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4.10 Burning Down the House, Season 4 Recap/Review, True Blood conspiracy theories, True Blood scene interpretation
1 minute, 38 seconds of the Big Con at the Dorchester. Only here, tonight in Shreveport, Louisiana and unlike Dealey Plaza 1963 we see it for what it is in real time.
Notice how Eric went in a bullet straight trajectory right at Bill while the other two went a more…circuitous route. Unlike the others Eric didn’t harm another living soul. Now think of this: Eric could have killed Bill in less than milliseconds by ripping his head clean off. His orders were to ‘kill the king, slaves’. Instead, Eric toyed with Bill, showing him who’s the boss and giving Bill a fighting chance by defiantly inviting him to give it his best shot. Sookie doesn’t know it yet but Eric showed us he WAS fighting the spell by drawing out the ‘kill’. He is VERY strong–Sookie’s double strength electricity only knocked him back a little whereas a single hit sends everyone else flying. In some cases several dozen yards. Now, if Eric can fly faster than a speeding bullet then he can move his chest to avoid a wooden bullet, probably tipped with silver to incapacitate him in case Bill missed his heart. [h/t Chris]
I believe the whole point of this exercise was to kill the spellbound patsy.
When Eric pulled out the silver bullet and tossed it off it was yet another nod to the bullet sucking scene, particularly since both bullets hit the exact same spot. On the surface, by having Eric pull the bullet out it looks like confirmation he HAD been lying to Sookie in Dallas about the bullets needing to be sucked out. Until it’s spelled out, the real answer, that Eric has become immune to the silver, won’t hit home for the general audience. If Eric is immune then Bill certainly is as well. And Bill is, beyond any doubt whatsoever, immune to silver. We not only have the proof I laid out in ‘Smoking Mirrors’, Bellakarma has confirmed that in 4.09, Roy can be heard in the background shouting “I silvered the son-of-the-bitch and he ran away!”. This immunity of Bill’s has sinister implications as to how he managed to avoid succumbing to M/A’s meet the sun spell, and why she can’t or won’t try to control HIM.
The Dorchester event was a long con, complete with a patsy and a puppet master pulling his strings; the public setting, the many cameras, security stripping, destroyed images, patriotic props, and the extras were all in place. Bill cast himself in the role of JFK–the heroic young president gunned down in his prime–only HE, King William Compton, was to have escaped the dastardly plot and smite the grungy loner himself. The big hero. . Only Eric didn’t play along with the script.
We even have a second Manchurian Candidate to help clean things up.
Eric picks up a stake. He’s about to kill the king!!
Bill: “Sookie GO!”
BAM! Assassin foiled!
Aww, you thought Bill didn’t want Sookie to see him die? How..quaint.
Now we have to ask ourselves some fundamental questions about this image:
Besides the obvious parallel, what made Bill believe it was safe to rip off Eric’s head with impunity? As far as Bill knew, be-spelled Eric’s only orders were to kill HIM. WHY DID BILL THINK ERIC WOULD JUST KNEEL THERE WAITING FOR THE TRUE DEATH? No matter how fast Bill moved, Eric could still, in less than milliseconds, rip him to shreds. Bill seemed to think something would stop Eric from fighting back. It had to be that Bill believed Eric was being controlled to cooperate in his own death. Ergo, the whole thing was staged by Bill, pre-arranged with whatever entity is controlling both Marnie AND Antonia. Bill and this entity, who acts nothing like Marnie nor Antonia, are only USING Antonia because she is a great necromancer who can control the dead like puppets. SHE can make them go to the beach and eat chocolate and shit. Bill and the demon who serves him, the demon who can make people appear and disappear and throw up powerful walls of protection, are using Antonia’s necromancy abilities to commit genocide and to murder Bill’s enemies or anyone else who stands in the way of his jackbooted march to greater power.
Eric pierces the wall of lies
Terry is a Prince. A little tough love from our darling Terry and his junkie cousin Andy realizes that he is an addict and wonders if V has eaten his soul. Terry knows what we all know–men with no soul can’t cry from the heart, but evil clowns can put on a good show. Deep down the addict is a good soul, he just needed someone who knows him to care enough to help him on the road to recovery.
Andy the junkie looks at the prince and sees a monster, Sookie looks at a monster and sees a prince. [h/t Renee]
Tara’s got some rage. Now she has someone to tell her she’s also strong and capable, and that there is a higher power who is on her side. She just has to have faith.
Bill’s public display of blood lust to kill the witch was refreshing. Not that we’re happy he wants to murder his co-conspirator to cover-up his complicity, along with Tara and all the other humans. We’re just happy that we finally get to see Bill in all his ‘loveable’ glory.
At nearly the same moments Eric is regaining his memory and telling Sookie he loves her, the little trickster Tommy is dead. Felled by his own self-sacrifice, Tommy is assured by his brother that he is loved, that nothing is his fault, and won’t he be surprised when angels come and lift him away from this hell.
Sookie is exposed in all her tragic victim hood. It is NOT understandable under any ordinary circumstances that this poor girl could still love a man who engaged in a viciously violent, murderous conspiracy to pump her full of drugs in order to turn her into a slave. If you still love and want to be with a man who tried to sell you into slavery, you may need an army of angels and maybe some anti-psychotics for good measure.
Why doesn’t Pam still smell like shit?
Why is Debbie cozying up to a psycho murderer?
Why does Hoyt repeat things 500 times?
How does Jason know he slept with Jessica because of the blood, but the same thing doesn’t occur to Sookie in regards to Bill? Which sibling is the ‘smart’ one here? And which one is the mind controlled puppet…
Well, it sure looks like Jesus ‘groomed’ and manipulated poor Marnie for an entire year before she decided it was a good idea to invite possession. An invite she extends at the exact same time Bill decided it was a good idea to raid Wiccan covens in search of fledgling necromancers. Jesus pretends he picked up his new abilities and a ‘demon to serve him’ on his travels to Mexico, but we know that demon manifested itself to Lafayette last year. Why wait so long to talk to Marnie about the demon, as Jesus claimed he wanted to do? Demon ain’t new.
