Penultimate True Blood: “Love Is To Die” Has One Good Arc As It Cuts Ties!

The Good: Good acting between Jim Parrack and Deborah Ann Woll, Moments of character
The Bad: Light on plot, Blasé character moments, Mostly unexceptional performances
The Basics: “Love Is To Die” moves True Blood much closer to its end; without leaving a compelling hook for fans to come back for the finale.


With only two episodes of True Blood left, the penultimate episode works very hard to frame how the series will end. True Blood’s “Love Is To Die” sets up a finale that is likely to be less bang and more “fade away.” The way the second-to-last episode feeds into the finale is actually somewhat unsurprising; the seventh and final season of True Blood has been a lot of fizzling out and the cramped cast has struggled to find a compelling story to tell. In fact, given how serialized the show is, it is almost surprising that “Love Is To Die” bothers with a “previously on” montage at the beginning of the episode.

“Love Is To Die” picks up where “Almost Home” (reviewed here!) ended and it continues the trend of the last few episodes of cutting ties for the characters. In fact, given the tone of most of “Love Is To Die,” the finale is almost unnecessary. There is a “ho-hum,” “this place is becoming a ghost town” attitude toward Bon Temps that the show feels like it is just waiting out the clock at this point. In discussing “Love Is To Die,” it is not possible to discuss where the characters are without (potentially) spoiling prior events from the season.

With Bill refusing to drink Sarah Newlin’s blood and be cured of the Hep-V infection that is ravishing his body, both Jessica and Sookie are furious at Bill Compton. After Bill renounces his ties to Jessica, she turns to Pam and Sookie finds herself in Eric’s arms. Sookie and Jessica visit Sam’s house where they find it abandoned and two letters waiting for them. Sookie’s letter explains to her exactly why he and Nicole have abandoned Bon Temps; the letter Sam left for Andy is simply his resignation as mayor. As Bellefleur’s, Jessica makes peace with James and LaFayette. Hoyt and Bridgette fight, largely because Bridgette is jealous of Jessica. Things get worse for their relationship when Jessica shows up. Bridgette gives Hoyt an ultimatum and Hoyt follows the vampire out into the night. Jessica and Hoyt reconcile and Jessica tells Hoyt their story.

While the bulk of the remaining town has dinner together at Bellefleur’s, Eric visits Bill Compton (who has returned to his mansion). There, Eric tries to convince Bill to take the cure and live on for Sookie. When Jason tries to rescue Bridgette from Hoyt’s house, he gets knocked out and she ends up rescuing him (though he helps book her a ticket back to Anchorage). Pam restores Sarah Newlin to her traditional look in preparation to sell her to the highest bidders (billing her as potentially the highest paid trollop in history). As the party at Bellefleur’s breaks up, Eric approaches Sookie to try to explain why Bill is allowing himself to die. Sookie returns home to attend to Bill as he dies. At Fangtasia, Eric almost fucks Ginger and he descends to the basement where Gus Jr. has Pam captured. Forced to be honest to save her life, Eric tells Gus Jr. where Sookie lives.

“Love Is To Die” is a mediocre episode that continues the trend of writing out characters to the series in thoroughly underwhelming ways. Earlier in the season, Tara died off camera and her arc in the season had her existing as a ghost to essentially further the unlikable character of Lettie Mae. Sam is similarly written out with an off-camera departure, which is incredibly unsatisfying for viewers who have stuck with the series so long. It is somewhat ridiculous to make Sam mayor only to have him have only one tiny arc! Sam’s big character arc was over at the end of the prior season when he proposed the pairing of humans and vampires for protection. This season, he has been a non-entity and his promotion to mayor has had less impact than Andy Bellefleur wanting to marry Holly! One of the essential characters at the beginning of the series, Sam has faded to not at all a presence by “Love Is To Die.”

