That was an enjoyable hour of television, wasn't it? And I don't mean in a 48-minutes because of commercials kind of way, I'm talking a full 60 minutes. So happy this show is on HBO. It wouldn't work anywhere else. Before I get into all that happened during "Beautifully Broken" can I just talk about this show's cast? So stellar. In this episode particularly there are some nice little moments between characters that I've grown to love like: Eric & Sookie; Sookie & Jason, Lafayette & Tara; Eric & Godric and even Andy & Jason, the newest bromance to take True Blood by storm. My new favorite scene partners: Jessica & Pam. And I already know Lafayette and Jesus scenes are going to sparkle. Kevin Alejandro's looking hot isn't he? I don't blame Lafayette for instantly crushing on the guy who's taking care of his crazy, racist mom in the psychiatric institution.
Bill and his werewolf kidnappers
At the end of the Season 3 premiere Bill was facing down a bunch of werewolves. When the action picks back up in Episode 2, Bill's bloody and he's viciously taken care of most of the wolves; in fact he rips off the ear of one of the little buggers. Pretty soon, a guy in red coat and white horse rides up and Bill refers to him as "your majesty." It's the Vampire King (VK) of Mississippi Russell Edgington. We find out that the wolves were Bill's kidnappers. They were just supposed to escort Bill across state lines, not drain him of some of his blood too. Russell wants Bill to come back to his manse so he's pretty uppity about the way his werewolf minions (including Coot) have treated the vampire.
The VK takes Bill back to his plantation-like home where he meets Russell's significant other, Talbot. Talbot is pretty flamboyant and talking about decorating the house and it's pretty funny. There are a lot of new characters being introduced in this episode; it's a lot to absorb but the show takes care of the introductions in a pretty seamless way. At Russell's abode, I do feel like we've just stepped into a scene from the miniseries North and South which took place during the Civil War. One minor difference: colonial soldiers have been replaced by gay vampires. Bill's pretty impatient with this whole thing. He wants to get back to Bon Temps and Sookie but Russell's not having it.
During dinner of Warm Blood Bisque and Blood Gelato, he has a proposal for Mr. Compton (who looks extremely sexy in a tux). One of the VK's goals is to marry the Vampire Queen of Louisiana (VQ). She's pretty resistant to the idea so he needs Bill to find out what The VQ's secrets are. And in return, he'll make Bill the Sheriff of Mississippi's Area 2. That deal doesn't really fly with Bill. Does he even have ambitions to become a Sheriff? Russell doesn't understand why the VQ has relegated him to Bon Temps. Bill explains that it's his home. You get the feeling a territory war is brewing especially when the Vampire King goes for the jugular and threatens Sookie if Bill doesn't do what he asks. He says it's too bad Sookie has to pay for her boyfriend's stubbornness. Bill's maker Lorena crashes the party and Bill burns her for her trouble. Awesome moment.
Sookie, Eric and Operation Werewolf
Sookie's beside herself with worry over Bill. So naturally, she turns to Eric for help. Again. She tells him about how she and Jessica found that dead body while they were searching for her vampire boyfriend. The body had an insignia they found out had to do with Operation Werewolf. Eric lies to Sookie saying he knows next to nothing about the creatures except that they are territorial, vicious and pathologically secretive. Being secretive's a good thing in Eric's book because he feels Sookie's so blinded by her obsession with Bill if she did find out information about the "Nazi Werewolves," she'd alert the entire planet. Love that Jessica calls them Nazi Werewolves.
While Eric's alone he flashbacks to Augsburg, Germany circa 1945 when he and Godric were posing as soldiers in the SS to hunt the Nazi Werewolves. They find a female one that attacks Eric. She says they're on the same side, but after he uncovers the insignia, Eric rages that they're not. Then he kills her. So Eric definitely knows a lot more than he's telling Sookie. He rectifies that situation later when he visits her at her grandma's house under the guise of protection, not lust (yeah, right). He tells her he lied to her and major exposition about the dangerous human-wolf combos is revealed: They are organized, well-funded and highly trained; and they're fueled by vampire blood which is very different lore than I've ever heard before. That definitely ups the antagonism between vampires and werewolves. The danger factor for the supernatural creatures has been raised.