Who is this entity possessing Marnie alongside Antonia? It begged Antonia not to abandon ‘us’. The entity presented itself to Jesus as Antonia but it acted and sounded nothing like the gentle spirit who had delivered babies and saved her village from fever. Is this really a power mad Marnie? If so, why pretend to allow ‘Marnie’ to speak to Jesus? If ‘Marnie’ is speaking for both of them, why not just say this to her friend from the get-go?
Using superhuman powers, Jesus breached the wall of protection. He’s now on the inside, asking questions and taking names. Forget his demon for the moment and what it could mean. As a metaphor for Eric, Jesus tells us that only a few are capable of cracking the wall of lies and delusions to get to the heart of the matter. And while you may not want a demon hanging around a higher power can indeed come in handy when the chips are down.
Throw out the pudding honey, it’s time for some meat. Hey Bill! We don’t need your education, we don’t need your thought control. You’re just another brick in the wall and a gallant prince is about to tear you down. You can try to horn in on Eric’s glory all you want but we see you now, Little Dictator.
Sunny, I listened again and Roy said “I silvered the son-of-the-bitch and he ran AWAY.” Not “ran away from me.” I know it’s basically the same thing – but I want to make sure no one ever accuses us of hearing what we “want” to hear, you know what I mean? OK…back to reading!
Thanks, I’ll change it!
Yes! I’m glad this is coming up again so soon. I mentioned it in the thread for the last episode as well. Thanks for tying things together so neatly!
Terrific work sunny.
I’m certain all of us here and TAP are really curious as to who that third entity is.
I still think it’s RE. You describe how powerful Eric is at his age, imagine the power RE has at 3000 yrs. And he was a Druid, knowledgable in magic. I’m going to speculate that he was released from the cement even before it was set, summoning some minion or other. Although RE may not be the ultimate puppeteer.
I’m glad Jessica got on her high horse and didn’t glamour Jason because that would have impaired his ability to piece things together. He already realizes it’s the blood that made him lust after her.
Jesus grooming Marnie doesn’t surprise. As soon as she resurrected that bird she was all for trying a dead body. You have to ask yourself how did she make that leap?
Oh Sookie. What is it ultimately going to take to make you see the true Bill?
No, I’m not going to rant about it. Enough has been said.
When Lafayette asked Jesus if he was going to do a “Mavis” on Marnie, he said it wasn’t his first or even his second time.
When Sookie told Eric to fight the spell, he said “Go home”.
When Sookie told Eric to fight the spell, he said “Go home”.
A stark contrast to Bill’s ‘GO!’ which was clearly an order, a trigger, for her to use her electric hands on Eric to stop Eric from killing him. This is EXACTLY what happened with SA.
@locasa Thanks for clarifying it was “Go home.” I knew I was probably wrong with thinking he said “Gollum.”
Jesus grooming Marnie doesn’t surprise. As soon as she resurrected that bird she was all for trying a dead body. You have to ask yourself how did she make that leap?
And Lala just oh so coincidentally happened to be there when she raised the bird. She made the leap because it had been ‘suggested’ to her.
Now Jesus has telegraphed that Marnie is in charge, it’s all her. Which oh so conveniently gives Bill carte blanche to kill his meat puppet and not be blamed or suspected of complicity.
For sure the leap to raise a dead body was suggested to her. The gleam in eyes when she said it was unMarnie like.
I want to scream at Lala to open his eyes too. His instincts about bad ju-ju were right from the beginning. Now Tara is a puppet.
Makes you wonder what Eric is waiting for. Maybe his friend in high places *cough Ancient Pythoness cough*.
I also thought that this could be Russell. I even thought that all of this was a nightmare induced by him to all who have “betrayed”him in season 3, and, as as he suggested it to Sookie at FT, at the end , both Bill and Eric will die by the Sookie’s decision .
However, I must admit that seeing the similarity in these gestures, now I have a doubt.
http://black-celebration.net/caps/displayimage.php?pid=1130604&fullsize=1
http://black-celebration.net/caps/displayimage.php?pid=1112720&fullsize=1
Could it be Godric?
I don’t know.. the similar gestures are interesting but I can’t see why Godric would help Bill with such a set up.
As for it being RE, as BG mentioned he’s an ancient Druid. It may be possible for him to either project his spirit into Marnie even though he still lives, or he may have a demon who serves him.
In S3, in the scene at Russell’s mansion where he and Bill are sitting at the dining room table and RE suggests to Bill that he turn Sookie and later proposes that he pledge his allegience to him, RE points his finger and touches Bill’s forehead, telling him to “sleep on it”. At the time my gut feeling gave me a little nudge and I thought then that the gesture may prove later to have some significance. Then later, when Eric was at RE’s mansion, RE pointed his finger to touch Eric’s stomach as he was telling him to be patient about rescuing Pam and to keep Talbot occupied. At the time I thought maybe the gesture was a sort of signal of some power of suggestion.
In ‘Spellbound’ a strange blue light traveled from Eric’s stomach area to Sookie’s. You can see it a little in this cap:
http://ladymanson.com/galleries/tv/TVT/displayimage.php?pid=216085&fullsize=1
Here’s a better one from lucasa:
http://s1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee417/lucasa32/?action=view¤t=vlcsnap-2011-08-20-18h35m26s218.png
Here is a video clip of the scene. You can actually see the blue mist traveling from Eric to Sookie, beginning at the 3:04 mark:
Is it just me or does it appear that when Eric is shown having flashes of memory that Sookie is sharing these too?
It’s not just you. I felt the same way.
Thank you, Sunny. That must be why Eric interrupts with, “Get off me”, right before Sookie finishes telling Bill that she thinks Eric’s memories are back. I got the feeling Eric knew Sookie read his mind (maybe he showed his memories intentionally to her).