The scene between Hoyt and Bridgette is more melodramatic and like a soap opera than it is realistic and compelling. Far more interesting in “Love Is To Die” is how much time the episode devotes to Jessica and Hoyt. Hoyt was a supporting character at the outset of True Blood and his arc with Jessica was a good one for the seasons they were involved. “Love Is To Die” capitalizes on the on-screen chemistry that Jim Parrack and Deborah Ann Woll have. Boosted by the scene where Jason tells Bridgette about his childhood with Hoyt and the relationship Hoyt and Jessica had before. More than any other relationship in True Blood, “Love Is To Die” frames Jessica and Hoyt as the great love story of the series.

This late in the story, the burgeoning relationship between Jason and Bridgette seems somewhat forced. In fact, not since Star Trek: Voyager contrived a relationship between Chakotay and Seven Of Nine in the final few episodes has a relationship seemed so forced on television near its end. At least the almost-sex scene between Ginger and Eric is treated with appropriate ridiculousness.

“Love Is To Die” is an episode where virtually nothing happens; the characters are realigned, but there are no stellar events to make one want to bother with the finale.

For other penultimate episodes to television series’, please visit my reviews of:
“The Dogs Of War” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
“Parallel Lives” - VR.5
“Episode 28” - Twin Peaks

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into True Blood - The Complete Sevent Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the final season of the supernatural show here!
Thanks!]

4/10

For other television episode and movie reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Everyone Cheats, Inevitable Carnage, True Blood Makes Significant Moves Without Being A “Lost Cause!”

The Good: Decent character development, Good acting
The Bad: A-plot is very soap operatic and limited
The Basics: When the characters of True Blood are not doing somewhat ridiculous things, “Lost Cause” has a bland party offset by an awesome action sequence featuring Eric and Pam!


The seventh and final season of True Blood has been off to a rocky start, but as it reached its midpoint, the writers seemed like they might have had an inkling of how erratic the season was. The fifth episode of the season was called “Lost Cause” and, fortunately, the episodes had gotten good enough that the season did not feel like it would be a genuine lost cause. “Lost Cause” continues the action of the seventh season as a generally tight narrative; up until this point, the season’s episodes have added up to less than a week and “Lost Cause” occurs over the course of only a few hours.

As one might expect of the very serialized True Blood, “Lost Cause” follows on the heels of “Death Is Not The End” (reviewed here!) and cannot truly be evaluated without referencing significant elements from prior episodes, though (ironically) not much from the previous episode. “Lost Cause” is intriguing in that it has two very focused plots, which consolidate the sprawling cast of True Blood remarkably well. Despite the elements that might remind viewers that True Blood is essentially a high-class, supernatural soap opera, “Lost Cause” does a lot to remind viewers why they loved the show from the beginning!

After Willa reveals to Eric and Pam that Sarah Newlin has a vampire sister, Eric abandons his progeny and Ginger and heads out to kill Sarah before he meets the true death. Sookie arrives home, where LaFayette and James offer protection long enough for her to get some rest. She awakens to Jackson bringing food to help her mourn Alcide’s death. As Sookie’s friends prepare a party to celebrate Alcide’s life, Eric and Pam find Amber Mills, Sarah’s sister and the current whereabouts of Sarah Newlin. Amber is receptive to helping them kill Sarah.

Sneaking away from her boyfriend, Lettie Mae joins the celebration of Alcide’s life. After Andy forgives Jessica for the carnage she caused in his family, he gets Grandma Stackhouse’s ring from Jason and Sookie and proposes to Holly. Holly’s acceptance makes James want to leave the party, but Jessica wants to be social. James and LaFayette have a quiet conversation on the porch and make out while Pam and Eric prepare to invade the Republican event in Dallas. Pam realizes Eric has stage 2 Hep-V, but the two commit to finding Sarah. As Jessica reels from James cheating on her at the party (which pushes her into the arms of Jason),

Peppered throughout “Lost Cause,” as if to remind viewers he still matters and to make the last shot of the episode have any emotional resonance at all, are flashbacks to the personal history of Bill Compton. In those flashbacks, Compton heroically stands up against the Confederates in Louisiana as they argue to secede from the Union. Compton, who had a decent set-up in the prior season’s finale, has been a virtual non-entity in the seventh season. Seeing more of his history, where he stands up for new freemen in Confederate territory gives him more backstory character than he has in the show’s “present.”

