My Review of True Blood's 2x11: "Frenzy"

Written by Alan Ball
Directed by Daniel Minahan

Sookie: “How come there’s so much wrong in the world, Lafayette? How come people are wiling to do bad things and hurt other people?”
Lafayette: “Because they are weak.”
Sookie (re Maryann): “Well, I am not weak and I am not afraid. I’m gonna kick that evil bitch’s ass out of my gran’s house and then you are gonna shoot her.”
Lafayette: “In the fucking head.”
Sookie: “Right.”

Well if you’re going to try and stop something as powerful as Maryann, it’s probably best not to enter the situation with a defeatist attitude. Who needs Bill Compton to save the day? Sookie doesn’t. All she needed was a gun and a right hand in Lafayette to break into her own home to try and stop Maryann. Sadly for her, everything was going wrong.

Not only was her house being decorated with people fornicating left, right and centre, cutting off body parts and trashing the place, but it seems all of Sookie’s defences were being stripped down one by one. Bill was being delayed, Tara let her obsession with Eggs rule her head and Lafayette came into close contact with Maryann. So let’s focus on these three.

Tara first of course. The poor girl seemed to be mostly free of Maryann’s hold but she was determined to get to Eggs by any means necessary. If it wasn’t taking pot shots at Sookie, Lettie Mae and Lafayette, it was by sheer manipulation alone. Lafayette had the right idea tying her up. Too bad he had to leave Lettie Mae of all people to stand guard on her.

Of course Tara was going to be able to use religion to psyche Lettie Mae out. Lettie Mae’s easily swayed by religion and superstition. It was how Miss Jeanette was able to scam her and it was this coupled with some old fashioned emotional blackmail that Tara was able to get her free.

Lettie Mae desperately wanted Tara to forgive and while I’m glad that she finally acknowledges what a horrible mother she’s been to Tara, this was the worst time to cave into her daughter’s protests. Plus for a woman who taught Lafayette how to shoot, she did seem surprisingly rubbish when holding him and Sookie back to aid Tara’s escape.

Tara heading straight to Eggs was only going to lead to trouble. Eggs is way too far gone that I don’t think anything short of killing Maryann can bring him back. Tara made an attempt to get him to leave Adelle’s house before Maryann interrupted them. And there gave me some interesting things to mull over.

All season long it’s been interesting to see how Maryann has latched herself onto Tara. I thought it was only because Tara was vulnerable but it turned out that Tara somehow managed to summon Maryann to Bon Temps, despite the fact that Miss Jeanette was a fake. I’m not gonna say this chaos is Tara’s fault but as explanations go for Maryann’s arrival in this town, it actually does make a lot of sense.

What also made sense was how easily Maryann was able to sway Tara back into her influence once again. It almost looked too easy last week when Sookie and Bill pulled Tara back so having Maryann sink her claws into Tara once again wasn’t too much of a shock to the system. Still Sookie’s allies are narrowing down a lot, aren’t they?

This lead to Lafayette. Seriously, Lafayette and Sookie need a lot more scenes together next season because the both of them are a joy to watch. I loved their mutual annoyance over Eric tricking them to drink from him almost as much as I loved seeing Lafayette give some reasonable answers to Sookie’s questions of human decency.

Yes, none of the residents of Bon Temps right are themselves but even when they are, they’re guilty of doing bad and being led astray. Lafayette was pretty clear on trying to emphasise to Sookie that right now, they were under Maryann’s influence and sadly for him, Lafayette became the next person to succumb to Maryann.

I suppose I should be glad that Maryann did get Lafayette. The other options would’ve involved her claws and the poison from hell. And given that the next episode is the finale, Lafayette along with everyone else will be restored. Maryann might want to sacrifice Sam for her god but she’s in for a letdown on that one.

I didn’t need the cryptic comments from Maxine about Maryann’s imminent folly but it certainly helped. Given that Tara and Eggs were making a nest for an egg, I’m guessing Sam isn’t the only ingredient in Maryann’s little bid to be ravished by Dionysius. If Maryann hadn’t caused such chaos, I might actually feel a little bad for her. Goodness knows, she’s going to be sorry in the next episode.