Eric tells Sookie he's risking everything by telling her what he knows which is weird because his loyalty is not to Bill. Eric warns her that they're coming for her (she's already spotted one that mysteriously disappeared) and that he owes her. And she better invite him into her grandma's house so he can protect her. I love the way he offers his protection. He tells her he's going to stay and protect her or have passionate primal sex with her: "How about both?" I'm sure Eric-Sookie shippers rejoiced when the Sheriff uttered those words. She makes sure Eric gets a good look at her engagement ring which signifies she's off limits.
Tara & Lafayette
Tara's quick downward spiral after Eggs was killed results in her taking an overdose of pills. Lafayette realizes what his cousin's up to in the bathroom, breaks in and makes her throw up right away before the pills can take effect. He loads her in the car to get her to the hospital, but she manages to talk him out of it. Instead Lafayette takes Tara to a psychiatric institution where his mom Ruby Jean Reynolds is a patient. That's where we get to see Alfre Woodard and Kevin Alejandro for the first time this season. The reason Lafayette wants Tara to see what happened to his mom is because he wants to prevent the same thing from happening to her. He talks about how there's a darkness with the women in their family. Lafayette is pretty fierce in this episode, dealing with Tara's crisis, seeing his mom for the first time in months (although he has been paying the bills this whole time) and meeting Jesus, the Mexican orderly taking care of his mom. Ruby is racist, extremely surly and insulting to her son. But the upside to this little visit isn't just that it serves as a bit of a wake-up call to Tara, but again, this is where Lafayette meets Jesus. Those two are going to look good together.
Later, Tara's back at Merlotte's not tending bar when she meets a mysterious gentleman. I believe this is the same guy that broke into Bill's house searching for information on Sookie and her family history. (We saw some sort of family tree where Earl Stackhouse and Sookie Stackhouse's names were circled.) But we know this guy is the one who broke in because the camera pans down to his rather large feet. The same large feet we saw walkin' around Bill's place. It turns out this guy is a vampire since he asks Tara for a bottle of True Blood. He then ends up coming to her rescue when Tara battles a couple of local yahoos who took offense to her relationship with Eggs. Tara sure knows how to slap a guy and slap him hard. Wow.
Sam's Search for his family ends
Sam ends up reuniting with his birth parents. I'm not sure whether to be happy for Sam or not. One thing I am happy about is the fact he now knows where his shape-shifting tendencies came from. His mom and his brother are both 'shifters. His mom had him when she was 16 and his dad was in jail for a 12-year stretch (he says for a crime he didn't commit). In fact, his dad says he didn't even know about Sam until after he was given up for adoption. Anyway, his mom seems truly apologetic and truly happy to see Sam. The same can't be said for his little brother, Tommy. The kid has a serious chip on his shoulder and you know that the life he's lead can't have been a good one. He and Sam have a "whose life is worse" conversation but it all ends up with the two of them shifting to their dog selves (Tommy's a pit bull) and going for a run. When the dogs are about to be run over by a car, Tommy easily shifts into a bird and escapes the situation. Sam barely gets out of the way and shifts back into his naked, human form and he has to be thinkin' his birth family can teach the dog new tricks.
Other Bon Temps Goings-On
-Jessica asks Pam for advice on how to feed without killing. And more importantly she tries to find out what to do with the body if you accidentally kill the human. Jessica goes home to take care of things and Hoyt's there. He's understanding and playing nice and wants to get back together. Even though she doesn't want to, she sends him away. And then after she gets the tool she needs to get rid of the dead body in her coffin she goes to take care of it. But the body's gone. And this is after she spent the night with it. (Eww....)
-Good scenes between Terry and Sookie. Terry helps Sookie track a werewolf although she does swear him to secrecy.
-Terry comes up with a list of ten reasons why Arlene can trust him with her kids. Of course Arlene's preggers and not telling Terry yet. And during a good portion of the list-reading she's getting sick in the bathroom.
-Jason and Sookie bond while cleaning grandma's house. Jason vows to help Sookie find Bill.
-Jason and Andy's bromance continues although all of a sudden Andy's a hero for killing Eggs. Jason's a bit jealous but really he just wants to have a purpose. He wants to stop hurting people, he wants to be a good guy. Andy's got faith in him. I love this friendship. Jason wants to make things right because Sookie's blaming herself for Eggs' death. Andy ends up taking Jason out on one of his police calls. Andy tells Jason to stay in the car but of course he doesn't. The drug dealer runs out of the house and after Jason spots a mysterious blonde-haired woman, he apprehends the perp.
Fun Lines
"Cooter? Seriously?"
"Nazi Werewolves."
"Excuse me gentlemen, I need to drain the second course."
"I ain't ever been in the front seat before."
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