Episode Title: "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues"
Writer: Alan Ball
Director: Michael Lehmann
Previously on "True Blood":
Franklin Mott (James Frain) dragged Tara (Rutina Wesley) to the lair of the Vampire King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare). Tara tearfully asked Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) to save her, but he refused to help her. Franklin also told Russell that Bill had been tracking the family tree of Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) at the behest of the queen and that Sookie was also in Jackson, looking for Bill. Shortly thereafter, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) arrived at the mansion requesting Russell's permission to hunt Bill, whom he blamed for dealing "V" in Bon Temps.
However, Bill and Russell quickly called Eric out on his lies, forcing Eric to admit the truth and seek the favor of the King. During the day, Tara attempted to escape but was recaptured by a werewolf. Franklin grew increasingly unstable after her perceived betrayal and was only consoled by her assurances that she was only afraid of the other vampires. Fully and completely delusional with love for her, Franklin told her that he intends to make her his vampire bride.
Inside Russell's mansion, Eric discovered that Russell was behind the death of his family back when he was a mortal and he used his charms to further ingratiate himself into Russell's court. Back in Bon Temps, Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) continued to have problems with his estranged family, as he intervened in a conflict between his brother and his father.
Sookie and Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello) met with the local "Alpha" werewolf, who refused to help them because he was terrified of Russell. Eventually, Russell sent one of his werewolves to taunt Bill that Sookie was nearby by and having an affair with another werewolf. Furious, Bill broke out of Russell's mansion and tracked down Sookie and Alcide. He warned them to leave moments before Russell and his men showed up. As Russell's men tried to grab Sookie, she unleashed a magical light that repelled him; much to Sookie's shock and the delight of Russell.
Story:
Sookie and Bill are dragged back to Russell's mansion before Bill attempts to escape and kills one of Russell's guards in the process. However, the King easily overpowers Bill, who then begs Eric to save Sookie. Eric in turn grabs Sookie and presents her to Russell as someone valuable. The King orders Lorena (Mariana Klaveno) to kill Bill while Eric drags Sookie off to face the King's questions. Eric growls at Sookie that he doesn't care about her while he plots his own revenge against Russell.
Russell demands answers from Sookie, who very clearly doesn't know much about her powers, the vampire hierarchy or even her own family. Meanwhile, Lorena slowly tortures Bill to death even though she is clearly devastated. She cries tears of blood as she cuts Bill with several sharp instruments. In Franklin's room, Tara plays up her willing lover act, even going so far as to bite into his neck and drink his blood. She also sends a telepathic message to Sookie that she will help her escape in the morning.
Eric and the King drive out to see the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne (Evan Rachel Wood), who at first rebukes the King's offer of marriage. However, she is forced to accept when Eric turns against her in his bid to get closer to the King. Meanwhile in Bon Temps, Sookie's brother Jason continues to have problems with Crystal, before he starts bullying a local high school quarterback with police authority that he doesn't actually have yet. Sam also learns that his parents are forcing his younger brother Tommy to shapeshift into a pitbull for a dog-fighting circuit nearby and races to save him.
At dawn, Tara sneaks out of bed and murders Franklin by bashing his head in with a mace. She and Sookie subsequently get out of the mansion, but Sookie won't leave until she's saved Bill. Tara runs into Alcide, who offers to help them escape. Sookie eventually locates Bill in the slave quarters, drained and near death. As she sobs over Bill, Lorena returns and throws Sookie up against the wall before bitting her neck.
Breakdown:
While not quite the equal of last week's episode, "True Blood" still seems to be heading in the right direction. But I'm sick to death of all of the Bon Temps scenes. All of the interesting characters are out of the city, leaving the supporting characters sucking wind as they take up valuable screentime.
The only moment in Bon Temps that really worked was the hilarious way that Jessica dealt with an unruly customer: by hypnotizing her into leaving all of her money on the table and allowing Jessica to feed on her in the restroom. Jessica's actually becoming good at mesmerizing people, so she may not be the most incompetent vampire on TV anymore.
The saga of Jason Stackhouse (aka the stupidest man alive) continued as well. And it is actually kind of funny to watch him bungle everything. I'd watch a sitcom spinoff that had Jason randomly abusing police powers while completely letting supernatural threats fall under his radar. The only problem is that everyone else on "True Blood" lives in a drama, while Jason basically lives in his own world and seems like he should be on a different show entirely.
Back in the main plot, Russell has come into his own as a convincingly dangerous threat. It was harder to take him seriously before he demonstrated how strong he is when he easily subdued Bill. His interrogation of Sookie was also suitably intense. After last week's episode, I predicted that Eric's vendetta against Russell would make him a more heroic character.
So much for that...
However, he remains the most intriguing main character as he seems willing to betray anyone for a chance to get close to the King and seek his revenge. He also seems to be openly flirting with both the King and the King's husband, which may also be part of his long con against them. Also, it was really hilarious to see that Queen Sophie-Anne spends a lot of her time playing the state lottery.
Tara was also impressive this week by showing some actual imitative in taking out Franklin on her own. Her transformation from weepy, suicidal nutbag into a stronger heroine is actually quite welcome. I'd like to see more of that from Sookie herself, but I'll take it where I can get it.
The cliffhanger with Lorena biting Sookie was effective, but how many times are they going to end an episode with Sookie in jeopardy? That's been used in at least half of the endings this season and three times in a row!
Where's a vampire hunter when you need him?
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10.