(maybe he showed his memories intentionally to her).
I believe this wholeheartedly.
I really would love for the show to explore her mind reading in conjunction with the vamps…she had flashes in the book and I think this is something that hasn’t been explored. However it’s possible that she can and doesn’t know it because of bill and him playing around in her head.
Some time ago over at SVB, I made a thread about Sookie reading Eric’s mind in ‘Escape From Dragon House’. She didn’t realize it then because Eric’s thoughts were all jumbled up with the guy Eric kicked, but it’s definitely there.
I remember seeing that, I think she can do it if she had her right brain.
@Jeneya Jerron – “I remember seeing that, I think she can do it if she had her right brain.”
I agree. In Season One, when Bill is holding Sookie in her bed after Gran’s murder, there is a flash of Adele dead on the floor. I’m convinced Sookie was seeing this in Bill’s head (I thought that was what we were SUPPOSE to think because it seemed so obvious).Even though Sookie had Bill’s blood at this point, she wasn’t as controlled then as she is now.
I think I already said it somewhere (I don’t remember where), but I am convinced that in the Lake scene (in “I’m Alive and On Fire), Sookie hears Eric THINKING “I want us. I want us!”. I have a doubt for the “I don’t want go back to the darkness”.
or course it is in someone’s best interest that she never learn to read vamps’ minds.
I cannot tell you enough how impressed I am by you Sunny. I am a mother of 3 and e only show I watch besides cartoons with my 3 year old and Cake Boss with my teens is TB. There have been many a week gone by when I think the show is so frustrating and then I read your blogs and I always say “Ah…now I get it”. But tonight I have 2 questions and 1 concern. #1: Do you still believe Eric always had his memory? If you do, will you pls refer me to your explanation ? #2 Is the blood bond SE share PHYSICALLY ( not emotionally) any different than the one shared by SB? I know in this season ES shared blood at the same time so that may be the diff. Between the 2 but I thought BS shared blood in sex scenes of earlier seasons. Maybe it was just her blood smeared all over her face. Eww. Finally, for the amount of time I spend reading blogs and trying learn more than what is on the surface I sometimes find that the bloggers here, at AP, TTB, SVB and BTB are so dedicated and thorough I sometimes fear we are giving too much credit to the TB creative team. Is there any resource outside of these specific blogs tht you find helpful in understanding the intentions of the TB crew? BTW, I am enjoying the AP forum but really miss the blogs. Any information on when they will return? Sunny, you rock!
Thanks Skylar451!
#1: Do you still believe Eric always had his memory? If you do, will you pls refer me to your explanation ?
Yes, I still believe Eric always had his memory. Explanations are scattered everywhere but this is the main piece I did about it:
http://sunnynala.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/truth-and-lies-good-and-evil/
Bottom line, I think he did it to get close to her so he could protect her.
#2 Is the blood bond SE share PHYSICALLY ( not emotionally) any different than the one shared by SB? I know in this season ES shared blood at the same time so that may be the diff. Between the 2 but I thought BS shared blood in sex scenes of earlier seasons.
As you say, S/B probably shared blood at the same times many times. The real difference is that S/E 1. were already in love before the mutual exchange. and 2. Eric doesn’t use their bond like Bill does. Bill deliberately uses it to manipulate Sookie. He fucks with her mind big time and Eric does not. When Sookie told Eric she still loved Bill, Eric asked ‘how is that possible?’ not because he can’t fathom a woman loving two men; he can’t fathom how she could still love Bill after what he told her about the queen and the Rattrays. It should be patently obvious to Eric by now that Bill has seriously fucked with Sookie’s brain. I honestly do not believe, and Eric doesn’t either apparently, that the blood makes the drinker fall in love with the vamp [witness Jess and Jason] but the vamp is quite capable of manipulating the drinker into falling in love with him if he wishes.
Love this Sunny, thank you!
Thanks anna! <3
On the blood bond. The E/S one seemed totally unique to them. In the Jess/Hoyt scene immediately following, Hoyt was adamant that he would DIE without her.
If Hoyt is Eric’s dopple and Jess is addicted Sookie, could the bond chemically make them one. Sorry posting on mobile.
I firmly believe Sookie would die without Bill. Literally I mean, as a Renfield, I think this is why Eric took his time with Bill at the Dorchester. He knows he CANNOT kill Bill without destroying Sookie.
We know Hoyt has had Jessica’s blood–how much and how often? It was implied by his statement that he can’t be drinking her blood every time he stubbed a toe that he drank it more often than we think. Especially considering it was made clear that Jess regularly fed on Hoyt, and adding in the glamouring, he may in fact literally die if Jess dies.
I’ve been thinking about the E/S blood bond and what might make it unique.
I’ve had a lot going on but hope to post something on it soon when I’m in a better space.
That weird blue light/mist lucasa found certainly makes it unique, but I have no idea what it means. I think it was you who mentioned chakra in connection to the location of the mist?
Something along those lines, sorry to be vague but I’m trying to distil a lot of things into something that’s hopefully fairly clear.
No problem anna! I look forward to reading what you’ve come up with.
Some people believe/speculate that Eric was part fae before he was turned. If that is correct, their unique bond and the mysterious blue light could be related to a blood bond between two people who have the fae essence. Just a thought. Also, maybe Sookie couldn’t ingest Bill’s blood when she was shot, and it was actually the strength of Eric’s blood that saved her. Again… just a thought.
I like these thoughts of yours. No, I LOVE these thoughts.
Interesting! I just came over here to tell you something has been nagging me about Tommy’s death and Sookie’s near-death scenarios. I need to go back and re-watch a few scenes, then I hope it’s all right if I share what I come up with here in comments so I can hear what you all make of it. BTW, I have a new “True Bloodies” blog post up (http://bellakarma.typepad.com/stix-on-the-beach-tales/true-bloodies/).
Thanks Bella, and of COURSE you can share!
