TRUE BLOOD 3.09 'Everything is Broken'

Eric arrives at Fangtasia and anxiously tells Pam that they need to find sanctuary immediately to avoid Russell's reprisal. Their attempted escape is thwarted by Nan Flanagan (Jessica Tuck) and her vampire enforcers who demand answers about the missing Magister. Desperate for protection, Eric tells Nan (and the Vampire Authority via satellite) about his 1,000 year quest to avenge the murder of his family, Russell's long term goals of world domination and Russell's scheme to murder the Magister and eliminate the Authority.

Recovering from the werewolf attack and their wild primal sex, Bill and Sookie shower together and get rid of the remaining werewolf corpse in her living room. Meanwhile, Jason is ambushed by Felton (James Harvey Ward) at his home, while Crystal lies and says that Jason raped her. But when Felton turns his back, Crystal knocks him unconscious. She then convinces Jason to tie him up in the woods and call the police with an anonymous tip. Elsewhere, Tara (Rutina Wesley) begins to open up to Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) about her ordeal with Franklin Mott (James Frain), but he is interrupted by his brother Tommy's (Marshall Allman) sexual antics on his property. Somehow, Sam manages to not punch his brother out.

Later, Jason and Crystal enter the sheriff's office and learn that the officer who responded to Jason's tip was found badly beaten. Feeling guilty, Jason suggests to Andy that they raid Felton's place and take down his entire drug operation. Soon after, Sookie goes to see Hadley at a local aquarium where she meets Hadley's young son Hunter for the first time. Hadley admits that she told the Vampire Queen about Sookie's powers and wants to know if Hunter is like her before Hadley takes him into hiding. To Hadley's horror, Sookie confirms that Hunter also has mental abilities, leading Hadley to flee with her son immediately.

In a strange dream-like state from drinking so much of Sookie's blood, Bill finds himself in the fantasy world that Sookie was in when he left her near death. He meets Claudine (Lara Pulver) there and uses his vampire powers to catch her. She uses her own power to repel him leaving him with nothing else to try but to beg her for answers to Sookie's ancestry. Back at Fangtasia, Russell watches from a nearby rooftop as the Vampire forces surround Eric's bar and he vows to Talbot's remains (which are in a bottle) that he will get his revenge on Eric and the Authority. Inside the bar, Nan lets Eric go and orders him to find and eliminate the Russell or else Nan will exterminate him.

At Sam's restaurant, Crystal's father shows up and finds her there with Jason. Sam tries to throw him out, but Calvin provokes him. Sam finally loses it and beats him nearly to death. A distraught Crystal pushes Jason away as her father is taken to the hospital. Meanwhile, Tara is confronted by Franklin, who survived her attack on him. She is no longer afraid of him and challenges him to kill her. Jason comes across the two of them and kills Franklin with a wooden bullet.

 

While Nan rides to the airport and watches a newscast about the Vampire rights bill. Russell then arrives at the studio and murders the anchorman live on camera before declaring to the world that vampires will eat them right after they eat their children. He claims that vampires are superior to humans and he single-handedly destroys the progress of human-vampire relations.

 

 

The end of this episode may be one of the best cliffhanger endings this season, as Russell was by turns frightening and hilarious. His last line was a "throw" to the TV weather girl, which was priceless. I would have loved to have seen her reaction to that. Russell is obviously not thinking clearly (otherwise he wouldn't be talking to a jar full of blood), but his remarks about eating people and their children were chilling. There's really no way to unring that bell. The vampire rights movement is probably going to be dead in the water after this.

 

I was a little surprised by how frightened and almost cowardly Eric was at the start of the episode. He may have realized that he couldn't beat Russell in a one-on-one confrontation, but it was really odd to see him in that extended state of panic. It's interesting to note that the one thing he wouldn't do to protect himself was to seek shelter at Sookie's house. Whether that's out of fear that she'd turn him out or lingering guilt for betraying her a few episodes back isn't clear. But it was a good character moment. Also intriguing was the scene where Russell noticed that Eric had stolen the Viking Crown. Which makes me wonder if he's also figured out why Eric betrayed him.  

 

Eric's deposition also shed some light on his World War 2 flashback earlier in the season, in which he was fighting a Nazi werewolf woman. Apparently, that was all part of Eric's quest to find Russell and seek his revenge.

 

Any episode that starts out with Ana Paquin in a shower scene is always going to be a fan-favorite. But this episode did manage to make a few strides forward on the Bill and Sookie relationship. Bill's trip to Sookie's faire fantasyland was unexpected. Although I keep waiting to hear someone whisper "taste the rainbow" in those scenes.

 

It was a shame that Franklin was killed off almost as quickly as he was brought back, but his death was probably the most heroic thing that Jason the idiot has done all season. And he needed it too, because he totally f***ed up left and right in this episode. First, by leading the cop into jeopardy (though on a side note, Jason's informant voice was hilarious) and then when Jason set up the raid on Crystal's family; which only served to push her away from him. Jason was even at the center of one of the hour's funniest moments when Andy realized that it was useless to keep telling Jason that he's not a cop. As far as Sookie's pea-brained brother is concerned, he's already the sheriff of the town.

 

The last item of interest this week is the end of Sam's previously god-like levels of patience with his shifty little brother. Frankly, I'm kind of surprised that it wasn't his brother that got the beat down. I also noticed that Tommy was the only smiling after Sam's attack. And perhaps that's what he wants to see out of his older brother.

 

There's only three episodes left this season and I'm looking forward to seeing how Russell is dealt with, as he seems to be ridiculously powerful at this point. The season may had started off awkwardly, but "True Blood" is finally hitting its stride.