TV.com

True Blood Season 3 Episode 10

I Smell A Rat

Favorite

Watched It I've Watched This 5

Next
Episode Previous
Episode

7.4

User Rating

559 votes

Your Rating: 10
Your Rating: 9.5
Your Rating: 9
Your Rating: 8.5
Your Rating: 8
Your Rating: 7.5
Your Rating: 7
Your Rating: 6.5
Your Rating: 6
Your Rating: 5.5
Your Rating: 5
Your Rating: 4.5
Your Rating: 4
Your Rating: 3.5
Your Rating: 3
Your Rating: 2.5
Your Rating: 2
Your Rating: 1.5
Your Rating: 1

Rate Now

EPISODE REVIEWS
By TV.com Users

Write A Review

Episode Summary

EDIT

AIRED: 8/22/10

Sookie is warned about the dangers she will have to deal with. Dark memories surface for Sam. Arlene must ask Holly for help while Jason faces unexpected dealings with Tara and Crystal. Jesus' interest in V's qualities is aroused. Russell vows to inflict punishment on his enemies. After precautions, Eric satisfies a wish.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (11)

They´se take white-trash to a whole new dimension!

9.0

By Ignantyankee, Sep 10, 2011

I don´t know what all the criping is about in other reviews. I found the episode very enjoyable: There does not have to be action and suspense in every scene. This episode sets up and explains quite a bit of background information for future and past events: Bill being ordered by the queen to get close to Sookie, Erik being stymied by his growing attraction to Sookie and how it throws him off track of being impersonal and power-hungry, Jason and Crystal, Jessica and Hoyt, and Lafayettes awareness of his magical abilities. There is quite a bit of information packed into a short hour. I spent the last weekend reading the books in a marathon session: one - ten. I can only reccomend to all fans to read them. The TV-Series does not follow the books all that closely but there is some background information which helps make the shows more understandable. I must say, I am very impressed with the casting of the main three characters, especially Erik - his presence and image fits the character Erik in the books to a T!!! Bill and Sookie are also very similar and in my mind- inhabit their roles well. PAM - well, what is there not to love!!! Though she is a minor character in the books and her role in the series follows this theme- I too would love to see more of her on the screen. Perhaps show a bit of the developing freindship between her and Sookie. I was surprised by the dark development of sam´s character but gives him more depth. Terry! - bless his heart - he is a great example for all men and would/will make a great father!! Though I am not sure Arlene deserves such a goldpiece - I hope this keeps her away from the bad storyline she takes in the books. Enough said- looking forward to next week and then the funk when the season comes to an end!! On tenderhooks waiting for the next book and next TV season.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
7 5

Flag
Share Hide
We find out what Sookie is...

4.0

By MovieMark, Sep 10, 2011

How can an episode contain one of my favorite moments from the season and still be so...blah!? I am, of course, talking about Hoyt punching Tommy square in the face and then moments later Jessica coming to Hoyt's aid, after being attacked by Tommy in dog form, and picking up the mutt and tossing him into the woods. It. Was. Hysterical. I also like how they're playing out the Hoyt/Jessica relationship, a slight gender reversal to Bill and Sookie, only, ya know, not as painstakingly overcooked. It was a nice touch having Hoyt injured in Merlotte's parking lot with Jessica forced to feed him her blood just the way Bill did with Sookie in the second episode of the show.

Right, so, let's move onto business and tackle the giant elephant in the room: Fairies. FAIRIES!

''I'm a fairy? How f**king lame.''

I couldn't have said it better myself, Ms. Stackhouse. And if we're not wholly satisfied with that title, Bill also calls her by another name... an alien. Sookie Stackhouse is a descendant of rapist alien fairies. I wish I was paraphrasing right now, but that's apparently her linage in a nutshell. Rapist alien fairies.