After suffering a gunshot wound, Sookie definitely looked like she might be near death, and she seemed unconscious when Bill tried to give her his blood. It seemed like she took very little of Bill’s blood, but if AB uses any fae lore from Charlaine Harris, the more Sookie is in the physical presence of the fae, the more her fae powers develop. Maybe she was able to accomplish some self-healing. And, later we saw her shoot Eric a double dose of her powers!
Sunny – In the comp. book there is a section that gives descriptions the characters, places, things…
Renfield: No other name given. Dracula’s human servant , Renfield is totally controlled by his master and eagerly does his bidding. Eric refers to any human who is controlled in such a way as a Renfield. (Mentioned DAG)
Looks like the sneak peak clips are out. Jason -I cannot believe I am typing this- is the voice of reason for the V-Squad. He totally calls out Bill using Sookie as his personal blood fountain and even has a few choice words for Eric.
Antonia is calling it quits with Marnie and Lala is the only one who can see Antonia.
Sam is on a rampage for Marcus.
I have a feeling that this Sunday is going to out quite a few (v)olks!
This weeks Jason clip has to be my favorite sneak peek ever.
I wonder if Antonia will enter Lala to fight the ‘other entity’ in Marnie. IMO, that would be ideal, but it would put Lala in a lot of danger.
So the church bell we’ve heard several times now seems to herald the presence of Antonia. Which means she’s quite fond of Eric, since the bell rang when M/A stroked his head at the cemetery. Stroking Eric doesn’t seem like the sort of thing a vamp hating entity bent on genocide would do. [although I wouldn't blame her]
I’ve just posted something about the symbolism.
http://truebloodbuddhism.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/the-bell-and-the-thunderbolt/
Which I’ve had to update a bit, sorry for posting the link too soon.
The Jason clip is right up there with him rescinding Bill from his house last season!
I keep getting the feeling that the Tommy/Sam/Alcide storyline is somehow foreshadowing the “gran finale” reveal. We’ve discussed it a bit over at TAP: (http://www.ancientpythoness.com/forum/episode-by-episode/4-10-burning-down-the-house/page-8/).
Ever since Sam shouted, “You murdered my brother for WHAT?” – I keep hearing Sookie shouting in my head, “You murdered my Gran for WHAT?” Anyways, I came up with this yesterday while brainstorming. It doesn’t scream BILL KILLED GRAN, but I thought maybe you would like to see it, even if just to get your own wheels spinning. =)
Marcus demands Alcide to stay out of a fight.
Marcus demands Alcide to stay for a fight.
Alcide goes to a fight at night, against Debbie’s wishes.
Alcide goes to a fight at night, in honor of Debbie’s wishes.
Alcide carries an unconscious gunshot-wounded Sookie.
Alcide carries a beaten-within-an-inch-of-his-life Tommy.
Sookie is grabbed from Alcide and taken home.
Tommy tells Alcide to “take me home.”
Alcide freaks out by the bat-shit crazy stuff he sees coming from Tommy.
Alcide freaks out by the bat-shit crazy stuff he hears coming from Sookie.
Alcide watches defensively as Sookie involuntarily ingests Vampire blood to keep from dying.
Alcide defends Tommy’s choice to refuse Vampire blood to stay alive.
Bill suggests to Alcide that they pray for Sookie.
Sam and Alcide talk to Tommy about angels and heaven.
A golden light from an unseen source is shining above Sookie’s face.
A golden light from an obnoxiously obvious lamp is shining above Tommy’s face.
Tommy dies after telling Sam to “not forget me right away” and then hearing his big brother say he loves him.
Sookie survives, transforms back to her little-girl persona, believes she’s still in love with Bill, and can’t imagine a world without him in it.
Tommy masqueraded as Sam and died in Sam’s place – Merlotte’s.
Sookie is out with Sam when Gran is made to look as though she died in Sookie’s place.
Past: Sookie goes to clear her brother from murder charges and is asked by Bill “Do you still think you’re in Disney World?”
Future: Sam goes with Alcide to find the man who murdered his brother and is told, “He’s in fucking Disneyland.”
Excellent! REALLY excellent! You’ve given us a lot to chew on.
Alcide carries an unconscious gunshot-wounded Sookie.
Alcide carries a beaten-within-an-inch-of-his-life Tommy
Sookie is grabbed from Alcide and taken home.
Tommy tells Alcide to “take me home.”
You know what? I’m thinking this is a clue that Sam DID try to rescue Sookie but Bill grabbed her away. And he probably glamoured the memory right out of Sam because he witnessed the whole thing.
OMG. That’s true. Even in his doggie self he would understand what went on, it would put a whole new aspect to Sam’s reactions to Bill. Maybe in the two natured glamouring isn’t totally effective. The constant monitoring in doggie form when Bill visited Sookie’s home the first time. The evil look Bill gave doggie Sam.
Some clarity on supe glamouring would be nice. I still feel that Bill has glamoured Alcide at least three times, maybe more.
1. To get into Alcides apartment
2. At the hospital when Bill put them all to sleep
3. After he fed Sookie again in ‘Run/LGOOH
I wouldn’t surprise me at all if Alcide is another of Bill’s meat puppets. I still don’t think it’s a coincidence that Bill showed up at Sookie’s looking for Eric the same day Sookie blabbed Eric’s whereabouts to Alcide.
ITA about Alcide. He is only a werewolf. Sam is a shapeshifter. Maybe that makes a difference in glamouring effects.
Maybe so. Maybe Bill blackmailed Sam into keeping quiet.
Eric’s comment to Bill and Alcide when they were leaving Fangtasia to fit RE with his new cement suit…”When you two are finished eye fucking eachother…” is another time Bill glamoured Alcide.
OMG, you’re right! I never even considered that.
Good grief. I never considered it either. Rather cheeky of him to do it right under Eric’s nose.
I cannot remember which episode or even the season, but season one or two…Sam told Sookie that she didn’t want Bill in his bar. He was very explicit.
