True Blood Confidential

In the Middle of True Blood Episodes

2011-08-24T10:25:00.004-04:00

Askarsgard.com has the scans of this TVGuide Mag article
Now for the spoilers. The True Blood Season finale is the #1 show to watch for the weeks of August 29th to September 11th. The picture (shown below) says that “Sookie finally chooses between her vamp lovers when the war against Marnie the witch gets bloody deadly.”On the featured article on page 70, TV Guide tells us: Hankie up, True Blood fans. Not everyone survives the Halloween clash between vampires and witches in the fourth-season finale. “There is a body count by the end,” says creator Alan Ball. “It’s more than one death – people we know and love – and it’s pretty shocking.” Alan also says that Antonia is the toughest foe that Bill, Eric, Pam and Jessica have ever fought; that Sookie’s decision choosing between Eric and Bill is her toughest decision she’s ever had to make and two major past characters return. (Says Alan, “One is beloved, the other despised. One reveal is terrifying, and one is emotional and powerful.”) And finally, Alan says, “A lot of things that seemed like they were happening outside of the witch story find their way into it. You’re going to think things are finished when they are not.”
Seems the characters we see in the fun-ale are Gran and King Russell.

Alan Ball talks to Pedestrian, read more at the link.

That’s good to hear. Well I guess we're talking because you'll be discussing your work at the Sydney Opera House later this year and I was wondering if you’d ever done something like that before? I’ve done tonnes of things for print and camera but I’ve never done just me, myself and my work in front of a live audience. I’ve appeared on panels and I’ve certainly done a lot of things with the cast of both True Blood and Six Feet Under but it will be the first time for me with it being just all about me.

Does that scare you at all or are you excited by that prospect? Yeah I’m very excited to come to Australia because I’ve always wanted to come to Australia. It’s at a perfect time because I’m right between seasons four and five of True Blood so I don’t really have anything on my plate so I hope to really experience the country and the continent as much as one can in a short amount of time. In terms of am I scared of the event itself? Not really. I’m assuming that everyone coming is kind of interested.

In the writer’s room when you’re blocking out and breaking a season where does it start for you? What are you trying to achieve and where is the usual starting point in the writer’s room for a new season? For True Blood? Well we start with the book, with the source material. And when we come in for the season we’ve all read the book, we talk about what works, what we feel doesn’t necessarily work, and then we start going from there. The books are all Sookie’s story because Sookie is the narrator of the books, we have a lot of free reign anyway because of all the other characters that we have on the show. And then it’s me and five others and we just sort of very slowly map everything out. We spend a lot of time just talking about what we want the season to be about: Who’s the big villain? How is it going to engage our characters in a way that we haven’t seen before? We have two columns and we start giving little one line descriptions of what happens to each character in each of those episodes and then we start breaking those episodes more individually and we come up with two or three beats for each character or each collection of characters or whatever way they are combined at that point in the story and then we map those out chronologically and then we make an outline and somebody goes off and writes the first draft.

Is there a logical end for you for True Blood? I’m sure there will be, I just don’t see it yet. I mean, everything ends. And I don’t want it to be one of those things that goes on for more seasons than it actually could. You know what I mean? But I do feel like there’s definitely a fifth season. I’ve signed my name on a piece of paper committing to it. And I would imagine that it could go beyond that. Whether or not I will be a part of that is another question because there’s only so much you can do and I’m not as young as I used to be...On the other side of that I’ve never had as much fun on a job and it just keeps being fun, so, who knows.
Is it important for the non-antagonist characters to be likeable? Someone like Tara for example, who can be quite self-loathing and spiteful, is it important to balance a character's likeability with how they serve the plot? I mean I am much more forgiving with characters than a lot of people because I like them all. There is not a single character that I don’t like. I know that a lot times when I was working in TV like the question would be, if she does that then she’s unlikeable or if he does this thing then we’re not going to like him, and I’m like, ‘really? I like him, I think he made a big mistake and he screwed up but that’s the story’. I think it’s important for me for the characters to be strong and to be recognizable and I guess that’s just different wording for likeable. If you can understand why people are behaving a certain way, the seed or the root cause behind it, I mean, it all falls into the Buddhist notion of compassion, and the idea we should have compassion even for our greatest enemies, that we should be able to see their human side, the pain and the suffering that they feel. That’s a tall order. That’s a tall order for most people, including me but I do feel that it’s important to treat fictional characters with the dignity of being a genuine human being and not just like, ‘we need someone to come in and be evil’. I don’t think anyone gets up in the morning and thinks, 'wow, today I’m going to be evil. I am so hurt by everything that’s happened to me and I’m going to make somebody pay for this.' And they may very well do something that is easily classifiable as evil but I think ultimately, everyone's a human being and that’s part of the joy in the work that I do. Even though they’re fictional characters, I get to peel back the layers and see what it is that screwed them up or that turned them dark or made them a bitch. It’s hard to deal with, but for me that’s the interesting thing.
Who has been the hardest character to kill?

True Blood is different, I mean, it was certainly hard to kill Gran, but Charlaine had killed Gran in the book so I knew that was coming. And True Blood exists in a different world. It’s got such a gigantic body count and death doesn’t really, I mean it’s a very pulpy, heightened story so it doesn’t have quite the same emotional effect as Six Feet Under when it comes to death.
Having said that, once a True Blood character dies, it seems as if they enter some other kind of pantheon in the audience's mind. Godric comes to mind as an example of that.
Oh yeah. And they can always come back in flashback. After season four, people will know there’s a different way for them to come back. I guess True Blood can exist in this world where nobody really dies, ever. [Laughs] You can blow them up and behead them and explode their guts across the screen but they’re not really dead.

Blood Work! "True Blood Recap 4.9: The Monster Box

And no, I'm not just referring to the uncomfortable side-effects of Sookie's dream threesome with Bill and Eric ... (#stillgotit!) In honor of another extra-busy episode of "True Blood", this week's Blood Work! celebrates potential threesomes (dreamed or actual), puts to rest wandering spirits (with ice and a twist of lime), and suggests the formation of a Forgotten True Blood Character Softball League. Join Brian and Andy as they tackle Jess and Jason's tailgate party, Banana Flanagan's shenanigans, Alcide's tendency to carry people around, and much more. From CampBlood.org!

In the Middle of True Blood Episodes

2011-08-24T10:25:00.000-04:00

Alan Ball talks to Pedestrian, read more at the link.

That’s good to hear. Well I guess we're talking because you'll be discussing your work at the Sydney Opera House later this year and I was wondering if you’d ever done something like that before? I’ve done tonnes of things for print and camera but I’ve never done just me, myself and my work in front of a live audience. I’ve appeared on panels and I’ve certainly done a lot of things with the cast of both True Blood and Six Feet Under but it will be the first time for me with it being just all about me.

Does that scare you at all or are you excited by that prospect? Yeah I’m very excited to come to Australia because I’ve always wanted to come to Australia. It’s at a perfect time because I’m right between seasons four and five of True Blood so I don’t really have anything on my plate so I hope to really experience the country and the continent as much as one can in a short amount of time. In terms of am I scared of the event itself? Not really. I’m assuming that everyone coming is kind of interested.

In the writer’s room when you’re blocking out and breaking a season where does it start for you? What are you trying to achieve and where is the usual starting point in the writer’s room for a new season? For True Blood? Well we start with the book, with the source material. And when we come in for the season we’ve all read the book, we talk about what works, what we feel doesn’t necessarily work, and then we start going from there. The books are all Sookie’s story because Sookie is the narrator of the books, we have a lot of free reign anyway because of all the other characters that we have on the show. And then it’s me and five others and we just sort of very slowly map everything out. We spend a lot of time just talking about what we want the season to be about: Who’s the big villain? How is it going to engage our characters in a way that we haven’t seen before? We have two columns and we start giving little one line descriptions of what happens to each character in each of those episodes and then we start breaking those episodes more individually and we come up with two or three beats for each character or each collection of characters or whatever way they are combined at that point in the story and then we map those out chronologically and then we make an outline and somebody goes off and writes the first draft.

Is there a logical end for you for True Blood? I’m sure there will be, I just don’t see it yet. I mean, everything ends. And I don’t want it to be one of those things that goes on for more seasons than it actually could. You know what I mean? But I do feel like there’s definitely a fifth season. I’ve signed my name on a piece of paper committing to it. And I would imagine that it could go beyond that. Whether or not I will be a part of that is another question because there’s only so much you can do and I’m not as young as I used to be...On the other side of that I’ve never had as much fun on a job and it just keeps being fun, so, who knows.
Is it important for the non-antagonist characters to be likeable? Someone like Tara for example, who can be quite self-loathing and spiteful, is it important to balance a character's likeability with how they serve the plot? I mean I am much more forgiving with characters than a lot of people because I like them all. There is not a single character that I don’t like. I know that a lot times when I was working in TV like the question would be, if she does that then she’s unlikeable or if he does this thing then we’re not going to like him, and I’m like, ‘really? I like him, I think he made a big mistake and he screwed up but that’s the story’. I think it’s important for me for the characters to be strong and to be recognizable and I guess that’s just different wording for likeable. If you can understand why people are behaving a certain way, the seed or the root cause behind it, I mean, it all falls into the Buddhist notion of compassion, and the idea we should have compassion even for our greatest enemies, that we should be able to see their human side, the pain and the suffering that they feel. That’s a tall order. That’s a tall order for most people, including me but I do feel that it’s important to treat fictional characters with the dignity of being a genuine human being and not just like, ‘we need someone to come in and be evil’. I don’t think anyone gets up in the morning and thinks, 'wow, today I’m going to be evil. I am so hurt by everything that’s happened to me and I’m going to make somebody pay for this.' And they may very well do something that is easily classifiable as evil but I think ultimately, everyone's a human being and that’s part of the joy in the work that I do. Even though they’re fictional characters, I get to peel back the layers and see what it is that screwed them up or that turned them dark or made them a bitch. It’s hard to deal with, but for me that’s the interesting thing.
Who has been the hardest character to kill?

True Blood is different, I mean, it was certainly hard to kill Gran, but Charlaine had killed Gran in the book so I knew that was coming. And True Blood exists in a different world. It’s got such a gigantic body count and death doesn’t really, I mean it’s a very pulpy, heightened story so it doesn’t have quite the same emotional effect as Six Feet Under when it comes to death.
Having said that, once a True Blood character dies, it seems as if they enter some other kind of pantheon in the audience's mind. Godric comes to mind as an example of that.
Oh yeah. And they can always come back in flashback. After season four, people will know there’s a different way for them to come back. I guess True Blood can exist in this world where nobody really dies, ever. [Laughs] You can blow them up and behead them and explode their guts across the screen but they’re not really dead.

Tuesday's True Blood Bites, Now with Added Earthquake

2011-08-23T20:25:00.004-04:00

Meredith Woerner has her pros and cons up, read it all at the link (extra lulz this week).

Pro: Hey Alcide! The wolf giant is carrying Sookie to safety, only to be pushed down by Beeeell. Take that dogboy!. The dog makes...I guess we can technically call these "angry puppy eyes" now? Because they kind of look like the plastic buttons we all chewed on that made up our stuffed animals' dead amber eyes. And then, once inside, Bill adds insult to injury and screams at poor Alcide, "Werewolf, I'm gonna need you to shut the fuck up!"

Pro: ANTONIA GAVILAN OF LOGRONO! actually screams out, "MY NAME IS ANTONIA!!!!!" when someone calls her Marnie. It's like they're reading our minds!

Pro: Debbie, SURPRISE FLOWERS! HA HA HA HA HA HA NOT A GUN LOL LOL Sookie's face. They proceed to have a nice talk and you think that Debbie's heart might be in the right place. The world hopes it's not. Also, kudos to Debbie, she's just amazing at playing a struggling train wreck.

From Bookies Facebook page
Episode #46 – 4.10: 'Burning Down the House' As all hell breaks loose in Shreveport, Sookie summons her most potent powers yet to save Bill, in the process breaking a spell and leading Marnie/Antonia to re-evaluate her mission. Jason urges Jessica to glamour him for Hoyt's sake; Terry drags Andy to "Fort Bellefleur" for an intervention; Alcide reconsiders his allegiances after Marcus fight with Tommy; Jesus, accompanied by Sookie, Lafayette and Jason, tries to breach the Moongoddess Emporium's defenses to liberate Tara and Holly, while Bill leads a brigade of vampires committed to blowing the place to kingdom come.

Skarsgardfans has caps up from the promo for "Burning Down The House", more at the link.
Nan does damage with a pencil, you don't mess with her!

I don't want Marshall to leave the show but this doesn't bode well for Tommy

I don't know if this is Tio Luca but I think it is, I hope they are walking towards Antonia!

From BuddyTV
True Blood is riding higher than ever, and Sunday's episode, "Let's Get Out of Here," is proof. The episode was watched by 5.53 million viewers, the highest rating in the history of the series. The previous high was 5.44 million viewers with the penultimate episode of season 3.

Cinema Blend has some ideas on what's to come, oh yeah!
HBO released the “Behind the Episode” video for True Blood’s “Let’s Get Out of Here” episode. It addresses one part of the episode that I really didn’t love, and another that may actually be a major clue to how this season is going to be resolved, so read on with that in mind.

Episode writer Brian Buckner and director Romeo Tirone discuss the episode in the video below. One of the things they talk about is Sookie’s dream. Much like the V-trip last week, I didn’t love the dream scene this week. I thought it broke the pace of the episode and took too long to play out, all to get to an issue that was sort of already implied. Sookie wants both Eric and Bill. That’s an interesting non-twist. I just think it could have been demonstrated in a less obvious way. Then again, TB's not exactly known for subtly.

Moving on, there may be a big clue to how things are going to wrap up. Pay attention to what’s said about Lafayette and Jesus, and what went on with Mavis. The story of the woman with the lost baby seemed sort of a tangent, but maybe not...

“This thing that Jesus finds that he’s able to do, and this thing that Lafayette finds that he’s able to do is going to prove helpful to the people of Bon Temps."
Right now, Marnie is possessed with Antonia’s spirit. Perhaps Lafayette being a Medium and Jesus having the ability to extract a spirit from a medium’s body will play a part in getting Antonia out of Marnie’s body and sending her (and her magic) away.
Speculation time!
If I were going to theorize, I’d say that at some point, Antonia could end up in Lafayette's body. Maybe something happens to Marnie that sends her spirit out and into the nearest Medium, after which, Jesus has to get Antonia out (hopefully without hurting or killing Lafayette). If this is how it plays out, it would certainly get Lafayette and Jesus off the hook for what happened to Eric, and it would justify all of this medium-business, which has taken the duo off the path to undo their part in Eric’s and Pam’s witch-problems.

