True Blood 3.01 - "So you fell in love with a serial killer, who hasn't?"

[shipperx]

"Less conscience, more cajones."  

Does anyone have the feeling that this is what the writers are telling each other in breakdown sessions?  The Andy line may well be the motto for the show that picked-up approximately five minutes after the point where last season left off.  It was fast-paced with a good dose of funny and nudity.  

IOW, the stuff that True Blood does well.   (Frankly, the more patently campy True Blood plays it, the more I enjoy it).

Stuff I liked: 

*  I am a fan of the Jason and Andy comedy tour.  I think they're far and away my favorite couple on the show.  It's the dim-wittedness combined with good intentions that makes it work.  They're both just delightfully inept dopes. This is a pattern that works for these two and produced two of the funniest lines of the night :  "Less conscience, more cajones!"  and "Conscience off, dick on." 

I have hopes for this storyline as the Jason and Andy comedy stint was my favorite thing last season.  Although I also have to give a moment of love for the Hoyte/Jason scene where Hoyte was hinting about needing a place to stay and Jason just did. not. get. it... to the point that Hoyte took offense and blurted it out, leading to dim-witted Jason saying that of course Hoyte could bunk with him.  Why was Hoyte asking in such a pissed-off way?  

Hee.  Poor, stupid Jason. :)

*  "So you fell in love with a serial killer, who hasn't?"  Another great line of the night... and in Bon Temps, this statement is far more true than it should be. 

 *  "Oh, Sookie, stop,"  spoken by Pam in a completely unconcerned, totally not in any way trying to stop Sookie as Pam clearly  looked forward to Sookie walking in on Eric in flagrante delicto kind of way.

*   Jessica hugging Hoyte's roses then realizing that she had to drag the (nearly dead) body into the house.  I liked Jessica's efforts to save the guy she...well... murdered.  Not sure how they're going to fix this for her, but she isn't a heartless killer.

*  I'm heading into unpopular fannish opinion-land, but as of the moment, I like Bill more than Eric (I'm actually not much of a fan of Eric beyond his butt and abs.)  

Bill was quite funny in the slashtastic Sam/Bill sex dream.  What was so LOL at first was that it started in a way that was initially somewhat believable (in True Blood terms) just pinging a few slashy vibes of "Hey, why doesn't Bill have a shirt?"  And then the  "Can I have a shower?" stuff leading you to think "The slashers will love this..."  and then it goes into full bore slash!    Hee!   

 I also liked the scene where Bill talked his way into the little old lady's house, fed, then mind wiped her into forgetting while handing her a wad a cash, saying that she'd remember that her son had given it to her.  It was a nice combo of vampiric ruthlessness and old fashioned courtesy.  I kind of like that combo.   Bill was actually a tad bit badass in the episode.

*  Still love Sam (always did).

*  Still love Lafayette and could live with more Lafayette/Pam scenes.  

Stuff I didn't like... well, actually that's a bit harsh.  It's not lack of like, it's that I'm not seeing whatever it is that so many other people in fandom are seeing.  Which is to say sorry, folks, I haven't  made it onto Team Eric. 

Don't get me wrong.  The actor is hot. Tall and hot.  He has great abs and a great butt, and he's easy on the eyes.   But the same complaint I had about him last season remains.   I don't think I know who in the hell he is.  Eric isn't a three dimensional character for me yet, and much of what we're shown of him, I don't particularly like. 

Maybe shapinglight hit on it when she pointed out that Eric is very much the alpha male of the show.  I'm not a big alpha male girl.  

My other problem, I think is that Eric himself isn't funny.  Funny happens around Eric because he's so dead pan, but that's not quite the same thing as cracking wise.   Plus, Eric still shows little in the way of vulnerability.  He can do a sad puppy look for Sookie, but... I just don't believe it. 

If I'm supposed to be Team Eric, the show is going to have to put some effort into it -- and more than just making him walk around naked... not that I'm complaining.  It's just that right now, Eric seems very hard (Ha! Ha!  Not in that way.) Very alpha.  Very straight (humor wise) and not particularly accessible or vulnerable.  I, honest to God, prefer Bill at this point.  He's such a contradiction of creepy-guy and old fashioned gent.  It's the contrast that works.  Eric is just too on top of things to really work for me, too much the ruler of most of what he surveys.  Maybe his problems with the Queen will work on that, but as it is, Eric is just too privileged alpha male to hook into any of my kinks.   He still needs much more dimension and some vulnerability to work for me.  

