Saturday, December 12, 2009

My Review of True Blood's 2x05: "Never Let Me Go"


Written by Nancy Oliver
Directed by John Dahl

Eric: “Are you death?”
Godric: “I am.”
Eric: “But you’re just a little boy.”
Godric: “I’m not.”

For the last three episodes there has been a huge tease as to why Eric was so interested in the safe return of Godric. When it boils down to it, the reveal that Godric is Eric’s maker should’ve been the obvious answer. It’s also a rather satisfying one.

Eric hasn’t shown a lot of respect for his fellow vampires. A few weeks ago, he alluded to the fact that Pam was ‘lazy but loyal’, he seems to have way too much fun in goading Bill at the slightest opportunity and he showed an instant dislike for Dallas head vampires, Isobel and Stan without holding back.

Bill’s been naturally suspicious for the same amount of episodes over Eric’s interest in rescuing Godric from the Fellowship. When Sookie volunteered herself as an uncover agent for the fanatical church and Eric agreed to it, I was sure as hell glad that Bill finally asked Eric out right about Godric instead of pussyfooting around the topic.

The flashbacks to Eric being made into a vampire by Godric may lack the elegiac feel that the likes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer or Angel display when revealing the turnings of pivotal vampires like Angel/Angelus, Spike, Drusilla and Darla but they’re effective enough and feel consistent with the kind of man that Eric’s shown us to be onscreen.

Eric’s lust for life was renewed because Godric seemed impressed with his bloodlust and prowess as a warrior. The fact that Eric threatened Godric seemed to intrigue the young man more than anything else. Godric is probably the most childlike vampire we’ve seen on the show apart from Jessica. Still makes him an intriguing character though.

Eric’s brief resistance was interesting. For a minute, I actually thought that he might have unwillingly been made into a vampire, which would then make his determination to rescue Godric seem suspect. However Godric didn’t exactly have to do much to persuade him and Eric’s lust for life certainly reared it’s head during the crucial moment.

Speaking of makers, with Eric determined to rescue his; I do wonder how Bill is going to feel when he learns that Lorena is back on the scene. An interesting entrance but Lorena’s arrival during this time can only spell a bad thing, right? Still, I’m pretty sure the writers will mine some good material with Bill and his maker and of course, Sookie. Lorena didn’t look too happy when she overheard Bill and Sookie at it, did she?

Bill and Sookie in this episode seemed to have better material apart from each other than together. Together some of the moments felt like repetition. Bill blathered on about wanting to protect Sookie and Sookie kept reminding him that she wasn’t an idiot. At some point, both of them need to give a little more.

Fortunately the presence of Barry the bellboy gave Sookie something more interesting to do. If she’s all for embracing her telepathy nowadays, then it made perfect sense for Barry to be fuelled with self-loathing and finding the ability to be a curse. Again I saw both sides of the story here. I could understand Sookie wanting to help Barry but I got why he was more keen on getting her off his back. Barry suddenly upping and leaving his job seemed a little too suspect as well.

Speaking of suspect, Sookie really didn’t think things through on going undercover at the Fellowship. For starters, she’s going to get the land of her life when she finds out that Jason is their new golden boy and the chances of him not blowing her cover or someone like Luke or Gabe not realising she’s a snitch aren’t particularly high. Sookie, you really do put yourself into these situations, huh? Maybe bloodthirsty Stan had the right idea after all.

Jason’s involvement with the Fellowship keeps getting deeper and deeper with each episode. If we could cut out every scene with Gabe (who I had difficulty taking serious), then some of the Fellowship scenes wouldn’t have been as bad. On the plus side, Gabe did manage to make a tit out of Luke and that boy’s been cruising for a smack down for a while now.

However the scene with Sarah giving Jason a hand job in the bath while explaining the truth behind Mary Magdalene was strange. I want to believe that her feelings for Jason are real, even though like Amy she’s totally wrong for him but I can’t help but think that Steve might be pimping his own wife out to keep Jason on side. After all, their little fight that Jason happened to overheard seemed a bit put on.

In terms of put on, Maryann surely knows how to get her own way. Tara did the right thing by not letting her stay at Sookie’s and challenged Eggs about the nomadic lifestyle that Maryann seemed to have. What did Maryann do? Well she could’ve ripped Tara a new one but that wouldn’t have been half as inventive, would it?

Instead she virtually made everyone at Merlotte’s irritable with Tara to the point where Tara relented and allowed Maryann to stay. I can’t wait to see how Tara’s going to swing that one past Sookie when the latter returns from Dallas in the next few episodes or what not. Sookie wasn’t particularly fond of Maryann during their first meeting after all.

As for Sam and Daphne, he’s finally got someone he can connect with but it’s also like Eggs and Sarah in the sense that it feels too good to be true. Now maybe I could be wrong and Daphne could be exactly what Sam needs but I have a feeling that she’s not but for the time, Sam does deserve to have some fun and Daphne certainly seems to generate that in spades.

In terms of fun, two scenes are dedicated to Jessica and Hoyt and they are some of the funniest going. Jessica joked about an eating disorder when Bill scolded her for ordering room service and Hoyt had his mother disrupt the sweet phone conversation with Jessica as well. Poor things.

Also in “Never Let Me Go”

Daphne can turn into a deer, which she wasted no time in displaying to Sam during the first two minutes of the episode.

Sam: “How did you find out about me?”
Daphne: “Last night in the woods, I watched a dog jump into the water and it came up you. Isn’t this great?”

It seems that Arlene and Terry are a couple now. Arlene also went a little too far with her sniping at Daphne.


Sookie: “Can you hear vampire thoughts?”
Barry: “No, don’t say that out loud.”
Sookie: “I didn’t.”

Jason: “Can someone reveal a bathroom because I really need one?”
Sarah: “Sorry, not until you’ve earned it.”

It was nice that Sam took a sensitive approach with Lafayette, who still looked shaken up even after drinking Eric’s blood.

Sookie (to Bill): “If all I’m supposed to be in Dallas is shut up and take orders, I might as well be slinging beers in Merlotte’s. You’re the one who told me I was more than just a waitress.”

Stan: “There’s no reason to wait. We need to take these fanatics down, full on attack. Exterminate them like the vermin they are, leave no trace.”
Isobel: “Hmm, vampire hating church annihilated, wonder who did it? Fucking brilliant.”

In the book, “Living Dead In Dallas”, Godric was Godfrey and there was no reference to him being Eric’s maker that I can remember of.

Sarah (re Mary Magdalene): “She was not. Everybody thinks that but it wasn’t in the bible. She admired Jesus. She loved him and wanted to show him ...”
Jason: “No!”
Sarah: “You don’t mean it.”
Jason: “No, I don’t but I ought to.”

Eric: “What’s in it for me?”
Godric: “What you love most: life.”

Standout music: Katie Webster’s “Never Let Me Go” at the end of the episode.

Maryann (to Tara): “You know why I’m good to you? Because you need it too much and because it makes you bloom like a flower.”

Chronology: A few moments after where “Shake And Fingerpop” left off.

“Never Let Me Go” isn’t the strongest episode from the second season so far but it’s definitely a very good one. It’s nice to have more on Eric’s back story and Steve Newlin is every bit as volatile as Maryann can be as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

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