From WeGotThisCovered

There are tragically only three episodes left in the fourth season of True Blood, the most outlandish and diverse season yet of the HBO drama. What once seemed to be a program simply about vampires has blossomed into a smorgasbord of shapeshifters, werewolves, faeries, werepanthers, witches, and mediums. Fret not, dear viewer, HBO has released the synopses of the last two episodes to hold you over, and season five will be here soon enough.

Episode eleven, Soul of Fire, will be airing on Sunday, September 4th. Here’s the description:

As the Wiccan-vampire standoff reaches a critical juncture, Sookie (Anna Paquin) summons her faerie powers to prevent Marnie (Fiona Shaw) from bewitching Bill (Stephen Moyer), Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) into a suicide march, while Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) casts a secret spell designed to un-bind Marnie/Antonia and break the witch’s deadly defenses. Sam (Sam Trammell) settles a score with Marcus (Dan Buran); Alcide (Joe Manganiello) confronts Debbie (Brit Morgan) about her allegiances; Andy (Chris Bauer) finds unexpected passion in the forest; Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) is consumed by the past.

It’s about time that Sookie used her faerie powers to help Eric and Bill, both of whom she allegedly loves despite the fact that she’s done nothing but silver one of them down when Marnie/Antonia tries to make him see the sun. And clearly, it’s no surprise that there will be Debbie-related drama.

Episode twelve, the season finale, And When I Die, will air on Sunday, September 11th. Description is as follows:

It’s Samhain, Wicca’s greatest holy day, and spirits of the dead surface in Bon Temps, giving Sookie valuable allies to combat Marnie’s newest incarnation. Lafayette’s latest medium encounter imperils his relationship with Jesus; Jason (Ryan Kwanten) finds confession good for the soul, but not the body; Alcide makes a heartfelt appeal to the woman he loves; Terry (Todd Lowe) receives an unexpected visitor at Merlotte’s; Sam and Luna (Janina Gavankar) envision a storybook ending, for once; Nan (Jessica Tuck) wears out her welcome with Bill and Eric. Debbie confronts Sookie and Tara (Rutina Wesley) with deadly consequences, and the denizens of Bon Temps brace for a new crisis with a familiar face.

Sounds like the holy witch day “Samhain” will be a perfect backdrop for the finale. Obviously the standout from this description is the last clause, “the denizens of Bon Temps brace for a new crisis with a familiar face.” Familiar face, huh? Well the serial killer from season one is dead, the maenad from season two is gone as well, but Russel Edgington (Denis O’Hare), the bad guy from season three, was only cased in cement. Not to mention the fact that writers have spoken about his return in the past…hmmm.

Monday's True Blood Afterglow

2011-08-22T16:23:00.005-04:00

Don't you just hear the Mighty Mouse theme? Here I Come to Save the Day!
More Blog Roll Bits
From The Atlantic-
Antonia is practically becoming a vampire herself, hitting almost every point on the checklist of vampire crimes she listed off in her debut: She is walking around despite being long dead, has supernatural powers, is holding innocents captive, is controlling the actions of others, has killed, and intends to kill more. Her thirst is for revenge rather than blood, but the distinction is probably not very soothing to her victims, and the people she has sworn to protect are meanwhile burning their hands into giant lumps of blisters trying to escape her Moon Goddess Emporium prison.
The Washington Post-

If you just started watching with the last two episodes, you would think that helping Mavis was Lafayette and Jesus’s motivating event this season, rather than avoiding death at the hands of an ancient Viking murder machine.

Seriously, how did anything they (lafayette and Jesus) did in Mexico help them resolve the problem that sent them to Mexico in the first place? How, in any way shape or form, do they think they are any safer than they were when they fled to Mexico in the first place? Has Lafayette even called Tara since they got back?

AV Club, (they're still calling this ep Run, I have to give them a pass because they usually are spot on)-

On the vampire front, there was something else I really liked in "Run," and that was Sookie's dream sequence with Bill and Eric. As a rule, I really don't care too much about the love triangle or who Sookie ends up with or how soft the focus should be on their unending love scenes or what non-bed locales they should pick next for them. I really do not mind. I understand some do, and that's fine, but whatever. But I really liked that for once, Sookie stood up for herself, even if it was just a blood-fueled hallucination, and exacted some real control over her suitors. Sure, she's always objected when Eric or Bill have claimed her as "mine," but the objection has largely fallen on deaf ears. Not this time, as Sookie convinces them they're going to have to share.
WSJ
After in a bit of a welcome twist, a betrayed Debbie heads to Sookie’s house not with traditional vengeance in mind, but nursing her love-sick heart. Vulnerable and worried she’s losing her man, Debbie asks Sookie if she can help to make things better so she can have some peace with Alcide. Initially wary, Sookie listens into Deb’s desperate brain and buys her story. Sookie also reassures Debbie that Alcide loves her which seems to forge a tentative alliance between the women. Together, they plan a search and rescue operation to the Moon Goddess to try and save Eric from Antonia’s clutches. With Debbie running interference at the front of the store with the witch, Sookie sneaks in the back and finds Eric under a spell that has him prepped to kill Bill at the vampire Festival of Tolerance media event. When she tries to set him free, Tara appears with a gun. Through Sookie’s telepathy, Tara communicates they are all being held hostage and that Sookie needs to escape. The two scuffle and Sookie runs away to warn Bill of the impending trap. Debbie is waiting as her driver and they head out. Are they now allies? It’s all deliciously unclear for now, but never forget that Pelt is a wild one.

Bit of a Denis O'Hare interview at BuddyTV

Denis O'Hare is one of those actors that has his hand in everything. I approached him at the FOX All Star Party to talk to him about a couple of my favorite roles of his, including the ruthless Russell Edgington from True Blood and liberal-minded Judge Abernathy from The Good Wife. Funnily enough, he wasn't even there for either of those shows. His new series, Ryan Murphy's new anti-Glee, American Horror Story, premieres this fall on FX.
I first asked O'Hare about what was most important to me: Any chance of him coming back to True Blood? O'Hare said, "I'll repeat to you what I've heard Alan Ball say to others. Russell is not dead. If they wanted him dead, they would have killed him. They mention his name so many times in season 4, I still feel like he's alive!" Okay, so even if Russell is alive, would O'Hare make the time in his already demanding schedule to come back to True Blood? "In a heartbeat," O'Hare quickly replied. He loves the show, the cast, everything.
Mavis: "Thank you for everything."Lafayette: "You got it, bitch."
Wetpaint has the top 13 quotes from this episode.

Ausiello reposts the last episode synopses, you know the ones from IMDB Rhoswen7?

SUNDAY, SEPT. 4 “Soul of Fire”
As the Wiccan-vampire standoff reaches a critical juncture, Sookie (Anna Paquin) summons her faerie powers to prevent Marnie (Fiona Shaw) from bewitching Bill (Stephen Moyer), Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) into a suicide march, while Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) casts a secret spell designed to un-bind Marnie/Antonia and break the witch’s deadly defenses. Sam (Sam Trammell) settles a score with Marcus (Dan Buran); Alcide (Joe Manganiello) confronts Debbie (Brit Morgan) about her allegiances; Andy (Chris Bauer) finds unexpected passion in the forest; Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) is consumed by the past.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 11 “And When I Die” (Season Finale)

It’s Samhain, Wicca’s greatest holy day, and spirits of the dead surface in Bon Temps, giving Sookie valuable allies to combat Marnie’s newest incarnation. Lafayette’s latest medium encounter imperils his relationship with Jesus; Jason (Ryan Kwanten) finds confession good for the soul, but not the body; Alcide makes a heartfelt appeal to the woman he loves; Terry (Todd Lowe) receives an unexpected visitor at Merlotte’s; Sam and Luna (Janina Gavankar) envision a storybook ending, for once; Nan (Jessica Tuck) wears out her welcome with Bill and Eric. Debbie confronts Sookie and Tara (Rutina Wesley) with deadly consequences, and the denizens of Bon Temps brace for a new crisis with a familiar face.

"We're only in episode 9, so things have to go worse." Writer Brian Buckner and director Romeo Tirone heat things up at the Festival of Tolerance.

FromHBO's Inside True Blood Blog

Perhaps most importantly, there are only three episodes left this season:

Body Snatched Interview

Nelsan Ellis shares what it's like to play a character within a character, what's up with Lafayette's hair, and who he thinks Sookie should settle down with.

Possession is really the word of the season, and Lafayette gets a major dose of it in ‘Let’s Get Out of Here.’ How did you prepare to play the restless spirit of a murdered Creole woman?

Study the actress who’s playing the role. I was studying her dailies, and then she and I got together to work. I talked a lot to Fiona and tried to figure out what “possession” meant to me. I realized that I don’t become the person – the person becomes me. They get into a body where the mechanics are already there. Mavis has this funky little swish to her walk, but I was like, “No, my hips can’t move like that.” But I’d have something subtle that suggested that that was the direction that my hips wanted to go in. So, I tried to figure out what subtle nuances I could take from her that would remind the audience of who she was inside of me but also stay true to what Lafayette is, what his body does and the fact that he’s still in there.

He always seems to be at the mercy of this insane world around him – why is it that trouble always finds Lafayette?

Because he knows what to do with it … Lafayette is a survivor. Trouble comes, and then he surmounts it and moves on. I don’t know why he has all these problems. He got on this moving train that just won’t stop, and it just takes him deeper and deeper. I just hope he calms down next season.

After LGOoH, Post Episode True Blood News

2011-08-21T22:19:00.007-04:00

Ep. 45 - Recap

Ep. 45 - Inside the Episode

New Baby Vamp Blog, Poor Jess-

The Stuff of Life

I kept a diary when I was human. I wrote silly little girl things in it, about the boys I had crushes on or the fights I could hear my parents having or what I wanted for my birthday. The stupid stuff that feels so big when you’re young. And I remember, I kept this list in it, I called it “MY STUFF.” Like a catalogue of all the things I owned. The mix tape my friend Stacy made me, with that Backstreet Boys song. My headband collection from Claire’s. The postcard my cousin sent me from New York City (she called it “The Big Apple” and said she’d never had pizza so good in her entire life). The Aerosmith CD with all the nipples on it, which I nicked from a garage sale and never told my parents about.

But now that I’m a vampire, and I’m gonna live forever, it’s weird to think about owning things. That STUFF would ever be mine. Possessions come and go. They’re found, lost, they deteriorate or lose their value. Even sentiments fade away eventually. Look at me and Hoyt. We used to be as real as anything on that list, and now, well, we’re just a dusty ol’ memory being stuffed in a box.

Skarsgard Fan's has caps up, here's some, more at the link.

Like a little kid with Chocolate all over their face, except it's not.

EW's Inside TV's Blog-Stephen Moyer talks about Bill's and Sookie's future together, if they have one that is.

“This season has been difficult for Bill, because it’s been all about how he’s having to learn from his previous mistakes,” Moyer told EW. “If there’s anything that Bill has been guilty of in the past, it’s probably that he hasn’t been very truthful, because he’s trying to protect the person he loves and he felt Sookie wouldn’t be able to accept that truth. If that isn’t a lesson in love, I don’t what is.” Thankfully, Moyer has a little relationship advice: “If there’s one thing he could learn, it’s that it may hurt to tell the truth, but in the long run it’s better to tell it straight up rather than hide it. Bill has to man-up—or rather, vamp-up—and do the right thing.”

That’s all well and good, but what about that Eric-Sookie hookup? “We’ve seen Sookie tempted by Eric for four years, and it was just like, ‘For f—k’s sake, just get it on already,’” Moyer says. “It was the longest foreplay I’ve ever seen.”

So does that mean that Bill and Sookie are officially finito? “It comes down to whether Sookie can forgive Bill for his past, though I think she realizes that he made some of his mistakes trying to protect her. She might be able to forgive him, but the idea of seeing herself together with him is something else.”

Still, Moyer hints that Bill partisans have reason to take heart. “The great thing about our show is that it gives you what you want. It might not give you what you want for very long, but it does eventually give everyone what they want at some point.”

Bon Tempers, are you digging the direction True Blood’s taken in its fourth season? And do you think Bill and Sookie have any future together?

Recap Round-Up, as usual full reviews at the links

Rolling Stone-

In "Let's Get Out of Here," emotions are running high, and more dream sequences help us dive deeper into everyone's inner psyche. While a jarring reminder of the differences between reality and subconscious desires, the dreams have thus far served as a glimpse at the carefree camp that True Blood has slowly shifted away from. And, in the process, Sookie gives one hell of a performance as a seductress, feminist and supernatural heroine. "Let's Get Out of Here" is one of the most entertaining episodes of the season, all the more so for giving us a vivid reminder of the social commentary True Blood has been making since day one via the treatment and tangled interaction of its various supernatural species. Except for that one scene where the Lafayette storyline accidentally turned into an episode of Ghost Whisperer.

Jethro's Review is up at THR

Vampire blood-driven dreams have been an effective narrative tool in HBO’s True Blood. And Sunday’s episode gave viewers another example of that when Sookie (Anna Paquin) had to drink Bill’s (Stephen Moyer) blood to survive the gun shot that hit her during last episode's Witch War II.

As a result, Sookie had a very telling dream that brought Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and Bill together for a talk. And wearing red lingerie doesn’t hurt when trying to plead one’s case to two men, either. What unraveled was Sookie’s decision that she loved both men and would like to find a way for them to be OK with that, as well. Ah, dreams. That would never fly in the real world, but it does reveal where Sookie’s mind is when it comes to the two men. Or does it?

TVFanatic- Too Much of a Bad Thing

True Blood offered up one of its greatest mysteries this week: How did Jason and Jessica end up in the back of his pickup truck?!? I can imagine a few scenarios:Perhaps that's where Jason keeps his condoms... Maybe he got a flat tire, Jessica assisted and then he couldn't help but give her a few pumps, as well... They may have believed Bill was home and wanted to keep their affair a secret... Or possibly it was simply there and, hey, Alan Ball figured: why not!?

IGN's Review-

First of all, why did it even matter that Alcide rescued Sookie last week and carried her off wounded if Bill was just going to break free of all that silver and just rush in to grab her from Alcide because he's faster? I suppose it worked to help make Debbie more suspicious later on, but it also totally negated the set up from last week's final moment. And that's always been a big problem on this series; taking things back too quickly. Making us think someone's in danger when it's all either a big trick or the situation just resolves itself with little fanfare. And again, like I mentioned last week, no one in their right mind would ever think Sookie would be in mortal danger. This whole thing just led to Bill saving her life so that he could once again be brought back into the romantic mix. Except that I think the thing that most of us liked the most about Bill this season (aside from being made King) was that he was out of the mix.