Not that I really ship EITHER Bill or Eric with Sookie.  Right now I prefer them in their own stories away from her  (this has been the case with Bill for quite a while).  Maybe I'll like Alcide and go Team Wolf.  

Anyway, True Blood is back and it's still its flawed, outrageous OTT self... and that's the way it should be.  It's at its best when it's OTT.

Comments

[calturner.livejournal.com]

I am a fan of the Jason and Andy comedy tour. I think they're far and away my favorite couple on the show.

Right there with you on this. I love Jason and Andy together!

I'm heading into unpopular fannish opinion-land, but as of the moment, I like Bill more than Eric

Nothing wrong with that. :) At the moment, I'd go as far as to say that I actually like Bill and Eric about the same. But I much prefer Bill when he isn't with Sookie.

I loved the Sam/Bill scene. And I adore Lafayette! He's one of my favourite characters on the show.

Maybe I'll like Alcide and go Team Wolf.

One of the things I love about this show is that (at the moment) I could be just about Team Anyone. But I am looking forward to seeing Alcide.

Anyway, True Blood is back to be its flawed, outrageous OTT self... and that's the way it should be.

Absolutely! It's just such a fun show. :)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

At the moment, I'd go as far as to say that I actually like Bill and Eric about the same. But I much prefer Bill when he isn't with Sookie.

I went through a period in Season one where Bill/Sookie annoyed the crap out of me. But it's a bit like LOST where for a while there I hated, hated, hated Jack and Kate. Then the hatred turned to 'love to hate' and eventually turned to affection. My Bill/Sookie irritation turned to sort of eye-rolling entertainment to now being vaguely affectionate over their over ripeness. That said, I'm really not at all concerned with the ship. The ship doesn't actually matter to me.

My primary issue with Eric is that I just don't feel anything with Eric. I don't really laugh much with (or at) him. I don't understand what in the hell someone like him -- as he's been shown to be -- would have any interest in Miss Dressed in various shades of sherbert Sookie. Nor do I really find myself thinking that Sookie is attracted by anything but his body at this point. I'm also somewhat disturbed by the hint of non-consensual aspects of the attraction due to his tricking her into drinking his blood. Because the drinking isn't voluntary, the situation bothers me, and on a character level. So that leaves me as having appreciated the Godric/Eric thing, but Godric is dead and beyond that I honestly don't know a darn thing about what Eric really thinks or values, and because of that... he's kind of a cipher to me.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

I also liked the scene where Bill talked his way into the little old lady's house, fed, then mind wiped her into forgetting but handing her a wad a cash saying that she'd remember that her son had given it to her. It was a nice combo of vampiric ruthlessness and old fashioned courtesy. I kind of like that combo. Bill was actually a tad bit badass in the episode.

Yes, he's a combination of his old Confederate Southern self and a cold hearted killer.

I have hopes for this storyline as the Jason and Andy comedy stint was my favorite thing going on last season.

Oh yeah, they're just the thing to perk up an episode. That and Terry and Arlene. What a brilliant pack of chuckleheads.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I've learned to love Jason and Andy's utter idiocy. :)

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the premiere a lot too :) It was great fun!

On the Eric thing. I think most people from Team Eric (including me) are comming from the books. In the books Bill is a straighter, less dorky character than on the show, where I like him a lot better.

And Eric really comes to the front row in book 4. It's funny because I read what bugs (or rather not intrigues) you about him and it's exactly what usually turns me off too, except in the fourth book all those things change, the Alpha maleness, the lack of vulnerability, him getting more dimensions.

I wonder if they'll go there with him on the show, where they've made him more brutal in the first place and where I'd be a lot more sorry to see Bill fade into the background than I was on the books.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

On the Eric thing. I think most people from Team Eric (including me) are comming from the books. In the books Bill is a straighter, less dorky character than on the show, where I like him a lot better.

And I totally understand that. And, though I haven't read the books, the impression I've gathered from stuff that has been said is that Show Eric is missing some of his more redeeming traits and Show Bill has been handed a few that are in short supply in the books.

That said, though I've tried, I've yet to make it through any of the books, so I'm going almost exclusively on the show. And, on the show, Bill is kind of dorky in his antiquated ways of dealing with things and this dorkiness actually inspires some affection in me. On the other hand, everyone is swooning over Eric, and I'm still wondering who in the heck he even is. The only genuine moment I feel like I've ever seen the character have was his morning Godric, and Godric is gone. Everything in Eric's interaction with Sookie seems manipulative to me, and... I don't know. I don't understand Eric. He's at a distance to me. I don't know what he genuinely cares about and until I do, I can't care all that much about him.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

I had the books as my on the go audiobooks (where stuff I'm too lazy to read usually ends up).

