Sunday, May 5, 2013

True Blood episode recap "She's Not There" (S4E1)

Despite how annoyed I got with S3 of True Blood, my prior annoyance pales in comparison to my annoyance with S4 which I think is the weakest season thus far.  It's got a terrible Big Bad - the Irish actress, Fiona Shaw, is supposed to be a great stage actress but she's given crap-all to do here as a witch, plus her accent is appalling - and Eric, who is normally one of the best things about this show, is all schmoopy and amnesiac for most of the season.  Ugh.  I just don't think I can do detailed, blow-by-blow recaps this time.  Broad strokes are the best you'll get for this season, I'm afraid.

At the end of S3, Sookie was taken to Faerie Land.  There, it's all soft pink light and pretty people and glittery fruit to eat, and Sookie gets to see her granddaddy (Gary Cole) who disappeared twenty years ago.  But it's not really as lovely as it seems: time passes differently there and Mab, the Faerie Queen, who gets about a minute of screen time, is actually pretty nasty, trying to trap any humans with any trace of faerie blood there.  Sookie sees through the faeries' glamour to their twisted visages underneath and manages to flee back to the earthly realm, taking Granddaddy with her.  He dies shortly thereafter and Sookie cries.  The death scene was actually nicely done.

When Sookie goes back to her house, she is surprised to see workmen there.  She goes inside over their protests that it's not her house.  The workmen call the cops and it's Jason, now a deputy, who shows up.  He tells his sister that while she was only gone for fifteen minutes in her time, over a year has passed in Bon Temps.  He thought she was dead so he sold the house to some real estate developer, hence the workmen.  As soon as the sun sets, both Bill and Eric show up at the house.  Bill moans about how he thought Sookie had died; Eric says he never gave up on her; Bill orders Eric to leave; and, surprisingly, the Viking does.  Sookie reminds Bill that even though a year has passed, to her it was only an hour ago that he broke her heart.  He says he understands and takes his leave.

Meanwhile, Jesus has convinced Lafayette to join him at his coven meeting at "Moongoddess Emporium."  Lafayette isn't really interested, saying he's only staying five minutes, "Ten, if they got drinks."  Holly the Merlotte's waitress is a member of the coven, plus a bunch of stereotypical New Age flakes.  The coven is headed up by Marnie, who is weird but can apparently contact spirits for real.

Terry and Arlene are now married and Arlene has had her baby, but she is convinced that since the baby's father was Rene, the baby may be Evil.  Terry, for once, is the voice of reason, saying Mikey is just a baby who needs their love.  On the other side of town, Hoyt and Jessica are enduring a rough patch: he's feeling underappreciated and would like her to cook dinner for him; she reminds him that to her, eating dead stuff is gross.  Hilarously, she slams about a dozen eggs into a skillet, just barely frying them before thrusting the pan at Hoyt.  He gamely shovels a few runny mouthfuls in, shells and all (eeeeeeeuuuuuuuwwwwwww), before she stops him, giggling.  In other news: Tara is now living in New Orleans under a fake name, kicking ass as an ultimate fighter and shacking up in a serious lesbian relationship.  Her girlfriend is pretty hot.

Down in Shreveport at Fangtasia, Nan is doing vampire damage control in the wake of Russell Covington's reign of terror, interviewing Pam and Eric for broadcast.  Pam can't be bothered and is totally, wonderfully bitchy.  Eric is smooth, of course.

The next morning, Sookie swings by Merlotte's and sees Arlene, Terry and Lafayette.  Sam is a little cold to her but gives her a part-time shift.  Jesus stops by too to try to get Lafayette to give the coven another try, to explore the gift he has.  Andy Bellefleur interrupts, looking for some V: he's the current sheriff and has a V addiction, but says he needs it for evidence.  But Lafayette doesn't deal that shit anymore and Andy gets aggressive until Jason comes in and drags him off.  Out in the restaurant, Hoyt's momma, Miz Fortenberry, has pretty much adopted Tommy, whose leg is in a brace since Sam shot him in S3E12.  She likes to have a boy in the house since she kicked Hoyt out for shacking up with Jessica.  Lafayette texts Tara to let her know that Sookie has returned; Tara lies to her girlfriend about it, saying that her grandmother in Atlanta died.

Hoyt and Jessica go out for date night to Fangtasia.  Jess is tempted when a fang-banger hits on her - she's struggling to stay committed to her human boyfriend.  Pam confronts her in the ladies' room.  Pam, referring to Hoyt: "That tree in the plaid shirt, it has a name?"  Pam tells the younger vampire that she has no reason to feel guilty about her urges: she's a hunter by nature and it's unnatural for her to be in a monogamous relationship with a human.  Jessica insists that she loves Hoyt.

Sam is going to an "anger management group," which is really just a bunch of sexy shape-shifters who drink expensive wine, eat fancy food, strip naked and run through the woods as a herd of horses to blow off steam.  Jason is still looking after the inbred were-panthers up at Hot Shot, bringing them food to eat.  Problem is, at his latest delivery, they knock him on the head and lock him in an empty freezer.

At the coven meeting, mumble-mouthed Marnie mourns her dead parrot, and then tries to resurrect the dead bird, only succeeding when a reluctant Lafayette joins the circle.  This power over the dead is pretty big magic, more than the rest of the group was expecting.  Afterwards, one of the women in the coven goes to Bill's mansion: she reports to him that there's a necromancer in town, something vampires should be concerned about.  Why is she reporting to Bill?  Because he is now King of Louisiana - apparently he killed Sophie Ann in their fight at the end of S3E12.

Eric shows up in Sookie's bedroom just as she's getting out of the shower.  He lasciviously checks her out, then hands her a house key.  He's the one who bought her house:  "If I own your house, I own you."

Previously on True Blood / next time on True Blood

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