“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 8

Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments on this week’s episode of True Blood dvd.

True Blood Seasons 1-3 DVD Box Set

—

 True Blood  dvd races back to form with “Night on the Sun,” an episode that returns us to the season’s fascination with the unavoidable sacrifice of love.

This time, though, the iris expands so that we can see the sacrifices of love compared to the casualties of lust. And because the results in both cases tend to be violent,  we’re asked to consider how similar the two impulses really are—how a visceral passion is sometimes just filled with viscera, no matter how we define it.

To drive that point home, this episode bursts with characters who are hunting. And I don’t mean “hunting for meaning in their lives.” I mean they are actually hunting other living creatures, be they wolves, humans, shifters, or Sookie.

The addition of all this hunting—and in some cases, the capturing—feels absolutely appropriate for this point in the season. There are only four episodes left, so now’s the time to make good on the promises of action we’ve gotten all summer. Now’s the time for the cocked pistols to be fired, and the results are exhilarating.

For instance… as you’ve probably noticed, I’ve long been dubious about the Bill/Sookie relationship, but this week, their bloody make-up sex feels loaded with purpose. After breaking up at the beginning of the episode, amidst sensible claims that they’re terrible for each other, they find themselves hurled together in Gran’s house, fighting off attackers. And sure, Jessica’s there for a minute, helping them battle werewolves, but at the end, it’s just Bill and Sookie, Sookie and Bill, standing bloody in a bombed-out parody of a cozy family home.

It’s a great image, because if they’re going to love each other, Bill and Sookie have to sacrifice calm and normal lives. And how do they react to that realization? By getting freaky, y’all. Like, frizzy-frizz freaky. Right there on the floor, surrounded by broken glass and blood and probably bits of fur.

And yes, yes, yes… I realize this could be Bill and Sookie’s break-up sex and that next week, they could be separated forever so that Sookie can stop just flirting with Alcide and start actively hitting it. I mean, to me, it seems like Bill and Sookie’s scromping just confirms my theory from last week that the show will never let them stay apart, but I understand that there are Charlaine Harris novels and internet spoilers and interviews with Alan Ball that contradict me.

But just so I’m clear: I don’t use those sources to absorb and analyze this show. I’ve decided to experience True Blood  dvd entirely by itself. That’s partly a matter of taste and time, but it’s mostly because I think it’s more fun to be surprised every week and not know what’s coming. (I’m certain that many viewers are in the same position I’m in… just taking it episode by episode.) If you really really really think I’m a doofus for doing that, and if you really really really think that my approach totally invalidates my critiques, then I’m not going to argue with you. But I’m not going to change my approach either, so let’s agree to disagree.

Anyway… let’s get back to the fun stuff. Because while I was on that tangent, Eric successfully “hunted” Talbot, got naked with him, licked his inner thigh, made my blood pressure rise about thirty points, and then staked Talbot through the back. DAMN. Oh, and he implied that he’s had plenty of sex with men.

See… I love that. On one level, it’s trashy and hot, but on another, it just continues to expand our understanding of Sir Viking. Now that his revenge plot is fully in motion, who will he become? I can’t wait to find out.

And now that Jessica seems to have sacrificed her love for Hoyt—if only because she thinks she doesn’t deserve him—what will happen to her? You’ll notice that she ended the episode by hunting, too, and it was no accident that Hoyt unwittingly drove past her as she killed a werewolf who was begging for his life. It was like watching her humanity go down the road as she succumbed to darkness. Now, I think Jessica’s still got too much soul to be a total monster by next week, but it’s interesting that she’s giving over to darkness more and more. (And may I add how much I enjoyed her Matrix training with Bill? And their awesomely corny “No way”/”Way” exchange about Bill and Sookie’s break-up?)

Back on the hunting tip: Lafayette’s mama is hunting him down… so she can protect him. She’s sacrificing her own safety and comfort in order to keep him safe from the people she just knows are looking for him. And what does her hunting lead to, at least indirectly? Sex between Lafayette and Jesus. This relationship is bubbling up from some very twisted events, so I’ve got to believe it’s going to get complicated very soon.

Likewise, I’d wager Crystal and Jason aren’t going anywhere but downhill. They’re both putting themselves in danger to be together. Plus, thanks to Crystal, Jason’s hunting the shifter meth-heads and the shifter meth-heads are hunting him.

From a writing perspective, I appreciate how the shifter meth-heads are pulling Sam and Tommy into Jason and Crystal’s story. The brothers make a great team—loose-cannon energy coupled with weary maturity—and I’d love to see them battle evil as a team. Dog & Dog vs. Meth Dog. That’s a movie I would watch.

I’d also watch a complete series about Arlene. I loved this week’s dream sequence with Rene–even if I think the series relies on dreams sequences too much—because it pointed out that while she’s terrified of being hurt by vampires, Arlene is also carrying the child of a serial killer. The queen doth discriminate too much! Plus, it’s clear that the new waitress Holly has some kind of magic, “I can tell you’re pregnant” power, so Arlene’s going to have to face her anti-ability prejudices very soon.

But let’s get back to the movies. After Dog & Dog vs. Meth Dog, I’d definitely pay for the sequel: V-Wolf vs. Fairy Girl. Because seriously? That fight between Debbie and Sookie is one of the wildest things I’ve seen on TV. Sookie breaks a mirror with Debbie’s head! Then she cuts her in the face with scissors! And then Debbie punches her in the jaw! And all along, you can tell that the series is reveling in the prison-girl excess.

And that kind of excess deserves respect. That’s why V-Wolf vs. Fairy Girl is this week’s Sucker Punch.