True Blood Sucker Punch: Episode 8
Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments on this week's episode of True Blood.
Warning: This post contains spoilers.
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Iximng ti pu.
See what I did there? I took the phrase "mixing it up," and I mixed it up. That's because True Blood episode 2.8, "Timebomb," mixes up the meaning of two central metaphors. (I know, right? I'm so clever!)
In both cases, the allegories shift because they force us to reckon more fully with the hard facts of vampirism.
Take Jessica: She's been a consistent stand-in for teenage angst, discovering her new body and her new life while Bill stares on like an uncomfortable father. The scene where he catches her having sex with Hoyt only reinforces the dynamic.
But then Hoyt and Jessica have sex again. And Jessica discovers that her healing power regrows her hymen. Which means sex will always, always hurt.
Suddenly, Jessica is a woman who wants to make love, but whose body punishes her for it every time.
And sure, stories are always punishing women for expressing their desires -- think of all the Fatal Attractions you've seen -- but Jessica's eternal anguish kicks it up a notch. Now she's on track to represent women who are systemically repressed -- who are taught their sexuality is cursed by its very nature.
But who knows? Maybe she'll grin through the pain because her desires are just that important to her. Whatever the case, her self-healing flesh will deepen her impact on the show.
The other major wrinkle comes from Godric, who rolls between the Fellowshippers and the Texas vamps like a blissed-out grenade. Until now, vampires have often been a metaphor for oppressed minorities -- gays, religious types, etc. -- who are fighting for their rights, but as I mentioned in this video, that parallel has always been complicated by the fact that vampires, unlike any human minority group, are inherently vicious.
Godric's arrival critiques that viciousness. By refusing to harm those who attack him, punish those who betray him, or even feed on human blood, Godric offers an alternative possibility for vampire life. By striving to make peace with Reverend Steve, he demonstrates a compassion that Steve himself cannot return. And by chastising vampires who haven't evolved past brutish behavior, he chastises every undead character we've seen. (Even Bill has a violent impulse to protect Sookie.)
Does Godric's enlightened presence mean that vamps and humans should realize they're all just behaving like animals? We'll have to wait and see.
Of course, it's possible that Godric won't survive the suicide bomb that Luke detonates at the end of this episode, but if he dies, then the loss of a sane and peaceful voice will be resonant enough. If he does survive, then his reaction to an act of terrorism will speak loudly about reason's place in a war.
But that's all coming in the weeks ahead. For now, "Timebomb" gives us loads of over-the-top, sucker-punchy fun.
Like, there's the part where Reverend Steve says Jason is going to hell, and Jason says, "I reckon I've already been to heaven, and it was inside your wife."
Ohhhhhh, snap! Suck on that, preacher man!
And speaking of retorts, can I get an amen for the Sookie-Lorena throwdown? One of the reasons I love Sookie is that even though she's a sweet-natured heroine, she's also poor white trash. My girl always dresses in booty shorts, most likely wrote the word "Skynyrd" in silver magic marker on her fourth grade Trapper Keeper, and most definitely will not let some bloodsucking ho get up on her man. Vampire or no vampire, she will stick her gum on the side of her Miller can and get wild on a bitch, and if it weren't for Godric coming in and shaming Lorena for acting like a hussy, you know Sookie would still be pulling some hair.
And good for her. I'd much rather watch a heroine who is trashy and flawed and human. I don't drink Miller, but otherwise, I can relate.
And then there's Eric. When he pretends to be a yokel, just so he can fool the Fellowshippers? Awesome. When he smiles for joy to be around Godric again? Sweet. They aren't quite audacious enough to be Sucker Punches, but his scenes in this episode are great.
Ditto Lafayette's. He only has a few lines, but they revolve around Tarot cards and calling Tara a hooker. Thanks for the cameo, girl! I hope you get a talk show with Jackee!
Meanwhile, when it comes to true Sucker Punches, "Timebomb" leads us once again to Maryann's Wacky Shack. On this week's menu of crazy, Maryann cooks Daphne's heart. Tara and Eggs also get this close to figuring out what's happening to them, only to end up back under Maryann's spell, slapping each other into black-eyed lust before they freak on the living room floor.
But the biggest Sucker Punch comes when Maryann serves up a "hunter's souffle," made with brandy, diced vegetables, and a shape shifter's organs. When Tara slices into the entree, blood oozes all over the place, but is she freaked out? No! She shovels that mess with a serving spoon, and she only stops so that Eggs can scarf it, too. Their souffle orgy is such a perversion of the happy domestic meal that I feel gross just thinking about it, and that's exactly how a Sucker Punch should make me react.