After a Sookie-heavy episode, “Lost Cause” moves Sookie largely to the back burner, despite the funeral party happening at her house. Even though the bulk of the cast is stuck in Sookie’s house, there is remarkably little character development for Sookie. She both mourns Alcide’s death and pines for Bill over the course of the same hour-long episode and the compressed mourning period seems somewhat ridiculous. Anna Paquin is not given much to do in “Lost Cause,” but what she does, she does adequately. At the very least, Paquin’s character is written with more consistency than in the prior episode.

Chris Bauer plays Sheriff Andy Bellefleur well in “Lost Cause.” For sure, it is unclear why Andy and Holly are actually together, but in “Lost Cause,” Bauer sells the viability of their characters’ relationship. Bauer get the chance to play Bellefleur with a wonderful sense of seriousness in a scene opposite Deborah Ann Woll’s Jessica and then with pure joy as his character proposes. “Lost Cause” is one of the few episodes where Bauer is allowed to smile unabashedly and he is wonderful in his range. When Bauer smiles (in character) it is a genuine and beautiful thing and following on the heels of a serious moment with Jessica, Andy’s joy is palpable and well-delivered.

At the other end of the spectrum, Alexander Skarsgard and Kristin Bauer van Straten play their parts of Eric and Pam as classic action movie heroes. Skarsgard is serious and plays Eric as violent and powerful, Bauer van Straten uses comic relief and banter to remind viewers why they love Pam. Director Howard Deutch might not have the most compelling script to work from, but he gets decent performances and makes the episode look good.

“Lost Cause” turns the final season of True Blood around in the nick of time and is the first episode that leaves fans of the show with the desire to see the next episode.

For other works directed by Howard Deutch, please check out my reviews of:
”I Found You” - True Blood
”Don’t You Feel Me” - True Blood
”You’re No Good” - True Blood
The Whole Ten Yards

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into True Blood - The Complete Sevent Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the final season of the supernatural show here!
Thanks!]

5.5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Desperation Of Killers: “I Found You” Has Infected Vampires Freaking Out!

The Good: Good plot development, Decent acting
The Bad: Pathetically obvious direction, Light on character development, Uninspired continuity issue
The Basics: With a much better sense of pacing and plot progression, True Blood explores the genocide of a neighboring town in “I Found You.”


Like many people, I was seriously disappointed by the seventh season premiere of True Blood, “Jesus Gonna Be Here” (reviewed here!). In fact, my antipathy toward the season premiere led me to delay watching the sophomore episode of the season, “I Found You.” “I Found You,” fortunately, is a much better episode and one that allows the plot of True Blood to progress in a much more satisfying nature than the episode that opened the season.

“I Found You” continues the menace of the vampires who have been infected with Hepatitis V and are threatening Bon Temps. Introduced in the final frames of the prior season, the presumption so far has been that the difference between the vampires infected with Hep-V by drinking the contaminated Tru Blood and the hordes seen assaulting the patrons of Bellefleur’s is that the new breed contaminated by the Tru Blood have a longer period before the virus kills them. Even after “I Found You,” one of the essential questions – how did the infected vampires live long enough to become a menace to a population that should have been able to wait them out in private residences for the days it should have taken for them to all die out – remains unanswered. The scope of the threat, however, is explored through the course of the main two groups of characters presented in “I Found You.”

After Jason Stackhouse has a vivid sexually-charged dream about Eric Northman, he awakens in church where the residents of Bon Temps are freaking out about the assault on the town the night before. The only lead Sherriff Bellefleur has comes from Sookie; a dead body that she suspects came from the same place as the horde that abducted several members of the Bon Temps community the night before. Checking the dead girl’s wallet, Sookie, Alcide, Sam, Andy and Jason discover she came from nearby Saint Alice and they head for the town to see if they can find clues to who might have abducted their friends and where they went.