This is where Sophie-Anne came in handy. Yes, she might have distracted Bill a lot in this episode but at least he left knowing exactly what Maryann was and how could be killed. The sacrifice itself allows her to be vulnerable long to die and given the look Bill gave Sam towards the end of this episode, it looks like these two might have to band together to rid Bon Temps of this particular maenad.

Also after all the intrigue, did Sophie-Anne come up a cropper? I know some other viewers complained a little about Evan Rachel Woods’s depiction of the character but I actually liked the Queen a lot. Reasonably mischievous, slight bratty/precocious but mostly a lot of fun. More surprising was her patience when Bill was losing his in some parts.

Plus I think there are a lot of fans out there who would happily watch with her as Eric and Bill screwed each other to deal with their tension. If there’s a low point of this episode (apart from it not being as good as past ones), it was having that brief scene outside the Queen’s mansion where Bill and Eric were goading each other about Sookie. Grow up guys.

Speaking of growing up, if Bill and Eric can’t settle their differences, amidst the chaos of Maryann, it’s great that Jason and Andy are able. Okay, so there were a few swipes in there but for the most part, both of them were able to get past their residual issues with each other to try and get weapons. And that’s not counting the amount of times Andy grumbled when Jason’s unhealthy curiosity about Sam’s shifter status generated the oddest of comments.

Also in “Frenzy”

We met Hadley in this episode, who is now a lover of Sophie-Anne’s. She’s still unaware that Adelle is dead. And Sophie-Anne wants to meet Sookie, which Bill did not seem pleased about.

Bill: “Isn’t that delusional?”
Sophie-Anne: “Never underestimate the power of blind faith. It can manifest in the ways that bend the laws of physics or break them entirely.”

There was some parental issues raised in this episode – Hoyt’s father committed suicide, the father of Arlene’s kids was a wildcard and Lafayette’s mother sounds worse than Lettie Mae.

Tara (to Sookie/Lafayette/Lettie Mae): “I finally find a good, beautiful, strong man and y’all want to keep me from rescuing him because you’re afraid I’ll get hurt? How hurt do you think I’m gonna be if we wait and something happens to him?”

Jason (re Sam): “Can you believe this? What an asshole!”
Andy: “Welcome to my world, Jason.”

Jason accepted Sam as a shape shifter very well. It’s also good, especially if his later fate in the series resembles what has happened in the books.

Tara (to Lettie Mae): “You’ve never been a real woman of God. You’ve never stepped outside your own ignorance and fear and done something selfless for me or for anybody. Well God is knocking on your door now, mama. He couldn’t be more loud and clear. Are you gonna let him in?”

Lafayette (re Maryann): “Somebody needs to slap that bitch.”
Sookie: “I have.”

Lafayette admitted that he’s had sexual dreams about Eric. Can we see them on screen? Oh, and Eric flew in this episode.

Tara: “Sookie, I need your keys.”
Sookie: “You’re being a fucking idiot.”

Tara (re Miss Jeanette): “So, she was real?”
Maryann: “Sadly no. I should’ve known she wasn’t the vessel but you have to try every option.”

This episode was loaded with some odd moments – Jane cutting her finger off, Mike forcing Sookie to lie down with him on the kitchen floor, a guy in the kitchen sink, another one trying on Sookie’s clothes and Bud in his underwear getting Andy to dance with him.

Maryann (re group): “You fucking morons. Must I do everything myself?”

Maxine (to Hoyt): “Maryann will remember this day for the rest of her life. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it’s all downhill from here.”

I laughed during the scene where Lafayette used drugs as breadcrumbs to distract both Terry and Arlene from the house. And has Hoyt and Jessica finished for good? Plus Sam also asked Eric for help with Maryann and who did Eric turn to? Sophie-Anne of course.

Pam (to Coby/Lisa): “You make me so happy I never had any of you.”
Eric: “Oh come on, Pam, they’re funny. They’re like human but miniature. Teacup humans.”

Lotus: “I will have sex with you.”
Bill: “That will not be necessary.”

Standout music: Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “Frenzy” of course.

Sophie (to Bill, re him/Eric): “This alpha posturing. You two really should just fuck each other and get it over with. I could watch.”

Chronology: Straight where “New World In My View” left off.

“Frenzy” certainly whipped up enough of a one to make this a standout episode. We’ve had stronger episodes in the season but there’s certainly enough going on with this one to serve as a satisfying prelude to the finale.

Rating: 8 out of 10.