Eric is not really a likeable character in the books from the get go either. Actually they they also gave him even a bit more personality than he has in the first two books.

At the moment it's probably like watching S2 Spike. The bits that make him interesting are yet to come.

[shapinglight]

Pretty much agree with you, except that I do think Eric can be funny, in a dead pan kind of way. I think his scenes with Bill are great.

I doubt I'll ever really pick a 'team', but I'm Team Bill at the moment. I have a big soft spot for poor, stuffy old Bill. But I don't dislike Eric, not at all, and I'm not so stuck on Bill/Sookie that it'll bother me if she gets paired off with someone else for a while. Even Eric.

And I loved the slashy scene, as you might imagine. :)

[angearia.livejournal.com]

*nods* I was thinking that Eric very much has a sense of humor. But it's more that he likes playing tricks (like tricking Sookie into drinking his blood). And I thought he was quite hysterical with his faux accent when he infiltrated the cult last season.

Plus, Eric telling the foreign dancer to "stay put" while she's hanging from the ceiling. He's very much deadpan. In fact, he's the only understated humor in the OTT bunch.

Oh god, then you have Eric wearing that puffy blue tracksuit and approaching Bill while shopping. The thing I like most about Eric is that he appears to largely not give a fuck. And then you see him break down when he loses Godric.

So I do see humor and vulnerability. It's just not OTT which might be the problem for some people who like True Blood when it goes more outrageous.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Have you read the books? I know he comes off somewhat differently in the books, though I haven't read them.

[angearia.livejournal.com]

How did my comment go down there when I replied directly through email? Oh, LJ.

I started reading the first book and kinda stalled halfway through. I'm not sure if Eric is even in the first book, but he hand't appeared yet.

I think the episode that made me such a huge fan of Eric is when Godric commits suicide. There's an amazing vid done obsessive24 called "All is Full of Love" that explores Godric's relationship with Eric (she's the same vidder who made the Buffy "Bachelorette" vid).

What continues to remain in my memory about Eric and vulnerability is that after Sookie leaves the roof, Eric pretty much breaks down. And I love when scenes have people talking intimately to each other in the native tongue (like Jin and Sun on Lost)--and the blood tears Eric sheds afterwards. I definitely see how Eric is standoffish, but to me it's more that he's a layered character with great hidden depths yet to be plumbed. And as others have said, it's when the Alpha male facade is stripped away that we'll get to the heart of him.

So I find him more mysterious, always wanting more to be shown from him. Not that I doubt there's more to be shown.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

How did my comment go down there when I replied directly through email? Oh, LJ

Probably because LJ ate my first post for no apparent reason.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I had hopes for Eric during the Godric thing, because at last it was something real in Eric. But it was one episode and Godric, now being gone, isn't really much of a help in understanding how Eric functions on a daily basis.

Maybe it's about first impressions. My first impression of Eric in Fangtasia with him sitting on his throne with artfully arranged hair dangling over his eye just so was that he was a poseur, so after that I never really buy whatever he says as bveing "real" for him... except the Godric stuff. Except Godric is gone. It's not an ongoing thing. And I don't find his relationship (such as it is) with Sookie a help because it feels so...well... manipulative. I don't get a sense of an emotional pull but of an alien fascinated by something he thinks is curious. And the fact that so much of the attraction she feels for him is predicated on his having tricked her into drinking his blood for the express purpose of creating that bond, has made that pull also feel somewhat fake.

I just don't feel like I know what makes Eric tick. What he really cares about. The only genuine moments I've feel we've gotten from him involved Godric, and in Godric's absense I feel I still don't know what he cares about. And unless or until I do, he's too much of a mystery to me. I need the show to do some of the work. They have work to do with Eric before I can invest much feeling for him other than aesthetic appreciation. I feel like I only know the character on a superficial basis.

But, then, I haven't read any of the books. I know that things are slightly different in the book and that there are many more books than TV seasons thus far. It's just that, going solely by the TV show, the only moment of genuine emotion with Eric feels like Godric's death which, while it was good, just isn't enough for me to really connect.

[shapinglight]

Oh god, then you have Eric wearing that puffy blue tracksuit and approaching Bill while shopping. The thing I like most about Eric is that he appears to largely not give a fuck. And then you see him break down when he loses Godric.