Episode 9, Let's Get Out of Here!

2011-08-20T20:31:00.007-04:00

From Canyon News, they had some things wrong such as saying next week is the finale, so I edited a bit.
Sunday belongs to “True Blood” viewers, as the episode titled “Let’s Get Out of Here”.

On tomorrow night’s episode, as the massacre concludes, lives and loves will change forever in Bon Temps. Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there’s room for both Bill and Eric. Then in a wild, passionate and very sensual vision, Sookie will become even more torn between the two vampires she has fallen head over heels in love with. Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) tries desperately to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette, before more damage to him is done, and before the spirit makes him do something that could have devastating consequences to Arlene and her baby.
Werewolf pack master Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with his situation with Sam and Luna, and it leads Alcide down a path he’s not certain about. If Bill thought his life would become easier after his coronation as the King of Louisiana, it’s about to become overwhelming for the 150-year-old vampire, when he and Nan Flanagan (Jessica Tuck) clash over their agendas. Bill’s will be for the greater good, while Nan, a typical bureaucrat cares about the political landscape post-Russell Edgington’s murder of a human on national television last summer.
Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica, and an uncertain Jason realizes he has to do the right thing by one of his friends. Will it be Jessica or Hoyt? And if viewers think the politics in the werewolf and vampire worlds have become very treacherous, the Wicca-society is about to come all apart, because despite Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Holly’s misgivings, Marnie/Antonia filled with four centuries of rage and hatred of the undead continues to plot her next move against the vampires, during the “Festival of Tolerance” event at Shreveport. This will lead to an “explosive” finale next week! “Let’s Get Out of Here” was written by Brian Buckner and directed by Romeo Tirone. What you think occurred last week in Bon Temps Cemetery, that left witches killed and vampires in disarray, won’t even compare to the drama on Sunday night. Alan Ball’s series is a must-see for all TV viewers.

From EW's Inside TV, must be about her dreaming of both Bill and Eric, greedy chick.
Any good Bill/Sookie scenes coming up? ~ Chris
All I can say is that you will like the scene near the beginning of Sunday’s episode very very much. Like, VERY much. And to bookend your joy, there’s a moment at the end where Sookie makes a grand gesture of — what some could say — are lingering feelings. Others might just say girl likes drama!

Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there’s room for both Bill and Eric. Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their respective agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica. Despite Tara and Holly’s misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a “Festival of Tolerance” event at Shreveport. Playdates: August 21, 23, 24, 26 and 27.

Did anyone else wonder why Sookie has been so stupid lately? For instance, she goes with Eric to Bill to ask if they could help with the witches because she has powers now, yet when she uses her powers she is all shocked and stares at her hand. Why would that even make sense to do? That being all googly hesitation caused her to get shot, c'mon Sookie is an old hand (lol) at this by now and I have faith that she is learning from all these experiences but last week she just was dumber than she ever seemed. It was not the Sookie we've come to know at all, it made no sense either. I also think Eric was a thin line away from sparkling last week and half expected him to call her Bella, blech.

I say the girl needs a Buffy marathon, starting with the movie and ending with the last season of the show.

I really need this episode to be great, please after the debacles of Hot Shot, Jason's rape, the break up of Jessica and Hoyt, and Tara's continued victimization- let me have a bone.

From US Mag-
The unbridled fantasy outdoes itself with tonight's thrilling story. Bill (Stephen Moyer) tends to a delirious Sookie (Anna Paquin), who, in a fever-dream sequence, imagines having a three-way with him and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard)! "I can love both of you," she says. Meanwhile, possessed witch Marnie (Fiona Shaw) lets loose a diabolical plan to defeat all vampires. And don't miss the riveting final moments. (HBO, 9 p.m.)

Promo Photos from HBO

note the date

In this ep we’ll meet Joyce Watney, (edit- I would guess that is her on the poster) a college student who founded the “Living Dead Student Alliance” at her school. Which makes us wonder if she bothered to also found the Gay Straight Alliance, which is presumably still necessary.
the casting calls-
[JOYCE WATNEY] 20, this self-satisfied young woman “who loves the sound of her own, bleeding-heart voice” hosts the “Just Say No to Hate” festival of tolerance and media event, to join together vampires and humans in common cause. She’s proud of founding the “Living Dead Student Alliance” at her school.
[DEALER] A male V dealer in his mid 20s, he meets a customer in a seedy alley and warns her against taking too much V. He’s disturbed by the customer’s appetites. 3 lines, 1 scene. From The Nest back in April

From Ace Showbiz

The upcoming episode will see Bill trying to save her former girl by offering his blood while Alcide yells to Bill when he notices that this method might not work.
According to the plot of the next outing, Sookie will somehow survive after the near-death trauma and she envisions a world where there's room for both Bill and Eric. But her vampire guys are not safe yet since Marnie plots another move against the bloodsuckers during a "Festival of Tolerance" event at Shreveport.
Meanwhile, Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette, Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation, Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their respective agendas, and Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica.

I was reading Time Out NY this morning and saw a short interview with Ryan Kwanten. It is this week's TONY so I assume it's a recent interview, this is interesting-

Griff is introverted, and Jason Stackhouse, whom you play on True Blood, is the opposite of shy. Are you drawn to extremes?

They both have this sense of innocence and vulnerability, and that’s what I like to play. There’s something magical about breaking down a male’s ego, or this facade of bravado that every male has, whether it’s Griff or Jason.

Have you been waiting for Jason, who is human, to have his supernatural “freak” moment?
People who are waiting for the freak in Jason are gonna be surprised. I’m not going to say pleasantly surprised, but they’re definitely going to be surprised, as he will be surprised! I’ve always said that I think it’s hilarious that there are so many supernatural powers on the show, but out of everyone, Jason wants some sort of power the most.

The rest of the piece is at the link.

Reposting this "In the Coming Weeks" video, there's still some scenes not shown, ie. Sookie's 3 way fantasy, and Sam getting jumped by Marcus.

In the Coming Weeks: Sneak Peek©ShareURL=http://www.hbo.com/video/video.html/?autoplay=true&vid=1194814&filter=true-blood&view=null

For You Monster, TB Weekend

2011-08-19T14:56:00.004-04:00

Isn't Get Outta My House Sookie's Line?
From BuddyTV about the promo clips

The big drama on True Blood may be the escalating war between the witches and the vampires, but Hoyt and Jessica are going through a different kind of suffering: breaking up. In the last episode the wholesome but not-that-bright Hoyt broke up with Jessica and uninvited him from his house, splitting up the longest-running romantic relationship on the show.

This week the two cope with the loss in complete different ways. As you can see in the new clips from Sunday's episode, Jessica takes the break-up pretty hard, crying to vampire rights advocate Nan Flanagan. In the other clip, Hoyt is coping in his own way, but he gets a big distraction when Lafayette points a gun at him.
Also, if you kept a close look, you probably saw that one of the books Hoyt put into his "Monster Box" was the first Twilight novel. That's a pretty cool shout-out.

In the other big subplot, werewolf packmaster Marcus pays a visit to Merlotte's to try and get Sam to stop seeing his ex-wife Luna. As you might expect, it doesn't go very well, and the episode also allows Alcide to get involved in the action.
Of course, this is all in addition to some other very big development's in this week's episode of True Blood. Eric is now under Marntonia's control, Sookie has a very enticing dream and the whole "Psycho Baby" storyline with Terry and Arlene gets very heated as nearly half the cast gets involved now that Lafayette is possessed and kidnapped the baby.

If that's not enough to get you to watch, the episode also reveals what Alcide wears when he goes to bed, and the answer is sure to give all his fans a nice thrill.

I wouldn't be caught dead in Bon Temps!
From EW

Any good Bill/Sookie scenes coming up? ~ Chris
All I can say is that you will like the scene near the beginning of Sunday’s episode very very much. Like, VERY much. And to bookend your joy, there’s a moment at the end where Sookie makes a grand gesture of — what some could say — are lingering feelings. Others might just say girl likes drama!

From the Orlando Sentinel, synopsis of "Let's Get Out Of Here"

The weekend TV menu offers the sublime, the serious and the silly. “True Blood” manages to cover all those bases. The HBO drama offers a very busy hour at 9 p.m. Sunday that includes hostage situations, possessions, a lusty dream sequence and a public-relations stunt called the Festival of Tolerance. Alcide gets quite a workout, and you know that a Festival of Tolerance will never work on this violent fantasy. Fiona Shaw continues to dazzle as the possessed witch Marnie.

Episode #45 (S4, Ep. 9): “Let's Get Out Of Here”

Debut: SUNDAY, AUG. 21 (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there’s room for both Bill and Eric. Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan (Jessica Tuck) clash over their agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica; despite Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Holly’s misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a “Festival of Tolerance” event at Shreveport.

Written by Brian Buckner; directed by Romeo Tirone. THR

Let's Get Out of Here

2011-08-18T18:06:00.006-04:00

As I posted yesterday "Run" is now titled "Let's Get Out of Here". Other almost titles were, "Let's Not Let The Door Hit Us in The Ass", "Let's Book", and they really should have gone with this one, "Feet Don't Fail Us Now".

Possible songs are (also posted previously)

Or this one, she says repetitively,

More Promo Photos From Skarsgardfans

Figures Antonia has a much better fashion sense that yokel Marnie.

From The True Blood Nesters, Gratzi Maria!
This is from Afterelton.com:
- Alexander’s bare bum is nowhere to be seen. On the plus side, Joe Manganiello finds yet another reason to drop trou.
- Lafayette and Jesus get some nice moments together as things come to a head after Lafayette’s recent possession by a dead woman looking for her child. Fans of the couple should be especially pleased as their relationship becomes central to how the storyline plays out.
-Elsewhere, everyone’s been talking about what Sookie feels for Eric and Bill, and whether or not she is torn between the two. I won’t say whether or not this episode resolves that, but I will say we have some interesting discussion of sexual politics that we don’t often see addressed in popular culture. It will definitely be interesting to see what more they do with this.
Regarding the threesome, US Magazine has even more info on the sexy Sookie’s dream:
Bill (Stephen Moyer) tends to a delirious Sookie (Anna Paquin), who, in a fever-dream sequence, imagines having a three-way with him and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard)! “I can love both of you,” she says.

This so funny, wish I thought of it. From Eater.com-

HBO's vampire sexytime romp True Blood is getting its own unofficial cookbook. Which is interesting, considering a lot of the characters on the show only consume blood? Anyway, The Unofficial Sookie Stackhouse Cookbookincludes recipes for "Jason's Bourbon Smashed Potatoes," "Tara's Bewitching Banana Souffle" and "Sookie's Steamy Crawfish Etouffee." Also: "Bite Me Biscuits" from vampire Bill, because nothing goes better with a glass fresh blood than some biscuits straight out of the oven.

Written by "die-hard fans" Melissa Lowery, Elizabeth Henderson, and JoAnn Mathias's, the book will be published by Ulysses Press in the Spring of 2012.

From NY Mag's Vulture Blog, Jim Parrack on his character's dark side (sounds delish)-

Did Hoyt Fortenberry and Jessica Hamby just break up — again? As the warm-blooded half of what was the most stable human-vampire relationship on True Blood, Hoyt’s the “normal” character in the show: He’s not a bloodsucker, shape-shifter, werewolf, werepanther, fairy, witch, medium, spirit, etc. But trying to live a simple life in Bon Temps has its own share of drama, as Jim Parrack, who plays Hoyt, can attest. We spoke with the actor about what's next for his character, his dream-sequence sex scene with Ryan Kwanten, and the movie he shot with his real-life best friend, James Franco.

Did you have any inkling that Hoyt and Jessica were headed for all this domestic trouble?

The general rule is to not jump into moving in with whoever you’re nutty for. But, you know, I was in a bad relationship, and the day I got out of it, I moved in with Ciera, and she ended up becoming my wife. Then again, I wasn’t facing issues like, “My mother is trying to kill my girlfriend.” [Laughs.] Now Hoyt and Jessica’s issues are more like, “I’m hungry. Where’s my food?”

Or in Jessica’s case, “Who’s my food?” But, really, why can’t Hoyt make his own food?

If you went off and worked hard and came home to another person whose only obligation was to watch TV and enjoy herself, things might go badly there, too. She knows I have to eat, too, so couldn’t she make some effort? [Laughs.]

Hey — she’s pulling the night shift at Merlotte’s. And she’s keeping a video blog. Where’s yours?

I met some fans who said, “Please start Twittering!” They even walked me through it, but I’mterrible at it. I’m so bad at keeping it up. I forget how to use it. And I’m not very savvy: I try to send a private message, and it goes out to everybody.

That could be embarrassing. Though probably not as embarrassing as making a cameo in Jason Stackhouse’s sex dream?

I still haven’t seen that, but to play the cowgirl straddling my buddy? [Laughs.] That was a very interesting scene to shoot, to say the least.

Once the inevitable happens between Jason and Jessica, will we see a darker side to Hoyt?

Well, Hoyt’s father is dead and gone. His mother is dead to him. So he only has two people left: the love of his life and his best friend. And if they’re gone, what is there? That’s the kind of thing people kill people over, or destroy their own lives over. And Hoyt is somewhere between those two poles. He has nothing now. People took him for granted and misused his love. So I think we’re just barely scratching the surface of how dark he can go.

Think he could take Jason in a fight? I mean, you’re pretty big, and yet here you are playing the “sensitive” guy.

It’s crazy, right? But there’s something about people who are so loving that when they snap, it’s no joke. There are definitely some volatile moments coming up. It’s not going to be pretty.

Kristin Bauer plays Pam, a bitch of a vampire in True Blood. She stopped by the Wired Cafe at Comic Con 2011 to talk about how liberating it is to play such a black and white character, and how in reality she cries 30 times a day.

Run! True Blood Wednesday

2011-08-17T11:56:00.009-04:00

RUN! or Let's Get Out of Here, geez, pick one and stick to it.
From Ausiello, is this the teeniest spoiler he ever gave us? There's a photo of it below.
Question: Any intel on where True Blood‘s Jason/Jessica/Hoyt triangle is headed? —Marina
Ausiello: It’s headed for a major turning point in this Sunday’s episode. Hint: It involves the back of a pickup truck.

Jason thinks with his man bits again, is the character never going to wise up on the show, like he did in the books? Photo courtesy of http://skarsgardfans.com/

Wetpaint asks the same questions I see at many fan boards for the show, this one especially. She had Eric's blood before also.-
Why was Sookie's reaction to Eric's and Bill's blood so different?