Mid-season 1 I think? Perhaps after he realized Sookie had slept with Bill? I’m not sure either, but I do remember Sam saying that.
I think it was after the departure of the terrible trio with Bill.
BG, you’re absolutely right.
@BellaKarma – those are great parallels! Thanks for fleshing them out for us!
I also thought it was telling when Alcide told Sookie that he was “on her side”. This always seemed like an odd comment to me, like he was trying to convince her to trust him.
Since we’ve seen how Bill likes to model his queendom after RE, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some werewolves at his disposal….
I wonder, if Bill is fulfilling a Victor Madden-like role, if they would not turn Alcide into his Quinn. There has been much speculation that Alcide would fill in for Quinn’s role as Sookie’s were love-interest, but I wonder if he won’t be used to fill Quinn’s role as turncoat/double agent/unwilling vampire lapdog. With the way he’s treated Debbie, I certainly don’t like him as a suitor for Sookie, but with him being Eric’s man (in a way), his betrayal will be pack that much more of a punch.
That look Bill gave him in Fangtasia (the eye-fucking) was rather telling. He’s already gotten one shifter suitor out of the way (by giving Sam the Crazies with their blood exchange), what’s one more? And Alcide is all Big McLargeHuge, and without a way to infect him with his blood, blackmail would be Bill’s only option (since there has yet to be any definite proof that vamps can glamour weres and shifters the traditional way).
And if he is Bill’s unwilling agent, it would explain his unduly intense interest in Sookie. I know that faeries smell good to shifters and all, but he knew her for like 5 strained days, and she did nothing but get him in trouble and cry over her boyfriend. I’m sure Alcide would be attracted to her and likes her and feel a kinship over their questionable taste in significant others, but his focus on her is a bit untoward.
You are absolutely right. It borders on obsession, really.
Doesn’t it?
And that would make his treatment of Debbie just that much more tragic. Because right now he just looks like a Douchey Boyfriend. But if we consider the possibility that he genuinely loves and wants to be with Debbie, but he’s got this Vamp King breathing down his neck, coercing him into doing his bidding, maybe by threatening his sister or Debbie, the recovering V addict (maybe by insinuating that she might just accidentally fall off the wagon, Debbie drank his blood, he can follow and feel her). He won’t tell Debbie, and he wouldn’t risk telling Sookie. He avoids joining a larger social circle, both by not wanting to join a pack or have puppies, because he doesn’t want to get anyone involved in his shit. He was in a pack in Jackson, so his sudden stance of “I’m a lone wolf” seems hollow.
But there’s Bill, who can’t get as close to Sookie as he wants. So he gets Alcide to procure her for him (there was such a parallel between the Rattray beating and Sookie getting shot in the cemetery, with the feet shots and being watched by a shifter, and even the way Sookie looked up at Bill from the couch was similar to the way she first looked at him when waking up after the Rattrays). Alcide won’t tell Debbie about his situation (especially if she is the indirect cause) to try to protect her, but it goes back to that conversation between Jason and Sookie that lying ain’t protecting. All Debbie sees is her boyfriend obsessing about some new girl, this “special cunt” as Russell would put it. Combine that with Alcide not wanting kids with Debbie, and her own issues with self-worth and rage, and its just a recipe for a downward spiral.
By trying to prevent her downfall, Alcide has unintentionally caused it.
Makes you wonder what he was really thinking when he gave that long, intense, lingering look at Eric’s backside thrusting away between Sookie’s legs. Eric has helped him out, he got him work when he moved to Shreveport, and now he’s mounted the girl he was sent to stalk by an insidious ruler. Is he seeing Eric and seeing an ally to help him out of his bondage if he can get him back to himself, is he fearing having to face him in battle, is he concerned for his life and Sookie’s well being?
Well, I strongly suspect RE was using Alcide, maybe without his knowledge. Debbie could have spiked his beer with RE’s blood, for all we know. In any case, when Alcide showed up at FT in the s3 finale, RE said one of ‘his’ wolves had arrived. The only way RE could have recognized Alcide as one of ‘his’ is if Alcide had ingested the blood.
I love where you’re going with Alcide perhaps considering Eric an ally. I can see it.
I remember RE saying that, but at the time I just thought he was fronting, or smelled werewolf and thought it was one of his. But you’re right, RE could have gotten his blood into Alcide somehow (perhaps using Debbie by proxy). So long as its not Bill, TB is pretty consistent with what a vamp can feel from someone who has had their blood. Eric hasn’t always come when Sookie was in mortal danger, but the times he hasn’t was when outside circumstances prevented it, as far as I can recall. And he was so not surprised to find Lala at MGE.
And as far as Alcide seeing Eric as a potential ally, as they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Eric is a big, ancient, cunning and powerful badass, but is also fair, loyal, and has shown that he can be worked with. He would his best option to ally himself with if he is under Bill’s thumb. And if Debbie is killed, in part due to his forced obsession over Sookie, he will want to seek vengeance on he who caused it, a tale Eric knows well.
Right, because Debbie was on a good path until Alcide’s obsession caused her to go off the deep end. She was just too fragile yet to deal with this kind of fuckery. Alcide is bound to blame the one who forced him to drive Debbie around the bend.
Thank you for all the kind words about my brainstorm session. =)
I keep reading – elsewhere – how Alcide needs to pack up his abs and move along – and stay out of everyone’s business. But I think Alcide is EVERYWHERE because he is trying to show “us” something, like the BIGGER PICTURE.
Really, really love reading all your thoughts on RE/Bill/Alcide/Debbie!
Just a quick note: Did anyone notice that Pam greeted Eric with a sniffly hello as if she was crying yet no bloody tears? Continuity issues or something else? I would love to get opinions.
Pam was putting on an act in my opinion. No way the king’s mansion isn’t wired for sound and teeming with video surveillance.