Meanwhile, in the basement of Fangtasia, Arlene, Holly, Nicole and the other prisoners wait in mortal terror to be dragged off by the vampires who harvested them the night before. Arlene and Holly recognize the new reaper as Betty Harris, a teacher who both found to be exceptionally supportive of their children. Arlene tries to convince Mrs. Harris to save the captives and she makes some headway. Sookie and her team learn that Saint Alice is a ghost town where the residents were butchered or captured days before and she begins to fear that Bon Temps is soon to suffer the same fate. In the absence of law enforcement, the citizens of Bon Temps take control of the guns at the police station, which puts Adilyn in danger.

“I Found You” includes subplots like Lettie Mae becoming a full-fledged V addict and Pam continuing her search for Eric. Lettie Mae has always been a disturbed Christian fundamentalist and in “I Found You,” her character takes a complete right turn. The idea that she has tried and become addicted to V in such a way that she will do such gruesome things as burn herself horribly so Willa has to heal her without any hints of that addiction before now seems like lousy continuity more than compelling character development.

In another, perhaps more problematic leap slip of continuity, “I Found You” introduces Mrs. Harris. Out of nowhere, Mrs. Harris is suddenly the most important person in Arlene and Holly’s lives. While Holly has not been a presence in True Blood for long or in an indispensible way, Arlene has been a part of the series since episode one. Arlene cites Mrs. Harris as a powerful friend to her children after Rene betrayed her and yet this episode is the first and only time we have seen her. Arlene delivers her self-serving monologs to Mrs. Harris in a convincing-enough way, but her sudden importance is somewhat ridiculous.

The defect of character in “I Found You” does not end with the sudden appearance of a brand new character who becomes the only hope for the captive main cast characters. Kendra, who has seemed like a strong supporting character at the Sheriff’s office, gives up all her credibility and personal strength from one ridiculous minute-long monologue from another character who has had no substantive presence in the series before now. It is only Kendra’s suddenly insubstantial character that allows Bon Temps to turn into perhaps the stupidest, well-armed town in Louisiana. It is hard not to watch “I Found You” and suspect that the idiots who are left in Bon Temps (Adilyn alone remains as a character viewers might actually care about) will be slaughtered because they are all hanging out in a public place where infected vampires can easily enter.

The field trip to Saint Alice is a good and appropriately creepy journey for some of the show’s most important characters. That trip brings Sookie back to the forefront of True Blood and makes “I Found You” very watchable and interesting. Unfortunately, director Howard Deutch telegraphs much of “I Found You.” Well before Jason Stackhouse is revealed to be in a church and the mass grave are shown, viewers who have seen any prior True Blood will be able to tell that Jason is engaged in a dream sequence and that the group is coming around the corner where they will encounter the residents of Saint Alice.

That said, all of the acting in “I Found You” is quite good. Despite the problems with the character of Lettie Mae suddenly turning to a vampire blood addict, actress Adina Porter does an exceptional job of selling her character’s unsettling change. Anna Paquin makes reading a diary into gripping television and Carrie Preston embodies Arlene well. Sure, Arlene is hard to screw up given that she is surrounded by people who are just crying hysterically, but Preston does a decent job of balancing emotion and rationality in Arlene’s tone.

In the end, “I Found You” does exactly what it needed to; it reinvigorated the sagging True Blood enough to make viewers want to watch the next episode, which is something “Jesus Gonna Be Here” utterly failed to do.

For other works with Carrie Preston, please check out my reviews of:
A Bag Of Hammers
Virginia
Duplicity
Towelhead
Cradle Will Rock
My Best Friend’s Wedding

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into True Blood - The Complete Sevent Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the final season of the supernatural show here!
Thanks!]

5.5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Largely Predictable, “Don’t You Feel Me” Is Still Worth Watching!

The Good: Decent performances, Good special effects, The plot progresses, Moments of character
The Bad: Very predictable, No opportunity for catharsis
The Basics: “Don’t You Feel Me” raises the body count and significantly shifts the direction of True Blood . . . without taking the time to let it resonate.


