My Review of True Blood's 4x10: "Burning Down The House"

Written by Nancy Oliver
Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter

Tommy (to Sam/Alcide): “I’m gonna disappear like I never was. That’s what I want.”

Wow, I actually did not expect that to happen. I mean, I knew there was a possibility that Tommy might not make it into the next series but I didn’t actually think he was going to die two episodes before the finale. I guess this should serve as a cautionary tale for any shifter thinking of becoming a skin walker, shouldn’t it?

Even though Tommy did cause a lot of trouble for Sam in the last two seasons, I like that they sort of made up before Tommy actually died. Tommy’s death wasn’t exactly heroic and while I’ll hate the character for what he did to Luna more than anything else, it was interesting that his last actions in the series were trying to put things right, even if he messed up royally.

Of course, there is an upside to Tommy’s death. There’s a potentially interesting partnership between Sam and Alcide and there’s the lovely hope that Marcus will not make it out of the next two episodes alive. What, I gave Marcus a chance as a character, he turned out to be a total asshole and now he can die. Is there genuinely anyone watching this show who would actually miss him?

Character wise, Marcus’s imminent death would mean that Luna and Emma wouldn’t have to live in fear of him and not only would both Sam and Alcide have one less obstacle in their lives but it’d also mean that another bad man that Debbie chose to let into her bed would be a goner. It sounds terrible but I really cannot think of a down side to Marcus being killed off.

As for Debbie, going on the V clearly fucks with her brain, doesn’t it? I mean, Cooter was bad enough but really, Marcus? Was that she that desperate for a baby that she had to sleep with that scumbag? I really hope to hell for her sake that he didn’t get her pregnant because something tells me that a baby will not solve Debbie’s problems one bit.

Speaking of problem solving – you know those other witches are really just a bunch of idiots, aren’t they? Thank goodness both Holly and Tara actually decided to use magic of their own to try and escape from Marnie/Antonia. It’s just a bummer that after all their good work, it basically blew up in their faces but points for trying.

My respect for Holly went up a couple of notches this week. Not only was she actually researching spells (again, why didn’t anyone think of this?) to try and break the ‘protection’ barrier but she even managed to curb Tara’s sarcastic disposition long enough for Tara to actually be proactive. When this season ends, I want more witchy hi-jinks with those two – and Lafayette/Jesus too.

As for Jesus, he was excellent last week in getting Mavis to leave Lafayette’s body and this week he tried to reason with Marnie/Antonia before realising that who was really running the show. I haven’t always been the biggest Jesus fan (never hated him either) but these last two episodes have really made me hope that him and Lafayette last another season as couple. Am I alone in thinking that?

As for Marnie actually run the show – er, thanks show, my sympathy for the character has been terminated. While Antonia actually showed remorse for the danger her antics at the tolerance meeting resulted in, Marnie was of the belief that humans who sympathise with vampires also deserve to die.

I loved that we got more of Antonia’s back story and that her motives for necromancing were actually altruistic but I did hate the fact that Marnie managed to manipulate Antonia into reconnecting with her as well. Marnie might feel like a social pariah but considering that Antonia actually endured worse hardships, it’s actually looking more and more likely that Marnie will have to die now.

Even Bill was determined that Marnie had to die and organised an attack on the Moon Goddess Emporium in a horrifically cheesy end to this episode but it would’ve helped if any of the vampires had made sure that Sookie was out of sight first. Now they’re gonna have to rescue Sookie (and Lafayette, Tara, Holly and Jesus) from Marnie/Antonia before taking the witch out.

The other big event of this episode was Eric regaining his memories. It’s interesting that Sookie’s love for Bill got her fairy powers to work to break the spell on Eric and to be honest, I liked that. It also means for shippers that Sookie and Eric will probably have an honest relationship if she doesn’t get together with Bill.

However, while Eric and Sookie’s scenes were good in this episode, I actually loved Eric’s reunion with Pam too. Pam might be happy to rip most people’s throats out with her fangs but her love and loyalty to Eric cannot be denied and with any luck, Sookie might be able to cure her too if Marnie/Antonia’s death doesn’t reverse the spell.

As for Bill and Nan’s dynamic, it’s interesting how quickly that went down south, isn’t it? I knew Nan wouldn’t be pleased with Bill lying about Sookie’s abilities but image aside, is it really in her best interest to have him executed? At this rate, no-one vampire will have dominion over Louisiana, given how quickly she falls out of favour with people.

Last but not least the subplots – well I liked Terry’s method of getting Andy off the V but it felt more of a distraction than an asset to the episode and Jason wanting Jessica to glamour away his memories of sleeping with her was just tactless on his part. I’m glad Jessica had the sense to refuse on that matter.

Also in “Burning Down The House”

Okay, there is something seriously disturbing about Roy as a character. He had far too much glee in seeing people massacred by vampires at the start of the episode.

Nan: “We have to help these poor people. Bill, image.”

Apart from Jessica, Nan seemed to promise the true death for our main vampires, which probably means that she’s the most likely to die. I hope not though.

Holly: “We are strong, angry women, Tara. All we gotta do is force a crack in her wall.”

Eric: “I remember everything, us. Nothing’s changed.”
Sookie: “Except you.”

Jesus’s demon was shown to Marnie/Antonia, Sookie and Jason in this episode. I wonder will demons become something we see more of in the series.

Holly: “Your attitude isn’t helpful, what we need is some faith.”
Tara: “Well, that’s not really my thing.”

Marnie: “Fate brought us together to fight evil. Did you really think no-one was going to get hurt?”
Antonia: “No.”

Nan organised a huge glamour in order for the media not to get wind of the disaster at the tolerance meeting. That woman sure knows how to cover herself.

Marnie/Antonia: “Marnie trusts you.”
Jesus: “We trust each other.”
Marnie/Antonia: “I’m a little harder to convince.”
Jesus: “Tell me what I have to do.”
Marnie/Antonia: “Come to me.”

Marnie (to Jesus): “This is not a possession, this is a union.”

Standout music: The Used’s “Burning Down The House” and chronology wise, this took place straight from where “Let’s Get Out Of Here” left off.

We’ve had better episodes but “Burning Down The House” was good for breaking Eric from his memory loss, giving Tommy a better send off than other characters this season and of course, Marnie/Antonia too.

Rating: 8 out of 10