HBO didn't update its press site, so here's another pic of Franklin.
I adored last week's True Blood episode "Trouble." It was riveting from beginning to end and ditched blood and gore in favor of great dialogue and interesting turns for the residents of Bon Temps. Last night's "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues" was pretty much the opposite, dropping the ball on pacing and covering its sloppiness with blood.
Season 3 of one of TV's two best vampire/werewolf shows has been doing a great job juggling its storylines and weaving them together, but "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues" didn't do everyone justice. Much of the episode focused on the events inside Russell's mansion, leaving those who aren't there with few scenes and incomplete stories. Huge developments happened for Jessica in the first 15 minutes, but we never even saw her after that. Sam didn't even make his first appearance until the last 15 minutes of the show, and he's still stuck in that very tired family drama storyline. After some interesting interactions last week, the Jason-Crystal storyline took only a few baby steps forward this time around, and then for some reason Jason decided to act like a dick to a high-schooler. Lafayette and Jesus had a fantastic flirtation going last week, and it got cut off just as we really wanted to see them together. And Alcide? Well, he showed up for all of two nanoseconds. Naked.
It all amounted to 60 minutes of toppling much of what had been built up in the last few episodes. It was slightly disappointing, but no one ever said this show was consistent.
Let's get back to Chez Russell Edgington. Russell continues to develop into the best True Blood villain ever with his scheming and brutal ways, pulling strings and kicking down doors on his way to usurping power from Sophie-Anne. (Quick note on Sophie-Anne: Evan Rachel Wood isn't completely horrible at acting when she's playing upset, though I wish they'd just rip her head off already and get her off the show.) Eric obviously has his own plans for getting back at Russell (which involve pretending to be a willing boy toy), but the fact that Alan Ball and the writers are telegraphing it SO MUCH makes me hope there's a twist somewhere in the future. If Russell truly is going to be a great villain, he'll see through Eric's charade. I'm thinking Talbot is the key to getting to Russell. We'll see if Eric can orchestrate that. Gay vampire fight!
I'm still not caring about Sookie. The biggest moment of the episode—and one that had me ready to write a strongly worded letter to Ball—involved Tara bashing in the brains of Franklin. Come on, Tara! Franklin's my boy! How could you do that!? I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Franklin, and we'll gloss over the fact that these characters should know how to kill a vampire by now. Try a wooden stake or decapitation next time, Tara, he's not a zombie. Bill had a rough night, spending much of it getting drained by addicts when he wasn't getting sliced open by his maker Lorena. And in the end, Lorena bit Sookie. What does that mean? We'll find out next week.
Other Bloody Good Notes:
... Arlene: "Where do you think you are, lady? Red Lobster?"... I really wasn't a fan of Jason being a total jerk to the horny high-schoolers. What was the point of that? Was he doing it just because he was mad about Crystal?
... And what ever happened to Jason's problem of seeing bullet holes in girls' heads?
... As annoying as Sookie is, she says the F-word better than anyone else on the show. Well, except for Lafayette.
... Really? A dog-fighting ring? Can we please give Sam something interesting to do this season?
True Blood Season 3 Power Rankings
Wherin I rank this season's episodes of True Blood.
"I Got a Right to Sing the Blues": Who would have thought that an episode with that much blood wouldn't be amazing? This episode failed to give everyone deserved screen-time, and it suffered as a result. Plus, any time you bludgeon the head of my favorite character, I'm going to have a problem with it.
1. "Trouble" Ep. 5
Franklin proposes to Tara, Jason meets Crystal, and Sookie shoots blue stuff out of her hands.
2. "It Hurts Me Too" Ep. 3
Where we first meet Alcide and Bill writes a painful new page of the Kama Sutra.
3. "Beautifully Broken" Ep. 2
Where we are introduced to Nazi Werewolves and Bill is recruited by the Vampire King of Mississippi.
4. "9 Crimes" Ep. 4
Where Sookie and Alcide head to Lou Pine's and meet Debbie and the Magister busts Eric for selling V.
5. "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues" Ep. 6
Where Lorena tortures Bill, Russell and Eric visit Sophie-Anne, and Sookie almost escapes.