Granted, the Maryann storyline doesn't advance much in this episode, but the blood feast ups her control over Tara and Eggs. That, plus Sam and Andy's increasing awareness of her power, implies something big is coming soon. Bring. It. On!
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seems to me the best location to shoot a vampire series would be a few miles south in new orleans. face it ...its the only living dead friendly demcracy in north america. a foggy night walk down by the riverfront in the french quarter at 2:a.m. is the scariest thing i've ever done... and i lived there.
Has anyone mentioned perhaps the best and funniest quote from episode 8:
Jason calling Steve Newlin a 'white suit MF'er.
up there with " i'll leave you here , you 1 - shoed M.F., you know i can run " chris moltisanti to walter gualtieri PINE BARRENS
Sorry if this posts twice..
Can someone tell me how to determine if when a vampire feeds they are not turning or killing the victim? I am new to True Blood this season and not sure about this yet. When Eric and his sidekicks all fed on LaFayette I would think he'd die of blood loss or be turned but neither happened. And was Lorena going to kill, turn or just feed off Barry?
I like both Bill and Eric but Sookie is starting to sound like a nagging Nellie to me.
As much as Lafayette was fed on you would have thought he would have died according to the general idea of Vampire fiction but "True Blood" is a new spin on this. Just lay back and enjoy it. :)
They talked about it when Bill had to turn Jessica. He had to feed on her blood until she was nearly dead and then he had to feed her his blood. Once that's done, she was put into the ground and presto - one new vampire the next night.
I believe that to turn someone on TB, you have to feed from them, then let them feed from you, back and forth. It may be that the vampire that turns his victim has to make a conscious decision to do so.
For Lafayette, I think they fed on him over a period of a week or so- stopping and giving him just enough time to recover from the blood loss, then starting up again. That is how he survived. Later, he had been away from the vamps for a few days when Erik healed him by letting him suck on his arm a little- but he cut him off as well.
I think Lorena was going to just feed and/or kill. Judging by the way Jessica was turned and the thought Godric put into making Eric and even how picky Lorena was before turning Bill, I don't believe it is a casual thing. The Maker to be is at least supposed to put some serious thought into it and not just make anyone into a vamp. Although I suppose accidents happen..
I am new to TB this season and love it. Can someone explain to me about the vampire biting. I get confused on when someone is "turned". It seems most times they just feed off somone and not all attacks are turning the people into vampires. Was Barry just food? When Eric and his sidekicks fed on LaFayette it looked like they killed him but he didn't die. There obviously are different degrees of vampire feeding.
I love Eric and Bill, but think Sookie is starting to sound like a nagging Nellie.
does anyone know what does the justice tarot card mean???
Amature interpretation, but I've been exposed to this kind of thing before: I believe it represents balance, a return to stability and equilibrium...again, unless it's upside down.
It also very likely has to do with Tara eventually getting her act together and seeing Maryanne getting her just desserts, and it's going to be 'heartless'!
It literally means 'justice' Not always in favor of the person the reading is for, but that things will return to a balance and that good deeds will be answered with good, evil with evil, bravery with bravery, etc. It CAN mean a return to the status quo, but not always. Sometimes when upside down, you can read it as a mis-carriage of justice, that things are just unfair sometimes.
The important thing to remember is that YOUR personal idea of what is 'just' might not be the universe's idea of it. Everything is relative.
Love the show, but vampires don't represent a minority group fighting for its rights. Vampires are at the top of the food chain. It is brilliant reversal. This isn't a show about equality, that is, a small group or minority being accepted into a larger more established cultural normative position. The normative position is Vampire. It is their world, we are just living in it. Godric is trying to teach the Vampires that it is ok to let humans, their food source, assimilate into their world. It is really complex and well done. To quote another vampire series, Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, "When one is eating a steak they don't sit down with the cow."
An interesting concept, but I've thought about this angle before and it presents a host of inconsistencies...if vampires have been the top of the food chain for all these years (possibly since Lazarus, the proto-vampire in some lore), how is it that there are so many of us and so few of them? How, in the age of global information, can they even continue to hide in the shadows? If it were truly the vampire's world, then we would all be sitting in boxes, our procreation controlled, waiting to be someone's next meal.
Vampires, in this and most interpretations, are too vulnerable to be a viable threat, if you think about it. They can't be exposed to natural light, are held to a single location during the day, and can be dispatched with as little as a pencil through the chest. It'd be like saying that bears are the top of the food chain. Sure, they're stronger and faster, but their other limitations prevent them from defending themselves against the encroachment of man.