When Sookie drank Eric’s blood she went on a full-blown V bender, which transported her to fur-filled fantasy land. It was a total mind-fangbang!
But when Sookie drank from Bill to heal herself in Season 1, she merely had a heightened sense of smell. Of course, we can’t forget that she publicly masturbated on Bill’s porch, but she wasn’t nearly as aroused as when she drank from Eric.
Is Eric’s blood just more potent than his king’s, or did Sookie use so much of Bill’s blood during the healing process that there wasn’t enough left to get blazed on?

Mark Blankenship has his Sucker Punch review of "Spellbound" up.

This week's Sucker Punch, though, comes much earlier in the episode, when we learn that Mavis' white boyfriend killed their baby. It's a horrible thing to contemplate, and it powerfully justifies everything that Mavis has been up to this season. Read it all at the link.

The boys are back in town, here's Brian and Andy's weekly recap-

This week's "True Blood" was a cross-dressin' doozy, what with Lafayette getting possessed by a dead lady and Tommy doubling as Maxine Fortenberry. Plus, Jessica broke up with Hoyt (twice!) and the witches ambushed the vamps in the graveyard ... or is it the other way around? Brian and Andy are clearly too drunk to make heads or tails of all the double-crossing, but let's watch them try! Brought to you by CampBlood.org.

I think Bill saved Tara because Tara helped save him in Mississippi, even though she kicked his ass out of the van when he bled Sookies almost dry, he still owed her.
New HBO GO advert.

New "The Buzz" posted by HBO, kind of late since SDCC has been over for weeks.

The Vault has some new HBO promo pics up, more at the site, look at Nelsan's face!

Some song ideas, depending on what the title really is, "Run" just sounds cooler to me.

or is it RUN?

The title is definitely "Let's Get Out of Here" as per HBO's True Blood Page.

Tuesday's Still Spellbound

2011-08-16T14:07:00.008-04:00

Inside the Episode "I think now there is no question for the vampires exactly what they are up against." Writer Alan Ball and director Daniel Minahan discuss the war brewing between the vampires and witches. Go inside Sunday's True Blood^® now. If you missed it yesterday Marie has it up on her youtube channel too. Funny how Sooks drank vamp blood before, including Eric's, and she never acted so trippy.

About the next episode from the Examiner-

True Blood continues season 4 with "Run" on HBO, next Sunday, August 21, at 9PM. Last episode ended with Sookie getting shot in the middle of the vampires versus witches battle, and it was the werewolf Alcide who came to her rescue and got her out. However, Debbie was not too happy about what she saw.There's a short promo out for "Run" and it's all about what's coming next for Sookie, as she has lost a lot of blood. "Spellbound?" ended with Alcide running off with Sookie to try to save her, but will he be able to? The teaser shows Alcide running with Sookie in his arms, and he and Bill are very concerned for her future—especially since her vitals aren't what they want them to be. She barely has a pulse, and she won't drink Bill's blood. She seems to be at the very least completely unconscious, and Bill doesn't know anything else they can do. It seems like whatever happens next involves how Sookie begins to see how Bill and Eric can both fit into her world, but what will happen by the end of the episode?

"Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there’s room for both Bill and Eric. Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica; despite Tara and Holly’s misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a “Festival of Tolerance” event at Shreveport."

From Earsucker, some questions about next week's show-

Without further ado, here’s what left us scratching our heads last night.

JASON & JESSICA:
Last week they bonded over the idea of changing into a werepanther. She supported him. She saved his life with her blood and now they’re bonded. Now, they’re dreaming about each other. She dumped Hoyt and went to Jason, but will anything come of it? They’ve already kissed when he saved her life. Is there a future between Jessica and Jason? Where is she going to live? With Bill?

Speaking of Jason, will he change into a werepanther at the next cycle of the full moon? It’s still possible. Besides all of that, if he doesn’t shift into a panther, he’s got a lot of babies brewing in Hotshot. And where has Crystal been???

SOOKIE & ERIC:
When Eric regains all of his memories, will Sookie still love him? Will he still love her? Will they still feel strongly for each other, only because of the blood bond that they have?

MARNIE & ERIC:
What is up with Marnie casting something on Eric, causing him to kneel before her? Was she trying to free him from the spell? Was she contemplating bringing him back from the dead? Can she?

LAFAYETTE, THE GHOST & MIKEY:
What business did that ghost have with inhabiting Lafayette and snatching up Mikey and that evil looking doll. We get that the doll was hers, but why Mikey?

DEBBIE & ALCIDE:
Alcide saving surely spells trouble for his relationship with Debbie. Obviously, Debbie is going to want some payback, even though Sookie wasn’t asking to be saved.

TOMMY:
With Tommy skinwalking, no one is safe. Who’s his next victim? He’ll likely have to skinwalk as Maxine Fortenberry again in order to cash that check. Who’s next? And will Sam end up killing him because of his bad deeds?

MARCUS & THE WOLF PACK:
Is Marcus going to punish Alcide for going against his wishes in meddling in the vampire/witch war?

P.S. WAITING SUCKS.

Mania.com has a very critical review of Spellbound at the link.

Okay True Blood, you are officially forbidden from ever playing the “it was all a dream” card again. You’ve played it so many times that you’ve worn the finish off the back and we can tell when you’re holding it in your hand. Which is every freaking week.

Oh and by the way, we knew that Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) wasn’t dead. If she was, you would have killed her last week and left us in shock, rather than play it out until tonight. Turns out, Jason (Ryan Kwanten) rescues her before the sunburn gets too bad, thus ensuring that her burgeoning love triangle will continue for a while longer. Poor Jessica. Coming to grips with her vampire nature apparently means breaking up with Hoyt (Jim Parrack) and trying to hook up with Jason… both of which end in disaster. Her thread remains a palpable high point of the season thus far: emotionally genuine while still acknowledging the unpleasant possibilities of what a vampire-human relationship might entail. She’s begun to realize that she can’t live as a normal human no matter how badly she may want to. True Blood has developed that realization beautifully, and it keeps the episode centered while other subplots fumble for traction. Read the complete article at the link.

HBO's Inside True Blood Blog

By Michael Gluckstadt

After giving us a scare last week, Jessica is safe, but finds herself with a different problem on her hands. Hoyt rescinds her invitation to his home after she breaks up with him, and Jason—invoking the old "best friend before undead" rule—does the same. Hoyt's not the over-dependent wimp she imagines he is, and before you can say "virgin for all eternity," the Twitter trending topic "Poor Hoyt" gave way to "Damn Hoyt," as in "damn hoyt you were one nasty cold hearted bastard tonight." On the Inside the Episode video Alan Ball weighs in, calling Hoyt's words "brutal" and wondering if the damage they've done is irreparable.

With nowhere to go, Jessica does what any teenage vampire with nowhere to go might do—she writes a blog post titled, "Nowhere to Go." TV Line wants to know where you stand on the Team Hoyt/Team Jason question, and we can't help but wonder how the results will compare to the show's other vampire-human love triangle (though if you begin to include Alcide and Debbie Pelt, the geometry becomes a little more complicated).
That situation had appeared to sort itself out, though the resolution was short-lived. Eric and Sookie spend just enough time clothed to volunteer to fight with King Bill and have Eric placed under Antonia's spell and Sookie shot. But before that happens, they take a shower and a V-trip together, in which they find themselves in a wintry landscape with strategically placed fur blankets. HBO.com spoke with Alexander Skarsgård recently, and here's what he had to say about the scene:
“I loved it was so beautiful, they tried to recreate a winter landscape up in northern Sweden, and they did an amazing job. It was really special. It was a lot of fun shooting – and quite complicated with wind machines going and fake snow everywhere. It was very technical and kinda tough, but it really was very special. They spent weeks building it, and we spent a day or two shooting it. I’m excited to see it because being there on the day it looked so good. I hope fans like it.”
The shower scene is a reference to one of the most talked-about moments in the books; how did it compare? If you haven't read Dead to the World you can listen to the audio version and judge for yourself, though you may want to plug in a pair of headphones first.
Using V isn't all healing powers and magical lovemaking. There's also a dark side—which Andy Bellefleur knows of all too well. Actor Chris Bauer tells Zap2it that "Andy as a portrait of an addict is pretty accurate." If there is a plus side to Andy's V-use, it might be his coinage of the new catchphrase, "Jesus, tits and God America." Or maybe you prefer Lafayette's three-word aphorism.
In 'True Blood' news, the big story this week is that the show has been picked up for a fifth season. MTV has compiled a list of what they do and don't want to see next year (Pam's turning scene, anyone?), do you agree with their choices? What do you want to see in season five?
Loving true Blood in Dallas has a few questions for fans to guess the answers to, I did already.

True Blood finale: What major characters die and what dead characters rise from the dead ?

OK, I think with Ep 9 on the horizon - I've been thinking a lot about the season end, denouement and cliff hanger for S5 bk 5 ...
1.At Comic- Con Ball said "We lose a handful of major characters this season." Alan Ball
2. From the Ep 12 " And When I Die" description from HBO "spirits of the dead surface in Bon Temps, giving Sookie some valuable allies to combat Marnie’s newest incarnation."
So we will have some characters dying: Debbie, Tommy, Marnie, Jesus and Ginger ( remember she dies in the book) ? Who do you think and why ?
So what characters will rise from the dead to ally with Sookie ? Gran, Claudine ?? Who else ?
Also "denizens of Bon Temps brace for a new crisis with a familiar face" V addicted weres lead by the resurrected Russell Edgington ?
What do you think the finale cliff hanger will be ??
First person to post the correct answer will win a prize.

If you’re a fan of our True Blood recap vlog, BloodWork!, then you’re familiar with our lively theme music. But you may not know that all the original music used in the vlog was created just for the Camp by local indie music superstar Joey the Vampire.
Joey isn’t used to the limelight (unless you’re talking about the now-defunct NYC nightclub) but he has agreed to share some of his secrets: He’s a terminally single, hopelessly romantic, thirtysomething-ish pansexual playboy vampire living in Brooklyn, NY. He’s grown tired of the club scene and has instead focused on making music to amuse himself, taking inspiration from his many idols including Cerrone, Dead or Alive, RuPaul, and Vanity. Upon discovering the BloodWork! vlogs late one night he contacted the Camp and the rest is history.
Camp counselor Andy Swist was glamored to represent his talents and has gladly donated a special page to promote Joey’s music alongside Andy’s True Blood artwork. What’s available at the moment are a collection of tracks lovingly referred to as “BloodWork! the Singles”. Together they have (very) slowly started to take over the world… one bar/batmitvah at a time.
Have a listen and support Joey’s efforts by purchasing his latest release: “Get Outta My House” (Sookie’s Theme) megamix, now available on his website.

Spellbound Rewound

2011-08-14T22:29:00.015-04:00

Ep. 44 - Inside the Episode

Ep. 44 - Recap

Lil recap from TMA Hulu

Rolling Stone's Recap is up in full at the link
It seems that the threat of their immortal lives coming to an unexpected end pushed the vampires into new emotional territory. Bonds are strengthened, others are broken and most everyone is hyper aware of the consequences at hand — even if they're not immortal. As Amnesia Eric says in perhaps the wisest moment of the season so far, "There is no right and wrong. These are human notions." So the real question, then, is what is controlling tonight's episode: conscious decisions or spellbound actions?
After Elton's, again just posting snippets, whole article at link-

Mantonia casts a spell that induces some sort of supernatural fog (you don’t play Harry Potter's Aunt for six movies without learning a thing or two) exacerbating the confusion. In the midst of it, several key things happen:

– Tara shoots a vamp with a wood bullet, getting herself covered in guts. But then Pam easily snatches the gun from her with a snappy, "You dropped something" She enthusiastically announces she's about to eat her (and not in the good way, either).

But then none other than Bill puts a stop to it, commanding Pam to cease and desist. Pam is all, "This is so f**king lame," but he's her effing king and, as his subject, she is forced to comply.

Buddy TV's, Showdown in the Cemetary

Jessica's Dilemma: After being saved from the light by Jason, she kisses him and quickly realizes she needs to dump Hoyt. First she dreams of a scenario where she kills him because he's so whiny and pathetic, then she goes outside for some hot car sex with Jason. That sounds like a good plan, but in reality, Hoyt uninvites her from his home and, when she tries to seek comfort with Jason, he somehow resists his overpowering sexual urges and uninvites her from his home too. Poor Jessica went from having two men pine for her to having none in a matter of seconds.

Jethro's recap at THR
Sam’s (Sam Trammell) luck with the ladies hasn’t gotten any better. Wolf pack leader Marcus (Daniel Buran) has discovered he’s dating Luna (Janina Gavankar) and we’re thinking things are about to get very bad for all of them.

Ep. 45 - Preview Run

Meredith's Pros and Cons are posted at io9.com, I wait for these every week. More at the link.

Pro: Sookie allows Eric to feed off of her (it's a trust thing). Later Eric bites into his hand and asks Sookie to join his Sisterhood of the Traveling Sex Pants. She agrees.

Pro: Deputy Ellis makes a cameo and adorably predicts the weather. "Betcha it's gonna rain tonight. I can always feel it where that panther tore my throat open."
Pro: Not to be outdone, Andy shows up and almost gobbles up the gooey remnants of Beulah Carter proclaiming, "Jesus Tits and God America what's wrong with me!" Sorry Ellis, you just got Bellefleured.

Con: Meanwhile Eric and Sookie are high from all the blood drinking and have fantasy snow sex in the wintertime woodland Narnia sex retreat of their minds. IT'S TERRIBLE. Look, I know a lot of you have been waiting for the snow shower sex scene but watching a cherub-faced Eric ask Sookie if they could make love in the magical bed, just no. NO. It's like putting your penis in a puppy. It's wrong and gross and I don't care how much Sookie grabbing Eric's ass you're going to show me. No, camera. No more Eskimo cuddle kisses. I expected humping a vampire viking on a pile of animal furs to be, well, sexy. This Is Not Sexy! What this is, is puppy rape pure and simple.

Pro: Tommy steals a bunch of Maxine's muumuus (and adorably picks out the proper matching shoes) so he can skinwalker into Maxine's skin and get the gas money from the gas people. This is fine, we didn't need the additional scene of Tommy in Maxine's dress throwing up, because I'm pretty sure we all got it, but hey, it was still funny.

Screencaps below from Skarsgardfans, more at the link!

