” Too funny. Love him.

Arlene: “I ain’t doing salt shakers while innocent people are being attacked by vampires.”

Sam: “I got two rules in my bar: no dancing and no religion.”
Holly: “Good to know.”
Both rules are Maryann-related, aren’t they?

Eric: “If I meet the true death without having at least kissed you, Sookie Stackhouse, that would be my biggest regret.” Yum.

Eric: “What?”
Pam: “Blah blah vampire emergency blah.”
I love Pam so very much. I truly do.

Another terrific episode. So far, season three is my favorite. Three out of four dancing statues,

Billie Doux
Reviews by Billie Doux