by Chris Saccaro
It’s hard to believe we’re already five episodes into this season of “True Blood,” because truthfully, not much has happened in terms of story. The overall show still feels like it’s setting up for a big breakthrough that just isn’t happening.
The characters involved in the Authority and Sanguinistas are still messing around, without actually doing anything. After last week’s reveal that there were traitors in the midst of the Authority, you’d think there would be more of a backlash. But instead, things remain stagnant—except for the fact that Bill and Eric now have a countdown attached to their lives.
This means that Bill and Eric have to stop spying on Sookie’s lovemaking with Alcide (it is still weird for them to be doing that), and request her fairy powers to help find Russell. This whole storyline feels like it could have happened so much earlier in the season, or at the very least, during last week’s episode. After some exploring, they discover Russell in an abandoned asylum. It’s really quite anticlimactic, despite what the ending would have you believe.
Meanwhile, a potentially redeeming and interesting friendship is over before it even begins, as Tara assaults Hoyt moments after having a heart to heart with Jessica. I really thought this friendship could be interesting, considering how similar Jessica and Tara’s vampire stories are to each other.
Just as Sam seemingly escapes his werewolf drama, he gets pulled into some other mess of people who kill supernatural beings. As he goes to Luna to warn her, they both get shot. But the little werewolf pup gets away safely, which is all I care about at this point. Luna has been such a non-entity in the show that this turn of events is just that–a turn of events. The only thing of interest that comes from this development is Jason possibly going on an “anti-supe” tirade (again) as he believes that vampires have been getting away with murders for years, including that of his parents. I really hope the writers don’t go through with this, as we already had a fanatical Jason Stackhouse, and it seems redundant to redo it, even if Jason has vengeance backing him up.
That brings us to two of the most obscure storylines of the season–Lafayette’s and Terry’s. Jesus’ head plagues Lafayette as he tries to fight his inner demons. I guess we’ll find out more about this in the next few episodes, but for now it’s just not of any interest.
In an attempt to ground Terry’s storyline into the “True Blood” universe of mystical creatures, the show reveals that Terry and the other soldiers were being followed by an Ifrite, a supernatural fire creature common in Arabic and Islamic cultures. Despite adding a supernatural element to it, the story still just feels out of place. Unless it somehow factors into the Vampire Civil War, I don’t see how it will work, or why it’s necessary to introduce during this season.
So far, everything that’s happening still feels like it’s setting up the pieces of an elaborate board game, yet we’re almost halfway done with the season. This sort of set-up is what one would expect in the first or second episode. But as we conclude the fifth episode, everything still feels just shy of getting somewhere. And rather than making me feel like I want more, it’s just making me wonder if I should wait until the finale for anything to actually happen.
Chris Saccaro is a staff writer. Email him at entertainment@nyunews.com.