How fast is Jody!
I couldnt believe how I laughed at Maxine doing Tommy doing Maxine, they all have Marshall's moves down, I love that lil Scrappy Doo loser brother of Sam.
EW has the usual indepth review up-
Death Becomes Her
Jason got to carry Jessica back downstairs to the cell like he was in An Officer and a Gentleman, which I doubt he's ever seen. Even for a teen vampire, that had to be fairly swoonworthy. She was upset seeing the guard she’d killed under the spell, but Bill assured her all guards know the risks of their job and his family would be well compensated. Bill knew they weren't safe until sunset so Jessica had to be silvered again, which Jason did while trying to get her to think of good things like hot summer days and barbecuing. Oops. He meant the moon, never gettin' cold, and Tru Blood. Mercifully, Bill told him they needed their rest and he and Jason agreed not to report the death of the guard (for Jessica's sake) or the injured watchman Jason had shot in the arm in the front yard (for Jason's sake).

Small spoilers for next week, Source-
Sookie's Dream

The Aug. 21 episode of “True Blood” is must-see for followers of the phantasmagorical, socially relevant and often hilarious series. Not only is the witch-versus-vampire war at full pitch, with various “shifters” running loose in the night, but Sookie has a dream sequence that will be much buzzed about: a fanciful feminist take on the vampire/human/vampire three-way. Something not everyone has considered before…

In a season mulling the ideas of altered identity, stolen identity and faked identity, (when does one’s most humane part excuse one’s basest behavior? when do we all engage in shape-shifting and masquerading?), the intimate relations of the three central characters remain compelling. A wild, invigorating ride.

TVFanatic on "Run"-

Sookie has a revealing, sexy dream.

Antonia comes up with a plan against her enemies.

Jason and Jess try to resist their feelings for each other

Lafayette embraces his inner medium.

Sam and Luna take the next, HOT step.
From Hollywood.com

Best Moments:
"If I can’t have you I don’t want to be alive." Pathetic, clinger boyfriend alert. – Hoyt
“You would eat a pile of dead vampire Beulah Carter OFF THE GROUND?” Because that’s the really gross part of that sentence? – Jason“I’m only good on the V, dude.” And you're not even that good then. – Andy“Can we make love in it?” and “We will be one.” I could provide a complete list of all the ridiculously sappy things he says throughout the entire episode. – Eric “I think I made some friends tonight. A couple of really nice bitches. Feels like I belong.” Well if the shoe fits... –Debbie
“You just pissed on the wrong boots my friend.” That’s what I call a fashion faux pas. – Marcus
“This is so f**king lame.” You gotta love Pam, she’s had a hard year, but the shots seem to be working at least. –Pam

From AV Club Stray observations:

Tommy's little interlude as Mrs. Fortenberry was hilarious (her foul mouth suited her rather well) and inevitable, but what the hell is next for his character?

Jessica has an Urkel-esque response to the dead security guard. "Did I do that?

"Hoyt watches a TV show featuring a 10th Century Viking skull. A friend of Eric's, perhaps?

Andy had some nice comic notes this week too, as he talked about the pressure of people's expectations and wanting to "hit them in the head with a bat."

Sookie and Eric's love scene included a tastefully placed bit of fur over his crotch.

I guess Hoyt owns the place he lives in with Jessica, and she ain't on the lease, because he kicked her out pretty easily.

Ain't no party like a vampire party in the cemetery! Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Dear Vampire Bill, please kill that bitch Holly, your fan Urno

It's Snow from Game of Thrones!

Witchie-poo always wanted to pet a Viking, this Antonia is a cuddler.
Many more screencaps at Skarsgardfans

Jessica's new blog-

On my fifteenth birthday, after having dinner at the church with my family, I snuck out with a few friends. We said we were going to get some root beer floats at Linnea and Tony’s Diner, but instead we went to the park one town over, where the public school kids would gather with brown bagged forties and stolen vodka. I had never been before, but my friend Erica used to go all the time and she was introducing me to everyone. I forgot most of ‘em, but there was this girl there, Nikki... she smelled kinda bad, and her hair was all tangled. I think she did it on purpose, she called them dreadlocks or something, but it didn’t look so good. I asked where she was from and she said she was born in De Soto parish, but she lived on the streets now. When I asked her why, she said got nowhere else to go. Then she shrugged her shoulders, lit up a hand-rolled cigarette and smiled at me like I was the biggest idiot she’d ever seen. I never felt so sheltered, you know? I knew I was going home to my cozy little house, where my mama would be folding my underwear and baking fresh cookies or some shit. And although my daddy could be mean as a hell, I still had a roof over my head. Even after I was turned, I had the old Compton place. And then Hoyt and I had a home, all to ourselves.

But now? I really got nowhere to go. I wonder if Nikki’s still living on the streets or if she found herself a home. Or maybe home is just a feeling, and it doesn’t matter where your feet are. Maybe wherever you are, that’s home.

From the Wall St. Journal, always a good recap-
Poor Andy. He’s called to investigate a seeming vampire suicide, i.e., the one vampire who walked into the sun at Antonia’s call, and is transfixed by the steaming remains on the ground. Cue Jason: “You would eat a pile of dead vampire Beulah Carter OFF THE GROUND?” Because eating off the ground is of course the most offensive part of that sentence. Andy, still struggling with his V addiction, tries to explain that he’s “only good on the V.” Someone get this guy to rehab.
Sookie and Eric spend the rest of the episode exploring each other’s bodies, bolstered by three seasons of pent-up demand and one hit of some extremely potent V. It starts snowing in the bathtub and a bed appears in a Narnian-like wood. Eric asks cloyingly, “can we make love in it?” Sookie replies, “Like we would ever stop.” It’s official: True Blood has crossed over into late-night Cinemax territory. One hint to the writers: no one in real life says “make love.” Let’s agree to an entertainment-wide moratorium on that phrase.

Spellbound Sunday

2011-08-14T12:50:00.007-04:00

I remember when the episode titles were spoiled, I swore tonight's was when Eric lost his memory and was spellbound. Of course we know now that was wrong, so what happens tonight to match up with the title should be big. Some episode info from various sources and spoilers previously posted-

Ep. 44 - Preview

As Bill and Marnie brace for a dangerous midnight faceoff, Sookie and Eric pledge their allegiance to the King. Jason is torn between friendship and passion, and Jessica is spurned from two homes; Lafayette becomes the pawn of a tormented spirit; Tommy takes a walk in someone else's shoes; Sam contends with yet another adversary in Marcus, Luna's ex and the leader of Alcide's new pack.

Teeny bit on the next episode from Matt at TVLINE
One of the Sookie Stackhouse novels’ most famous scenes at long last makes it to the small screen. It involves a guy, a girl, and a shower (sort of).
From Eonline's Kristin
Bb123: Dying for some True Blood…especially on Jessica dying. Is she still alive?I believe so, yes. I'm told that we'll soon see her inside the witch store with Fiona Shaw, watching Bill (Stephen Moyer) out in front doing something very bad. Like, you know, life or death kind of bad. Oh…I'll just come right out with it: Bill kills someone! Or, more accurately (not grammatically though) is that Bill kills someones. As in plural. Also hearing that Tara (Rutina Wesley) somehow injures her arm, and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) will be packing (up) something other than heat. Lots of good stuff coming up.

Rhoswen7's episode spoilers as we count down to the finale Episode #44 (#4.08): “Spellbound”: As Bill and Marnie brace for a dangerous midnight face-off, Sookie and Eric pledge their allegiance to the King. Jason is torn between friendship and passion, and Jessica is spurned from two homes. Lafayette becomes the pawn of a tormented spirit; Tommy takes a walk in someone else’s shoes; Sam contends with yet another adversary in Marcus, Luna’s ex and the leader of Alcide’s new pack. Playdates: August 14, 16, 17, 20 and 26. Written by Alan Ball; directed by Daniel Minahan.

The war between the two factions escalates on tonight’s episode of HBO’s “True Blood” (at 9 p.m.). In “Spellbound?,” written by series creator Alan Ball, Marnie/Antonia (the sublime Fiona Shaw) and Bill (Stephen Moyer) face off in a cemetery.
Bill claims he wants peace, but he’s brought a small army with him, including Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard). Things get violent fast, and Sookie’s life - and love life - just be taking yet another dramatic swerve.
“There’s no such thing as forever,” Sookie tells Eric earlier in the episode, and those words seem prophetic. The two take their intimacy to even greater - bloodier - levels.
Alcide (Joe Manganiello) vows to stay away from Sookie, but that’s a promise he cannot keep. Sam (Sam Trammell) makes a new enemy, while his brother Tommy (Marshall Allman) walks in a woman’s shoes. Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) is no longer himself - literally.
Jessica (Deborah Ann Wolf) and Hoyt (Jim Parrack) experience not one but two wrenching break-ups. But Jessica discovers moving on with Jason (Ryan Kwanten) will not be that easy. Wolf and Parrack have been this show’s underrated stars. They give this show its emotional pulse, and I root for them even though their relationship seems about as doomed as anything in Bon Temps. Boston Herald

Wetpaint has a new group of screencaps up for tonight

Photo StephenMoyer.net. Now is the time for our Civil War soldier to lead the vamps into the "Witch War"!

Ep. 44 Clip - Antonia Reveals Her Plan to Tara

Ep. 44 Clip - Bill Issues a Statement

Ep. 44 Clip - Marcus Adresses His Pack

The beauteous Siouxie singing Spellbound solo this time, I posted the last one with my beloved Siouxie and The Banshees. My Favorite Halloween song!

Siouxsie Sioux - Spellbound on MUZU.TV

Barbara has some good ideas for tonight from the previews and lots of screencaps too. Sookie done got harmed, here we go again with the drinking vampire blood to heal quickly. Sheesh!

The name of this song is Daydream, but called Spellbound because of the lyric, just an excuse to post some Robin Trower, one of the greatest guitarists ever.

It's TB Weekend!

2011-08-12T12:13:00.004-04:00

That Marcus sure has a way with words

Not a spoiler, an audio interview, hey, I need filler ok?

From Buzzsugar

Stephen Moyer stopped by Late Night With Jimmy Fallon this week to talk about his new movie, The Caller, but not before Jimmy squeezed in a few questions about True Blood. Moyer (in that charming British accent of his) talked about how that naked Rolling Stone covercame about last year and made a joke about the precarious placement of his wife, Anna Paquin, and Alexander Skarsgard. He also commented on what it's like to watch Eric and Sookie together on screen and said that there might be nothing left to do on True Blood for season five. Watch!

I didnt realize this till I read it on Loving True Blood in Dallas's blog-

This is the first time since the True Blood series started 4 years ago that they haven't filmed any of of this season's episodes ( at least we've not see them so far) here in the South. (Texas, Louisiana or Mississippi )
I wonder why .. ?

I know you'll remember that in Season 3, they filmed the great Russell Edgington mansion scenes in Mississippi. In Season 2, they filmed the Maryann wrecked Bon Temps and the Bill kidnapping in Louisiana and the Godric burning scene here in Dallas. And of course in Season 1 there was tons of scenes filmed in and around Shreveport and in central Louisiana.

Sookie's house (external) and cemetery have always existed as facades in Malibu, Merlottes's bar sits on Warner Brother's back lot and Fangtasia is really a bar in Long Beach but the exteriors for downtown Bon Temps, Jason's and Bill's house all really exist and those scenes were all originally filmed in Louisiana.
I have been to these locations... check out posts below.

I love when they get off the LA movie studio back lots and near LA locations and really film in the south. I think spending the extra time and money to film here has added lots of authenticity to the series and I hope they get back to filming down here soon, ya'll.

I have lots of blog posts about behind the scenes filming and I have visited most of the filming locations.

From Skarsgardfans

Since we see Marnie wearing this jacket she is not through screwing with the Viking's mind, in most likely episode 8, Spellbound.

True Blood Promos Thursday

2011-08-11T14:58:00.008-04:00

Isn't it funny that Alan Ball said he signed on for season 5 and then weeks after season 5 is confirmed, oh Hollywood's so weird.
From EW

HBO renews 'True Blood' for fifth season

by Lynette Rice

Image Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

Alexander Skarsgard lovers, your prayers have been answered: HBO has picked up a fifth season of True Blood.

The pay cabler has ordered 12 more episodes of the drama from Alan Ball that’s based on Charlaine Harris’ mega-popular Sookie Stackhouse novels. The fifth season will bow next summer.

“I remain amazed and delighted by the enthusiasm of our viewers,” said Ball in a statement. “I can’t imagine having more fun than this.”

The fourth season premiere of True Blood on June 26 matched its series high performance of 5.4 million viewers. It also improved upon its season 3 debut by 6 percent. The current season ends Sept. 11.

In an interview with EW earlier this year, Ball said the show has “a lot of life in it.” “I love doing it and I don’t really have any plans of doing anything else right now,” Ball said. He also has plenty of material to cull from Harris’ book series. “She said there will be a total of 13 novels, and she’s publishing 10 or 11. If we did do 13 seasons I believe we would have to address why are the vampires aging.”

Congratulations to Sam Trammell and Missy Yager on their twins arrival, double feedings, double diaper changes, have fun! The confused look in this photo seems perfect for a new dad.

Some interesting bits from Fiona Shaw's latest interview with NY Mag's Vulture Blog, read it all at the link.

Were you a fan of the books or the show before you signed on for this?
Alan Ball discouraged me from reading the books, which I don’t regret; I don’t want to hanker for material I don’t have. But when I started reading the scripts, and the first lot of Latin came my way, I knew there were challenges ahead! [Laughs.] And when we had the first read-through, and suddenly seeing all these vampires in person, that was very stunning. I had to adjust and remind myself that they’re all just actors. Nan and Pam, they’re my favorites. Both vampires, both very sour.

Were you disappointed they didn’t offer you a vampire role?
I’m glad I’m not a vampire, but I never thought about it beyond that! And you know, I’ve never seen a vampire show before this one. Can you believe it? [Laughs.] So I was very excited to play a witch. It puts the vocabulary of witches back on the imaginative scale, and it gives you a new eye for them. I’ve been playing at casting them when I’m looking at people at bus stops, on the subway: Who’s a vampire, and who’s a witch? That’s one of the delightful things about the series. Everyone looks normal in Sam’s bar, and then you look again, and you find they have more gifts, and more drawbacks. True Blood celebrates the fact that we should never underestimate anyone.

Did you talk to any Wiccans or attend any coven meetings to prepare for the role?
I did, a lot. I actually spent weeks going to meetings and visiting witches. I liked the idea that with some covens, if it gets too big, the members can move on and form a new coven and be like bees, swarm elsewhere. Rituals can be self made. You can make up a ritual. I watched them conjure the dead, and it’s very moving. It’s all to do with their beliefs, and how they call upon a family member, and you see the comfort they give to people.

Did you participate in any of those rituals?
I’m too busy trying to contact the living to try to contact the dead! [Laughs.] I’m happy not to do that.

Even though Marnie is the villain of the season, she considers her actions justified.
Oh, they’re very justified! She’s just getting on, practicing her little religion, and in comes this big thug who says she can’t practice it. What happened to democracy?