6. "Bad Blood" Ep. 1
The season premiere.
True Blood Boob Count!
Wherin I tally the number of scenes in which sets of bare breasts are unnecessarily put on display. Because I can.Season Total: Correct me if I'm wrong, but have we gone two weeks in a row without seeing any boobies? What has gotten into this show? Still at 9, give or take an underboob somewhere. We did see a high-school kid's butt, though.
Question of the day:
What do you think will happen to Franklin?
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom
Comments (40)
IMO, "True Blood" is suffering from the same thing that brought down "Heroes": bloat.It's also suffering from a main character going down the tubes. Sookie is no more than an annoyance now, and I find that incredibly frustrating because she's so interesting in the books. Anna Paquin seems to be phoning in her performances now, but I can't blame her because the material she's been given sucks.
Sorry, can't co-sign on this review. I LOVE that most of the storyline was dealing with Russell, Eric and other vampires. That's what I find entertaining. I could give a rats butt about whatever nonsense Jason is into and Sam's family drama is taking too long regardless of how many scenes he's getting or not. I do want more story to go to Jessica and Lafayette. But I loved this episode of True Blood and I hope to see more of it. Also, I don't blame Tara for not knowing how to kill a vampire entirely, It's not like she hangs out with them like SOokie does. And about Sookie, I hate her character entirely. She's so selfish and self-righteous, she's so full ot it! and I can't stand her "I'm as sweet as American apple pie" facade. Yeah, right!moreless
Last week Jason started the thing with the Quarterback and made the comment to him about how in ten years some other kid is gonna come along and do to him what the kid was doing to Jason now. (he said it funnier than that though) We also saw Jason working the desk at the police station and doing all the little things to kill time because he was bored. He's pressing Andy to rush him through into being a cop because he's immature and impatient.
This week when Jason went to give Chrystal flowers he was wearing his letterman jacket. That tells me that Jason still thinks of that as his biggest/proudest accomplishment. Right after getting turned away by her he almost gets run off the road. He sees the young QB, and confronts him. When he lectures the kid and the kid tells him "is't that just like you?" Jason has a look of recognition that the kid is right. This whole storyline arc is about Jason growing up. This is more the section where Jason acts childish and comes to realization that he's not a kid anymore.moreless
I can't believe some critics... the show's name is True BLOOD and about vampires and u don't want blood. Funny.The episode was superb.Just a piece of advice: try to go deeper and read beyond the obvious. That's not the meaning of this show.There are many others if u just want the surface. PS: can't believe the actor who plays Alcide... isn't he some kind of 3D design?? He's just to die for.
This a GREAT show best scene was Tara bashing Franklin in the head LOVED IT, I'm sure that won't kill a vampire but hoping Tara gets with Alcide he is so GORGEOUS.
I completely agree with Nitriumm. Yes we love True Blood in most part because of the blood, but when it's reduced to just that, well I might as well go to a blood bank and get the same experience. None of the characters grew or changed at all this season... The only good thing is that they have excellent new characters to keep things interesting.
I don't agree with many of the previous posters that this was the seasons finest hour. It was alot going on in terms of violence and all that good stuff, but at the end of the day it didn't do jack with the character progression. like, at ALL. Sure, it was entertaining seeing Russel do a /shrug so Bill flew 10 feet in the air, but I have to agree with the writer on this one guys. In fact the ONLY thing I really enjoyed seeing was Franklin in all his glory and lovable madness!
Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha. *** hilarious. Everyone else is saying this is the best episode of the season, and TV.com\'s warped sense of trolling decides to kick in for it. Congrats, you got page clicks. Feel good to be the Armond White of TV sites?