As the sixth season of True Blood progresses, the show is doing a decent job of making the fantastic world of True Blood seem surprisingly realistic. The show is bending much closer to the scientific, despite being populated by werewolves, fairies, and vampires. So, with the sixth episode, there is a sense that the plot is progressing in a way that will continue that trend – and it does – but for all the good things about True Blood and the surprisingly grounded nature of the show, “Don’t You Feel Me” is painfully predictable. In fact, more than most of the episodes of True Blood, “Don’t You Feel Me” does not leave the viewer guessing or wondering about what is going to happen or where the characters will end up.

Unfortunately, as a standalone episode, talking about “Don’t You Feel Me” is absolutely impossible without mentioning how “Fuck The Pain Away” (reviewed here!), the prior episode, ended. In fact, part of the problem with “Don’t You Feel Me” is not the episode’s fault; the last episode ended up at a point where it was entirely impossible to suspend one’s disbelief for the next episode. This is an issue with both the Sookie and Eric/Pam plots. The savvy television viewer knows long before “Don’t You Feel Me” that Sookie is not going to die (the person with top billing seldom does and True Blood has a poor record of keeping characters dead) and given the popularity of Alex Skarsgard’s character of Eric, if he were to go out, it would be for another reason than simply Pam showing off for the Governor whom she despises. So, just like Pam and Eric finding their way out of their situation, the big death in “Don’t You Feel Me” is seen a mile away and the fact that Jason’s fast-track into the Governor’s camp puts him face to face with Sarah Newlin is similarly predictable.

That said, “Don’t You Feel Me” is not unenjoyable and the episode moves the plot forward in a meaningful way and sets most of the characters up for Bill’s horrific vision from the season premiere.

“Don’t You Feel Me” picks up with Sookie being drowned by the father-possessed Lafayette. She is saved by, of all people, Warlow, who helps Sookie exorcise Sookie’s father from Lafayette. Sookie then saves Warlow from Bill/Lilith’s summoning and spends the rest of the episode in quiet conversation with Warlow about his past and their future. Back at the Governor’s camp, Eric and Pam face off one another, but they team up to kill the guards before they can be stopped. To torment Eric, Governor Burrell has Eric chained up and he brings in Nora, who is injected with what he calls Hepatitis V. Summoning Willa, Eric is able to break out and he discovers the Governor’s plan for the biotoxin.

Meanwhile, Sam and Alcide reconcile their issues when Jackson tells Alcide where Sam is. Terry Bellefluer sets off a warning bell with Lafayette by bringing the cook a key to a safe deposit box that he Terry kept from Arlene. Arlene and Holly conspire to have Terry glamoured in order to forget all of his personal pain. Sadly, they do this without the forethought to ask Terry what his apparently suicidal plan was, which leads to tragedy. After he has a vision of Lilith, Bill heads to the Governor’s camp where he changes the course of the conflict between the humans and vampires!

The sense of menace that comes out of “Don’t You Feel Me” makes one actually care about vampirekind in a way that works well beyond the metaphorical. The vampires in the camp are suffering and the way that Sarah uses Jessica to keep Jason in check makes her the most visibly evil character in the episode. Jason tries so hard to be the white knight, bluffing his way into the vampire-hating organization run by the Governor, only to be trumped by the politically astute and tactically inclined Sarah. Sarah trumping Jason, while upsetting to watch, only enhances the realism of the situation as, sadly, Jason is a bit of an idiot and he gets so far without any real innate talent. With “Don’t You Feel Me” the horror is not in the bloodsuckers or even in the gore, but in the humans who plan and abet the genocide the Governor has organized.

Like most of the sixth season episodes, “Don’t You Feel Me” is crowded by the sheer number of castmembers the show needs to service. The episode features an obligatory scene with Andy and Holly (and the surviving fey child) and the Alcide/Sam plot continues to be very much in the background.