Since we saw that M/A’s cell was wired for video and sound there is reason to suspect that the whole place is wired, inside and out.
Indeed. That was the whole reason for that strange convo between Eric and Pam when they were both in the cell. We already know Eric didn’t spend the whole century with Pam ‘killin’ and fuckin’ and laughin”
“We already know Eric didn’t spend the whole century with Pam ‘killin’ and fuckin’ and laughin””
Indeed! But we also know that Bill and Lauren HAVE DONE it.
Yes indeed, that comment perfectly reflected the life of Bill and Lorena rather than Eric and Pam.
Why did they say that, IYO? It was an act, but what the purpose to do think they were so bloodthirsty?
It was a ‘lookey’ to clue us in to the fact that they were ‘pretending’ or playacting everything they said. A lookey is a form of film code developed by the director Lars von Trier. Coincidentally, Alexander Skarsgard has worked with him.
“For the casual observer, it’s just a glitch or a mistake,” he tells industry website Screendaily.com. “For the initiated, it’s a riddle to be solved. All Lookeys can be decoded by a system that is unique.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/dec/08/filmnews.film
In fact, this part of their conversation reminds me Bill and Lauren’s in 1936 (the one we’ve seen in a Bill ‘s flashback in season 2) when Bill wanted she releases him.
thanx 4 making TB a better show 4 me. I wish U could watch the epis b4 the Sunday’s showing beause then I would not get so pissed at what I’m watching & trying to make sense out of it. I always read your blog through & through & over again. Asking questions & making comments has finally got me banned from Wetpaint Red TB site. A badge of honor I believe. I don’t have anything to contribute,here, just graditude 4 all the posts & posters here. If it wasn;t 4 U, I’d b a TB drop out ..
Don’t do that to yourself! ‘Asking questions’ automatically qualifies you to contribute here.
You’re in very good company getting banned from the Red Wiki. The resolute ignorance of the place stifles thought and creativity and nobody needs that shit.
That reminds me of an old proverb: There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
“There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.”
These are some very wise words.
Sunny, after reading one of your “Lookey” posts (about how Sookie doesn’t see objects relating to food that the audience sees when she’s packing up her Gran’s room, and how Sookie doesn’t appear to be eating anymore), and it made me think of the Jason/Sookie breakfast scene in this episode, which had been bothering me for the past week.
Although Sookie makes a big breakfast for Jason, with toast and bacon and eggs, not only does she not eat anything herself, but she doesn’t even have a plate. There’s a second plate on the table, but when you actually look at it, it’s just the bacon cooling plate (you can see the paper she put under it to soak up the grease). There is a second glass of juice, placed in front of the farthest seat from the food, but Sookie never touches it, not even when she refills Jason’s glass. The whole scene is shot so that whenever Sookie is looking at the table, you can’t see any food (that isn’t in Jason’s mouth or hand). This includes a very awkward POV, squatting to the side of a counter to keep it blocking the view of the food. Food only appears on the table when she turns her back to it, and once she approaches the table again, the camera switches back to the POV with the food just barely out of the frame. She goes to get eggs for Jason, and whenever she’s looking at the eggs, we the audience can’t see them. Its only when she looks away do the eggs come into view, and this happens twice (once when she picks them up off the stove, and a second time when she scoops them out for Jason). It was all very deliberate and calculated, and made the whole scene come off slightly not right (which I guess was the point). Like a conversation where two people are studiously avoiding talking about something, which just draws all your focus on that thing they’re not talking about.
Come to think about it, a lot of Sookie’s recent (non-work related) contact with food has been connected to Jason; eating her chicken in the dark, bringing her cocoa after her return from fairyland (where she grabs the mug with flowers on it, not the one with the apple, but flowermug did have marshmallows, so that’s understandable). She did have groceries when reunited with Tara, but she never even got to unpack them before she suddenly had to run to Fangtasia in the middle of the day to yell at Eric. When Tara comes over to cry about uh…what’s her face, Tara downs beer and ice cream, but Sookie touches neither. I’m trying to think, was Gran’s pie the last time we actually saw her eat something? She didn’t eat any of Alcide’s stir-fried breakfast (though she did pour herself a glass of juice, and then promptly left it on the counter, forgetting about it in favor of ranting crazy about Bill). Everybody else on that show eats except for her. Very peculiar.
Wonderful comment Exit. It usually takes me at least three viewings before I really pay attention to camera angles and pov’s–unless a first person shot is obvious. I think you’ve described it beautifully and expanded very well on the theory of Sookie’s Little Tea Pot. WE see the food, Sookie does not. It’s as simple as that. The same thing happened in the graveyard with Grandpa Earl in the premiere. She looked at Gran’s head stone but there were no birth or death dates etched in the stone. This is extremely unusual, especially as there was space enough to eulogize Adele. This is a lookey telling us that Bill has fucked royally with Sookie’s sense of time. Like everything else she is or owns, Bill is literally stealing time from her. Like he stole her watch walking her to her car after the Rattray beating. Another triumphant trophy of his sadistic mind fucks! Eric keeps saying that Bill fed her his blood the night they met. Bud concurs, and I trust both sheriff’s. Ergo, the timeline is effed six ways from Sunday.
This segue’s into another point you’ve highlighted with the camera angles. You’ve more or less proven that the narrative is ALSO fucked six ways from Sunday. We see what the malevolent puppet narrator wants us to see, most of the time. Only in the case of Sookie and the food, and the tea pot, the narrative influence is skewing toward a wider, more honest perspective. By pulling back a little, even though the camera itself is doing contortions, the narrative is showing us the food but allowing us to see that Sookie is completely ignoring it or is blind to it altogether. In this way, see that there is a controlling influence that deliberately ‘frames’ the facts and the context in a deceptive manner.
Thankfully, the core of the narrative is the creator himself, and it speaks well of him that noble and loving acts take place in the dirt and in jail cells, tree houses and swimming holes…while filth and corruption pervade the glittering palaces.
