TRUE BLOOD: wuzzon

3x01 to 3x09

I've watched all but the most recent episode this season, so, up to episode 9, "Everything Is Broken," and just wanna review and collect some thoughts. The melodrama between Bill and SuhKAY continues to be frickin tedious, but I gotta say, there's some interesting stuff going on.

What up with the Magic Garden?

So, she's near death, and while unconscious, astrally visits some kind of magic garden, a nicely landscaped playground full of lush and blooming vegetation, populated by frolicking hot little women and men.

Is the environment actually a bright and green version of a location we've seen in Sookie's waking life? I *think* there were headstones...? A graveyard?

Anyhow, one of them—the leader? was her name Maia? * Later. It was Claudine, my badd—seems to recognize Sookie. Sookie does not recognize her, her frolicking friends, or her surroundings. Sookie seems to be one of them, but suffering from amnesia, unaware of her origins and heritage. Claudine is not helpful at all in filling in the blanks.

All of the magical Maypolers scarper off (did they all descend into the pool?) as the garden is overtaken by shadow. Coincidentally, in the waking world, Bill arrives at Sookie's hospital bedside.

Of course, we've seen since then that Bill has visited this garden, also encountering Miss Claudine, who is instantly fearful of him. Bill begins to declare his love and protectorship of Sookie, but after a few seconds seems to give in to a Vampire's desire for neckness, and when he lunges for her, we see Claudine dispatch him with a familiar joybuzzer move.

Bill's entrance into the garden was thru an apparently subterranean access. It appeared to be a (his?) basement earthen chamber, with a wooden trap door, somehow set into the same pool thru which all the Maypolers exited. I forget—is that how Sookie arrived when she visited?

So, it seems to me that Bill is granted access to the Magic Garden thanks to the amount of Sookie's blood that he's drunk. The same blood (over)dose that allowed him to survive being chucked into daylight by Tara and El Cid during their Mississippi getaway drive.

Sookie's Magic Gardeners seem to be by nature in direct opposition to vampires. Bill's encounter with Claudine established that for me. What is the opposite of a vampire? A vampire, = the reanimated dead, fueled by the blood of the living, fearful of daylight... The nearest thing I can think of is an angel. Could there have been a fallen or wandering angel roosting somewhere high up in the Stackhouse family tree? The trappings of the frolickers don't exactly speak to me of angels, tho. More like a Greco-Roman posse belonging to Bacchus or Dionysus. But we've alredy gone there with Mary Ann whatzherhead, right? How frickin annoying was all that? Still... There are all manner of Greeky types to mine for a fun supernatural heritage... Nymphs. Are there boy nymphs, too? Himphs? Maybe they're an offshoot of vampires? Or perhaps the progenitors of vampires? Supernatural Eloi to the Morlockian vampires?

Hrmm... But Claudine seems to KNOW Sookie. As if she existed before. Like one of XANADU's muses, y'know? A supernatural who visits the mortal plane every once in a while. So, maybe Sookie has chosen to walk the earth, but as a mortal, isn't allowed memory of her supernatural, Magic Gardener self. The Stackhouse bloodline, for SOME reason, allows these Magic Gardeners to be born into the mortal plane for such visits.

I wonder if she can meet her nephew in the garden. And maybe the bellhop from that Dallas vampire hotel...? Hrmm... What if everyone in the garden is also a telepath in the waking world? What if this is their common, kinda lame, astral playground...?

Why do any vampires want/track/care about Sookie?

The revelations that Bill was in the employ of the Queen, and that he was supposedly on sabbatical from his job when he met Sookie, leads me to believe that his meeting Sookie and bonding with her IS in fact part of a plan. The Queen—and perhaps Bill, but let's say just the Queen for now—have been tracking the Stackhouse family and its gifted members for generations. Their gift is the sign of a supernatural ancestor in the family tree. The Queen believes that the blood of one with this gift is the key to some greater power, or perhaps an advantage over other vampires and supernaturals.

That's one way this could go, at least. Bill himself, a servant of the Queen, may be serving her while also looking to forward a plan of his own. Altho he honors the laws of vampire society, he certainly doesn't seem to care for advancement within the vampire world. Does Bill want to be human? Does he want to be human to be with Sookie? Does he want to be human to die a human? I'm not sure I've seen that there's a serious motivation for Bill to want to be human, especially now, a century plus after his living breathing loved ones have passed, but, let's just assume he's got a reason. Maybe he's discovered, on his own or via the Queen's research and plans, that Sookie's blood is the key to regaining his humanity, to "curing" vampirism. Or, maybe just countering the vulnerabilities...?