Ya know, it's not that I have a problem with the idea of fairies within the True Blood universe. Heck, I was only calling Crystal a nymph a couple of reviews back (and how wrong was I, eh?), it's just... how f**king lame! I will probably warm up to the idea eventually, but I guess I was just hoping for something more. I mean, what's next? Leprechauns? After such a massive build up I was completely disappointed by this reveal. As for the rest of the episode, it contained nuggets of genuine entertainment, but for the most part, felt very out of character, very out of place within this season. For starters, a lot of the characters had very artificial dialogue and/or entirely out of character one-liners. Eric uses the phrase ''gold-digging wh*re!'' at one point to Yvetta, which is bad enough, but to have Pam call him a cold-hearted b**tard afterwards just added gas to the flame. These two are meant to be as badass as they come, Eric shouldn't need to channel his inner Kanye West, all he should need to do is stare at you with those soulless, sexy eyes of his and you will know he means business. Later on in the episode Bill mocks Eric and calls him Russell's ''butt boy'', and only moments later says ''explains why he went all Medieval on TV''. Stop trying to make Bill Compton, a vamp so stiff he's in a constant state of rigor mortis, come off sounding hip and trendy.

Writers Kate Barnow and Elizabeth R Finch's biggest offense of the night is their treatment of Sam. Now, to be fair, it had been established in the first season that the inhabitants of Bon Temps knew jack about Sam's past or where he came from, so I understand that there's potential storylines to milk here. We could have used a few episodes to help introduce these flashbacks, though. It was bad enough to discover that Sam used to be an expert jewel thief (a somewhat logical profession given his talents). In the very same episode, however, we also find out he's a cold-blooded murderer, killing two people at point-blank range. That's a lot to take on-board. It's also such a drastic shift in character I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. Like I said, perhaps a few episodes would have been sufficient to ease us into this new storyline obviously intended to stream into season four.

Russell hardly features in this episode, which I gotta say, was a big miss for the hour. After such an impressive onscreen debut last week his plans for global annihilation have certainly come to a middle. Now that he has finally put his lover to rest hopefully he will begin his terror on mankind as promised. I mean, he doesn't have to eat that many kids at first. I'd be perfectly happy with 2.4 children until the finale. Even the repercussions of his live evisceration is played off-screen and that's just no fun. Why aren't there more people scurrying around in a state of panic? Perhaps the writers bit off a bit more than they could chew with this storyline.

Let us try to stay positive, eh? Lafayette's V trip with Jesus was all kinds of fun. It was probably the best V trip since Jason and Amy's raunchy underwater love session way back in Season 1. As predicted, Jesus isn't all he appears to be. Then again, the same could be said for Lafayette. They're both descendants from rival magical ancestors, shamans to be precise. It's not made entirely clear if Lafayette's family dabbled in the black arts, although we find out that Jesus' uncle, who very clearly messes with evil mojo, had plans for him. It somehow involves Lafayette, my spider senses are telling me that much. Jason, meanwhile, gets one particularly strong scene when he realises that he has failed Bill. He grabs Bill by the collar and tells him where to stick it and uninvites him from his home. The special effects when Bill is magically evicted from Jason's house are corny as hell, but it was a very strong moment for Jason. He also tells Tara that he was the one who killed Eggs. I'm glad, at the very least, that the writers managed to give Jason a few decent scenes that benefit his likeabilty status immensely.

It's a pity the same can't be said about Crystal, who we find out can turn into a panther when she feels like it. (I'm still holding out for the possibility that she she's a hybrid panther/nymph!). The special-effects were solid, but I just don't care about Crystal, her allure has worn off. Last week she was pleading with Jason to go back with her to Hotshot and help the rest of her family and yet this week she vehemently states she never wants to go back to Hotshot. She's written all over place and it's probably the weakest storyline the show has had so far.

I had the same problem with Season 2. Alan Ball is using the last three episodes to set-up the next season, ultimately forgetting about current plot-threads. This was probably the weakest episode of the season.

Speaking of weak, that cliff-hanger was really something.

Eric has double-crossed Sookie. AGAIN. There's a surprise. (They'll be sleeping together by next week.)moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
3 4

Flag
Share Hide
Revelations galore!

10

By foggygirl, Jun 19, 2011

There were so many things going on in this episode that I didn't know where to look first and I actually had to "force" myself to watch the episode again in order to clear things up in my mind. I love the direction where they seem to be moving the Lafayette character (shaman, voo doo priest perhaps?) It remains to be seen whether the Jesus character will be good or bad, I am leaning toward bad, just because it might be more interesting. Finally Sookie knows what she is, and I am hoping that her powers grow so that when any bad guys try anything in future she can blast their butts and not depend on anyone else to protect her! If the end scene is anything to go by Eric is definitely playing the role of anti-hero to the hilt! I can't wait to see next week's episode!moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
11 3

Flag
Share Hide
Nothing happened

5.5

By thefanof, Jun 19, 2011

I miss the old days of TV.com when you could add an episode description like "nothing happened" to describe an episode, because it is the truth here. I know people love this show, I know that there are a lot of "Trubies" out there, but sometimes the show is just blood, gore and nonsensical violence and this was one of those times.

