True Blood Season 5 Episode 7

Just about everything about this episode was either silly or boring, or both. There were a few moments here and there where I felt intrigued or interested but they were few and far between. The werewolf training scene was ridiculous, as was the one where Jason and Sookie were talking to the other fairies. That entire storyline is finally starting to annoy me just as it has to many others since a while back. The one thing about this season that I was really getting into was the vampire counsel and Russel Edgington and all that. But now even that has taken a turn for the worse! They killed the guardian and I thought his character could have developed into something great. How did they suddenly end up where they're all sorta intoxicated from "Lilith's" blood strutting down the street like a bunch of jokers? Get outta here!



I was very optimistic about this season in spite of the fact that tv.com's own staff had put it through severe scrutiny since the premiere giving it relatively bad reviews. The writing has gone sloppy, but it only started really showing in THIS particular episode.



Here's to hoping it's just a filler episode and they'll dig themselves out of this hole and give us something better in the second half of the season!

After excellent midseason episode (I am refering to the episode "Hopeless") this one is somekind of a monster. Basically the whole fundaments of the great story and plot created by Alan Ball last week has been wasted. For a very long time the stories of individual characters were developed with a sense making you interested what's going to be next. But this episode proved my thinking wrong. Vampires feeding on vampires' blood getting on high? Rebirth of Lilith who is and is not? Come on, since season 4 I knew that "True Blood" won't ever be the same but this is too much. Screenwriters should have really thought it through because it looks like they didn't. It's a pity because since the beginning of season 5 it wasn't too bad and up to episode 6 which was the breaking point it could serve as a huge comeback. This episode ruined everything...

In the Beginning was a superb episode of True Blood. It was awesome to watch as Bill and Eric are taken to Nora and Salome only to be surprised by Russell who has been born again! This episode had it all from the quirky and funny to the serious and scary. The various story lines were developed well and there was plenty of dram and intrigue as well. It was interesting to see how Salome, Nora and Russell took control and took steps towards a new future. Jason and Jessica have a fight that ends in blood while Tara was visited by her mother to be disowned. The New Vampire Authority tripping on Lilith's blood was awesome and fun to watch. I certainly look forward to watching what happens next!!!!!!!

True Blood has become the worst tv show i have ever see, my god what's the deal with the fairy burlesque house? Why a damn fairy would need a club? And the Authority's plot...is just so boring, predictable, and simply not good.

The Irak's fire-ghost plot is pathetic, and that head of Jesus's with the mouth full of stitches...i'm wordless.



It's a different tv show now, a lame one. It should been ended in the second season.

Last fire will rise, behind those eyes. Black house will rock, blind boys don't lie. Although cry is not for Jason's little sister, True Blood evokes The Lost Boys movie in all the right ways: from the implied brotherhood between Eric and Bill during Russell's attack - and among the Authority during a major V-trip - to Godric begging Eric to protect his little sister.



Not all hate is about hating. As Hoyt finds out, sometimes its about belonging: whether its the sense of belonging the humans killing supernaturals are looking for, belonging among the werewolves fighting for sobriety, among what's left of Terry's unit looking to survive a last fire that DID rise or the Authority looking to belong with Lilith as they slaughter an entire wedding party. Hate, blind to anything but Godric's last plea to Nora: thou shall not fall (Love is with your brother) and his last plea to Eric: thou shall not kill.

In my review of Hopeless I defined the Authority arc as disastrous but I still hoped that it would improve. Sadly "In the Beginning" wasn't this season "Cold Grey Light of Dawn". Lilith and her followers have reached the bottom of the barrel. Seriously who would be stupid or crazy enough to forgive Russell Edgington ? And the man isn't sane enough to hide the fact that he belongs in an asylum. Of course I understand that the writers intention is to criticize religion and terrorism but this time I couldn't find a single scene to save things. From the ridiculous party in the street to the B movie part featuring an unidentified blood drop turning into a naked woman (Species XIII ?) and a ghost whispering at Eric "Melinda Gordon" Northman. And what the hell happened between "Russell trapped in a silver fishnet" and "Russel in a black suit" ?