But if you really want to get into a weird headspace, consider this: with no heartbeat, pulse or circulation, how do vampires even have carnal relations? I've never gotten a good answer to that one.
The show answered your last question in the second episode of season one. Bill comments on his ability to be "un-dead" as magic, then points to a very easy argument about how even though science can explain how the body works, it's still magic.
So there you go. MAGIC!
First off, I was also struck by how significant the alegory changed in this episode/season. When the series started, the vampires were more than obviously standing in for current hetero/homosexual tensions, as well as past civil rights challenges. This season, the fangs represent Muslims, and Geodric is the moderate Muslim attempting to pacify the extremists. But the "good" side has extremists too. How far will either side be pushed? How far will they go for "retribution?" Heady stuff.
That said, there is a LOT of suspension of disbelief that has to happen for this show to work, I'm sorry. The Fellowship not only knows where Godric's nest is, but some yahoo, reeking of silver, is able to simply walk through the front door and announce himself and his intentions? Where's the superspeed? Where's the mind reader? (Sookie's powers, while cool, seem to be enormously limited.) Where's Bill, for crying out loud? He and Luke had to have passed each other outside. It just seems like the writer's overlook some of the very fundementals they themselves have established when it suits them.
As for Tara's card reading...maybe it was me, but I think Lafeyette actually placed the Justice card UPSIDE DOWN. That's rarely a good sign, as card reading's go.
Maybe I missed it but how did the Fellowship even capture Godrick and how did they keep him for so long if he could get away so easily?
Godric wants peace. He didn't fight the FoTS, I think. He also didn't try to escape.
I believe (and I could very well be wrong)...
a) He didn't put up a fight as he wanted to prove that vamps aren't just about kil.ling
b) He didn't try to escape as he was intent on making this point (even convincing some of the Fellowship that they are on the same side, in a way), and
c) He's apparently reached some stage of development where he doesn't have to drink bloo.d often, if at all, to live
In the book, he had surrendered himself because he was tired of living and was going to let them kill him.
Having read the books as well as watching the show, Sookie's telepathic powers are up in the air when she's distracted, as she was by her fight with Lorena. It's only when she makes a conscious effort to concentrate that she can completely block everyone out OR hear something in particular with total reliability. Many times, there are so many voices in her head that it is all just a big jumble.
Doesn't anyone suppose that the writers are backed into a corner by Maryann now? She's immortal, can't be killed, and can control almost the entire population. How could she be stopped?
Maybe a house will fall on her.
A pail of water? Holy, swamp water, that is, with a splash of bourbon.
Maybe Sam will play a part? She is so obsessed with him.
Well, Godric is pretty darn near to being immortal. I would love to see a Maryann v. Godric smackdown!
All I have to say is that Eric looked smashing in that black skin tight tank top. The man is sexy to the bone!
I love Sookie and Bill. I think it's very romantic how Bill loves her so much. I don't want her to be with Eric. She belongs to Bill. I don't care what the book says, she has this great chemistry with Bill. Eric might be the better looking, but Bill is the one she belongs to. I like Bill's look. He is deep and mysterious. I like that about him. He is a gentleman. I think Anna Paquin is a great Sookie. She is very pretty. I'm glad I didn't read the book. I like not knowing what will happen.
I've actually read the books and I still don't know what's going to happen next. They have left the main storyline but they have played around with it by adding new people in and changes a few things up and it still keeps me on the edge of my seat every Sunday. Oh and trust me, you'll be loving Eric sooner or later and how the relationship between him and Sookie evolves.
Sorry, no trust for you. I've read ALL the books up to date, and I still want Eric to lose his power and leave Louisiana.
LovingHope, I am with you. My favorite part of the show is watching Bill & Sookie interact ~ such passionate chemistry. I can't imagine her leaving him for Eric.
(I also adore LaFayette.)
I like Lafayette too. But my love is Jason Stackhouse. He is so gorgeous!!! That's what I love about this show. All the characters are so cool. There are so many cuties. Can hardly wait till Sunday.
I wish I knew this blog was here about True Blood, I would have followed along earlier! What a blast of a show, so hooked...
I WANT the Eric /Sookie link to happen, and think it will...that chat he had with Isabelle, about what it is to have human companionship, and now Godric is affecting him as he absorbs the ideas of being with humans and regarding them as equals..it will make Eric evolve, and acknowledge his feelings for Sookie. Even his feelings for Godric he could not grasp, as the perfectly delivered exchange between Sookie and himself showed...
"Godric is your maker isn't he?"
