Hoyt's mother, Maxine Fortenberry, buys a "Vamper rifle." The wooden bullets, when shot into the heart of a vampire act like a stake. Rev. Steve Newlin is a hoot. His own line of vampire rifles. LOL.In the wake of Russell Edgington’s on-air TV spine-ripping-the anchorman-stunt it looks like Steve Newlin has found the perfect time to market his wooden-bullet rifles (whose usefulness was so ably demonstrated by Jason on Tara-abusing vampire Franklin Mott).
True Blood – 3×12 – ‘Evil is Going On’ Season Finale Screen Caps
Here’s my list of what went right in True Blood Season 3 and after that, what didn’t:
The Good & Great
Lorena (Marian Klaveno) truly fulfilled expectations and beyond. Fun to watch and almost pitiable at times (almost) in her need for her “drug of choice” her progeny, Vampire Bill. She was perfectly cast as a vampire out of her time and almost out of her mind. RIP Lorena.Denis O’Hare as King of Mississippi Russell Edgington was another perfect casting choice. Stage veteran O’Hare brought a zany, over-the-top quality to the ruthless king of Mississippi. Mad as a hatter yet still deeply conniving, he is probably not done with our heroes quite yet. (Note: IMO, Edgington had to have made in his 3000 years, other progeny in addition to Talbot. Some most likely survive. They would feel his distress if not get an outright mental summons as Pam does from Eric and save him from the truly lame solution that Eric and Bill came up with to not kill Russell (WTH?!).Speaking of “our heroes” or True Blood’s version of the “good guys,” the promotion of the beautiful deadpan doll Pam played by Kristen Bauer van Straten, to featured cast status breathed new life (unintended pun) into all things Fangtasia. Quite a bit of her background was touched on including that she is only about 100 years old (younger/weaker than Vampire Bill), that she will go to any length to protect her maker, Eric–even if it means her own demise (fortunately, it did not), she is a former prostitute (“a long time ago”) and “Pamela Swinford de Beaufort” is the sole recipient of Eric’s property should he meet the true death. On a fashion note, as the season wound down, Pam was seen wearing a great deal less pink though she was still very fashionable. I’m wondering if the visual joke of “Pam in pink” is being put to rest? If so, OK by me –just don’t ever ditch Eric’s track suits & flip flops! Most of the wolf-Russell storyline worked well. Certainly the guest actors like Grant Bowles (“Cooter”) and Don Swayze (“Gus”) contributed much.The Queen (Evan Rachel Wood) was used to much greater effect this year once she was hauled out of her Art Deco “palace.” Probably my favourite scene involving the Queen takes place in Eric’s dungeon when alongside the (until now) always-unflappable Pam she gasped in utter shock when, with one stroke of his silver-tipped cane, Russell beheaded the unyielding Magister.James Frain as the completely bonkers and very violent vampire Franklin Mott. Despite his insanity he knew how to get things done which explained the King’s tolerance of him. Just the same he had it coming when, in the “too-much talking” phase of his almost-kill of his unwilling, almost-vampire bride Tara, he was discovered by Jason who wielded a wooden bullet-shooting rifle. Franklin found Jason most amusing, not realizing that his were not regular bullets which would have only temporarily injured him. Blam! One shot to the heart and Franklin was a puddle of goo.Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello). Alcide did not have much to do this season other than look very hunky and help rescue Tara, Sookie & Bill from King Russell. He also, at her behest, escorted Sookie in her quest to “find Bill,” to his ex-gf, Debbie Pelt’s engagement party at a were biker bar. She was to wed top wolf, “Cooter.” Later in the season, in self-defense during the Bill-Sookie-Tara rescue, Alcide killed Cooter, leading to Debbie’s lament,”They killed my Cooter!”Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Hoyt (Jim Parrack). Yes, Hoyt is at least ten years older than Jessica (the actors themselves are but a few years apart in age IRL, I think). If you listened closely, at Merlotte’s while talking to Sam(?) Jessica mentioned that she would have had her 18th birthday had she lived–so she’s very legal, especially for the South. For Hoyt’s part, until very recently he’d been living in the not-unsubstantial shadow of his “mama” his whole life. Hoyt and Jess have a lot in common in having been over-protected and sheltered for way too long as well as having grown up with a lot of emotional abuse. Now they are striking out together it seems, to take on the responsibilities of adults in the big, bad world.The sets. Unbelievable in their authentic look, the set designers of True Blood deserve raises and multiple Emmys. Atmosphere is a huge part of True Blood and these folks are as talented at their craft as the True Blood cast and writers are at theirs.The music and the soundtrack True Blood music video. See above: “The sets,” then change “look” for “sound”).I read a comment somewhere: What about the poor schmucks that unbury Russell? which never crossed my mind but yeah, that could very much happen ona construction site. What we got was was a very dumb “solution” to the Russell issue. I mean, Bill has vowed and now is killing “everyone who has tasted (her) or knows of (Sookie’s) powers.”
I’m looking forward to more Joe Manganiello in Season 4 as he not only looks warm & fuzzy but he brings a very big dollop of emotional warmth as well–something that none of the vampires can ever truly pull off–its in their nature to be a little chilly. It won’t be all teddy bears and squirrels and bunnies though–Alcide is after all, a werewolf.
The Bad & Ugly
Almost to a fault every single actor on True Blood is really good at what they do but like any role you need something to sink your teeth into ( pun intended). Both Tara and Jason are chasing their tales (misspell intended) with either dull as dirt storylines (Jason) or with stories that seem to simply set them up as the foils for other people ( Tara).
It pains me to say this but both characters are superfluous. If each character were asked, “What vital function do you serve in True Blood?” I believe the answer for Jason would be, “I play the resident dumbass, pussy-obsessed, aging jock,” who (since he’s part faery too) has a charm that seems to work on everyone. Tara plays the victim. Period. That’s all the poor girl has done for three seasons. She the angry victim lashing out, she’s the sad victim contemplating suicide. She’s simply a victim that sticks around to get further victimized.
In season 3, Tara being paired up with Franklin brought her story to life though she was still the angry/scared victim. After he was offed by Jason, Tara reverted to her default angry mode and canoodled with the new, angry Sam.
Jason has in a completely mondo bizarro turn of events become the “mayor” of the inbred meth-making hamlet of “Hotshot.” This is cringe-inducing and I really hope they keep his story tucked away for as long as possible. Also, Jason’s new gf for whom he declares his love just after meeting?–she’s boring. Really, really bland and there’s no chemistry whatsoever with Jason. They met and almost “did it” in the woods, met again and “did it” on his sofa and now it’s a big deal romance. Just one question. Why?
When we last saw Tara she had scissored off her hair and was leaving Bon Temps in a white convertible (or so it appeared after a series of goodbyes). My hope is to let her be gone for most or all of of next season, then attempt to give the character a re-boot–pretty much the same hope I have for Jason.
Both Tara and Jason serve as Sookie’s only surviving “real” human family so killing them off would seem unwise–yet keeping them on only drags the the show down and wastes the talents of both actors. ***
Link goes to a really good critique of the entire season:
‘True Blood’ season finale review: ‘Evil Is Going On,’ and on, and on…
True Blood closed out its season on Sunday night with a series of double- and triple-crosses. The series didn’t so much end with a cliffhanger than it left multiple subplots dangling, as though creator Alan Ball decided he’d just clean up this messy season next season.
***Note please that my bitch list is very short compared to my “way-to-go!” list and that neither list is comprehensive.
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