Most of the above was my long-winded way of saying Sookie is Bill’s brainwashed slave. He’s raped her mind, body, and soul. He’s stolen everything he could from her, starting with her free will and her Gran, right down to her very lifeblood. He’s even stolen her laboriously produced fire wood. She’s in serious trouble, and the disorienting narrative is a reflection of her extreme distress.
[I also think he bought her house and commanded Eric to take the blame]
On the subject of camera angles…When we saw Sookie and Jason cleaning the kitchen last season (Santa’s real) we saw Sookie wiping away MaryAnn’s grime from the glass fronted cabinet. It felt like we had a hidden camera perspective.
Sookie and Jason’s breakfast scene this season began with the exact same feel to it.
It felt like we had a hidden camera perspective.
Great point! And hidden cameras are right up Bill’s alley.
Holy crap!, Exit! When I was over on TAP doing the Mavis/Gran parallels, I was going to mention in reply to a comment that the only way we’ve seen Sookie process Gran’s murder was by eating an entire pecan pie while crying. Now I’m sooooo curious to find out if she’s been shown eating anything since, ’cause that pie eating scene did go on for a bit….
Also, Exit: That was an amazing catch with the food and cameras! The two things that stuck out the most to me during that scene was how it seemed reminiscent of Gran and Sookie at the table — and how the camera seem to linger on the scrambled eggs in the pan. Eggs and Jason. :-/
Eggs (the food) get so frequently mentioned/showed on TB, you think they were doing product placement for the United Egg Producers.
She hasn’t eaten anything in season 4 or 3 that I was able to find, though she does drink from time to time (she does drink some cocoa Jason made for her the night of her return from Fairyland, and does shots in the were bar). I’ll have to go through seasons 1 & 2 more thoroughly.
She didn’t eat Ginger’s…whatever that was (peanut butter tube top sammich?) after waking up from the maenad, and even if it was gross, she must have been starving. Ginger even said at the time that working with vamps will make you forget to eat.
I do remember her taking a banana or apple or something off the Continental Breakfast table at Hotel Carmilla when she’s talking to Barry, but we don’t see her eat them. And she acts all weird when she takes them, like she thinks she’s not supposed to, which was cute at the time, because she looks like the awkward small-town girl being all awkward in the big city (It’s like booze for dolls), but if we consider the fact that she’s being conditioned away from food, its takes a much darker tone, that she’s scared to be caught eating.
Sunny already pointed out the French restaurant chocolate mousse, where we see her cut a piece off, Bill looks uncomfortable, and she appears to eat it, but we don’t see her actually put it in her mouth.
But I’m really beginning to think we haven’t seen her eating since Gran’s pie.
But I’m really beginning to think we haven’t seen her eating since Gran’s pie.
We have not seen her eat one bite since then. I keep an eye out. In the s3 finale, we see Tara is eating soup and a sandwich and there are dishes in front of Sookie but we don’t see her eat any of it. It’s notable that Jason is always seen eating with gusto, as if to highlight Sookie’s starvation.
It’s also notable that Bill’s doppel MA ate like a pig. She was a glutton.
not to forget the whole discussion between hoyt and jessica on that same subject… i mean, what was the point of jessica and hoyt’s fighting about “gross and permanently dead” food (eggs) besides highlighting how a poor housewife a babyvamp could be, but i think to remember sunny already pointed that out on TBU or someone at TAP
It wasn’t me, but that’s a great point Alice. Bill’s child thinks human food is gross. It disgusts her like corpses would a human. Bill is starving Sookie because he doesn’t want her blood, his own food source, ‘contaminated’.
BK said:
Eggs and Jason.
Benedict (Eggs) Talley and Jason Stackhouse.
Are we missing something? Why are these two being associated so often?
I don’t know but it’s certainly an intriguing question. I think it might trace back to the fact that Eggs was an unknowing puppet of MA’s. Could it be that Jason is ‘serving’ Bill in some as yet unknown way?
There has to be something we are missing here. There is no way that this is coincidence.
couldn’t eggs incarnate in some ways sookie and jason completely opposed ways of seeing lies / truth as interacting with the intention of protect. They have a quite significant discussion about that issue and telling tara about it after eggs being killed both mentally and physically by sookie and jason’s combinated action… which also echoes sookie’s concerns upon bill lying to “protect” her
in fact, isn’t a quite similar triangle around “knowing the truth/telling the truth kills people” issues also associating hoyt / jessica and jason (given some of their discussions about maxine and after jessica/jason hooking up) ?
Having your mind opened to the truth for the first time can cause severe psychological trauma in some people. Major paradigm shifts aren’t for every psyche.
I’ve been lurking here and at TAP for a little while and I want to thank all of you for helping me look deeper at True Blood. I’ve been rewatching season 2 and several things occured to me. I’m having a difficult time reconciling the fact that Bill and Lorena had this mutual love for sadistically violent bloody murder and then suddenly Bill regains his humanity and finds their way of living distasteful. Now I realize that there are a lot of things that we don’t know about their relationship, but I can see why Lorena became so pathetic and needy. She wants to understand WHY he has changed and is clinging to the hope that they can continue as before. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that as early as the 1930′s Bill became involved with the Maenad. Remember the Release Me scene where Bill is reading up on mythology about the Maenad and then Lorena shows up with the girl from the chorus? He becomes Emo Bill and threatens to stake himself. I think he wanted to be rid of Lorena so that he could proceed with his plans with the Maenad. Bill has a master plan even if has taken almost 70 years to bring it to fruition, 70 years is nothing to a vampire. Russell Edgington said 100 years is like a nap. We all know that deep down Bill is still that sadistic murderer, he just changed his modus operandi. He is power hungry and he dumped Lorena when someone better and more powerful came along, namely Maryann.