On the acting front, John Fleck gets a great scene as the sadistic doctor working for the Governor. Fleck is a pretty amazing character actor and in “Don’t You Feel Me” he plays the doctor in a loopy way unlike anything else he has ever been in. From the main cast, it is Todd Lowe who delivers the performance of the episode. From the goofy smile to his last scene, Lowe makes Terry Bellefluer – who is one of the last human characters in the main cast! – the man to watch. His character has had a lot of conflict and in “Don’t You Feel Me” is given the opportunity to play Terry at peace and it is a nice stretch for him.

In the end, “Don’t You Feel Me” is good, but it is another bridging episode. Eric has learned the Governor’s plan and Bill has reasoned that his vision is imminent (a situation that comes from one of the worst scenes in the episode! Note to True Blood writers: how about something different from the god characters you write? You know what a nice change of pace would be for writing the divine? A deity who says in simple, clear terms what is going on, what they want and how they want their followers to achieve their goals! The riddle bullshit is getting tiresome!), but the events are moving so fast that characters like Arlene and Andy, who help root the show in some semblance of reality, are glossed over and not given the time to reflect upon their tragedies and traumas. Ultimately, that makes “Don’t You Feel Me” good, but hardly as good as it could be.

[For a much better value, check out True Blood Season 6 on Blu-Ray and DVD. The penultimate season is reviewed here! Check it out!]

For other works with Arliss Howard or Todd Lowe, please visit my reviews of:
Moneyball
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Gilmore Girls
The Princess Diaries

7/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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No Passion, Violence, Gore, Or Action: “You’re No Good” Is One Big Tease.

The Good: Fine performances, Decent direction, Moments of character
The Bad: Not much in the way of plot or compelling character development, Little spark, Many of the characters do remarkably stupid things
The Basics: “You’re No Good” is another bridging episode in which not much happens and the characters barely move from where they were in the prior episode.


Whatever reason one has for watching True Blood, it is hard to see how one would actually get their “fix” from “You’re No Good.” That is not to say that the episode, which follows directly on the heels of “The Sun” (reviewed here!) and requires quite a bit of information from that episode to be entirely sensible, is bad. It is not bad, but – objectively stated – it is not much of anything. “You’re No Good” is a prime example of how many heavily serialized television shows can be much stronger from a holistic approach than when one considers the individual components. If “The Sun” was likened to watching a chess match where only three or four pieces are moved on the board without any immediate consequences, “You’re No Good” is like the same chess match where perhaps two more moves are made and (were it possible) two additional pieces were added to the board (or one of the moves that was made was done by a previously inconsequential pawn).

“You’re No Good” continues to crowd the plot of True Blood with new characters and returning guest stars who had significance in seasons prior. Terry and Arlene do not even appear in the episode and new series regular Robert Patrick pops by for about three shots and only two or three lines, none of which could not have been presented by a performer of significantly lesser stature. Even though very little happens in the episode, “You’re No Good” feels like an essential transition episode as it includes the return of Steve Newlin (and his ex-wife) and the introduction of Willa Burrell (the governor’s daughter who appeared only for a few seconds in “The Sun”), Takahashi, Burrell’s sadistic doctor (who menaces Steve Newlin and one has to guess will continue to recur give how John Fleck was cast for the role), and teases the question of how werewolves in the True Blood universe are created. In addition to providing a complication for Jason, Sookie shares scenes with the new Hunky McGoodlooking and Bill Compton, so “You’re No Good” is not a total wash, even from an objective standpoint.

After Eric glamours his way into Willa Burrell’s bedroom and threatens to kill her, he is surprised when she is forthcoming with revealing some of Governor Burrell’s monstrous plans for vampires. Kidnapping Willa annoys Pam and Tara when Eric shows up at Fangtasia with the girl, but the quartet goes to ground at Ginger’s house to survive the day. Elsewhere, Bill learns – much to Jessica’s horror – that while he might feel invincible, he cannot go out in daylight without bursting into flame still. Jason begins to collapse from headaches as Warlow advances on the Stackhouse house. After discovering the fairy club’s occupants murdered (including one wounded fairy that he has to provide a mercy killing for), Niall Brigant (the Stackhouse fairy grandfather and king of the fairies) returns to the Stackhouse home with a new ally.