Although, if you’re going to have a big thug come after you, who better than Alexander Skarsgard? Are you Team Eric?
I’ll take him any day! [Laughs.] He’s a very nice young man. How is Sookie supposed to choose between her two vampires? It’s fantastically complicated.

Antonia has increased Marnie's powers exponentially: She's levitating! What else are we going to see your character do?
Well, the question would be, is Antonia running Marnie, or is Marnie running Antonia?

Do you mean this isn’t all the work of Antonia Gavilán de Logroño?
What happens in True Blood is they put two ideas together, and a baby is born in the third idea. Antonia has a particular ax to grind, because of her own rape and murder [in the seventeenth century]. But Antonia’s the most unlikely person to make non-vampires do something against their will, or hold hostages; she seeks only the willing. She only entered Marnie because Marnie begged her to. But Marnie has a deep desire to make her mark on the world, because she’s been overlooked. When Antonia infused Marnie, it brought out Marnie’s latent powers. And being empowered has had a huge effect on her ego. Her entire deportment changes, because how you carry yourself is all about how you feel about yourself.

A lot of the women who were executed in Antonia’s time weren’t actually witches at all.
This show takes it to the extreme, but the history of witchcraft is absolutely the history of the scapegoat. It’s a forgotten bit of history, but millions of women were killed during the Inquisition, and it became a hysteria. The game of True Blood isn’t nonsense. Sometimes we call these powers by different names, but it is exciting to place our fears into shapes. It’s such an innocent idea to want to jump out of your skin and gallop along! The idea that you could behave temporarily as a horse, that’s fantastic. That’s the magic of television.

Joe Manganiello explains wolfie attraction. From Digitalspy

photo from Vanity Fair Italia

True Blood star Joe Manganiello has explained the romance between Alcide and Debbie.

"I did a lot of research on wolves and things and there's a chemical wolves secrete," he said. "It's the mate for life chemical and it's in wolves and not dogs.

"So I thought about that, and I thought about how difficult it must be for them to separate. And also growing up as a werewolf and living hidden from society, you can't open up to normal people. You couldn't just go out on a date with a human girl and tell her who you were unless you were really sure."

Manganiello continued: "It would probably make the dating pool a lot smaller. And as you found out in season three, the werewolves are a bit of a rough bunch. So it's probably slim pickings in the dating pool as far as werewolves go!"

However, Manganiello hinted that viewers should stay tuned to True Blood to see whether the relationship will continue to survive.

"Debbie's obviously tried to make amends for her past transgressions and done so in such a convincing manner that Alcide would give her another shot," he said. "So obviously only time will tell how good of a job she does, or how consistent of a job she does."

Thursday's Promos!

Maxine Flirting?

Mid Week True Blood Bitsies

2011-08-10T13:58:00.007-04:00

From the LA Times
EXCLUSIVE: Alan Ball has one of the most popular shows on cable with HBO's "True Blood." Now he could be a double threat via HBO's sister network. The creator will executive produce a new series called "Banshee" that will serve as a key plank in Cinemax's original programming push.
"Banshee" is not expected to affect Ball's schedule on 'True Blood." Ball recently told the Television Critics Assn. that he's close to a deal for a fifth season of the Anna Paquin-Stephen Moyer vampire show. The fourth season is currently airing on HBO.

Work!
Zombies. Ghost Lisperers. Smoking hot vampires. Like sands through the hourglass, these are the makings of this week's episode of Blood Work!, in which Brian and Andy from Campblood.org dig their teeth into "True Blood" Episode 4.7.
Also on the slab are Spanish witches, "Urban Cowboy" references, chemical peels, annoying siblings, and the lamest werewolf party since "Teen Wolf". That, and Andy almost loses his face. Enjoy!

They said the same as I did here about Hoyt Bubba, great minds do think alike!

Some photos from Wetpaint for the second half of the season

In the Coming Weeks: Sneak Peek

Some caps from Promos by Skarsgardfans, I hope Tara isn't holding that gun on Sookie

The hair in this one doesnt look like Sookie's, hmmm?

Barbara has a cap with Marcus wearing the same gloves as in this one

What the hell is wrapped around Lafayette? Looks like Gaga's meat dress

Those are Jessica's silver burned up wrists, what she doing to Jason? Feeding?

Andy holding down Terry, what would Felix do?

Showing the TCA video again, MUITO OBRIGADO to Michael Coelho!

True Blood 2011 TCA Trailer from Michael Coelho on Vimeo.

will we get our scene of Pelt with a gun aimed at Snookie? She looks like she is out for blood.

way more caps HERE
Pammy getting her beauty back, Doc Ludwig seems to be enjoying it. The make-up was some of the best I've seen in horror, movies included.

Tuesday's Goodies for Truebies

2011-08-09T11:30:00.005-04:00

Teeny bit on the next episode from Matt at TVLINE
One of the Sookie Stackhouse novels’ most famous scenes at long last makes it to the small screen. It involves a guy, a girl, and a shower (sort of).
From Eonline's Kristin
Bb123: Dying for some True Blood…especially on Jessica dying. Is she still alive?I believe so, yes. I'm told that we'll soon see her inside the witch store with Fiona Shaw, watching Bill (Stephen Moyer) out in front doing something very bad. Like, you know, life or death kind of bad. Oh…I'll just come right out with it: Bill kills someone! Or, more accurately (not grammatically though) is that Bill kills someones. As in plural. Also hearing that Tara (Rutina Wesley) somehow injures her arm, and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) will be packing (up) something other than heat. Lots of good stuff coming up.

HBO's Interview with Alexander Skarsgard
Alexander Skarsgard Explores Erics Sensitive Side and His Latest Romp With Sookie

Fans have been dying for Eric and Sookie to hook up - what kinds of reactions have you been hearing now that it's finally happened?
Alexander Skarsgard: I know that people have been talking about it - but I try to stay away from the blogs and fan sites. I'm a little scared ... I do meet fans in person, though, and the feedback has been great this year. It seems that people are enjoying Eric's arc, which is great because I had a blast shooting it. I love playing "Amnesia Eric." It's just such a different side of him, and it's always fun as actor to dig deeper. You learn a lot, and I definitely have this year.
: Is it difficult to play a person-within-a-person?
Alexander Skarsgard: I wanted to make sure that it was a side of Eric - not a new character. The side of him that was hidden. He's very innocent and naive now, but I also thought it was very important not to lose the old Eric - the predator - and the element of danger there. You've got to feel that to make it interesting, I think, and it's something I focused on. You definitely see how he can get very violent, especially in those moments where he's protective of Sookie.
: In this week's episode, "Cold Grey Light of Dawn," there's a drawn-out, multi-location love scene between Sookie and Eric. Was that the most involved one you've shot so far?
Alexander Skarsgard: It's up there. I've done some stuff in other movies as well that's pretty graphic ... But these were definitely some pretty intense scenes. We were kind of all over the place. But my favorite scene is yet to come ...
: Alcide gets a deflating dose of Sookie and Eric's intimacy in this episode. Do you think the werewolf has any chance at a future with Sookie?
Alexander Skarsgard: No. I don't think she's interested in dogs.
: This season, it seems that fans are even more attracted to innocent, sweet Eric than they are to dark, mysterious Eric. Any idea why that is?
Alexander Skarsgard: I think it's a point of contrast - that they're seeing something open and vulnerable, someone who's willing to connect on a deeper level. Old Eric was very guarded and wouldn't let himself do that, so I think his sensitivity has been interesting. He lets people in for the first time in a very long time, and that's definitely something new. I'm just really grateful that people respond to him and his relationship with Sookie. It's great to play this other side of him that's been hidden for almost a thousand years.
Skarsgardfans has the screencaps for the "Spellbound" promo up,

Check them all out at the link above My over used Halloween video is SpellBound, from Siouxie and The Banshees- I'll keep posting Rhoswen7's episode spoilers as we count down to the finale Episode #44 (#4.08): “Spellbound”: As Bill and Marnie brace for a dangerous midnight face-off, Sookie and Eric pledge their allegiance to the King. Jason is torn between friendship and passion, and Jessica is spurned from two homes. Lafayette becomes the pawn of a tormented spirit; Tommy takes a walk in someone else’s shoes; Sam contends with yet another adversary in Marcus, Luna’s ex and the leader of Alcide’s new pack. Playdates: August 14, 16, 17, 20 and 26. Written by Alan Ball; directed by Daniel Minahan. Poor Jessica, but Hoyt isn't wrong to take back his invite, he is a hurting Bubba. The singing ghost better not harm Lala, I was hoping she was a good spirit from back in the day (an Anne Rice's Feast of All Saints type of character, btw I love that book). Who is Scrappy Doo going to slip into now? Sam has way better hair than greasy Marcus, and he can shift into something bigger and meaner than a wolf. Episode #45 (#4.09): “Run”: Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there’s room for both Bill and Eric. Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their respective agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica. Despite Tara and Holly’s misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a “Festival of Tolerance” event at Shreveport. Playdates: August 21, 23, 24, 26 and 27. Written by Brian Buckner; directed by Romeo Tirone. Episode #46 (#4.10): “Burning Down the House”: As all hell breaks loose in Shreveport, Sookie summons her most potent powers yet to save Bill, in the process breaking a spell and leading Marnie/Antonia to re-evaluate her mission. Jason urges Jessica to glamour him for Hoyt’s sake; Terry drags Andy to “Fort Bellefleur” for an intervention; Alcide reconsiders his allegiances after Marcus' fight with Tommy. Jesus, accompanied by Sookie, Lafayette and Jason, tries to breach the Moongoddess Emporium’s defenses to liberate Tara and Holly, while Bill leads a brigade of vampires committed to blowing the place to kingdom come. Playdates: August 28, 30 and 31. Written by Nancy Oliver; directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. And let's not forget these photos from On Location Vacations AKA Barbara Henderson AAKA Skarsgardfans.com (she's everywhere True Blood), all scenes still to come (I'm thinking the finale because Eric seems like he's back 100%!

Cold Grey Light of Dawn Recapapalooza

2011-08-08T19:24:00.012-04:00

The recaps are not slowing down, but have to give props to Tara Buck, she is a such a good comedienne.

Yeah Meredith's Pros and Cons are up! From io9.com read it all at the site, good screencaps also

True Blood tells you to Go Silver Yourself

Dear vampire God, last night's True Bloodwas a whole lotta nothing for a long damn time. There were about 45 minutes of important vampire meetings and then five minutes of vampire screaming into the wind.

But let's break it down pro/con style, shall we? Spoilers ahead...

Con: Also this would be the second mentioning of zombies on this show, and later on Pam yells at a pack of pedestrian gawkers that she's "NOT A ZOMBIE." Going by the gentle smack-the-audience-in-the-head-foreshadowing technique that Alan Ball loves to sprinkle throughout True Blood, it's safe to say that we'll probably have to deal with zombies sometime in the future. Sigh.
Pro: Also on this note, real references are real! I do so love how shoe-horned "reality" is in this show. I love the random shout outs to Google and Fox News. It's totally natural, just like I'm always walking around asking my friends if they want to get a Coca-Cola product while we shop for Reebok sneakers. It's not product placement, it's quality supernatural grounding material. Vampire Bill uses Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers, just like us! I'm aware that name-checking TMZ is supposed to make me feel like this vampire alternate reality is really real! But in order for you to distend my grasp on reality, you probably shouldn't have made a bunch of were-panthers rape my favorite character for three episodes. Or just not have were-panthers at all. That might help me swallow the fact that there a fairy war happening in another dimension, and they all need Starbucks Frappuccinos! Seriously this is not a Con, this is a Pro. Because this is the delusion-fodder that I drink up. I drink your milkshake,True Blood, I drink it up! MORE

From Fashionmagazine.com, the whole article is at the link, and where you can get the looks the cast wore, including the lingerie.

We Take Wardrobe Cues from Lafayette's Head Scarf, Marnie/Antonia's Talisman Necklaces and What Jessica Wore to Meet the Sun

Well, last week the sexual tension finally got some relief with a spared-from-staking Eric reunited in a patch of moonlight to get it on with Sookie. That’s about the only good thing that happened, with Jesus almost dying from a Grandpa-inflicted snake bite, Tommy having sex with Sam’s girl Luna while shifted into a Sam clone, and Antonia getting full control of Marnie’s body. Looks like there’s trouble ahead, so let’s just hope they give us a bit more Sookie and Eric before the inevitable chaos.

Kill Bill

-Bill’s guard, sometime-lover, and witch-undercover Katerina gets killed by an under-Antonia’s-control Sheriff Luis.
-Marnie/Antonia (let’s just call her Antonia here on in; bad tabloid names like Martonia or Antarnienia, are so ’00s) escapes from King Bill’s while Luis goes and shoots him full of silver before self-staking.
-Not to worry, this isn’t a Who Shot J.R.? Situation. Bill fully survives, and now he knows what Antonia is up to.
-Bill has Jessica over to tell her about Antonia and her powers—do we really need Jessica asking dumb questions to explain to us what’s going on? Is this a mid-season catch-up for those who haven’t been watching? Boring.
-Bill instructs his remaining sheriffs to silver themselves and tell all others to flee the state. (Hmmm, why just this state? Does she only hate Louisiana vamps?) They question his orders. (Ugg, are they really that dumb?) Also, why isn’t he calling Nan Flanagan? Doesn’t he tell her like, everything? Maybe they speed-texted.

My hometown paper has a humorous recap HERE where you can read it all but this is what I'm talking about-

Tommy is in the hospital, telling Sam he got food poisoning from something he ate on his run last night. (Yeah, Luna.) After Martonia's escape, Luis tries to assassinate Bill, shooting him to slow him down and then grabbing a stake. (Honestly, why would Bill have those just lying around? They need to be in the vamp equivalent of a gun cabinet.)

Jethro Nededog has his short little cap up at THR-
This week’s True Blood may have finally given viewers the reason to call this the season of the witches. Antonia/Marnie (Fiona Shaw) dominated the episode and her end game became clear – she aims to reenact the spell she cast as she was burning on the stake during the Spanish Inquisition. She plans to make all the vampires in the area walk out into the sun to their death.
If the last episode belonged to Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), this one could be dedicated to Bill. There’s something very beautiful in the way he behaved in this episode. After all the deception he was guilty of in the previous seasons, it’s becoming clear that he’s at least partially using his new position to protect the people he loves. He called Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) to his home, so they can suffer the silver chains and spell together. He also honored Sookie by going to her home to inform him of the spell to be cast and how she can protect Eric.
What’s interesting here is how True Blood is exploring the gray areas of good and evil. After all, don’t Antonia/Marnie and Tara (Rutina Wesley) have very good reasons to want the area swept clean of vampires? The have indeed raped, tortured, and imprisoned them. Yet, as viewers we have a certain connection to the vampires. We love Eric. We feel for Jessica. We admire Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten).