And that marijuana scene? There's five minutes of my life I will never get back.

True Blood is a guilty pleasure, it's a fun show, but don't let that bizarre Emmy nomination for Outstanding drama series fool you, this is not a top drama on TV.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
5 22

Flag
Share Hide
i knew this would happen

8.0

By karlwolfe50, Jun 19, 2011

7.9

well i knew this moment had to come in true blood. i knew that as soon as the season started a chain of really great episodes starting with episode five they were going to make an episode that screwed all of that up. i mean this episode was still not as bad as the first three episodes of this season but it ruined that streak. the episode starts out where the first words of the episode is sookie saying "im a fairy". not only is that extremely lame(unless they can make fairy's look bad ass, they did it good with vamps and were's) but even as tv.com said in their review why would you just throw it out there like that, no build up at all. russell who has become so great too watch wasnt even in it until the last 10 minutes where he has sex with somebody who looked like talbot. i dont agree with tv.com calling this the worst episode of the season so far, it did after all finally revealed to tara that jason killed eggs. i dont think it was a good idea for tara and jason kiss though. eric signs a will for pam just in case he dies while fighting russell. the church of the rising sun is back but for only a few seconds. summer is hopefully finally gone after hoyt breaks up with her, and him and jessica get back togethor but not before tommy has to be a loser once again and attack hoyt as a dog. we see sam killed to people in his past(one by accident, one on purpose). the most cringeworthy scene though came from jesus and lafayette's drug trip. it was so wierd and unwatchable and true blood thought it necessary to turn it into a five minute segment. it wouldnt have been a waste if some storyline came out of it but no they just walked around with dumb faces on looking at dancing statues. even though it wasnt a great ending, once again the best part was in the ending. eric snatching sookie and locking her up in his basement. im pretty sure though hes just using her and doesnt want her too get hurt. lets hope that the last two episodes get quite better like the ones we have seen this season. once again, this episode is not horrible, but just a slow down of what we know this show can offer.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
6 5

Flag
Share Hide

See All Fan Reviews

Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Anna Paquin	Sookie Stackhouse
Stephen Moyer	Bill Compton
Sam Trammell	Sam Merlotte
Ryan Kwanten	Jason Stackhouse
Rutina Wesley	Tara Thornton
Kevin Alejandro	Jesus Velasquez

See All Cast & Crew

Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

Arielle Kebbel	Charlene	Guest Star
Daniel Gillies	Jon	Guest Star
Michael Steger	Tony	Guest Star
Melissa Rauch	Summer	Recurring Role
Lauren Bowles	Holly Cleary	Recurring Role
Gregory Sporleder	Calvin	Recurring Role

See All Cast & Crew

Watch Online

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (0)
ADD TRIVIA
- ADD TRIVIA from this episode.
QUOTES (1)
ADD QUOTES
- (Pam barges into Eric's office where he's just kissed Sookie)
  Eric: What?
  Pam: Blah blah, vampire emergency, blah.
  EDIT SHARE
NOTES (3)
ADD NOTES
- International Episode Titles:
  Czech Republic: Krysa v dohledu (A Rat in Sight)
  EDIT SHARE
- Original International Air Dates:
  Germany - December 2, 2010 on Syfy
  Czech Republic - January 25, 2011 on HBO
  United Kingdom - March 18, 2011 on FX/FX HD
  EDIT SHARE
- Featured Music:
  "Trains Gonna Roll" by Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash (plays in Hoyt's truck)
  "Supreme Illusion (Nickodemus Remix)" by Thievery Corporation (Lafayette & Jesus's psychedelic V trip)
  "I Miss You" by The Court Yard Hounds (Hoyt tells Jessica he loves her)
  "What You Want Me to Do" by The Heavy (Russell says goodbye to Talbot by killing Tony)
  "I Smell A Rat" by Patty Griffin (ending credits)
  EDIT SHARE
ALLUSIONS (0)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.