After Bill appeals to Sookie for some of her blood and sends Jessica on a dangerous mission to get Dr. Takahashi (the chemist who formulated True Blood), he has a chance encounter with Andy Bellefleur that puts him on a new direction. Elsewhere, Sam works to rescue Emma from the werewolves when the vampire civil rights people arrive and complicate his life. With Jason collapsing and Warlow appearing to get ever closer, Ben arrives as a new ally. And Steve Newlin arrives as a prisoner of Burrell at his alluded-to camp where it is implied he will be tortured to better understand vampire physiology and psychology.

“You’re No Good” has a few issues with the basic intelligence of the characters involved. While it makes some sense on a character level that Bill might have the hubris to believe that he can go in the sun now, unless he truly is a villain who is manipulating events so he can wipe out vampires everywhere, then it makes little sense for him to send Jessica away. After all, his vision revealed to him that Jessica, Pam, Eric, Tara and others would be killed at Burrell’s camp, so the smartest move for him is to keep her far away from any such potential danger to prevent that future from coming true. Instead, he sends her alone into the world to find and bring back Takahashi, a guy that basic reasoning tends to state would be wanted by everyone who wants the True Blood supply to start flowing again. Similarly confounding logic are Sookie (who several times leaves the safety of her house) and Eric, who seems surprised that his “untraceable” phone could be traced when last season the exact same thing happened (or did he really think that the Authority found him so quickly after using his phone with no direct correlation?!).

More importantly, “You’re No Good” lacks a real spark and some element of basic clarity. Warlow knew Sookie had been in her parents’ car by a blood-soaked adhesive medical strip, which he smelled. Bill seems to understand that Andy’s daughters are fey simply by seeing and/or smelling their teddy bear left in his cop car. Outside smelling the fairy on the bear, there is no way for him to know they are fairies yet and it requires the viewer to make a leap that is more the result of poor writing/direction than cleverness.

Similarly dull is the introduction of Ben. Ben is yet another generically good-looking white guy who pops up as a potential romantic interest for Sookie. This dilutes the return of a useful Lafayette in the Sam plotline and minimizes what is happening with Jason. Are his headaches and hallucinations a sign that he is possessed by Warlow? Is he undergoing a complex psychological transformation or is he just on his way to being some powerful supernatural entity’s bitch? It’s hard to care because introducing and building up Ben is robbing him of the focus to actually delve deeper into his character.

At this point in the season, it is hard for viewers not to try to invent reasons to keep watching True Blood as episodes like “You’re No Good” yield few results and very little in the way of enjoyable character growth. Given the pattern of the series so far, viewers are likely in for two to three more construction episodes before something actually happens. While viewers are likely to learn in the next episode or two how werewolves are made in the True Blood universe, whatwith Nicole getting bit during the werewolf conflict (and how stupid are the wolves who are trying to lay low attacking and probably killing a group of young humans?!), the rest seems to be a wash until characters the viewers care about quite a bit more than Steve Newlin end up in the clutches of the governor. (While we wait for that to happen, I’m imagining True Blood has suddenly become much smarter than it ultimately will be and that Niall is actually Warlow with a multiple personality disorder and things like his “mercy kill” of a fairy in “You’re No Good” actually are hints that he is not entirely who he says he is).

While there are no stellar performances in “You’re No Good,” none of them are particularly bad, either. While Ryan Kwanten and Stephen Moyer seem to make the most out of their scenes, Debra Ann Woll and Joe Manganiello sleepwalk through their brief appearances in the episode. Amelia Rose Blaire is utterly unremarkable as Willa, which makes Eric menacing her seem inconsequential because the viewer does not care whether she lives or he rips out her throat.

Ultimately, “You’re No Good” might be a necessary component, but if holds up poorly on its own. It is one of those episodes that, when one sits down to watch a True Blood marathon on DVD, its components will easily blend with other, vastly more interesting episodes. Hopefully, those episodes are right around the corner for fans!

