Yeah girl, you earned that drink.
Starting in Season 3 True Blood began to shift its focus. It became less about the waitress from Bon Temps and more about the vampires in her life, but especially Bill. While personally I don’t mind this shift, one of the undeniable victims of the shift has been Sookie herself. She spent much of Season 3 and Season 4 looking for them/trying to save them/generally focused them and having little of any storyline that was uniquely hers. So when they announced that Sookie wouldn’t get back together with them for at least a period time in Season 5 (probably lengthened by Anna’s pregnancy) I was happy: the writers would finally have a chance to give us something new for her and reinvigorate the character. Now that the season’s come to end though, I’ll admit it: I missed Sookie with the vampires. She had the must spunk, the most attitude, the most Sookie-ish behavior when she was around them.
This is another instance of where the writer just hasn’t done the character justice. I can’t say that I was a fan of Sookie at the beginning of the season, but there her behavior was justifiable as was her emotional state. Once the aftermath of Debbie Pelt was neatly swept under the rug however, things began to fall apart and by the time she’d lead the vampires through the factory to find Russell that was pretty much the end of where she was interesting.
As with Jason, this whole plot about Warlow just not good or entertaining. She had some good scenes here and there – like the chats with Jason, she had some scenes stolen – Lafayette channeling Gran and a lot of scenes that made you stare at the screen with an expression of WTF on your face, like the meeting with the fairy elder. To be fair, the fairy elder stuff was exacerbated by the fact that director/cinematographer did a really distracting job of trying to hide Anna’s pregnancy.
It is clear by now that the whole theme of “who is Warlow?” is going to play a large part in Season 6. At this point, I just hope she doesn’t stay away from the vampires because she needs them as much as the audience enjoys watching them.
Best Moment – Sookie taking the vampires through the factory.
She was still buzzed and she was lecturing Eric and Bill like they were a couple of stupid teenagers who’d never watched a horror film before. Great scene and a reminder of just why she really shouldn’t be kept from the vampires, even if we sometimes wish she would be.
Worst Moment – The whole way the Debbie Pelt situation was handled
There’s no question that the Debbie situation had to be handled, but it ultimately came across that the writers didn’t really want to commit to it and so swept it under the wrong with a few lies from Alcide and some convenient glamouring from Jessica. If they wanted to make it go away, why not just claim self-defense? Given that Tara was shot and killed, you’d have a pretty solid case for it and it’d felt less forced. But if they went that route you couldn’t have had Alcide trying to take advantage of drunk Sookie, could you?
via Fangover: Day 6 – Sookie.
September 5, 2012 | Categories: Day 6, Fangover | Tags: Bill Compton, Debbie Pelt, Eric Northman, Sookie Stackhouse, True Blood | Leave a comment
HBO enlisted chef Marcella Bienvenu to create the new “True Blood” themed cookbook. The book titled, “True Blood: Eats, Drinks, and Bites from Bon Temps” will be availabe for sale on September 5, 2012.
Chef Marcelle Bienvenu explained to Access how she crafted the scrumptuous Bon Temps-inspired recipes in the book, including the cake on the cover, which she’s already indulged in several times.
AccessHollywood.com: When you got the call to contribute to a ‘True Blood’ cookbook, what went through your head?
Chef Marcelle Bienvenu: I don’t get HBO. I was kind of wondering about it because I knew it was set in Louisiana, and of course, I teach culinary at a university and the students knew about it, so they were just wild! And of course, when they sent me all the series to look at, I went ‘Woah!’ (laughs). But it was interesting and there is so much mention of South Louisiana food in the show that it was really kind of a big challenge to be able to pick up the dishes that they mentioned and work on them.
Access: What were some of the dishes that you had to try and figure out how to make?
Chef Marcelle: The first ones we did — and it was really fun — [were] the drinks that they served at the Fangtasia bar. So it was like Tequila Moonrise instead of Tequila Sunrise. We had a Vamp-Aid instead of Kool-Aid. We had Lovin’ in the Coven, we had a Dead on the Beach drink, so it was kind of fun trying to find drinks that would be something that you could drink, that would tie in with the series. The dishes were pretty easy. We had a shrimp cocktail, we had an oyster po boy, we had red beans and rice and an okra gumbo, crawfish boil, chicken fried steak, chess pie, fried apple pie — so it was very southern, very Louisiana, so it was not that hard to come up with real recipes.
Access: It’s still before breakfast here, but just hearing you read those titles, yum!