This episode was the best this season and way better than the previous. How way? Way-Way!
yes that's officially the first time i'm writing to these kind of debates cause i totally disagree. IT WAS THE BEST EPISODE OF THE SEASON BY A MILE...i immediately knew that Alan Ball himself had written it and yes you can see that this is one of his episodes.much like what was going on in 'six feet under', his pen and camerawork are both impeccable and ULTRA gay...i was laughing so hard at all the nudity and gay context and subcontext (could they really make the scene with jason catching the guy in the car ANY gayer than that?).Now only Tyra and Sookie seem straight...I hope you know where i'm getting at Alan :)
BrandonVarneli, I so totally agree with you. Especially about the last two bits. I wish we could debate with one another. There are so many reviewers who miss the point most of the time, but I just shake my head and thats it. I want to tell them why they don't get it. Oh well. I'll just watch from a distant I guess...
great episode,is the best vampire show.i want to see more blood and sex
Maybe not one of its best episodes, but it certainly wasn't a bad one.
Haven't seen the new episode, but I thought last week's was the weakest of the season.
Totally agree sans the Lafayette and Jesus part.
not a huge true blood fan but you are completely wrong, this is easily one of the best true blood episodes but why bother replying? tv.com has turned into ign.com jr, the reviews are half ass, half the reviewers are biased towards alot of shows and the other half frankly do not have taste.
Oh, i also watched some buffy the vampire slayer this weekend, i still think buffy is the best vampire show on television ever. Sorry, True Blood is a close second.
I also have to say that i give the writers props for being able to balance 8 different storylines well throughout the season, that is pretty tough. So if some characters get less screen time during some hours then that seems okay to me.
Tim, I understand your criticism of the episode, pacing was not great and storylines were all over the place but i enjoyed this episode more than last weeks and here is why. Last weeks episode which had way too little blood for me was so slow at points particularly involving Jason and Sam. I love those characters and i usually enjoyed their storylines but i hate their storylines this season so the less screen time the better. More Jessica and Laffayette and less Jason and Sam please. Now that Sookie has super powers I am starting to like her more, I did miss Alicide but he needs to kick some ass pretty soon or i will get bored by his character too. Tara is having the best storyline this season, I was hoping she was going to tiptoe out of the room but I like how she finally took charge at the end of the episode. Overall, it was one of my favorite episodes because the less screen time Jason and Sam get this year the better. Also the whole Sam and dog fighting crap is ridiculous, this is true blood we need something a little more twisted. I was hoping they were mass murderers who turn into animals and kill families to steal their money and etc.moreless
I would also have to disagree i thought this episode was pretty good. even though i didnt approve of Tara bashing in Franklin's head i thought that scene was great for just how crazy it was. I find myself caring about sookie somewhat. Franklin is hopwfully coming back crazyer i hope!
I don't really agree. I thought last nights episode was one of the best of the season!
Why does True Blood only have 12 episodes. There is so much going on that they could easily do 15/20 episodes, and develop all the characters and plots properly. They seem to be heading in the direction of the books with Sookie/Bill/Alicde/Eric and this would fill a season in itself, never mind adding seperate story lines for all the other characters. The Sam story line at the minute is completely pointless, and as much as I like Lafyette and Jessica their's stories are not necessary to the larger story developing. Do what will make everyone happy. Add an extra 10 eps to the season and give every character the time they deserve on screen, and importantly too the fans won't have to wait 40 weeks for the next episode.
Just adding some more:
I really liked the scene between Lorena and Bill. I usually can't STAND her, but in this scene I really felt for her and also understood her a bit better. And I really liked Stoic!Bill - usually I find him a bit annoying as well, but there wasn't really anything else he could do here. His gentleness towards Lorena, his acceptance of guilt and lack of recriminations was well done.
And I was reminded of this quote by Spike from Buffy, regarding the epic romance between the Slayer and the vampire Angel:
"You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love 'til it kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other 'til it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Real love isn't brains, children. It's blood. It's blood screaming inside you to work its will."moreless
personally i'm getting tired of the vampire in trouble, Sookie runs off to help storyline.. i'd much rather them do more about her and start finding out about her lightpunch power (and others?). and i do like when she says wtf, it's funny. so is when she imitates bill or eric
By the way, does anyone else think that True Blood starting to really deserve the emmy nomination?
this was probably the best episode this season. I loved the last 5 minutes where Tara and Sookie were escaping, and all the blood scenes. Plus I think the acting this season is really amazing. Looking forward for next week.
