“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 12

Oh my God… it’s like this episode was delivered directly to my heart. It’s like Alan Ball and company looked at an X-ray of my desires and said, “Oh, okay. Let’s give Mark everything he wants for the end of the season.” And sure, that’s not what actually happened, but I love this episode no less, no less, no less.
“And When I Die” is a prophetic title since many characters do just that. I’ve been frustrated with the show for weeks because it keeps creating faux-dangerous situations for its lead characters, then rescuing them fifteen seconds later, with no one actually dying or (more importantly) changing. It’s been exhausting.
This week, however, real change visits everyone, and in at least a few cases, real death. I’m not saying I’ve been wanting characters to die, per se, but it’s nice to see the writers commit to the end of several arcs and then suggest how the survivors are going  move on. Rather than getting stuck in the rut of “I died, but then I drank your blood/inhabited your body,” we get some honest-to-god evolution.
Granted, I expect at least one of these deaths to be magically reversed next season, but since so many other changes have been set it motion, I’ll be fine with that. If any of these people survive, then they’ll be returning to a different world.
But let’s get back to the episode:

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 11 by Mark Blankenship

I liked several things about “Soul of Fire,” but since I want us to leave in a good mood, I’m going to save them until the end. First, I’ve gotta deliver some tough love…
I hart True Blood, but this entire season has been based on a bogus conflict.

For eleven episodes, we’ve been watching the Witch-Vampire war, and we’ve been told the war is important because it could result in vampire extinction. Martonia has been determined to obliterate the fangers, and the vampires have been afraid she could actually do it. Scenes like Jessica’s slow crawl to the sun have suggested the vampires are this close to getting wiped out, and we’re obviously supposed to be worried about it. By extension, we’re also supposed to worry for Sookie. In this episode, when Martonia surrounds her in a burning ring of fire, we’re supposed to think that she could die for trying to help the vamps.
But we know it’s just a tease. True Blood is a vampire show, and on a vampire show, the vampires are never going to lose. Meanwhile, Sookie is the lead character, so even though she’s not a vampire, she’s not going to die, either. Therefore, all this witch vs. vampire stuff is just a waste of our time. Instead of getting wrapped up in it and wondering how it will end, I get bored and frustrated, waiting for Marnie’s inevitable defeat.

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True Blood Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 10

People have been losing control of their bodies and their identities all season, but in "Burning Down the House," almost all of those issues are resolved. A few characters even face permanent consequences, without getting help from vampire blood or glamouring! Woo!
In the very first scene, we say goodbye to Forgetful Eric. Just as he's about to kill Bill at the Tolerance Rally -- which was thrown into chaos when Martonia sent her vampire zombies on a murderous rampage -- Sookie blasts him with 1,000 volts of FaerieLight. She not only gets him away from Bill, but also returns his memories in a (literal) flash.

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 8

You may remember that last week, Marnie allowed her body to become a vessel for Antonia, so Martonia was born. This week, Lafayette’s body is invaded by the spirit of Mavis, the ghost-woman who’s been haunting Baby Mikey. Therefore, it’s time to welcome… LaMavis. Politely avert your eyes as she breaks into your house and steals your baby.

For me, LaMavis is the most interesting element of “Spellbound,” the first weak episode of this otherwise strong season. As a reader mentioned in an email, Nelsan Ellis deserves a prize for physically suggesting Mavis by straightening his shirt just so and adjusting his walk to an elegant glide. He plays Lafayette as a powerful character who is equal parts masculine and feminine, so when he heightens the femininity in LaMavis, we feel it right away. Once again, Emmy voters, I ask you where the love is.
Regarding the story, LaMavis is an important counterweight to Martonia: Marnie willingly gave her body to Antonia, but Lafayette’s body is taken, just like Jason’s body was “taken” in Hotshot and just like Tommy has “taken” (or shifted into) the bodies of Sam and Maxine. Will Lafayette resist? Is there a struggle for spiritual control raging inside his body? Remember that scene in Ghost where Oda Mae forces the ghost out of her body? Will Lafayette kick Mavis out that way? That would be awesome.

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True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 7

Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments on this week’s episode of True Blood.
—
You guys, the very beginning of “Cold Grey Light of Dawn” made me think I was going crazy. See, I’ve got a borderline addiction to the game Plants vs. Zombies. Even though I’ve beaten it three times and have completed all but one of the achievement tasks (curse you, Survival: Endless!), I just keep playing. I keep pilfering my partner’s iPad and developing new strategies for garlic and corn-pults. In fact, I had just finished a game when I fired up this week’s True Blood, and to make sure I didn’t start playing during an Alcide scene , I put the iPad on the other side of the living room.
But then the episode started… and I heard Plants v. Zombies. I almost lost my mind. Was the iPad playing for me? Did my apartment have ghost who really wanted to beat the fog levels? I was spooked.
Then, of course, I realized that Katerina, the spy that Bill placed in Marnie’s coven, was playing PvZ on her iPad as she came down to check on Marnie/Antonia in her cell. I sighed with actual relief.
But think about this: Katerina stumbles upon Luis, whose mind is under Marnie/Antonia’s control. She sees hims “attacking” Martonia and threatens to shoot him, and Martonia sics him on her. Martonia wants to escape Bill’s prison, but she also wants revenge on Katerina for being a spy… or a plant. And since Luis is under her control, he’s moving around like a zombie. It’s Plants v. Zombies: True Blood Edition. TOO MUCH!

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 4 by Mark Blankenship

Mark's great Sucker Punch is up - he even quotes are great discussion we had on Talk Blood about the Jason rape storyline ..last night was a really good show .. make sure you listen to the podcast !

