TRUE BLOOD
Season Two, Episode Eight
"Timebomb"
Written by Alexander Woo
(Warning: Spoilers abound from this point forwards)
First reaction: This is a very well-named episode.
Time bomb litter this episode in every direction. Some go off. Others start ticking. A few seem to be in the process of construction.
Where to begin?
Godric. We finally get a good look (as in character, not appearance) at Erik’s maker, a vampire older than Jesus (or so he says). Impressively powerful, who easily keeps those like Stan (and others) on the leash. All that talk about Godric-is-so-powerful and How-could-anyone-capture-Godric comes together as we finally meet him. Frankly, one expects to see an inhuman monster of surpassing charisma. At least I did. But instead we get someone who in over two millennia of existence has learned patience and wisdom. How could the Fellowship hold him against his will? The answer is simple. They could not. They did not. He simply chose not to kill them all.
Erik has a hard time with this. Later, you can see his world-view kinda crack as Godric expresses sympathy for the Fellowship, seeing no problem at all with treating humans as equals.
Wow.
But returning to the story. Erik bursts in Godric, who has just saved Sookie from being raped. The ancient one gives his Child some marching orders which turn out to be harder to obey than might at first seem. Save the human. Spill no blood on your way out. Methinks it was this last that almost screwed things up. One wonders if Erik has much concept of non-lethal force. So instead, as the Fellowship goes into lockdown mode, Erik tries to bluff/glamour his way out—which is at least initially hilarious. But ultimately doesn’t work, as he and Sookie find themselves surrounded by way too many Fellowship members, armed with stakes and silver, led by the grinning sadist Reverend Newlin. The man is almost giggling at the prospect of killing somebody.
Perv. Next to him letting somebody drink your blood hardly even seems kinky.
Sookie’s brother Jason, we learn, was shot with a paint-ball gun. Sarah Newlin has jumped to the same conclusions as her hubby, and is spouting all sorts of paranoid garbage that leaves Jason puzzled. But he’s used to that. Yet when Sarah even breathes a bad word about Sookie – well, she finds out Jason actually does have physical skills beyond those used between sheets. More importantly, he finds out the Fellowship has his sister.
Bill does escape from Lorena, of course. That rhymes-with-glitch decides to take a bite out of Barry the Telepathic Ex-Bellboy (which somehow sounds like it should be part of a porno movie – not sure why), and is seriously distracted by the taste of his blood. Exactly why is a good (and unanswered) question, which is a quite nice plot time bomb set to ticking. While Lorena is distracted, Bill attacks her with a large t.v. Several times. He grabs Barry and zooms out.
Shortly afterwards, he bursts into Jessica’s room. Now that just isn’t fair. She and Hoyt are finally getting around to no longer being virgins! Even Bill seems genuinely embarrassed to have interrupted them (quite rightly too) but gives an order that gives us a glimpse into his world view. “If you truly care for her,” he says “you will take her to your car this very moment and drive back to Bon Temps before the sun comes up.” Stuff is going down, and Bill wants his ‘daughter’ out of harm’s way. And he counts on her gentleman caller to make sure such happens. Sweet. Gallant, even. Chauvinistic as all hell too.
Said stuff converges on the Fellowship where Erik, bound in silver chains, becomes the object of much self-righteous gloating by the Reverend. But then people start crashing the party. For one thing – Vampire Bill, anything but happy but quite willing to slaughter dozens to protect Sookie. Not that Newlin cares – he of the “We are ready for Armageddon” and all that. But Jason, having snuck inside, shoots Newlin with a paint ball, forcing him to drop the gun he had pointed at Sookie’s face. Interestingly, Sookie insists on freeing Erik (Bill is, again, not happy). Then the cavalry arrive. Or at least a bunch of black-sheathed cowboy types with fangs, led by none other than Stan. Boasting that he killed Newlin’s father (which may or may not be true), he has a simple solution to this situation. Kill everyone.
But Godric says “No.” He appears, very nearly making a sonic boom with his speed, and orders the vampires to leave. With Newlin by the scruff of the neck, Godric asks “Good people, who among you is willing to die for this man’s madness?” At that moment, the answer is No One. But the question is another plot time bomb as we shall see…
Another plot time bomb, one that goes off, is Sam answering a phone call from his bar. No one on the other line, at least no one who says anything. He (very foolishly) goes back to the bar, investigating that open freezer door. Not a good idea. Daphne, sans heart, is in there. Soon, the police are as well, courtesy of an anonymous tip. Little wonder the police take Sam in. Nor does it help when (suspended) Detective Andy bursts in and insists Sam is the victim here. His fellow officers don’t believe a word, and Sam ruefully notes that if he confirms what Andy says, no one will believe him either.
Bon Temps’ finest, incidentally, really aren’t that bright. After Andy tells them about some kind of Satanic Orgy taking place, they arrest lots of people for things like public nudity and sodomizing a pine tree – all this on a night when someone was killed and had their heart cut out! More, these folks are living in a world where they know vampires do exist! Yet they dismiss every word out of Andy’s mouth. Don’t even consider he might be on to anything at all.
Not bright. At all. Distinctly on the dim side.
Lafayette meanwhile is worried about Tara. Reading her tarot cards, he sees THE LOVERS just as Eggs shows up. What Tara doesn’t see is the final card (which, nicely enough, is in the right position) – JUSTICE. Once alone, Eggs reveals how upset he is to have lost some time again, and to have awakened on the side of the road, freezing. He’s terrified, haunted by the thought he may have done something, something bad.
Mind you, he is right, but the real responsibility lies with Mary Anne. She who serves the two lovebirds something she calls Hunter’s Soufflé. After one taste, they pretty much inhale the thing. One hopes they never learn the main ingredient (i.e. Daphne’s missing heart – one wonders who ate Miss Jeanette’s?). Soon after, the pair of them literally start beating each other up as a form of foreplay.
Back in Dallas, Godric’s return is the stuff of much celebration at the nest. Bill and Erik snarl quietly at one another in the corner, while Jason apologizes to Godric (who says young Stackhouse has friends here now – another plot time bomb?) then pulls Bill aside to do the same, complete with (very) awkward hug.
Poor Isabelle. She brings the traitorous Hugh for judgment, and we can see the remains of blood tears she has wiped from her eyes. Godric sees she still loves him, and simply lets him go – with orders that he get out of town for his own sake. Isabelle almost breaks down in gratitude.
Meanwhile, Lorena sweeps in and meets Sookie. The fireworks are juicy to say the least, with Godric finally having to save Sookie from Lorena’s fangs. You are an old vampire, he says to her. You’ve had centuries to better yourself. But you haven’t. You’re still a savage. On his orders, she is escorted out by Bill – and their words of parting would seem to suggest we haven’t seen the last of her, oh no.
Then the final time bomb of the episode (although there are several as yet unmentioned). Luke, the young man so jealous of Jason’s success in the Fellowship, enters. Evidently he’s decided to answer Godric’s earlier query in the positive. Opening his coat, he reveals at least half a dozen bombs wrapped in silver chains, then presses the detonator.
Cue end credits.
A quick prediction: If that detonator works the way I think it does, the bombs won’t go off until he releases his thumb. Any vampire who realizes this has only to grab his hand and hold it firm to buy everyone some time. We’ll see if I’m right.
TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE NINE
