True Blood: "She's Not There" Review

Warning: Full Spoilers for the episode follow.

When we last left Sookie Stackhouse, in the random and meandering Season 3 finale "Evil is Going On," she'd vanished into the Fairy Kingdom with her fairy godmother, Claudine. Now, after discovering that everyone there is being held captive by a fruit that tastes like "biting into pure happiness," including her Grandpa Earl (Gary Cole), she makes a run for it. So...basically if you're still "in" after the silly, cheesy opening scene where the Queen Mab, revealed to be twisted and monstrous, lobbed magical blue energy grenades at Sookie, then pretty much nothing on True Blood is going to turn you off or sway your vote.

"She's Not There" benefits greatly from a year-long time jump that allows many of the character to change, relocate and get on with their lives in a way that no previous seasons had allowed. A big, distracting element on this series (which has been referenced more than a few times by characters on the show even) is that each season so far has taken place over the course of a week - or even less. Meaning that we've watched, so far, about a month in these characters' lives; with Bill and Sookie's relationship lasting about two weeks before he proposed to her and then went missing in Season 3. The "Nexus"-like time suck of the fairy kingdom allowed Sookie to return to the fold after a year of being missing, thus allowing her and the audience to catch up with all the characters' lives and see where they'd wound up.

Without this time jump, for example, Arlene's baby would have never been born. Not for many more seasons anyhow. And while her storyline (thinking her child is evil because the father was a serial killer) is pretty much throw-away garbage, I'm still happy to see things move along. I wish each season could pick up after a significant time-shift. It allows the show to breathe and it allows characters to experience much needed downtime. Time when no crazy monster business happens.

The jump has allowed Lafayette to be in a year-long relationship with Jesus. And it's allowed Jessica and Hoyt to be in one as well, even though things are stale and grumpy on their end. It's allowed Jason to become an actual police officer and Tara to head off to New Orleans to... become a lesbian cage fighter. Look, I'll let y'all figure out how you feel about Tara now. I was never one of the full-blown Tara haters of the world, so I kind of like her new gig, as preposterous as it might be. It might be a little irresponsible of the show to have the tough character who's been raped transform into a gay MMA fighter (cracking skulls to Joan Jett's cover of "Real Wild Child"), but at least Tara's happy and not a misery-magnet.

Let's face it. True Blood is not a show that moves along and "arcs" like most of us would like it too. While it may be a serialized show, it's also a soap. Which means that the series acts more like a revolving door for guest characters coming in, good or evil, while our core characters remain safe. One of its saving graces though is the fact that Sookie doesn't sell all the ridiculous s*** that goes on like she was on a soap. She's a straight-shooter and a great audience surrogate, despite being outrageously stubborn.

And while I enjoyed seeing Sookie "make her rounds" and reconnect with most everyone, I found her surprising lack of empathy for those who missed her, and even mourned for her, while she was gone to be annoying. She really did feel like people "gave up on her." Even though they dragged the lake, set up a missing persons website and scoured the area looking for her. "You being back, it's about the happiest I've ever been in my whole life," Jason said. Followed by Sookie scolding him for selling her house. Like everyone was supposed to know she was just fine. Of course, Jason's words, on a show like True Blood, also mean that he's about to get an ass-load of punishment. It's like saying "I'll be back" in a slasher flick.

Meanwhile, the vampires (remember them?) are still in the midst of a PR crisis concerning Russell Edgington and are trying to make commercials that make them seem friendly and welcoming. "The blood is warm and so is the service," Pam fails out of her mouth, trying to film a bit promoting Fangtasia. Eric buying Sookie's home and the revelation that Bill is now "King Bill," were definitely the high spots of this premiere - giving us actual interesting twists instead of merely introducing us to new creepy creatures. Plus, at the top of the show, Bill actually was able to order Eric to leave Sookie's porch. Now that's how you rebound! Casa de Compton is now a full-on compound, with armed guards and all.

Check out what the cast of True Blood told IGN about Season 4!


So where were the witches that we've been hearing so much about? Well, they were there, but not in full-force. Lafayette and Jesus sat in with a coven who had a frumpy leader/vessel named Marnie who could contact the spirits of the dead. Eddie (from Season 1, played by Stephen Root) made a "return" of sorts, as he found Marnie and spoke through her to Lafayette. Later on, Marnie raised a bird, briefly, from the dead, freaking the rest of the "most casual" witches the eff out! The witches must be of some interest to someone since "your majesty" Bill had planted a hot, red-headed spy in their midst. The "cliffhanger" ending here, with Eric cornering a naked Sookie, will most-likely turn out to be a non-event since most of this show's "gotcha-moments" turn out to be nothing.

"She's Not There" didn't really give us much to chew on, but it was still fun seeing where all the characters wound up after a full year. Again, I like some stories more than others. Some characters pop and some don't. I enjoyed Sam's new shapeshifter support group, but I still groan whenever Tommy walks into frame. I like how much of a parent that Jason's become to the Hot Shot meth-billy panthers, but I feel like something should be done to change help their situation rather than just let them sit in squalor, dropping off ice cream every once in a while. This episode was decent, but like I find myself saying with True Blood more often than not these days: "The next one will probably be better."

#WheresAlcide?

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