Chef Marcelle: Working on it, I gained about 8 pounds, because not only do I teach culinary [at Nicholls State University], I had to test all these, and of course, I had some of the students help me because they were just so excited about it, but eating all of the food I have to eat in class, plus this, really put on some weight.
Access: Were any recipes easier to come up with than others?
Chef Marcelle: I think probably the easier ones were like the shrimp cocktail or a gumbo. They wanted me to do a [vegetarian] burger which I went, ‘Nahhhh!’ but we finally came up with something that was pretty good. And they wanted to do several things with crawfish… Instead of a sweet donut, we made like a little savory puff, and that took a little while to kind of come up with something that would work. Also they wanted to do things like fiery chicken wings, with a dipping sauce. We, of course, ran into a lot of things that had red in color. We [made] a white cake, but it had to have a berry sauce dripping over it, so it looked like blood, but it looks very good. I made four of those!
Access: How many did you consume yourself?
Chef Marcelle: I became very popular on campus, all the faculty were coming over to the kitchen where we were testing things, so they had a good treat.
Access: What did you think of the show? And are you watching now?
Chef Marcelle: I’m definitely hooked, and at school, we watch it on Monday nights because there’s several of us who have been following it, so now I’m hooked. I have to admit it.
Access: Do you have a favorite vampire?
Chef Marcelle: Bill. I like Bill. I’ll stick with Bill.
Access: Stephen Moyer is British, how do you think his accent is?
Chef Marcelle: He does remarkably well! I mean, I was afraid they’d make it to Georgia southern, I was afraid they’d make it too Cajun-y, but they do pretty well. I’m very pleased with it… Plus, he’s darn fine good looking too.
Access: And how about that Alcide, the wolf?
Chef Marcelle: Um… I kind of like him (laughs). All the guys love Sook!
SOURCE:
Here is one of the recipes from the book: “Sookie Stackhouse’s Fried Chicken”
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Lard or vegetable oil… for deep frying
Two 3-3 1/2 pound broiler-fryer chickens cut into serving pieces
Combine the flour, salt, paprika, black pepper, and cayenne in a large plastic or paper bag. Shake to mix.
Heat about 2 inches of lard until it registers 360 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer in a large, heavy pot. Put four chicken pieces in the bag, and shake well. Add the chicken to the hot fat and deep-fry until golden brown and cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.
Drain the chicken on paper towels.
Repeat the process with the remaining chicken.
Serve hot or warm.
via True Blood: Eats, Drinks, and Bites from Bon Temps Cookbook.
September 5, 2012 | Categories: Day 6, Fangover | Tags: Bon Temps, Cookbook, Cooking, HBO, Recipes, True Blood | Leave a comment
There was really only one contender for this and that was the moment Eric released Pam. I understand why it was done, and the tension leading up to that moment with the istakes and the hunt for Russell was well executed, but it seemed to be a reinforcement of the disintegration of the relationship between Eric and Pam in Season 4. Granted Eric is starting to accept that he has human emotions and more specifically human emotions for Sookie, but to cut off Pam is just going too far.
That being said, at least they had some dignity in the scene where he releases her and it is partially brought on by Pam herself, though I wish it never happened that way. I did not want to see Eric release Pam at all. Their relationship is a strong one and they need each other, that has been apparent since season 1 so for this to have happened is quite a lot to take on board. I just hope that this does not affect their relationship in season 6.
via Fangover Fangathon Day 6 Storyline I wanted to change
September 5, 2012 | Categories: Day 6, Fangover | Tags: Eric Northman, Pam Swynford de Beaufort, Russell Edgington, Sookie Stackhouse, True Blood | 1 Comment
Can I just take a moment to talk about how annoying Arlene is and how she needed to GTFO Terry’s business?
Arlene is annoyingly sweet, basically hair-brained but a fairly decent friend to Sookie and the others but this season she was annoying ANNOYING! Honestly, the whole Ifrit storyline needed to go but it didn’t make things any better for her to be prying even further into Terry’s business. In a way, she made him run to Patrick and get caught in that shit hole.
I don’t even understand where this storyline fit into the spectrum of things. Usually, the side stories, always come together at the end, but this was just so out there. Not to mention it was treading on some very thin ice. True Blood has never shied away from controversy but the Muslim faith is a very sensitive topic and with a certain anniversary coming up, it almost went over the line.