"Don't use words you don't understand "
"You have alot of love for him"
(perfect pause..) "don't use words I don't understand."
probably my most favorite moment in all the show..they are connecting...he's been all eyes for her through the rest of the show...I LOVE it, it works for me, sorry Bill...plus, she ran OUT of Bill's arms to help Eric with the chains. It's happening...
Maryanne...I love that actress, but that character is WICKED...very interested to see how it will end, what is the key to bringing her down? I'm waiting and watching with bated breath! Can't hardly wait!
I think you're fooling yourself if you think a Sookie/Eric romance is "happening" because she helped him with his chains. After that, she just about stakes Lorena for trying to steal Bill from her. You really have to be reaching to watch the endless signs of her commitment to Bill and then think that she's going to leave him for Eric based on some pretty minor stuff that could be interpreted in countless ways.
Also, ESPECIALLY in the show, Eric doesn't have "eyes" for Sookie in that he wants to have a mutually satisfying relationship with her, he wants her as one of his possessions. That's not exactly heartwarming in my book.
Agreed, Dazy. And since Mark is running behind with episode #9 this evening (hope everything's going great, Mark), let me just say..OMG, I can take just about anything, but watching a giant Viking weep and ask "..please, please.." - whatever you want, Eric, I'll willingly, gladly give you..! *consoling hugs*
Lafayette showing the JUSTICE tarot card Tara had picked about her future may show that Tara will eventually get the justice she so much deserves in that Maryanne may be in for it and Maryanne's time is doomed. Just how tha happens I can't imagine but it's going to be fun to watch.
But see- if you read 'Justice' that way, is it really 'justice'? Tara made choices- she did not have to go with Maryann and buy into the never-ending buffet. 'Justice' for Tara does not necessarily mean Maryanne being 'in for it'. Justice is blind- it doesn't just mean that you will get back at someone who wronged you- in their eyes, they didn't wrong you, you did it to yourself! Its all relative!
Tara and Eggs didn't flinch when blood started oozing from the soufle because they were already under Maryanne's spell so not blinking an eye made sense. Godrick though is tunring out to be a Jesus figure ironically and certainly more Christian than thsoe who follor Rev. Steve. If he dies when that bomb goes off--if it goes off--he would have sacrificed himself for the better good of everyone and he'll become a martyr.
As to Sookie, she's no white trash. She may not dress like a fashionista, but she's smart and courageous. When she called Bill's maker to her face a F'ing b*tch, I hooted and loved it. She stands up for herself and those she loves and you have to admire her for it.
The guy who plays Reverend Steve is a terrible actor though and plays him too much like a bufoon.
Have you seen evangelicals pretending that they've been cured of their homosexuality? I think he's about spot on.
Yeah, I literally hooted during that scene too. Last season she drove me nuts but this season I'm like, you go girl!
I think the Rev Steve char is spot on. Think he looks TOO MUCH like the guy in the Vamp Porn video Sookie saw advertised at the hotel. I think it was called "My First Fangbang"
Godric was a fasinating charater, want to see more of him, who made him and under what circumstances. MaryAnn Is starting to get on my nerves, the pig, the dead rabbit and bloody feet, come on already with this story line, oh but I loved the heart cooking scene, wonderfully scary. Tara and Eggs are so dense or is Eggs somehow manipulating Tara, when she start to put two and two together? Like when MaryAnn caused everyone a Merlot's to start ragging on Tara causing her to let MaryAnn and gang move into Sookie's. After reading some of the post here, I've learned Eric and Sookie will hook up, I hope not, because there is no chemistry between, the two actors, whether they were great in the book or not, It won't work on the screen.
I didn't read the books this is based on but I just don't see Eric and Sookie hooking up. Like Eric said, he doesn't understand love and Sookie isn't attracte dto him. The only way they would hook up is if Eric forced Sookie to and for what reason?
READ THE BOOKS! All will be revealed. LOL
True Blood Eric & Sookie have no chemistry and I don't think it would be a good idea to force this union on the show.
In the books, it is very palpable the chemistry between these two and you can't wait for them to scratch that itch.
Won't work on the show though.
It's still way too early though. They really didn't start hinting at anything between Eric and Sookie in the books until book 3. And if you've read the books then you know how they get together and under what circumstances. I think it will work on the show very well. Good chemistry doesn't always start out storm, sometimes it needs time to simmer.
"TimeBomb" has joined the ranks of The Sopranos' "Pine Barrens" and other classic episodes for sheer pound-for-pound action, intrigue and revelation.
Godric would be missed but his martyrdom would open the door for a flood dramatic possibilities.
Don't even get me started on Maryanne's feast...
I'm stunned...
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