[For a much better value, check out True Blood Season 6 on Blu-Ray and DVD. The penultimate season is reviewed here! Check it out!]

For other works with Keone Young, please visit my reviews of:
Men In Black 3
Crank
“Vanishing Point” - Star Trek: Enterprise
“If Wishes Were Horses” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

4/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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One Of The Best Arguments Against Making Sequels: The Whole Ten Yards

The Good: One or two laughs
The Bad: Just about everything, Characters, Plot, Use of cast
The Basics: If you liked The Whole Nine Yards, do not spoil your fond memories by sitting through this unbearably unfunny sequel.



When I first saw The Whole Nine Yards, (reviewed here!) I was pleasantly surprised. I found I enjoyed it and it made me laugh quite a bit. I was very surprised when it was announced that there was a sequel in the works and I was very curious about how they would successfully pull it off. The answer, as was revealed to me by watching the movie, was they could not. The Whole Ten Yards is a terrific failure, an idea almost as bad as making a sequel to "Magnolia" and only serves to sour the good memories I had about The Whole Nine Yards.

This dreadful sequel follows the dentist Oz, who has become increasingly paranoid after settling into his life with Cynthia, the ex-wife of Jimmy the now-retired hitman. Oz, however, now has reason to freak out as Cynthia is abducted by old enemies of Jimmy's. The gangster Lazlo has abducted Cynthia and Oz is forced to call on the domesticated Jimmy and his trigger happy, though terminally unlucky hitwoman wife Jill.

I wish I could say "hilarity" ensues, but it does not. This is a stupid movie. I want to end my review there. This movie is just plain bad.

First off, I am not a fan of slapstick. Simple convolutions of the body and spasms and falling down aren't funny to me. It's a joke that works once. In The Whole Ten Yards, Matthew Perry's Oz serves solely as a slapstick character and he fails entirely at being funny. That's not to say that Matthew Perry is not funny or that he is unable to do physical comedy, because he is and he can. The problem here in The Whole Ten Yards is that Perry is reduced to doing only physical comedy. He is given one schtick the whole movie and it plays old very quick.

Furthermore, the use of physical comedy is continually diluted through the use of Lazlo's two dimwit sons who also use extensive physical comedy. They fall easily into the role of idiot sidekicks and they add nothing to the mix. In fact, they distract from the overall plot and only serve to highlight how Kevin Pollak's Lazlo is just not funny at all. Pollak is a genius comedian and his talents are completely wasted as Lazlo, a one-trick pony character whose prosthetics are decent but lacks any charisma or actual character.

The Whole Nine Yards had a distinct advantage over The Whole Ten Yards in that it had a very rich and diverse cast. The absence of Michael Clarke Duncan (who played Frankie Figgs in the prior film) is felt and the last minute character that pops up is a ridiculous attempt to replace his presence and fails utterly.

In fact, the only two people who ought to be happy about The Whole Ten Yards are Natasha Henstridge and Amanda Peet. Henstridge ought to be happy because her part as Cynthia is more prominent in The Whole Ten Yards and there is more for her character to do. Unfortunately, Henstridge also delivers the line, near the beginning, that ruins any and every element of surprise about her abduction and the underlying elements of it. Nevertheless, she has more productive airtime and quite possibly the only character growth in the entire piece. If Amanda Peet is camera shy about nudity (something she does not seem to have a problem with given her role in The Whole Nine Yards), this sequel improves her position by not forcing her to bare all.

The truth is, The Whole Nine Yards had a spark and it was funny and different. The Whole Ten Yards attempts to recreate that spark, but instead reunites a stellar cast and then fails to do anything magical with them. A horrible script, nothing impressive in the way of performances and failure to grow the characters beyond where they were in The Whole Nine Yards (save a few cheap impotence and domestication jokes about Jimmy) gut this film.

For other works with the amazing Amanda Peet, be sure to visit my reviews of:
2012
The X-Files: I Want To Believe
Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip

2/10

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© 2011, 2007, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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