I think about a world to come where the books were found by the golden ones, written in pain, written in awe by a puzzled man who questioned, "What are we here for?" All the strangers came today and it looks as though they're here to stay.

-David Bowie "Oh! You Pretty Things"

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Spoiler Alert: True Blood S04E01

Well, I totally called the time lapse thing. It's been twelve and a half months since we've seen our good friends in Bon Temps, just enough time for Eric to own Sookie's house (and Sookie by extension), Andy Bellefleur to get addicted to vampire blood, Tara to start a new life elsewhere as a lesbian kickboxer, Hoyt and Jessica to annoy the crap out of one another, Tommy Mickins to be taken under Mrs. Fortenberry's wing after he was shot in the leg, and Sam to join an anger management group consisting only of fellow shifters. For some reason, I pictured season three ending with Tara leaving, and season four beginning with her returning to town after "finding herself." I hadn't imagined that time would move much faster in Faerie, and I sure as heck hadn't thought about the fact that whenever someone gets pregnant in a TV show, like Arlene, there is always some sort of time lapse so that we can skip the whole nine months of boring pregnancy.

Here are a few threads that might be worth looking into:

1. Sookie in Wonderland

Faerie looks pretty fantastic, but it turns out that everything that the human/fairy hybrids see is some sort of projection. Sookie can see the gross underside of Faerie somehow, and she even uses her powers to attack the projector and turn it off. Maybe Sookie's this powerful because she didn't eat the fruit. Maybe something else is up...


Because of the fear caused by "Vampire" Bill Compton's appearance in Faerie, the dimension has become split into two factions, the first led by a sister (above) that believes Earth and Faerie should be separated, the second led by a brother (below) that believes in freedom and what have you.


It is revealed that the bad female fairy is interested in harvesting humans who have fairy blood. The word harvest sounds awfully violent. We're immediately frightened for the lives of Sookie and all the human/fairy hybrids, but let's not forget that there's a young hybrid back on Earth, an innocent named Hunter, Sookie's nephew, who may be in grave danger because of this decision.


While in Faerie, Sookie has a short meeting with her presumed-dead grandfather who has been in Faerie for twenty years, though it has felt like two hours. He soon dies when they escape from Faerie, so one is forced to wonder: What's the point? Well, first of all, Sookie brings up the complete lack of information regarding the death of her two parents, a mystery that I've often thought we're going to see more of (perhaps via Lafayette's coven?). Second, the grandfather gave Sookie a pocket watch for Jason, which makes me think that there might be something special about this pocket watch.


2. King Bill

When Sookie returns to Earth and we see both Eric and Bill's eyes open, this is the precise moment it should have been obvious that Bill is now the king of Louisiana. It is day time, so we know that at least five or so hours has passed since Sookie disappeared and Bill challenged the Queen of Louisiana to a fight to the death. Of course, it's been over a year and Bill is alive, which means he won the duel and is now the King of Louisiana. I'm left wondering how exactly Bill killed a vampire much older than him, but I'm sure we'll find out.


There are plenty of other clues throughout the episode. Though Eric is older than Bill, owns the property that they were arguing on, and is appealing more to Sookie than false Bill, Bill commands Eric to leave and Eric obeys. There is no explanation than this other than the fact that Bill now outranks Eric. Bill explains Sookie's absence by saying, "She was working for me. Vampire business." This excuse wouldn't fly unless Bill was understood as an authority in the vampire world. Furthermore, Bill offers to repay the cost of the Sookie search effort if the police would only clear his name, a political move for a vampire who is now in the world of vampire politics.


Bill works closely with a lawyer named Portia Bellefleur. But when Sookie sits down with Portia in order to find out how to get her house back, Sookie hears her thoughts and it begins to look like Bill and Portia are in some sort of relationship. Portia is a big ol' question mark, and I think we can expect a lot more from this story-line.

3. Panther Town

Why couldn't the inhabitants of the small town on the outskirts of Bon Temps be were-cougars instead of were-panthers. Then we could have Cougar Town puns, which are surprisingly funny ever since the episode of NBC's Community where Abed acts like Cougar Town is some sort of work of art. (Oh, and don't get me started on the episode where he was obsessed with The Cape...)


I had mentioned that Jason couldn't likely fit in with the panthers, and certainly couldn't lead them, as an outsider, one who is completely human. They're going to have to turn him, and it just so happens he's been locked in a freezer. What are they going to do to Jason? We'll, they're going to turn him, aren't they?

4. It's a Kind of Magic

Lafayette and Jesus join a coven. There's a woman there who can commune with the dead.


It's when she brings back a dead bird with the help of Lafayette that we realize there's more to Lafayette than meets the eye. My thoughts: he's some sort of magical battery, raw and unrealized, capable of amazing and terrible things.


While the rest of you were saying, "OMG! Bill's the King of Louisiana!" I was busy trying to figure out what was going on with the red-headed member of the coven. It would appear that Bill has a spy inside this coven. But why? Perhaps he's just keeping his eye on any potential super power. Perhaps he's interested in the idea that a being could be returned from the dead. Does Bill want to reverse his vampirism so that he can be a human again? Or does Bill want insurance against the final death?


5. Boys shouldn't play with dolls...

If that's the conclusion you got from the scene where Arlene's baby rips off the heads of dolls, then I think you ought to look again. This child is the son of serial killer Rene Lenier, and if he's showing signs of being a serial killer himself then there may be a suggestion that Rene's homicidal side might have been the result of some curse or supernatural situation, a situation that was passed down to his child. Only time will tell...


See you next week!

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