A probably dead-end thought about the Queen...

The Queen has been around, and she seems steeped in the supernatural, beyond vampire tradition and culture. She's the one who filled in the blanks for Bill about Mary Ann, remember? Her interest in and possession of such knowledge lends some strength to my above thoughts about tracking the Stackhouses and using/planting Bill in a position to protect and/or collect Sookie herself. It also got me thinking about another possibility...

Yes, she/her estate is in dire financial straits since the Great Revelation. We've seen her scratching lottery tickets in the hopes of a big payoff that will cover her debts to the IRS. We've also learned that she ordered Sheriff Northman to distribute V, vampire blood. Whose blood is it, tho? Having seen the way Eric tricked Sookie into drinking his blood so that she would unwittingly forge a blood connection with him, I had the thought that the Queen might be using HER OWN BLOOD to sell as a drug, establishing psychic blood connections with every human who takes it. We've seen her vampire-hedonistic ways, and this sort of thing seems consistent with that. We've seen that vampires are aware of when their blooded human companions are in danger, and perhaps to some degree of their general location. In what OTHER ways might a vampire be connected to a blooded human? Imagine if the Queen's blood, as V, connects her to thousands of humans. What must that be like for her senses? What kind of additional powers or abilities might it grant her? Perhaps in combination with a boost from Stackhouse blood...?

Eric v. Russell

I LOVE the Northman backstory, and really enjoyed his interview w the V-Feds. That was a very sensible story move, having him waylaid by them, which essentially, temporarily, put him in their protection, safe from Russell. The outcome, with the Authority basically enlisting him as their black ops agent against Russell, was pretty cool. Alas, disavowed and unofficial, he can receive no help from the Authority. Now, though, in light of Russell's very public declaration of war against humanity, I'm thinking that Authority will be launching its own operation.

I kind of hope that Eric continues to pursue Russell using only his own resources and connections. Do we think that Russell's wolfpack is not so much in play any more? Hrmm... Will Russell find other vampires to join his crusade openly? Some of those Texas $hitkickers we met in Dallas?

I would love to see Eric recruit a few familiar human faces (and maybe a shifter?) to help him in an assault against Russell and his wolves. He could V/blood them up, making them the supercharged matches for werewolves and vamp thugs.

Geez, would the Authority team up with the Children Of Light against Russell? Maybe Jason could raid their armory.

A couple of last things...

WTF is up with Tommy? He, and his family, are turning into the Mary Ann subplot of this season. Bleah. I don't know what Tommy adds to the unfolding stories at all. His smartmouth and punk attitude do serve to destabilize Sam a bit, who's been a rock since the start. But in what world is that a good thing? Granted, I liked watching him beat the crap out of Crystal's drug-dealing were-dad, but that whole situation was just weird and out of place, somehow. Why wouldn't were-dad fight back? Is Tommy somehow in cahootz w them? Is there something to gain from somehow turning Sam to a dark side?

I like Deb and Hoyt together.

I like Pam's devotion to and empathy for Eric.

What's up w the Hot Shot racist meth-dealing werewolves? They ARE all werewolves, right? The guy they tied up left his clothes behind and all, just like one of Russell's boys.

Thing is, I still feel like Crystal is Something Else. A supernatural being who has somehow been captured or tricked into the life she lives w these hillbilly drug dealers.

Hrmm... Just thought of something. Eric kicked their asses on Lafayette's behalf and didn't mention anything about their supernature. Hrmm... That tells me they can't be werewolves. WTF?

But it really seemed like Sam and Tommy identified Crystal's dad, by scent, as a werewolf, right?

Hrmm... Maybe there's a serum? A "W" like there is a "V?" Werewolf blood that bestows upon a human the powers of a werewolf for a limited time. Or perhaps the Hot Shotters' wolfiness is powered by Crystal's supernature, a fake, artificial, magicked-up werewolf-ness. One that carries a scent, but not the same aura.

Allright, that's more than enough crazy TRUE BLOOD talk for now.

Keep on keepin on~