The Eggplant

Sometimes when a show begins to take itself too seriously, it finds a way to become more interesting simply for the sheer camp. I got to that point about 1/3rd through the first season of Twin Peaks. I’m hoping very much that True Blood doesn’t cross that threshold, but I’m afraid that this episode may have.

After finding Dawn dead, Jason is once again the principle suspect in a murder. Afraid of being caught with the vampire blood he bought from LaFayette last episode,Jason chugs all of it in the backseat of the squad car as the Sheriff hauls him off. Jason’s, er libido becomes uncontrollable to the point of ridiculousness and has to run to the bathroom to try to contain himself. Eventually, Tara comes to save Jason as the two hick law enforcement officers where unable to actually charge him with anything. Jason ends up at home masturbating furiously in a vain attempt to get his juggernaut of an erection under control. Instead of relief, he gets calluses on his hands. Tara saves his butt again, dragging Jason to the doctor to have penis drained. The following cringe-inducing scene is so wrong and painful on so many levels that I could hardly stand to watch it.

At the request of her grandmother, Sookie listens into the townspeople’s thoughts hoping to clear Jason’s name. Their general consensus is either Jason did it, or it was because of Dawn’s recklessness hanging out at the Vampire bar in Shreveport. Sookie asks Bill to take her to the Vampire bar. The bar is both silly and  stereotypical. Sookie makes fun of the bar’s atmosphere calling it, “a Vampire bar at Disneyland.” It slowly gets more serious as the night goes on. Eric, the eldest vampire summons over Bill and Sookie. Unsurprisingly, Eric takes a liking to Sookie and it seems not even Bill could protect Sookie from Eric if he desired her. A police raid breaks up the exchange, but its clear that Eric’s presence will be a regular one.

In the final scene, Sam the friendly torch-carrying bar owner opens the door to Dawn’s apartment, smells her sheets and pillows while wallowing in her bed. It’s the latest in a long line of clues that Sam is in fact, a werewolf. I’m not sure how adding a werewolf to this already confused plot is supposed to help. Regardless, it seems sure we’ll have a werewolf in the mix at some point as well..

I might have been wrong about the seriousness of the tone of True Blood, but its easy to see how one could get confused. When I originally watched True Blood I believed it was an attempt to draw a thematic line between civil rights and the character of the vampire. I might have been fooled. It feels more now like it was a gimmick. The plot took a campier tone as we get to see the horrifying effect of vamp blood on the penis and a man rolling in a dead woman’s sheets like a dog. I have no idea where this show is going and I may have to let go of the desire to even want to know. We may just have to let the show surprise us.