On the other hand, shouldn’t we be rooting for the humans, because, well, we’re human? And are Lafayette’s (Nelsan Ellis) newly revealed powers as a medium to be used against the vampires or to help bring down Antonia/Marnie? It’s complicated, isn’t it?

Other quick thoughts from the episode:

-- How funny was it when Bill ordered sun-bent Jessica to come back, so she can remove his chains too?

-- This episode’s soft porn brought to you by Eric and Sookie. Wow.

-- Honorable mention goes to Alcide (Joe Manganiello) and Debbie (Brit Morgan) for their almost there sex moment.

-- This week’s saw it coming award goes to Sam (Sam Trammell) and Tommy (Marshall Allman) who break up more than Ross and Rachel on Friends.

TVFanatic's Roundtable Discussion Recap

CNN's Marquee Blog is always a good read

Jessica has a new blog-
Do you ever get the sense that something big is about to happen to you? Like you might fall in love or fall out of love or you might fall through the cracks of the earth and disappear into it? Lodged in between layers of rock and dirt with feet pounding over your head so many miles away, it just sounds like a million muffled heart beats...? There’s no reason or explanation, it’s just a feeling you can’t shake and you can’t really make any sense of it. It’s kinda like the way I felt right after losing my virginity. Well, technically I’m always losing my virginity, but you know what I mean. The first time. I was walking around and my legs felt different, my arms looked different, older or longer or like they moved in new ways. And there was something in front of me, in my future, that just wasn’t there before. Maybe it’s because my blood is in another man now, or maybe it’s because I’m growing up and this is just another growing pain. Or maybe, just maybe, something really is gonna happen. And then I can say I told you so. I guess we’ll have to find out.

Camp Blood has a mini mini recap to hold y'all over till they do the vlog.

Jessica Sees the Light

Get the door, Jessica – it’s Domino’s! … PSYCH

Anyway, this week’s episode of True Blood wasn’t one of our faves … but thank God MVP Ginger hopped on top of that mechanical bull of a coffin and pulled things out in the last inning, eh? (See what I did there with sports metaphors? I can pass!)

We will of course be posting our full take on the goings-on in “The Cold, Grey Light of Dawn” in our Blood Work!video recap later this week. But for now, here are a few of my favorite moments:

Dr. Ludwig, harder and more often. Related: [barfsinownmouth]
Tara, you are officially an idiot. Again.
Sam, join Tara under the dum-dum tree.
Luna, I want to watch you at work all day instead of listening to vampires talk in bed.
Zombies!
Bucky!
Lafayette can officially add “airbnb for the dead” to his resume (after “hooker” and before “drug dealer” … or should it go under “Interests”?)
Ginger should know better than to put a quarter in Pam‘s coffin without strapping in first.
And of course, the did-they-or-didn’t-they with Jessica meeting the sun. My guess is “no”, but what the hell do I know.

Let Nick Lowe sing us out into the light-

Cold Grey Light of Dawn-Post Mortem

2011-08-07T22:17:00.009-04:00

"Everyone's tested in the entire episode." Writer Alexander Woo and director Michael Ruscio discuss the emotions Marnie's spell has wrought

Ep. 43 - Recap

Ep. 43 - Inside the Episode

WSJ Speakeasy Blog

Antonia has successfully entered Marnie’s body and in a Voldemort-meets-Quirrell sort of way, uses her human host to try to achieve her ultimate end: the destruction of every living (er, you know what we mean) vampire around. Her first step is to take mind-control of her Inquisition-era torturer and rapist, Louis. She forces him to kill Bill’s lieutenant and finally fulfils the vampires’ fear that humans will be able to control the dead. Of course, Marnie probably wouldn’t have been moved to call upon Antonia if Eric hadn’t provoked her in the first place, but we’ll put that aside for now as we understand plausibility is not a chief aim of this show.

Pam, still in deterioration mode, attacks Tara and Naomi, but Tara gets lucky when a bunch of tourists come by and start snapping photos. “Is that a zombie?” one of them asks excitedly. To protect her vanity probably more than anything else, Pam releases Tara but warns her she’ll come after her once more. Poor Tara. There is literally no one on this show who can get behind her. Naomi is nice and all, but part of us really wishes Eggs might be able to drop by from the dead for an episode or two. (Alan Ball, it is not too late to make this happen. Think of the shirtless opportunities!)

Back to the least compelling plotline of the series, Lafayette and Jesus, who are still holed up in Mexico and who have just realized Lafayette is capable of being possessed by spirits. After Jesus feebly tells his grandfather that he won’t stay there any longer, the evil old man reveals to Lafayette that he, that is, Lafayette, is a medium. “You have the magic,” he whispers conspiratorially to him in Spanish. We guess we’re supposed to be shocked, but instead it just comes off as OBVIOUSLY.

Marcus the werewolf leader has rounded up his pack and is busy anointing Debbie and Alcide with deer (elk? Speakeasy isn’t too familiar with the Cervidae family) blood. Debbie is thrilled but Alcide is more reluctant to join in the festivities and sits himself away from the pack. He feels badly about it, but is visibly relieved when Debbie says there’s time to look for Sookie in the woods. This turns out to be a terrible idea, as the duo stumble upon a vigorously-moaning Sookie and Eric, who are still frolicking (is that word still in use? Maybe?) beneath the moonlight. The sight makes Alcide even more depressed, which Debbie immediately picks up on, because hey, what girl doesn’t realize when her boyfriend is obsessed with someone else? This can’t possibly end well for anyone involved.

Bill is pouring True Blood from an impressive-looking decanter when Louis wanders in on Marnie’s orders. A struggle ensues and Louis ends up forcing a silver stake into his own heart, whispering the word “resurrection” before predictably exploding over Bill’s spiffy king threads. Bill’s face falls, but we’re too busy noticing how much better he looks this season with a proper haircut to care very much.

Tara tells her girlfriend to get the hell out of town because as long as she sticks around, she’ll be at risk when the vampires come. Just like “24,” when everyone close to Jack Bauer ends up dying.

Across town, Jason is home recovering from being raped by many were-panthers but has luckily dodged the bullet of actually turning into one. He begins to fantasize about Jessica, a pairing that makes it seem like the show is taking one of Gossip Girl’s tricks, the one where all the people who haven’t slept together eventually do so. We hope for Hoyt’s sake this doesn’t end up happening, though his confession that it would kill him if he loses Jess is slightly alarming.

Meanwhile, Bill explains to his sheriffs that Antonia/Marnie will cast a spell to force every nearby vampire to meet the sun. To avoid mass incineration, he instructs the vampires to bind themselves with silver in their coffins, which will prevent them from heeding the call to turn up the sun.

Sookie and Eric are still having sex, though it’s been well over 40 minutes by our count. They cuddle in post-coital bliss, with Eric tenderly telling her, “I’m listening to your heartbeat. I can feel it…every pulse.” Oh, gross. Can we get Eric Northman back yet, please? The real one who sort of reminds us of Putin in an extremely terrifying but good way?
Pam calls in an expert to administer “six shots four times a day” for the next, well, forever. The nurse helpfully says she can get Pam a bulk discount on the shots. Oh OK phew, we’re sure Pam was worried about the health care premium.
Tara runs into Antonia/Marnie in the woods and joins forces with her, of course, because there wouldn’t be a plot/it’s so like Tara to do that when she should just clearly RUN to New Orleans. The vampires are busy shackling themselves in their hidey-holes in what amounted to a truly touching scene with Jess and Bill. Jess confesses she just isn’t into Hoyt, and attributes her lack of interest to the disappearance of her human heart. Not so, Bill says. Her not loving Hoyt “doesn’t mean you’ve lost your humanity. We’re all, at our core, human.” We knew Bill still had it in him!
Pam looks like My Vampire Barbie in her pink quilted coffin.

Sam realizes all isn’t right when Luna tells him to eff off when he calls her to chat. Doesn’t he realize by now he should always blame Tommy when in doubt? He and Luna realize Tommy has skin-walked, which accounted for his high fever and blood-laced vomit. Still, Sam has had it up to here with his brother and kicks him out once and for all. Is it just us or has this happened several times before? We think it’s time to wrap up this plotline.
We finally get some comic relief in this episode with Andy and Holly’s date. He’s brought her Winn-Dixie flowers that he got on sale (how sweet! He shouldn’t have) but he’s freaking out because he hasn’t had a hit of V yet. He ends up dashing out of the bar, sale-flowers in tow.

The show realizes it needs to make Lafayette somewhat relevant so a strange woman shows up in his kitchen whom only he and Arlene’s demon-baby can see.
Antonia/Marnie, Tara and Co. get together for a fun afternoon of chanting Latin and force the nearby vampires to feel an irresistible pull toward the sun. All of them are able to fight it except for Jessica, who writhes against the chains and stumbles toward Bill’s front door. But wait! Jason is on his way to save the day like he did at Steve Newlin’s joint. Will he save her? Will they fall in love? Or in his case, lust? Will Sookie and Eric beat the odds and will Bill let them?
SCREENCAPS BY BARBARA

Recaps
Rolling Stones
TVOvermind
Buddy TV
Eric scenes from AlexSkarsgard.net

Jody chimes in with Alcide's scenes

OH MY PAM!!!!! She suffers for beauty, as so many of us do.

The lovely Janina did a short interview with io9.com, she made up her own back story of how she met Sam.

True Blood’s Janina Gavankar reveals the dark secrets of shapeshifter dinner parties

On this season of True Blood, one of the new faces around Bon Temps is Luna Garza, a skin-walking elementary school teacher who gets mixed up in the unceasing train wreck that is the life of shapeshifting restauranteur Sam Merlotte.

At Syfy's Comic-Con party, actress Janina Gavankar gave us her theory of how Luna and Sam met. Janina also expressed a desire to see more odd-toed ungulates round out the show's cast.

This season, Sam, Luna, and the other Louisiana shifters formed a shapeshifter supper club. Will we ever learn the origins of this magical dinner party?

I don't think so — this season takes place over a short amount of time. We had a time shift, so about a year went by, but this season happens over 10 days or so. But I've made my own backstory to how this comes about!

Oh? And what is this backstory?
Well, it takes one to know one, and [the shifters] all meet each other because one of us has fabulous friends and cooks fabulously. It's not so much a support group as it is a group of friends. We're all shifters, and we all like to get drunk and shift.

Luna's let Sam Merlotte into her life, but Sam's a guy who just can't get his act together. Will we see more of Good Sam or Bad Sam?

Luna has backbone, but she's also very vulnerable. This season you get to see him try to balance it out. It's good that he got his dark side back because he's been too much of a pushover. As I fan I say, "SAM! MAN UP!" But as Luna I say, "It's okay! Everything's fine! Let's just be happy together!" It's nice to see him have both sides.

True Blood Sunday- Episode 7

2011-08-07T11:18:00.008-04:00

Tonight's episode is "Cold Grey Light of Dawn" (as if you didn't know). Doing a round-up of promos. synopses and the like.
From the Boston Herald-

The undead face their greatest threat in tonight’s episode of HBO’s “True Blood” (at 9 p.m.).
In “Cold Grey Light of Dawn,” Marnie (Fiona Shaw) is gone. Her body has been taken over by the 400-year-old witch Antonia, who, as flashbacks revealed, died a gruesome death during the Spanish Inquisition and has good cause to want payback. With her powers, she can compel vampires to walk into the sunlight - to their own fiery doom.
Bill (Stephen Moyer) quickly realizes she could massacre them all. His plan to save his subjects is almost as deadly as the sun itself.
Meanwhile, Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) take their lovemaking to just about every part of Bon Temps it seems, much to the distress of Alcide (Joe Manganiello). Eric decides he doesn’t want his memory back if the price is losing Sookie’s love.
Tara’s (Rutina Wesley) life is saved by TMZ - sort of. Sam (Sam Trammell) uncovers his brother’s deception. Jessica (Deborah Ann Wolf) realizes the sad truth about her relationship with Hoyt (Jim Parrack), who has no idea his best friend Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is also lusting for the red-headed vampire.
Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) begins to learn just how powerful he is. Could he be key to fighting Marnie? Trouble is, she makes a great case for wanting to rid the world of vampires, one even Bill acknowledges.
At hour’s end, one familiar vamp cannot resist the siren call to daylight …

I forgot about this idea I had, by Jason calling Hoyt "Bubba" all the time (I know it is a nic in the south, ie. Bill Clinton) does anyone think our loveable Hoyt might be turned? I could see it happening and it would be nice to have a vampire couple on the show. Eternal true love, well for maybe half a season at least, hee.

Episode #43 (#4.07): “Cold Grey Light of Dawn”: With Marnie empowered by spirits of the dead, Bill issues an unpopular order to save vampires from the light. Eric embraces his amnesia; Luna discovers Sam’s not the man she thought he was; Lafayette expands his consciousness; Pam gets a body peel; Andy’s date with Holly doesn’t go as planned; Jessica has doubts about her future with Hoyt; Alcide and Debbie join a new pack. Playdates: August 7, 9, 10, 13 and 26. Written by Alexander Woo; directed by Michael Ruscio.

True Blood" (9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 7, HBO): With Marnie (Fiona Shaw) turning into an increasingly powerful witch, thanks to the spirit of Antonia, the vampires are facing a devastating threat. So Bill (Stephen Moyer) must issue an unpopular order to save the vampires from the light. Meanwhile, Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) decides to embrace his amnesia. Source
True Blood “Cold Grey Light of Dawn” Season 4 Episode 7 – With Marnie (Fiona Shaw) empowered by spirits of the dead, Bill (Stephen Moyer) issues an unpopular order to save vampires from the light. Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) embraces his amnesia; Luna (Janina Gavankar) discovers Sam (Sam Trammell) is not the man she thought he was; Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) expands his consciousness; Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) gets a body peel; Andy’s (Chris Bauer) date with Holly (Lauren Bowles) doesn’t go as planned; Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) has doubts about her future with Hoyt (Jim Parrack); Alcide (Joe Manganiello) and Debbie (Brit Morgan) join a new pack.Daemon's TV

More screencaps at Barb's site HERE

On Sunday night’s upcoming episode of “True Blood” titled “Cold Grey Light of Dawn,” look for the necromancer Antonia to exert even more power than she has already. She’s cast spells on the 1,000-year-old Viking vampire Eric Northman, his progeny Pam and last week on 400-year-old Catholic priest vampire Father Luis, who was the one who figured out that Antonia has inhabited the body of the Wicca leader Marnie.Spoiler alert for Sunday night! With Marnie (Fiona Shaw) empowered by spirits of the dead, King Bill Compton of Louisiana (Stephen Moyer) issues an unpopular order to save vampires from the light. Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) embraces his amnesia, Luna (Janina Gavankar) discovers Sam (Sam Trammell) is not the man she thought he was, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) expands his consciousness after his tryst in Mexico, Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) gets a body peel, Andy’s (Chris Bauer) date with Holly (Lauren Bowles) doesn’t go as planned, Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) has doubts about her future with Hoyt (Jim Parrack); Alcide (Joe Manganiello) and Debbie (Brit Morgan) join a new pack, and trouble follows. SOURCE

The real head of the AVL?
TVOvermind

Marnie: After being fully possessed by the dead witch, Antonia, Martonia (as I'm now calling her) convinces one of her vampire guards to let her walk out of the jail cell. Then she goes on to wreak some havoc in Bon Temps.

