BLOG True Blood Episode Review 3.01 - new season!

Blogger Kelly Harker officially kicks off her summer with the season three premiere of True Blood . [WARNING: Contains monster-sized spoilers!]

3.01 “Bad Blood” (Alternatively, “Pack of Wolves”)

Written by Brian Buckner
Directed by Daniel Minahan

Blogger rating:

THE ONE WHERE The season three premiere has Sookie turning to Eric for help in finding her missing Bill; Sam travels out-of-town in search of his birth parents; Jason is tormented with the guilt of killing Eggs; Tara has trouble coping with Eggs’s death; Jessica feels regret after killing her first human. Meanwhile, Bill finds himself in Mississippi being pursued by a rowdy pack of werewolves.

VERDICT The big question season two left us with is who kidnapped Bill Compton? In the season premiere we find out that it’s a pack of werewolves (the big bad of the season) who are the culprits. However it’s also revealed later into the episode that Eric also intended to kidnap Bill but was just a little too late with the werewolves getting their paws on Mr. Compton first. So far the agenda of the werewolves seems to be to drain Bill for his blood (they’re a pack of V junkies), but could there also be as werewolf mastermind or bigger motive behind the kidnapping? Bill’s wolf captors didn’t really seem the clever, plotting types.

Okay… so I’m left feeling a bit disappointed that the werewolves look like regular everyday run-of-the-mill wolves. One of the kicks I get from this supernatural beastie in movies and television shows is seeing the torturous human to werewolf transformation – Being Human’s George does it best – but it didn’t show any of that in this episode. Usually werewolves scare the living day lights out of me, but the True Blood werewolves so far aren’t enough yet to give me nightmares.

Vampire Queen of Louisiana Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood) is back and looks to have a more major role this season as she continues to pull Eric’s strings, forcing him to sell V because she’s broke. That means that even if Bill escapes his werewolf captors for good, he’ll have Eric and Sophie-Anne to worry about nabbing him because he threatens their V operation. Am I happy about the return of the vampire Queen? Not one bite… I mean, bit. Her character could be so much more scary and interesting, but instead she likes to play dice games and her intimidation tactics just come off corny and whiny. But I am happy with the return of The Magister (Zeljko Ivanek) – now that’s a vampire with an intimidating presence! Hopefully there will be more of him this season.

Sookie wasn’t very interesting in this episode, just scrambling about Bon Temps in search of clues to Bill’s whereabouts, but her minor role in this one gave the opportunity for Pam to steal some of the spotlight for a change. Pam’s character hasn’t been explored very much in the series, and in this episode she has some great dialogue especially in her interactions with Sookie. There’s also now a better understanding of the relationship between her and Eric. It was a pleasant surprise to see her so much, with more character development because I now have a greater appreciation for her presence on the show. Her sardonic and dry sense of humour had me laughing out loud.

Hallelujah! Lafayette seems to have regained the pizazz the he lost in season two. I’m feeling very relieved.

Jessica Hamby, feeling gutted with the idea of being a virgin forever because of her vampire healing ability, remains quirky and cute as a button. The last episode of season two left off with her potentially becoming a darker character, but her regret in this episode after killing her first human continues to make me find her heart-warming.

But the most memorable and intense scene in the episode was watching the grief-ridden Tara locking herself in the bathroom, attempting to kill herself by overdosing on prescription pills. Her manic behaviour was difficult to watch because it stirred so much emotion in me. It was a perfect and powerful performance by Rutina Wesley. The episode ended without knowing whether Tara will live or die, which I found to be a better cliffhanger than Bill versus werewolves.

Season three has only just begun, meaning there’s lots of good stuff still in store. I already know what the best part of my summer will be – pasted to my leather couch watching True Blood .

MORE SEX PLEASE, WE’RE HBO I didn’t even try to hide the gleeful smile on my face (my husband was sitting next to me) during the graphic sex scene with the butt-naked Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) giving it his best to the new Fangtasia dancer. But Jason’s lack of, ahem, focus during a threesome was underwhelming.

DREAM SEQUENCE In the weeks leading up to the season premiere there were stills released of Bill and Sam looking quite intimate. No, Bill and Sam are not in a sexual relationship together – it was only Sam’s dream. Don’t forget that in the season two finale Sam had to drink Bill’s blood in order to heal himself, and as a side effect he’s now experiencing erotic fantasies of Bill. I admit that for a moment the writers had me going, that was until Bill uttered the biggest cheese ball line of the entire series, “I hear the water in Arkansas is very... hard .”

WEREWOLVES 101 Werewolves go crazy for vampire blood. It’s like wolfnip to them. (Did I just really write that?)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR VAMPIRE When your vamp sense is tingling, that means your Maker is calling you. Jessica learns that getting the shivers and feeling nauseous are tell-tale signs that Bill is calling to her.

BEST LINE Pam: “I don't know what it is about me that makes people think I want to hear their problems. Maybe I smile too much. Maybe I wear too much pink. But please remember I can rip your throat out if I need to. And also know that I am not a hooker. That was a long, long time ago.”

This is a personal review from blogger Kell Harker. Did you watch the season premiere on HBO last week? If so, tell us your thoughts about it in the comments section below. Look out for SFX's review in a forthcoming issue of the mag.