Blogger Kell Harker gives her verdict of episode three, season three of True Blood . [WARNING: Contains huge spoilers!]
3.03 "It Hurts Me Too"
Written by Alexander Woo
Directed by Michael Lehmann
Blogger rating:
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THE ONE WHERE Eric blackmails a hot werewolf bodyguard to protect Sookie when she heads to Mississippi in search of Bill; Jason doesn't study for his police written exam; the Mickens turn up for an unexpected visit at Merlotte's Bar; Arlene learns that she's pregnant, and not with Terry's baby; Franklin charms Tara and does a favour for Jessica; Bill is tormented by his past with Lorena, and makes an allegiance with the Vampire King.
VERDICT Honestly what makes this episode memorable is the huge twist at the end. Pun totally intended. In a fit of rage and desperate need for dominance, Bill initiates very rough sex with Lorena (which she very much enjoys.) But the real WTF moment happens when during sex, Bill turns Lorena's head around 180 degrees so he doesn't have to look at her face. Talk about a corkscrew! Geddit? Cork screw . Hardee har har. The (too) intense sex scene between Bill and Lorena was a shocker - not having read the books I really didn't see that one coming – so does this mean Bill has chosen to abandon Sookie for an unhappy eternity with Lorena? I'm tempted to catch up on the book series just to find out.
Sookie finally heads to Mississippi in search of Bill, and has hunky werewolf Alcide as her bodyguard. Not too much action happened for Sookie and Alcide except for the werewolf bar brawl, and I have a suspicion that there will be a lot more heroic moments for Alcide in the coming episodes. I'm still feeling disappointed that it wasn't Eric accompanying Sookie on her quest to find Bill.
In a hilarious tantrum, Bud quits as chief of police: "I quit! I've had it with this shit! Every time we clear one murder, two more spring up. It's like crabgrass." His character has always been pretty useless to plot advancement, but I've always enjoyed him on the show, however minor his role was and his one-liners usually gave me a chuckle. I'm hoping that his character won't disappear completely from the series. My guess is that town hero Andy Bellefleur will be the one to fall into the role as chief of police.
Vampire Franklin is becoming more and more intriguing as his agenda – he has interests in Bill, but it isn't clear why - remains a mystery. I like his character. He's shy and creepy, but also charming and funny. His line, "I met a delightful baby vampire tonight" made me laugh-out-loud. Franklin does have sweetness about him, but there's no doubt that he's dangerous one. I find him much more menacing than the werewolves to be honest.
For the most part this is just a set-up episode for plot advancement with a lot of very strange vampire sex in it. It's a bit flat in places, especially the storyline of the Mickens family, but the dialogue isn't lacking in cleverness or humour at all and the wide array of new characters and the changes in Bill's character are keeping me happy and waiting impatiently for the next episode.
HOT NEW WOLF IN TOWN Joe Manganiello makes his debut as protector to Sookie playing the charming, heroic, and easy on the eyes werewolf Alcide Herveaux. Could he be the new love interest for her? Will we be seeing "Team Bill", "Team Alcide", and "Team Eric" marketing on t-shirts soon? Please, no.
MORE SEX PLEASE, WE'RE HBO Tara finds comfort - in the form of amazing, mind-altering sex - with vampire Franklin, but instantly regrets it once she's gotten hers and then rudely leaves the hotel room before he could even get her name.
Also a really fun sex scene was Pam enjoying some naughty oral play with a Fangtasia beauty. Despite it mostly being left up to the imagination, it had funny dialogue from Pam and great, ahem, sound effects.
LMAO Jessica finally learns where her missing trucker corpse has gone to when Franklin pulls the guy's head out of a paper bag and uses it as a puppet.
WTF? Stephen Moyer did an amazing job portraying Bill's temporary insanity, but the 180 degree Lorena head turn was a bit over-the-top and looked too ridiculous. Maybe even more disturbing was Lorena actually enjoying it.
BEST LINE Eric: [To Sookie after killing a werewolf] "I got your rug all wet."
This is a personal review from blogger Kell Harker. What did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts about it in the comments section below. Look out for SFX's review in issue 199 of the mag.