I love that scene. So funny!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I know that it puts me in the vast minority, but they've yet to really spark my interest in Eric. The closest they came was in the Godric arc and they pretty quickly frittered that away. I'm decidedly 'meh' on Eric/Sookie as a potential pairing (and I haven't developed much affection for Eric in general), which I KNOW is going against the fandom.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I tend to find him to be kind of straight-man funny. It's not quite the same thing as wisecracking. I tend to prefer pop-culty wise cracking or general flail. Eric's "funny" such as it is, works primarily as him being this big, strong, alpha male doing something that contrasts with that. It seems very image-driven to me which was really my first impression of Eric.

I think I'm largely hindered by my first impression of Eric which I found to be somewhat ridiculous. Him sitting on his throne in Fangtasia with his long, lustruous blond hair hanging over his eye just so it screamed "poseur!" for me. It seemed so artificial. And here we are two years later and the only thing I can really feel that he cared about was Godric, and Godric is gone. So I feel like I don't know him at all. And I don't really buy his interaction with Sookie because of the way he manipulated her into drinking his blood for the express purpose to create the "connection" with her that he now has, so I find that I resent that "connection" because it, too, wasn't honest. So I don't take his connection to Sookie as real. Nothing in his relationship with Pam has been emotional. Amusing, yes. But we haven't been given a background to make it "real". And his resentment of Bill, someone he has power over, just then comes across as being petulant to me.

They're going to have to give me something that I know is real about Eric, something he cares about (other than Godric who, because he's gone, isn't much help at all in building an emotional map of Eric), otherwise Eric is just mostly a blank to me. I don't feel that I know this character much at all.

[shapinglight]

I tend to find him to be kind of straight-man funny. It's not quite the same thing as wisecracking. I tend to prefer pop-culty wise cracking or general flail.

I like the wise-cracking type of humour, but I like this too. Dead pan humour has always appealed to me a lot, especially when it has a slightly surreal edge.

I think our first sight of Eric was supposed to be OTT and a touch ridiculous. Everything to do with vampires in this show is OTT bordering on cheesy, like Bill's big, useless bursting into flames run across the cemetery in season 1 to save Sookie. That was utterly daft and made me laugh.

I do like that season 2 filled in Eric's emotional life a little bit, but I'm fine with him as he is too.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I guess it's just that I feel like I don't have solid footing with Eric. It reminds me a bit of Season 1 BtVS Angel where he's tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious who swoops in with something to say but who we actually don't know much about.

The Angel I love is the goofy Angel who like Barry Manilow and Charelston Heston movies. The tormented Angel who seems cursed to lose everyone. The petulent Angel who turns into a child when squabbling with Spike. The guy who did terrible things to save his son. I didn't really care at all about mysterious dark boyfriend for Buffy. I wanted a character.

Right now, I just don't feel like Eric has had much individual development, so I'm left sort of viewing him as a set piece. I want to like him, but for me to do so, I need to have a better grasp on him than I feel like I've been given thus far with the show.

[shapinglight]

I think it's possible we may get that with the current storyline. Being Queen Sophie Ann's V-dealer has put him in a very vulnerable position, plus he'll have to choose between helping Sookie and saving his own skin, and since he seems to have a big Thing for Sookie (rather inexplicably, but then she has some Mary-Sue-ish qualities), it might not be as easy as it appears.

We'll see.

[silverusagi]

Yeah, I'm also not feeling the Eric love.

Pam was great in her half-hearted (or no-hearted) attempts to stop Sookie from seeing Eric.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Heh! I loved Pams, "No sookie. Don't. Stop" in that so very not concerned voice.

And, I feel like I'm so out of step with everyone in that I'm just decidedly 'meh' on Eric.

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Well, I loved Eric last season (in which he displayed tons of vulnerability regarding Godric), but you're right - Ball and his writers have made him a cypher. Well, a nude, macho cypher, actually. They aren't messing around with any of that pesky depth which Whedon so inadvertently gave to Spike (well, to be fair, it was Marsters and various directors who gave Spike depth) - they're keeping him bad-assed and bare-assed, period.

