True Blood, Episode 5.10: "Gone, Gone, Gone"

This week's episode of True Blood just seemed to fly by: partially because there was only about 46 minutes of actual episode (a scarce amount by series standards), and also because the episode just seemed to, well… stop. If anything, this seemed to be a setup episode for the final two hours, getting our characters into place for all the big stuff that's about to go down.

First, let's talk about tonight's smorgasbord of gore! Thanks to the current vampire anarchy, and the complete destruction of the 5 Tru Blood plants, so many on-screen deaths occurred tonight, I couldn't believe my eyes. First, there was Sookie's attack by Mike the coroner, who apparently had been turned since last we saw him. Sookie's chopstick-assisted staking was awesome beyond words, and a great way to kick off the episode! Then, we got to witness a gold ol' iStaking, as Authority tech-head Molly met her demise by the technology she developed. Then came Spirit Lilith's neck-ripping of Spirit Godric (in a rare, only-on-HBO display of graphic gore and graphic full-frontal female nudity). That was followed by Russell and Steve's romantic massacre of a local fraternity. And last, but not least, was Tara's epic beheading of the new Sheriff, who was offed just as soon as he was introduced. On behalf of True Blood fans, I'd like to say thanks for working to trim down your cast in such spectacularly bloody fashion! It's much appreciated!

And also, given the brevity of tonight's show, it speaks that a full six minutes were devoted to a single scene: Jessica's farewell glamouring of Hoyt. Rarely does the show gun for our emotions, but it was a gamble that paid off spectacularly, as both characters' pain just gushed out: first, Hoyt's desire to move to Alaska without the memories of Jessica and Jason gnawing away at him, and then Jessica's teary-eyed clearing of his mind. After the glamouring, that first shot of the "new" Hoyt was just so wonderful - such a perfect bit of physical acting there. Jason's follow-up pullover of Hoyt later on in the episode was fine, too, but it couldn't hold a candle to the Merlotte's sequence, which was the highlight of tonight's show. (Question: So, will Hoyt be really gone? It would be wonderful to see a 'new' Hoyt connect with Jessica… but I can only hope that's the case. If this is another example of cast housecleaning, at least it was a heck of an exit.)

The Authority stuff was very much in the 'setup' vein tonight, both in getting characters in place (Jessica, Sam and Luna are all underground by episode's end), by firmly establishing the evangelical approach of the Authority in spreading the message of Lilith (70 translations of The Book of Lilith are in progress!), and by having Eric "profess" his "allegiance" to Lilith in the wake of Godric's ghostly demise. But, I do like the angle of Russell becoming frustrated with the Authority's approach, to the extent that he will no longer be restrained by their ways, and will acquire as much fairy blood as necessary in order to walk in the sun. Having Russell as a loose cannon is always a good thing, and that's exactly the kind of energy that these final two episodes need.

Meanwhile, we got some resumption on Sookie and Jason's investigation into their parents' death by Warlow… and thanks to a newly-discovered scroll hidden in the floorboards of Sookie's house (as well as a Magic Fairie Decoder Ring Of Sorts), we learned that Warlow is due the Stackhouses' first fae-bearing female heir… which, it just so happens, is Sookie! Umm… okay… Sookie's in danger once again. Woot woot… so let's just hurry up and wrap this plot line up quickly, alright?

Just to iterate what I said before: I want to believe that tonight's show was simply a way to move things into place in order to make the final two episodes a slam-bang ride. Tonight's episode was fine in that regard: it kept moving at a furious pace, rarely lagged, and had a bevy of enjoyable moments… but it felt less like an episode and more like a chapter in the season… which, as a fan of serialized drama narratives, I'm perfectly fine with. Hopefully, the rest of this season will just rock my socks off… and I hope yours will be similarly rocked.

Random notes:

• Sookie just loves her Vizio HDTV!
• When a vampire disses Blockbuster Video, you know that's not a good sign.
• Lafayette pointing a shotgun at a random yokel, who's holding a gun at Sam, who's holding a gun at another local yokel… come on, HBO, don't deny us the awesome standoff we would've loved to see!
• Andy Quote of the Week, to Lafayette: "I don't say this to many men, but I love you."
• So, umm, Russell and Rev. Steve slow-dancing to "Teenage Dream" amidst a pile of fraternity brothers' bodies? That's True Blood's idea of romance, I tell you what.
• Reverend Steve's denunciation of a "shadow government in an underground complex" was much appreciated. I feel quite safer now.
• "Daddy doesn't like it when you're human!"
• "Can I get a waitress?"