Don't get me wrong I don't hate True Blood as much as Hoyt hates Jessica now, even if I didn't really believe what he said. The show still has plenty of potential but sadly I can't take its flaws anymore. Indeed most episodes and specially this one seem like if they had been shred by enraged bats. Seriously I can't comprehend how it's possible to so badly tell a story. The editing is just an abomination and deserves a Razzie award ! The worst of the arcs ? It's probably the one with Arlene and Terry. It's sad because I care for the second and the smoke monster isn't such a bad idea but his wife drives me crazy. I didn't time her scene where she watches videos from her marriage but it was so dead boring that I thought I was hallucinating. What was the point of these precious minutes that felt like hours waiting for an haunted bus that never arrived ? We already knew they were friends and how much they love each other.



All in all it was impossible to enjoy the great supporting arcs and our immersion was constantly broken. Yes the werewolves and shapeshifters couldn't be more exciting and the best is yet to come. Sam sniffing all around and scratching his back on the ground delivered super fine entertainment ! As for Alcide's fight with the brunette it was both well choreographed and sexy. Jason making breakfast for Sookie and their declaration of love as brother and sister was heartbreaking and inspiring. Her fairy crisis is quite interesting and it was clever to use Jessica as a reminder of Jason and Hoyt friendship. And how shocking and cool was it to see him shoot Jessica right in the head ? If only the technique was applied to other characters in order to create a network of connections as captivating as Lost's one ! Instead the story tasted like a rotten milkshake where decent arcs like Lafayette's one are decayed by vicious greed.



For the moment I feel like giving up on the show so this could be my last review. The matter what my decision is I hope you guys enjoyed reading my past critics. As for the fans who will keep on watching True Blood I can only wish them to have as much as fun as I did. Indeed despite my deception I'm not ready to forget the fangtastic adventures of Sookie and her gang ! Ryan "Jason" Kwanten, Kristin "Pam" Bauer van Straten Thanks for the inspiration, talent and overdose of killing humor !



Note : This review was first posted on Kritikenstein, my weblog.