I did not like this premiere because it's now completely obvious that Ball has disposed almost completely with Charlaine Harris's narrative, keeping only the "hot" characters (Alcide) or the ones which serve his purposes (mostly as villains - Debbie Pelt, Russell Edgington). I think the biggest fallout from this is Sookie, a character who now gives new meaning to the words "annoying" and "petulant." It's a real disservice to the book character, who is actually somewhat pleasant, resourceful, brave and no-nonsense, and would roll her eyes at Paquin's stupid foot-stampy flouncing. TV!Eric is suffering in a similar way. While Book!Eric is still a definite alpha male, he's a lot more vivid and fleshed-out (heh) in Harris's world.

I'm just waiting for the Godric flashbacks. Up until then I'm going to DVR the episodes, fast-forward through the stuff I hate (Jason, Tara, Sookie, Sookie/Bill, the werewolves) and then probably stop watching altogether.

Why do most of the shows I like degenerate so rapidly into pure crap?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's better that I haven't read the books and thus I don't compare the two. I know there are differences in the ways that some of the characters are portrayed.

I basically watch True Blood for the camp candy.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I feel like I'm totally out of sync with the fandom because thus far Eric does very little for me. I'm serious in that right now I prefer Bill's complete dorkiness to Eric's cool. I really odn't care about Sookie/Bill the pairing, but I at least feel that I understand it. Sookie/Eric feels (on the show) feels a lot like Sookie has been tricked into feeling things because he tricked her into drinking his blood. Because of that, I sort of resent that attraction, y'know? It doesn't feel 'real'. It feels like she was trapped into it. And I know that there was a different story with Bill/Sookie in the books, but thus far the show hasn't gone that rout so, not having read the books, it really doesn't change the way I view the show.

I have to admit though, that I rather enjoy Jason's ongoing stupidity. It makes me laugh, and I suppose in that regard, I'm pretty easy. I don't respect Jason, but I do find him to be funny.

The only couple I care about is Hoyte/Jessica, but I'm not even really invested in that. It's just the only pairing that I care about much at all. The rest of it is just for mindless fun.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Eric's a Magnificent Bastard who all too rarely gets to be either enough and I'm a Rogues Girl and always have been.

But Jason-Andy is comedy gold.

And Jessica/Hoyt adorable.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

See, I'm a rogue's girl. I love Rogues, but I just don't feel that Eric has been given enough meat to actually call him one. I just have no clue what Eric cares about or where his heart is. The only moment where I haven't felt that Eric wasn't being primarily a poseur was over Godric's death. Everything else feels like it's more about his deliberately projecting an image in being anything real. Roguish works when it doesn't seem quite so deliberate and when it has some hidden -- but occasionally glimpsed -- woobieness. I bought Eric's moment with Godric, but everything in this interaction with Sookie feels like he's deliberately manipulating her, and thus it doesn't do much for me emotionally. In fact, I vaguely resent it on Sookie's behalf.

The show just really needs to do more with showing me what Eric legitimately cares about. Until I have some feel for that, I'm just not foing to feel connected to him.

Jason/Andy is comedy gold! They're just such fun.

And I do live Jessica/Hoyte. Don't know where it's going, but I have my fingers crossed for them.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

I enjoy the heck out of True Blood, but I tend not to think too deeply about it. It's so over the top it's hard to take too seriously. I do like quite a few of the characters-- Jason & Andy, Jessica & Hoyt, Lafayette, and especially Sam. I think Eric is entertaining, but I haven't seen enough of him to join "team Eric". He is pretty though!

I'm kind of annoyed with what they're doing to Tara. I love her in the first season, but last season was terrible. This season isn't looking too promising for her character so far!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry about what they're doing to Tara as well. I loved her in Season 1. However, they've victimized her enough. Let her be proactive! Let her make conscious decisions! I don't like her being made a passive victim.

[sarian71]

"I am a fan of the Jason and Andy comedy tour. I think they're far and away my favorite couple on the show."

Hee! Mine, too! Maybe they should consider making a sitcom-ish spinoff revolving around this dynamic duo... :P

"It's not lack of like, it's that I'm not seeing whatever it is that so many other people in fandom are seeing. Which is to say sorry, folks, I haven't made it onto Team Eric. --- I, honest to God, prefer Bill at this point."

Phew... It's such a relief to know there's others who feel like this! Go Team Bill! :) I don't understand the hype and squee for Eric, for very much the same reasons you've stated here. (Plus, the Viking looks have never done anything for me. It's just not exotic and appealing to me in any way. So even that doesn't help. *sigh*) I've seen a lot of people repeatedly saying that during S2, he becomes more interesting when we get to know him better. Well, I watched S2, and I'm still waiting that to happen... It'll be interesting to see how I feel about him after S3.