I'm thinking the headbashing will mess with Franklin's memory - otherwise he'd be likely to kill Tara right off the bat. Possibly, but unlikely, it might mess with his personality. I don't know - I LIKE Franklin, but I don't quite see him and Tara working out unless he goes through SOME changes. ;)
Impressive work from her, by the way - I liked the way she thought to contact Sookie and plan their escape, and facing down the guard - that was just priceless! :D
And I kind of liked that they mentioned Lorena's maker, and how she'd hated and despised him and still turned out just like him - not something she enjoyed hearing, certainly.
And last, but not least - Erik is soooo going to kill Russel's hubby as revenge. I'm betting on it. >:Dmoreless
The Jason bit bugged me too, it just didn't feel right as if a couple of scenes that made him get to that point were cut.
I think the most disgusting part was Tara bashing in Franklins head that was a little too much for me but I still really liked most of what went on this week
this was probably the best episode of the season, you have to understand that with a large cast giving every character equal screen time would make every episode boring and the most important stories would never get anywhere. IMO Franklin will live and go after tara, she will end up having to kill him someway. I have never read any of the books also, so it is purely my guess.
I agree with the people that said this review and all the others are far to over-criticizing. First of all stop hating on Sookie. Also it definitely wasn't the best episode of the season but it was pretty good. Obviously Franklin is coming back. The scene with Bill and Lorena did have a lot of blood but that just made the scene more dramatic. Even thought I care about Sam and the fact that he wants to help his family, his story line is definitely one of the less interesting. I do agree with the fact that I was looking forward to seeing Alcide the whole episode and I was thinking wtf where is he, then he only shows up for like 2 seconds at the end of the episode. I think next week's episode will be really good.moreless
Wow, I just watched this episode. And damn it was maybe the best of the season. Now I come watch here to see what loving words you would use to describe this episode. Instead you don't like it at all. I just don't get why. Also your reasons are just not solid. Tara is getting raped by a vampire of course she is smashing his head! She wanna escape of course thats the only thing where she thinks about.The blood in the episode was great, it looked very real! There was some great action too! I can't wait for next week!
I don't know what show the writer was watching! This was a great episode, and promises so much for the future. As for Jason, come on, you don't even need to take Psych 101 to figure out that he's being a dick to the guy who is living his life and may actually be better at it than he was. And the screen time issue is only going to get worse as the show adds more characters. I think we need to look at it as a Southern-gothic vampire prime-time soapie, and not a regular series.
i think somebody need to fire the writer of this article this show is great and last night episode it was great and awesome.Need to fire this writer of this article write nooooooooooooooooooow
And Jason wasn't acting like a dick to that high schooler, he was the dick...douche.
Episode 6 belongs right under episode 5. I do think this article was a little over-critiquing, some of the stuff was a little too bloody, but honestly the story is moving on very nicely, the violence is just for some enhanced entertainment. And obviously, Franklin is going to return he wasn't staked. Dur
I don't know why, but even when I read an article/review on here written about True Blood with basic points that I agree with, it's still annoying.Much like the break down from last season, which I definitely agreed on the point about Tera being annoying, it still drips of rather botherson over-critcising. I dunno, I think this season is going amazingly well, and the one main thing that sucked from last season (Tera and her annoying plot arc) has been replaced with some awesome kidnapping and torture and craziness via James Fran.Anyway, I am just sitting back and enjoying it, not bothering to rank episodes, or complain about "too much blood" from a show called True Blood. I think that they cram quite a bit into every episode. It always seems like they end too soon, but that's just because they end up being too much fun :P .moreless
Disagree about the "undoing". I thought it highlighted and in fact, added an element to each of the story lines last night. Franklin is likely going to die horrifically, but Tara did not accomplish that last night. His pissed-off-ed-ness is going to be priceless though :o} I'm liking the progress...much better than last season...
Jason broke up those high schoolers because the guy is the current Quarterback and he's about to beat Jason's record... and he's exactly like Jason. This was all in last week's (or the week before?) episode.
Franklin will return... he's too strong a character to go out like that.