The glimmers of hope were Layfette and his medium services. I love how he was trying to BS the whole Ifrit thing (YAY LaLa!) but he actually ended up calling upon the spirit who created the curse! Haha Oops.
September 5, 2012 | Categories: Day 6, Fangover | Tags: Arlene Fowler-Bellefleur, Lafayette Reynolds, Least Favorite Character, Season 5, True Blood | Leave a comment
The Storyline You Wish You Could Change
As if I could keep track of all the story lines running around without any parental supervision this season. Seriously, at first it seemed to me that Alan Ball doped everyone up on Pixie Stix and then took everyone to the zoo. If I had to pick just one, I suppose it would be the whole Bud Dearborn/Sweetie/Obama/Pigs storyline. I’m still not so sure what the point of it was. Except maybe to promote Obama masks. I like to wear mine to church. I just thought that they could have explored that whole crazyfest a little bit more. It just seemed a little far fetched to me. And that’s saying something in a show mostly concerned with supernatural creatures. For the longest time, I was convinced Hoyt’s mama was in on it. Okay maybe I just wanted to see her dance moves again. Still, it was a nice little story filler. Although I was sorry to see Bud go. He reminded me of my creepy uncle.
via Fang-A-Thon: The Fangover: Day Six.
September 5, 2012 | Categories: Day 6, Fangover | Tags: Bud Dearborn, Season 5, Sweetie, True Blood | Leave a comment
During the pre-season “Fangathon,” I made some predictions about what would happen during Season Five of “True Blood.”
The one I was happiest about was thinking Pam and Tara would wind up together and would be “Hell on Wheels.”
It took all 12 episodes to get them there, but the season finale gave us what we wanted — a hot, steamy kiss between Tara and Pam.
Let’s look back over their stormy relationship these past 12 episodes.
Pam did Sookie and Lafayette a big favor by turning Tara, and her warning of Tara turning into a “Fucktarded” vampire was not even her best line.
I will always remember her dressed in one of Sookie’s sweatsuits from Wal-Mart, taking one for the team as she went to ground with her new child.
I loved how, even though she tried to keep up the tough as nails exterior, Pam was kind to Tara from the beginning, soothing her in every way she knew how except sexually. She got Tara willing donors and one bitch of a woman who was mean to Tara became her slave.
They shared “dinner” that night, but Pam made sure Tara didn’t make more of it than intake of needed calories.
I enjoyed seeing Tara dressed in some seriously hot outfits. She looked the best I’ve ever seen her, even though she could not believe she found herself behind a bar again, this time at Fangtasia, working for her Maker.
After Eric released Pam, I think Pam cherished Tara even more, though it was hard for her to admit it. Since they didn’t part on any sort of bad terms, I know Eric will be back around the bar when he can, and I look forward to the interplay between the Viking and his grandchild. Yeah, Eric’s her grand-maker.
Tara, at first so angry at becoming the thing she hated most, started to enjoy her new-found powers and her growing attraction to her Maker.
What’s not to love about Pam? She always looks hot (even in yellow sweats), gets all the best lines and keeps her kick-ass attitude front and center at all times.
When the new Area Five Sheriff showed up and started extorting money from Pam, Tara didn’t hesitate.
She took action.
Uttering one of my season-favorite lines: “I don’t know nothing about birthing no vampire babies,” she beheaded the sheriff.
As a total aside, I totally loved the outfit Pam was wearing when she took the blame for the sheriff’s death and was arrested by Rosalyn. The waist cincher was too, too cute, and Pam looked great in it, even lying in a prison cell.
When Tara and Sookie showed up in the Authority prison to free them, watching Tara go into action was wonderful.
She finally, fully inhabited her role as vampire and accepted that Sookie and Lafayette did her a favor by getting her turned rather than letting her die, though she did not let Sookie forget for one second that she owed Pam.
When Tara grabbed the silver door of Pam’s jail cell and grabbed Pam, all wishes were granted.
Tara got a real kiss from her Maker, Pam realized that Tara could be “The One” and kissed her right back. Sookie’s debt to Pam was retired and for a split second, all was right in the world.
Heaven knows what will happen in 9 months, when Season 6 kicks off, but I think “Hell on Wheels” is on.
via Fangover Day 6: Pam and Tara: I called it: “Hell on Wheels”
September 5, 2012 | Categories: Day 6, Fangover | Tags: Pam Swynford de Beaufort, Season 5, Tara Thornton, True Blood | Leave a comment