Happy New Year's Day and More Fun with True Blood
Happy New Year's everyone!
HBO has been running a Season 4 True Blood marathon. Since I am a homebody, I re-watched several of my favorite episodes from the season. I also re-watched the season finale. Much has been said about the fan upset over Season 4. I personally thought Season 4 was on a roll until about the last couple of episodes. When I re-watched the last two episodes, I could almost pinpoint where I thought the show started to "clunk". The problem is with the writing not the acting. The acting has stayed consistent. The writing, though, had the actors saying a few lines that upon reflection didn't work. I would suggest my feelings about this are being reflected by the contingent of viewers who have vocally stated their upset up and down the fan sites. So, I'll point to a few situations where I think the writers took the characters off track.
Season 4, Episode 11 -- This episode (the next to the last) had several points that didn't feel authentic to me. The first was when Eric and Bill realize Sookie is trapped in the Goddess Emporium, and they both say, "Fucking Sookie". It's not the profanity that was the problem, but more of the reaction when confronted by Jason, who is apparently the only voice of sanity in the situation, as he aptly points out that a. Bill used Sookie as his own personal soda fountain (true) and b. Sookie took care of Eric when she found him on the side of the road. Now Eric's reaction when he says "technically it's my house" didn't hit home with me. At this point in the story, while that statement was true, I don't think Eric would have been concerned with home ownership or pointing it out. The audience already knew it, and it wasn't a loving thing to say after we all know he's declared his love for her. My case: the writing was slightly off on a show where the writing is always very fine-tuned -- and one of the things I adore about the show, which is really about vampires and supernaturals (something I'm typically not that interested in).
Season 5, Episode 11 -- This show was unbalanced in that it had some fantastic one-liners that were tempered by some clunkers. Pam calling Sookie's name stupid and her precious fairy vagina will surely go down in the writing hall of fame. The line was dead-on, clever, funny and brilliant. Now balance that with the horrible line out of Eric's mouth where he says, "Excuse me, crispy up here." I disliked that line. It was just off and meant to be funny, but did not come off as funny just distracting. Now I used to think the break-up scene between Sookie and her vampire lovers was all wrong until I read a fantastic analysis on a True Blood Tumblr site, which deconstructed the scene. In the deconstruction of the scene, I had to rethink my low opinion of it. That said, it should have worked for me in a more obvious way the first time. I shouldn't have to have my opinion changed because a fan site deconstructed it. I don't want my writing "on the nose" but I don't want to have analyze it too much either. I admit, I like my True Blood "Lite," meaning a simple reflection allows me to figure it out.
Now outside of those two episodes, I thought the season worked pretty seamlessly. While some critics weren't thrilled with the bedtime romp in a Scandinavian forest we suspect was in "Narnia," others enjoyed it. I liked that scene okay. It was unexpected for sure. Of course, I will never forget the fan who was more concerned with Alexander Skarsgard's feet and shoes than the scene. Like I said earlier, it's a sexy, fantasy scene, and this fan was concerned about what kind of footwear Mr. Skarsgard was wearing -- that comment was unforgettable because I laughed. Look carefully at that photo, does it look like we should be discussing proper footwear (P.S., if I could find a photo of their feet in the bathtub, I would have posted it for laughs).
There's my reflection on the reruns of Season 4 I enjoyed on New Year's Eve. Look at me! Aren't I the party girl?! Who-hoo! Happy New Year's again everyone.
HBO has been running a Season 4 True Blood marathon. Since I am a homebody, I re-watched several of my favorite episodes from the season. I also re-watched the season finale. Much has been said about the fan upset over Season 4. I personally thought Season 4 was on a roll until about the last couple of episodes. When I re-watched the last two episodes, I could almost pinpoint where I thought the show started to "clunk". The problem is with the writing not the acting. The acting has stayed consistent. The writing, though, had the actors saying a few lines that upon reflection didn't work. I would suggest my feelings about this are being reflected by the contingent of viewers who have vocally stated their upset up and down the fan sites. So, I'll point to a few situations where I think the writers took the characters off track.
Season 4, Episode 11 -- This episode (the next to the last) had several points that didn't feel authentic to me. The first was when Eric and Bill realize Sookie is trapped in the Goddess Emporium, and they both say, "Fucking Sookie". It's not the profanity that was the problem, but more of the reaction when confronted by Jason, who is apparently the only voice of sanity in the situation, as he aptly points out that a. Bill used Sookie as his own personal soda fountain (true) and b. Sookie took care of Eric when she found him on the side of the road. Now Eric's reaction when he says "technically it's my house" didn't hit home with me. At this point in the story, while that statement was true, I don't think Eric would have been concerned with home ownership or pointing it out. The audience already knew it, and it wasn't a loving thing to say after we all know he's declared his love for her. My case: the writing was slightly off on a show where the writing is always very fine-tuned -- and one of the things I adore about the show, which is really about vampires and supernaturals (something I'm typically not that interested in).
Season 5, Episode 11 -- This show was unbalanced in that it had some fantastic one-liners that were tempered by some clunkers. Pam calling Sookie's name stupid and her precious fairy vagina will surely go down in the writing hall of fame. The line was dead-on, clever, funny and brilliant. Now balance that with the horrible line out of Eric's mouth where he says, "Excuse me, crispy up here." I disliked that line. It was just off and meant to be funny, but did not come off as funny just distracting. Now I used to think the break-up scene between Sookie and her vampire lovers was all wrong until I read a fantastic analysis on a True Blood Tumblr site, which deconstructed the scene. In the deconstruction of the scene, I had to rethink my low opinion of it. That said, it should have worked for me in a more obvious way the first time. I shouldn't have to have my opinion changed because a fan site deconstructed it. I don't want my writing "on the nose" but I don't want to have analyze it too much either. I admit, I like my True Blood "Lite," meaning a simple reflection allows me to figure it out.
There's my reflection on the reruns of Season 4 I enjoyed on New Year's Eve. Look at me! Aren't I the party girl?! Who-hoo! Happy New Year's again everyone.
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