Tara: Tara has to make some very painful decisions about her girlfriend after an aborted attack by Pam on the pair. Later, Antonia takes advantage of her pain to recruit Tara to her plain to exact revenge on the vampires. Tara also helps Marnie recruit more humans to her cause.

Alcide and Debbie: The couple join the city's werewolf pack, much to Debbie's happiness and Alcide's join the werewolf pack. They spot Sookie & Eric having sex in the woods, which leaves Debbie questioning who Alcide really wants to be with.

Bill & the Vampires: After being warned of Antonia's return, he warns Jessica about the danger of this witch coming back. His greatest fear is that Antonia will want to have all vampires "meet the sun". He is forced to make some unpopular and painful choices in order to protect the vampires in his kingdom. Pam also continues to try and find a cure to her rotting curse, but the best she can come up with is a painful procedure to try and make her look better.

Sookie and Eric: This pair continues to go at it - in a literal sense for a long while - until Eric decides to embrace his amnesia because Sookie admits that she never would have let the old Eric into her bed.

Lafayette & Jesus: Jesus tries to make his boyfriend come to some realizations about his power after what happened in his grandfather's house the night before. Later, Lafayette sees someone very strange (although recognizable to us as the audience).

Jason, Jessica & Hoyt: Jason continues to be weirded out by his recent sex dreams of Jessica which causes him to act strangely around Hoyt. Jessica, meanwhile, comes to some realizations about her relationship with Hoyt after discussing the situation with Bill.

Sam & Tommy: Sam has to deal with the fallout of Tommy's actions while pretending to be Sam, especially concerning Luna. When Sam realizes what his brother did, he makes a choice about Tommy's place in his life.

Expect one heck of a cliffhanger to tonight's episode that will have some fans anxious to see what happens next week.

Let's Start TB Weekend

2011-08-05T13:11:00.008-04:00

The King Speaks with Access Hollywood! More at the link.

“True Blood” creator Alan Ball has said he’d like to bring Russell Edgington back to Bon Temps in Season 5, but Denis O’Hare expects a different sort of former Mississippi vampire king when his ancient character returns.

“The trick is — and these guys are better at it than I am — but the trick is to reinvent [Russell], because he can’t come back and be the same guy,” Denis told Access Hollywood on Saturday. “He’s gotta come back transformed in some way and in a surprising way and I look forward to whatever they’re choosing to do with him.”

Denis, who stars in Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s “American Horror Story” on FX, which premieres on Oct. 5, said it’s all in the “True Blood” writers’ hands regarding his return to the HBO show. But, when asked if he, personally, expects Russell to come back from his cased-in-concrete Season 3 ending, bent on avenging the staking death of his longtime love Talbot, Denis said he thinks his character would return with a much more surprising set of motives.

“The thing I love about him is his dreams aren’t petty. He’s never motivated by anything petty, so I can’t imagine if he came back he’d be motivated by simple revenge,” Denis said. “I think he’s always out for something bigger. “

While Talbot’s true death occurred after he was staked by Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard), Denis said Russell’s experience across the centuries is likely to make his return more complex.

“There are dreams that are bigger than that, there are ambitions bigger than that. And he’s been alive 2,800 years, he was with Talbot for 700 years. Not to say that it was only a short period of time, but he’ll do his grieving and he’ll move on,” Denis noted.

So perhaps a turn in politics then?

“Politics sounds great,” he smiled.

Although he’s had roles across film and television, playing Russell — and in particular the scene where the then-king took over a national news broadcast and gave a speech that upset vampire-human politics — has fans begging the actor to repeat his lines in public.

“I get people who want me to say the last line, ‘Now time for the weather. Tiffany?’ I get a lot of that,” he smiled. “But it was a brilliant monologue that [‘True Blood’ writer] Alexander Woo created and I was so happy to be able to do it. It was the kind of meat that as an actor you dream of getting. And I was so lucky to be able to get that.”

THR has an interview also

The last time fans saw him, Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) sealed Russell in a cement grave, but he vowed that he’d be back.

“He’s been locked away,” executive producer and writerAlexander Woo told The Hollywood Reporter earlier in the season. “So he’s kind of a time bomb. He could come back in any moment.”

THR caught up with Denis O’Hare Saturday at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Press tour where he was promoting his new FX series, American Horror Story. We had a moment to speak to him about whether the return to the HBO series will actually occur.

THR: True Blood fans have been waiting eagerly for Russell Edgington’s possible return. Here we are halfway through Season 4 and nothing. Did that ever come to fruition?

Denis O’Hare: I think [series creator] Alan Ball was asked recently about Russell’s return and he said, ‘Russell’s not dead.’ And I can’t do better than that. So, I’ll just reiterate what he said. Russell is not dead.

THR: So, fans shouldn’t give up hope?

O’Hare: Never give up hope. Never give up hope.

THR: What do you think Russell’s unfinished business is?

O’Hare: It’s a great character and I feel he hasn’t been able to completely express his dreams yet. I think more than any of the other vampires that season, he has ambition and huge dreams, an incredible life force. I’m still attracted to that and I think he needs to fulfill whatever it is the thing is he’s aiming for and go out in a blaze of glory in whatever it is he needs to do. He’s not just a passive character. He’s charging forward with a plan and I think we need to see his plan.

THR: In many ways Russell shapes the events of this season with his actions. Did you expect that when you took on the role?

O’Hare: No. I think it’s really interesting, because I think with True Blood it’s the strongest when it talks about the interaction between vampires and humans. And so any way that the show can bring that in, then the show gets a real spine. Pardon the pun.

From TrueBlood.net

The Sookie/Eric scene fans have been waiting for and Alan Ball has been promising is almost here. Per Jace Lacob, a TV critic who has seen the next couple of episodes of True Blood, the infamous shower scene takes place in episode 4.08, “Spellbound”, which airs Sunday, August 14. It appears Jace has not read the books, so after querying Twitter about the scene from the books, he had this to say:

Just so there isn’t any confusion, #TrueBlood‘s shower scene plays out *very, very, very differently* than in the books. Very.

Obviously Sookie & Eric’s relationship on True Blood is far enough along that the shower scene must play out differently than it did in the books. So what do we know about episode 4.08? The only hint we have of the pair comes from the official synopsis: Sookie and Eric pledge their allegiance to their king, aka Bill. So they are still together in some capacity. From the 4.09 synopsis, we know that Sookie is nearly killed in episode 4.08 (she’s described as convalescing in the next episode), but at whose hand?

The teaser reel shown at Comic Con ended with Sookie lying on the ground in the cemetery, bleeding from what looked like a gunshot wound. Does Eric find wounded Sookie and take her home, putting her in the shower to tend to her? Then remember that vampire blood heals and give her some?

Jace's other tweets

televisionary Jace Lacob

Again, I haven't read the Sookie Stackhouse novels, so I'm only comparing it via description rather than first-hand reading experience.

televisionary Jace Lacob

For those asking, a variation on the infamous "shower scene" is in episode 408 of #TrueBlood. That's all I'm saying.

Jason thinking, "I Wish I was The Moon"

io9's Meredith (her weekly pros and cons for the TB eps are linked here weekly) interviewed Deborah and Kevin at SDCC, video at the link-

Video editing and additional reporting by Jonathan Wilkins.

It's no great secret actress Deborah Ann Woll's character Jessica is one of our favoriteTrue Blood characters. Except for when she's running around on her boyfriend Hoyt! So when we caught Woll on camera, we had to ask "What are you thinking?"

On the red carpet for Entertainment Weekly's Comic-Con bash, we chatted withTrue Blood castmembers Woll and Kevin Alejandro (Jesus). Watch what they had to say about the future of their characters on this season's True Blood.

I think I speak for all True Blooders everywhere when I ask: What are you doing? What are you doing!

Deborah Ann Woll: I know! Everybody is really angry at me for what's happening this season. I just think Hoyt and Jess moved into this really quickly. And I think it's maybe [that] Hoyt wants a wife, and Jess cannot be a wife and she really can't give him what he wants, so she's a little bit stuck, and she's making some mistakes. But this season is going to sort of be about Jess figuring out who she is and who she wants to be, and we will find out whether Hoyt can stand that.

Your character is very young, was very sheltered. Does she still have a lot of growing up to do this season, and how will that happen?

Deborah Ann Woll: Absolutely. I mean we're a year later, so some maturing has happened. I think that she's learned more about herself, it's just whether she can accept it.

How did you feel when you saw the pages for this season for you guys? I was like: "they're going to get together!" And then they finally get together and you're immediately ripped apart.

Deborah Ann Woll: Well yeah. I mean, our goal is to torture you. That's the point of entertainment. [Laughter] And it is, it's more fun that way. I really love it and I actually love the direction of this season and where we go, so I really just want to ask fans to open their minds and try and go with it because, in my opinion, it's very rewarding by the end.

And you're a new character, so it's really fun to watch wild things happen to you because we have no idea what's going to happen next. So can you give us a little hint as to what the ‘trash baby' is and what it's doing in your house?

Deborah Ann Woll: ‘Trash baby'; that's the first time I've heard it called that. Well, the ‘trash baby' does have something to do with our home. We've passed it off to Arlene and Terry and their child now, so we'll just have to see if the evil follows.

Did you feel bad about doing that?

Deborah Ann Woll: Well, I mean, I felt bad. I don't think Jess had any idea what she was doing. I think Jess was having it and went: "I guess I could give it to the baby and that's one way to get it out of the house." But I definitely, Deborah the actress, knew something was wrong and hopefully the baby will survive.

What is your other favorite storyline going on this season in True Blood?

Deborah Ann Woll: I love the witches. I mean Fiona Shaw is incredible and I think they really are a real threat to the vampires and that's scary. I mean all of our storylines are great, but our villains always excel.

It seems like Jessica's been a bit of a hero's sidekick last season, jumping in alongside to help out. Saving the day, but after someone else saved the day. Is Jessica going to become a bigger hero in this season?

Deborah Ann Woll: I think it's within Jessica to do that. She cares so much and that's actually why she makes so many mistakes. She's learning from every single one and definitely this season, she and Bill will have an opportunity to team up again and kick some butt.

Kevin Alejandro

You're the only one who hasn't taken off his shirt yet this year. What's going on?

"Kevin Alejandro: Oh, just wait.

Just wait?

Kevin Alejandro: Just wait. Yeah, I was in terrible shape, so no no. [Laughter] No, it just hadn't worked out that way, but I think you might see something like that. From what I remember, there's a little skin going on this season.

Did you know when you came on the show that you were going to be such a big part of this season?

Kevin Alejandro: I didn't. I didn't. I figured that there had to be something there, that they were going to do something with me because obviously Nelsan [Ellis] is one of the crowd's favorites and I was just like: "there's got to be something, right?" But no, this season it goes off in a direction that I didn't expect, that I don't think anyone's really expecting, but it's very good.

You seem like you're the cool head out of the trio that's following around Marnie and the witches. Why do you think that works? And why do you think Jesus stays so centered all the time?

Kevin Alejandro: I think Jesus is so well-traveled and has lived in so many different parts of the world, and you figure out who this guy is this season, and although that particular question is actually answered half-way through the season, you see him as a child and where he comes from in his life, and then you figure out a lot more about who he is.

Any excuse to watch Pam, from Wetpaint

Reposting Rhoswen's episode spoilers again
Episode #43 (#4.07): “Cold Grey Light of Dawn”: With Marnie empowered by spirits of the dead, Bill issues an unpopular order to save vampires from the light. Eric embraces his amnesia; Luna discovers Sam’s not the man she thought he was; Lafayette expands his consciousness; Pam gets a body peel; Andy’s date with Holly doesn’t go as planned; Jessica has doubts about her future with Hoyt; Alcide and Debbie join a new pack. Playdates: August 7, 9, 10, 13 and 26. Written by Alexander Woo; directed by Michael Ruscio.

Episode #44 (#4.08): “Spellbound”: As Bill and Marnie brace for a dangerous midnight face-off, Sookie and Eric pledge their allegiance to the King. Jason is torn between friendship and passion, and Jessica is spurned from two homes. Lafayette becomes the pawn of a tormented spirit; Tommy takes a walk in someone else’s shoes; Sam contends with yet another adversary in Marcus, Luna’s ex and the leader of Alcide’s new pack. Playdates: August 14, 16, 17, 20 and 26. Written by Alan Ball; directed by Daniel Minahan.

Episode #45 (#4.09): “Run”: Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there’s room for both Bill and Eric. Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their respective agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica. Despite Tara and Holly’s misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a “Festival of Tolerance” event at Shreveport. Playdates: August 21, 23, 24, 26 and 27. Written by Brian Buckner; directed by Romeo Tirone.

Episode #46 (#4.10): “Burning Down the House”: As all hell breaks loose in Shreveport, Sookie summons her most potent powers yet to save Bill, in the process breaking a spell and leading Marnie/Antonia to re-evaluate her mission. Jason urges Jessica to glamour him for Hoyt’s sake; Terry drags Andy to “Fort Bellefleur” for an intervention; Alcide reconsiders his allegiances after Marcus' fight with Tommy. Jesus, accompanied by Sookie, Lafayette and Jason, tries to breach the Moongoddess Emporium’s defenses to liberate Tara and Holly, while Bill leads a brigade of vampires committed to blowing the place to kingdom come. Playdates: August 28, 30 and 31. Written by Nancy Oliver; directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.

She already has a casting call up for S5
TRUE BLOOD (New Series Regular)
Start Date: Mid-November
Location: L.A.

[NEW FEMALE VAMPIRE] 19 to 30s. A dangerous female seductress. Must be smoking hot! Nudity required.

Not much as far as spoilers so forgive my posting non-spoilies.

Post Peel Pam ironically dressed Like Mrs Peel From The Avengers