I have enjoyed reading the posts about mind control. I agree that Bill has seriously messed with everyone’s heads in Bon Temps. In season 2 ep. New World in My View, Bill and Sookie have a converstion on Lafayette’s porch after freeing Tara from Maryann’s influence. Something Bill said made my jaw drop and I had to write it down to remenber it. Sookie is dismayed that vampires aren’t the only ones that can manipulate human minds and then Bill says, “No offense Sookie, but humans are shockingly susceptible to just about every form of thought manipulation. ” Well, a master of mind control would definitely know that. I never really thought that much about season 2 and didn’t enjoy watching it the first time, but rewatching it has opened my eyes to so many things. Sorry about the long post. Thanks again for the enlightening commentary!
Welcome Andie! Never be sorry about a long post. Lord knows I’m not one to judge on that score.
I love your comment. I think it’s important to remember that Bill knew exactly what the maenad was. Why didn’t he already know how to kill her? The answer is, he probably did but needed the trip to NOLA as an alibi. He couldn’t let it seem like he knew too much. He’s been involved with her from the beginning. It’s just tooo randomly coincidental, and convenient, that she showed up in Bon Temps.
“No offense Sookie, but humans are shockingly susceptible to just about every form of thought manipulation. ” ”
This is what the entire series boils down to, in a nutshell.
You can also harvest eggs. That thought crossed my mind today while trying to think of a reason behind Debbie’s “I want kids” short speech to Marcus. And “harvest” was the word The Mean Ugly Faerie used to describe what they were doing to faerie-hybrids.
And there was Jesus’s Abuela’s egg she used in her fertility ritual.
There’s also the taxidermy lamb with the crown on its head on the counter of MGE. Crowned lambs were symbols of triumph over death, of Jesus Christ. Aries (the zodiac symbol and constellation) is sometimes depicted as a ram or lamb with a crown (most notably in Coptic tradition). Aries is associated with Christ’s resurrection in Christian mythology, because the Sun was in Aries when Christ was crucified. Aries’s decans are Cassiopeia (the chained/enthroned woman), Cetus (the sea monster), and Perseus (the breaker). All three are from the same Greek myth, where Cassiopeia, queen of Ethiopia, claimed she and her daughter Andromeda, where more beautiful than the sea-nymphs. Poseidon punished her by sending Cetus the sea monster to ravage her coastline (and in both the books and the show, water fae are Sookie’s enemies). An oracle told the King and Queen that the monster would not cease until they sacrificed their virgin daughter Andromeda to the kraken. Andromeda was chained naked to a rock on the coast. Perseus (son of Zeus, who impregnated his mother via a golden light, who was raised by a fisherman and spent his childhood on by the sea, and who could fly with his winged sandals he borrowed from Hermes), who just happened to be strolling by after slaying the Medusa, rescues her and claims her. This pissed off her uncle, who wanted her as his bride.
Cassiopeia is sometimes referred to (esp in modern times) as the enthroned woman, and depicted as grooming herself on a throne, a beautiful queen. However, the way the myth actually plays out, she is cursed to being bound to the throne, and spends half her time upside down.
Terrific, fascinating information Exit. Thanks for taking the time to put it together for us.
Thanks.
As with always, I am of two minds when it comes to True Blood (I can’t help it, I’m a Libra). On one hand, I find it could easily be a case of the set crew finding something weird they found funny, and putting it on the set (because occult shops have to be full of weird archaic crap). Then on the other hand, there is the compelling case for it being a Symbolically Significant Prop, as there have been any number of those already (two of the most obvious examples being Jason’s panther cap and Sam’s drawing of a collie guarding a little blonde girl). And I think those early, blatant examples are there to encourage the audience to look for others, the subtler ones, the ones you have to dig around the Internet for (like the true name of “Billy-Bob” from the Grabbit-Kwik in the opening scene, Wayne Bosen, and how close the murders of the similarly named Wayne “The Vampire Rapist” Boden mimicked the fangbanger murders and Bill’s faux-courtship).
The very foundation of TB traces right back to season’s 1 and 2. Patterns were established, bombs laid, conspiracies hatched..Any theme or motif from the s3 premiere onwards has echoes in s1 and 2.
Something I don’t think has been mentioned from S1 &2 and if it has sorry.
S1 was the first time we heard about demons…from Lette Mae. Then there was the discussion with her church friend who says something about her granddaughter had a demon…they’re everywhere.
And now in S4 it seems they’re everywhere.
Great point! I sure hope someone figures out fast how to get rid of them.
Speaking of eggs, there are some interesting things in here that could be a tie in. I don’t have time to look through it all right now though.
http://www.widdershins.org/vol1iss8/o9605.htm
Also something to think about is all of the obvious and cringeworthy racism this season, Arlene during the exorcism, Lafayetter/Mavis and the Cajun accent and Andy calling L/M a racist harkens back to Theosophy and The Secret Doctrine
Please forgive if already discussed.
Sorry, meant to add to the above. The rascism starts in the first episode with the vampire (skinwalking/disguised) Billy Bob redneck and the clerk/stereotyped vampire.
I think it was more to it than a way to demonstrate predjudices.
Thanks lucasa. Terrific information. I liked how the article mentioned ‘egg for womb, tree for phallus’. MA was sure going by the book wasn’t she?
Sunny, I can’t access TAP forum. Is anyone else having this problem? Both my work and home computer locks up whenever I try to access the forum.
Hey Chris, I just got in a posted the ‘previously on’ video:
Very unusual to have this before the episode. As I said at TAP:
From the focus of the ‘previously on’ you can always interpret how an episode will be presented. Just think of how in the s4 premiere the ‘previously on’ for s3 left out the Ratt reveal. In this one, Sookie runs out of MGE and yells ‘Eric!’ but we don’t hear her yell Bill as she did in the ep. In a couple of instances it almost looks like the scenes are presented from Eric’s pov. This is VERY good news.
Thanks, Sunny. I do hope we start seeing some scenes from Eric’s POV.
PS I got some of the engineers at work to help me out. I switched to Mozilla Firefox and I can access TAP now.
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