Tuesday, September 14, 2010

“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 12

Mark gives us his final Sucker Punch of the season 

“I’m gonna be a minister’s wife!”
True, Lettie Mae’s assertion that she’s turned her life around by having an affair with her minister may not be the most important moment of this year’s season finale, “Evil Is Going On,” but for me, that declaration sums up a lot of what has made this season great.

For one thing, it’s a funny, tacky line, especially the way that Adina Porter delivers it, and True Blood would be nothing without its tacky humor and excellent acting.
But Lettie Mae’s pronouncement, made to Tara as they stand on Lettie Mae’s porch, also suggests a yawning chasm of desperation… of the pain brought about by misguided love. And if you’ve been reading Sucker Punch this year, then you know I’ve been following that very theme for weeks.
The Lettie Mae moment also captures the specific tenor of this episode. When she tells her daughter that she has found peace in the arms of a philandering man of God, you can see Tara’s heartbreak… and heartbreak ties everything together this week.
Because really, despite the murders and the screaming and the visions of demons, this is one of the saddest episodes of the year. It’s pretty gutsy to close the season on such a devastated note, but as I reflect on it, it makes sense. True Blood spent the last eleven episodes showing us all the ways that love can hurt people, and more to the point, it showed people doing crazy things because of that love. By ending the year in a (relatively) quiet place, the show gives itself the freedom to explore new emotional terrain in 2011. Instead of picking up at the same fevered point, it can take a breath and adjust its tone, if it chooses.

read on

1 comments:

Rita said...

I must say that i think between Mark and
Becca they are the two that liked the
show the most,but i don't believe Sam
shot and killed tommy cause he is to be back next season for several episodes
next year.So i guess that solves that.
the only two things i did not agree about
with the writers was Calvin and Hotshot,
and the fairies and fairy land that was the biggest mess ups of the show,as i really liked this season very much.And
Eric,Pam and Alcide live in Shreveport
not Bon Temps.