In the wake of Roman's death Russell is recaptured by the Authority soldiers but then let go because of his "conversion" to the light of Lilith. Bill realizes that they have been manipulated by Nora and whoever else to deliver Russell to kill Roman to move the Sanguinista political agenda forward. Salome reveals that she was the one who set Russell free and followed them to Alcide's construction yard the night they buried him. Although why she waited a full year or so to spring Russell from his cage was not answered which would've been nice to know since she could've gotten rid of Roman that much sooner or whether Salome was waiting for the turmoil of Nan Flanagan's death to use Nora or something like that would be a good opportunity, just speculating. To prove the blood of Lilith in the Chamber room is sacred all the vamps there are given a drop. Eric says that nothing will happen but they are all soon tripping on Lilith's blood, threatening car honkers with fangs and then eviscerating a whole karaoke bar but not before Russell does a "You Light Up My Life" duet. There is definitely an intoxicating quality to the blood obviously when the vamps all see Lilith (nude) rise out of a pool of blood on the stage and bless them all and then she compels them to go back to feeding. Interestingly Godric's ghost shows up to un-program Eric and tells him that Eric knows that what he is doing is wrong but that his sister Nora does not. It's nice to give Eric the "play the hero" card since he's unlikely normally so giving him a driving objective is interesting since he's normally ever doing something for himself. Also Russell I think is totally faking his Lilith belief and doesn't believe in Lilith or Roman's Mainstreaming Agenda he just wants to feed and kill. But his mind might be changed now and he even pops/kills the vamp that calls the drinking of Lilith's blood to be blasphemy and then asks for forgiveness. So who is Guardian now? Isn't is a line of succession thing so it would be Russell? Nora? Kibwe? I'd assume it's a Seniority thing but they haven't told us anything about the position other than that the "blood of the guardian is sacred" and the "he is our leader." Alcide plans to challenge JD for packmaster and gets help training with fellow were Rikki whom he has a romantic spark with. Marcus's mother says that she will not throw in with Alcide saying that JD was like a father to Marcus and it's JD's turn to step up. But when JD tells everyone about his "vamp friend" talking about the end of days and how by drinking V is the only way to be on the winning side he offers some to Emma which of course rubs Grandma the wrong way which gives her a good reason to throw in with Alcide now. Alcide's stories are always interesting to me, and the fact that he's willing to fight JD who has a clear upper hand thanks to V speaks volume about his moral fiber and his refusal to even level the playing field by taking V thanks to his bad experience with it thanks to Debbie's addiction. Jason and Sookie learn that her powers are now finite and she ponders a life of being just human by depleting her powers which she starts to do at the end of the episode with light beams and light beam. Jason goes to visit Jessica after learning for sure that their parents were killed by a vampire. They get heated and when he calls her a fanger she starts to feed on him and he pulls his gun and shoots her in the head. It was a tad disappointing to see the raport the two have had this season and the last get shredded over this because their friendship/romance is one of the stronger things happening nowadays. The guards let him go and he notices Sook's light show and goes to see what it is. Hoyt falls in with the shooters and they get all chummy with their "we hate vamps" stuff and he agrees to join them. Terry is all sad and he and Patrick get visited in a field (ever notice how the Ifrit looks like the Smoke Monster from Lost guess we know what that was the whole time guess everyone on Lost was just cursed) by the Ifrit and it taunts them by letting them live and Terry almost shoots himself but Patrick talks him out of it. Holly and Arlene watch their wedding video, interestingly set between Seasons 3 and 4, so it's a pleasant rewind to still hectic times and a tad bit of nostalgia. Holly tells her not to give up on Terry since he's such a great guy or something. Lafayette goes to visit Jesus' granddaddy and he gets held up at gunpoint and told he will die for taking the Bruho power from Jesus when he died and Jesus's grandfather plans to transfer the blood from Lafayette's brain to his unborn son. But for some unexplained and random reason his Baby Mama stabs him to kingdom come calling him a "pandejo" and stabs him a lot and then cutting the thread silencers off of Lafayette. Sam gets closer to the shooters when he finds a box of Obama masks in the shop Junior, the guy he killed with a crossbow last week, and while visiting Luna smells one of them who works at the hospital and tackles and punches him out. His scene with Sookie before hand where Sook gave Luna junk magazines and food and Sam said why he was going after the shooters was a good reason to avenge as well as the essence of who his character is. But the question of if you could give up your strange affliction, would you? was in the foreground this week. Andy's visiting of Sheriff Dearborn for advice was funny seeing him back in the fray and just about to get it on with his mistress. But Kevin's interrogation of Andy and how he realized how he screwed up will surely make him work that much harder on the case I hope. There's still a lot of questions left out there: obviously that Lilith image was caused by the blood, but is there a physical Lilith out there waiting to be awakened like in Underworld? Or is it only by drinking her blood that you can get these hallucinogenic urges visions? Is she as malevolent as she sounds or is she more forgiving? We are told that she met the Sun but maybe there is a way to cheat death as a vamp, Herrick did it in Being Human although he was staked before he could tell Mitchell exactly what it was. A good direction to go in for our main characters who are all now caught up in fights or struggles for finding something and web keeps getting more and more tangled and it even looks like Bill is actually buying into the "non-peaceful coexistence thing" next week after all. And finally, Jessica wash out your mouth when you have someone else's blood in there, Jason had a right to be angry. Not because you were feeding before hand, but because that's how AIDS is passed. You could at least be wary about kissing someone after that, just saying. Can Eric save the day? Find out next week on True Blood.

This 9 rating is based solely on the Tara and Pam scenes (Tara starting to become tolerable) and the Vampire scenes... the rest is superfluous and I could care less about. Remove the extras (including Sookie's I want to be normal deal) and I give it a 10. Lilith while hot appears to be no more of a mass hallucination brought on by her ancient blood, however this rampage will have repercussions in the world that make the story from here very interesting. Note that while they were walking down the French Quarter there were people filming them with their cell phones. I am anxious to see where this one is going.