Sophie-Ann's is camp to the max.
It’s the episode-before-finale for the Season 2 of True Blood. You may wonder what cliff-hanger we got with “Frenzy” (Episode 22). What tasty morsel is expected to carry us through the next two weeks. Well, Bill spent the night playing Yahtzee, Sam moped around with a couple of kids, and the peeps of Bon Temps shat their pants, sat in sinks, and said rude things. On the plus side, the production design of Sophie-Ann’s abode was gorrrrrrrrrrrrgeous.
While last week’s episode spent most of its time with Bill and Sookie removing Maryann’s influence from Tara (kidnapped by Lafayette and Lettie Mae). This week undid all that progress. In a really strange turn, Tara flips at everyone and decimates Lettie Mae with guilt into freeing her – so she can run straight back to Maryann/Sookie’s and find Eggs. Tara is such a mega-bitch during this whole episode that I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to feel? Mad at Lettie Mae? Happy Tara was asserting herself? I couldn’t feel any of that because she was so obnoxious and her reaction to want to go back to the house “for love” just didn’t make sense.
Lettie Mae and Tara, crazy for life.
Tara eventually breaks through to Lettie Mae and gets in cahoots with her. They take advantage of a mentally scarred Lafayette, holding him at gunpoint, to escape the house. (Lafayette keeps picturing Eric in Lettie Mae’s dress during the whole encounter. Awesome.) Tara speeds away in Sookie’s car to get Eggs. Sookie and Lafayette quickly overwhelm Lettie Mae (read: Sookie throws a knick knack at her head) and chase after Tara. Good. Before this, everyone was just sitting around the porch. Still, this “high speed chase” didn’t even come until about thirty minutes into the episode. We were too busy watching…
Hoyt & Mama Drama. After Jessica chews on Hoyt’s mother’s neck, Hoyt turns on Jess in a fury, and clears him and his mother straight out of Vampire Bill’s house. Jessica cries bloody tears. Later on in the episode, Hoyt gets some pain dealt of his own when his mother (who’s still black-eyed and “frenzied” from Maryann) reveals that his father was a coward who committed suicide. Ouch. But mostly boring.
In other news, Jason and Andy spent the episode bumbling around like idiots encountering black-eyed Bon Temps citizens. Jason keeps trying to make sense of the fact that Sam’s a shapeshifter. The two raid the police station looking for ammunition, ignoring Sam’s reminder that Maryann is immortal and a maenad. (Again, at some point or perhaps two points last night, we’re forced to listen to more exposition on what a maenad is.) In the last five minutes of the episode Andy and Jason decide to not hate each other – even if Andy is jealous of Jason’s rockhard body, and sexy good looks. Wait, Andy didn’t like Jason? So what the hell was all that earlier cooperation about? Pointless conflict and scene. I get having Jason say things like “It takes a lot of hard work to look this good,” is good for the lols, but seriously. This whole episode was just full of slapstick BS.
Meanwhile, there’s Sam, who seems to have lost all will to live and doesn’t seem too interested in making a survival plan. Despite being hunted down by peeps last week, he sits around in his bar until he finds Arlene’s two kids, who are hungry and want to know why their mother is so crazy. Seriously, more time spent wasted with Sam comforting these two good-for-nothing characters, as he cooks for them and tries to tell them about who their father was. Whatever. Finally something happens when the KIDS!! of all people suggest he go ask a vampire for help.
Comic relief comes when Sam and the kids take off to see Eric and Pam. Eric refers to the children as “teacup humans.” (Tony Hawk actually tweeted today that this is how he’ll refer to his kids from now on.) Pam is less amused, and her captioned remarks about how much she hates children made the episode for me. Eric finally agrees to help Sam defeat the maenad – in hopes of getting attention from Sookie - by taking off to visit “someone who might know how to stop her.” OH. LIKE BILL DID LAST WEEK? Anyway, then Eric flies off into the night to New Orleans. His flight ability is a sweet detail from the books that I’m glad has found its way into the show.
Eric checking out the teacup humans.
In New Orleans, we’ve got the long-awaited debut of Sophie-Ann. Personally, I didn’t like the way her character was played. I didn’t like the buzzkill of all momentum she brought forth – totally plateauing the tension of what should be a crescendo to the climax. Here’s what happens: Bill visits with Sophie-Ann, who tells him to stay and visit her. She tells us again what a Maenad is. She says something stupid about everything that exists thinks itself into existence. (Essentially, Maryann became immortal because she started thinking she was immortal.) Interesting, but I wasn’t especially needing further explanation. She, does, however reveal that all Maryann really wants is for her god to come. Come, eat, and destroy her. Basically, a giant deathwish.
Speaking of Maryann, back in town, Tara has reached her mission of finding Eggs, but not with the result she desired. As if it was any big surprise, Maryann stops her from taking Eggs, and punches Tara in the face – returning her to her black-eyed, mind-controlled state. Sigh. Before the punch, she reveals that she’s only in Bon Temps because Tarasummoned her: during the ritual with Miss Jeanette. A strange, but sloppy turn of events, since it previously seemed Maryann only came to Bon Temps to find Sam. (Remember? “Did you really think I wouldn’t find you?”) Maybe Tara just… brought her attention to Bon Temps. Oh well. I don’t get it. Moving on. Tara is a lost cause again.
So, back to Bill and Sophie-Ann.
The two spend the rest of their visit loafing around, with Sophie-Ann displaying humans for Bill to feed on, while he tries to fend them off. She eventually lets him leave, after telling him the maenad can only be defeated and vulnerable once she believes she has made a successful sacrifice. Other points of note from the visit are: 1) The Queen and Bill’s familiarity 2) Bill’s brief conversation with Hadley – Sookie’s cousin, and the Queen’s lover. More on this next season.
Bill bumps into Eric on his way out the palace. (Lair? Home?) He’s peeved at what he sees from Eric to be another desperate attempt to gain favor with Sookie. He mocks his deperation in tricking Sookie into drinking his blood. Eric counters coolly by telling Bill to check himself before he wrecks himself because BILL fed Sookie his blood the first night he ever met her. Mean look from Bill. Bill threatens to tell the Queen that Eric is slinging V, and then runs away to… be a hero? The last time we see Bill, he shows up at Sam Merlotte’s trailer. Probably for the two to scheme together.
Back in Bon Temps, Sookie and Lafayette’s rescue mission doesn’t go well. Lafayette is quickly subdued by Maryann outside the house, although he does manage to kill Carlos. Unfortunately, Maryann wants Lafayette to be Carlos’s replacement. Uh oh.
Inside the house, Sookie searches for Tara, and tries to escape molestation from the black-eyed residents dirtyin’ up her Grandma’s home. (Sookeh delivers a truly terrible monologue at one point about how these people are the exact opposite of her grandmother.) Sookie finally finds Tara and Eggs upstairs, building a giant nest for a big ostrich-sized egg.
Egg theories:
- Earlier, Jason stupidly mused if Sam could lay an egg when he was in animal form. COULD IT BE THE LOVE CHILD OF SAM INSIDE?
- Maryann really wanted Tara and Eggs to mate. Could this be the by-product? DO THEY NOT JUST CALL HIM “EGGS” FOR NOTHING?
Who knows.
Before Sookie can make heads or tails out of any of this, Sookie spins around and sees Lafayette. Black-eyed and possessed. End on her scream.
Watch next week’s teaser, and hope with me for a finale that erases this week and lives up to the rest of the season.