Before we get started on this week’s installment, “I’m Alive and On Fire,” I have to revisit last week. In our discussion, some of you pointed out that HBO posted a featurette on the episode in which director David Petrarca and writer-series creator Alan Ball discuss the werepanthers’ plot to breed Jason against his will. “He kind of gets his comeuppance here,” says Petrarca. “The thing that he’s most been proud of becomes the thing that could most possibly endanger him.” Ball adds, “It’s kind of interesting to see the kind of guy who really gets his sense of worth from his sexual prowess to all of a sudden be kind of objectified and sort of used against his will.”

This really disturbs me. As “I’m Alive and On Fire” makes even clearer, the werepanthers aren’t just “objectifying” Jason. They’re raping him. They’ve kidnapped him and now they’re raping him. This week, Jason at least uses that word, but still, Ryan Kwanten delivers it with his slightly comic “pretty boy” inflection, so it almost becomes a laugh line.
Think how these scenes would play if a female character were tied to the bed as man after man came into to rape her. Would we be amused? If the woman slept around, would Petrarca and Ball call the repeated rapes her “comeuppance?” I appeared on a True Blood radio show last night, and the host pointed out that by saying Jason’s promiscuity justifies the rapes, Petrarca and Ball are close to saying a woman “has it coming” when she wears a short skirt. I’m startled Petrarca and Ball could be so tone-deaf.  There’s no justification for treating Jason’s ordeal like retribution or entertainment. It’s horrible, and it has resulted in the most stomach-churning arc in the history of the series.

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What do you all think ? Listen below to show

Listen to internet radio with True Blood in Dallas on Blog Talk Radio

True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 3 by Mark Blankenship

Before we dig into the inter-species bloodfest of this week’s installment, “If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin’?”, let me thank everyone who emailed me with their nominees for Sucker Punch of the Week. It’s great hearing from you all… because it reminds me that I’m not the only dork who sits at home on Sunday night getting really, really into this show.

Be warned, though, that I cannot be bribed into picking a Sucker Punch of the week. Cannot! Unless you can get Little Debbie to revive their long-dormant Spice Cake flavor, which was my favorite in the 80s. If you do that, then I will happily anoint any Sucker Punch you choose.

But before I write another pleading/angry letter to McKee Foods, let’s carry on… because I’m anxious to talk about Eric. His sudden “loss” at the hands of the witches—loss of memory, loss of self, loss of control—could be the greatest arc of this season.

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep. 2 by Mark Blankenship

Mark will be my co-host on Talk Blood radio next week!

I’d like to begin the discussion of this week’s installment, “You Smell Like  Dinner,” with a word about nudity. And no, that word is not “delicious,” despite the physiques of the cast.
This week, I was struck that the show’s relationship to nudity is very complex. Sure, nakedness always comes with a sexual charge, but when characters are naked, they are more likely to drop the conditioning of human society and start spilling inner secrets or behaving like animals. That’s a fairly standard metaphor, I guess—frenzied liberation makes the characters in the musical Hair get naked, too—but True Blood complicates things by letting nakedness reveal different things in different folks. Not everyone is releasing the same kind of wild honesty.

Take Luna, one of the shifters in Sam’s new support group/Run Like A Pony club. Early in the episode, we see her finish a pony run with Sam. They’re both lying on the ground, panting and nude. and since they’re really into each other, there’s obviously frisson. However, they don’t get freaky in the dirt. Instead, they talk about their attraction to each other, about their desire to be honest with each other, and about the difficulty of opening up when you’ve got a lot of big secrets. And when Sam does goes in for a kiss, Luna runs away, in horse form. The suggestion is that Luna, at her naked and vulnerable core, is likely to bolt.

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'True Blood' Returns; Let's Run Down The Gaudiest Moments by Mark Blankenship

I am thrilled that Mark will be returning this year as co-host for Talk Blood which returns next Sunday night at 9:30 pm ! Mark's new home this season is the NPR Monkey See Blog and he welcomes your comments !

Critic Mark Blankenship has been writing about True Blood for quite some time, and in honor of the show's return, we've invited him to share his first Sucker Punch recap of the season here at Monkey See. You can find more of Mark's writing (including past Sucker Punches) already archived. Please be advised that this is an episode recap. That means that it will talk about what happened on the show, so "contains spoilers" should be obvious.

Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that finds the gaudiest moments on an episode of True Blood.

Before we dive into the Season 4 premiere, let me welcome the first-time readers of Sucker Punch, which is partly a recap of each episode and partly a hunt for the most outre moments in the series.

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Set your TIVOs ! Our friend, Mark Blankenship of Talk Blood fame will be on Joy Behar tomorrow night!

Our good friend ( you all know him for Sucker Punch reviews and for being on Talk Blood Radio with me ) will be on Joy Behar tomorrow night!

Mark  writes for his own blog Critical Condition and for Huffington Post - we are so proud of him!
Can someone record it and turn it into a Youtube video ??

Joy Behar here http://joybehar.blogs.cnn.com/

Check your local listing for HLN ! Yippeeee

Mark was great ! read transcript here 

“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.

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 11

Team Talk Blood member , Mark Blankenship wonderful column on Ep11

Compared to Russell’s de-spining of a television news anchor, every other moment in this season of True Blood may seem tame by comparison. Perhaps they know that—or perhaps they know that we need to take a breath before the blow-out of the season finale—because writer Nancy Oliver and director Daniel Minahan make “Fresh Blood” a relatively quiet episode. Instead of focusing on the gory or the baroque, they deliver scenes that thrive on what isn’t said, or what’s said in a quiet voice.

Take the lovely scene where Bill and Sookie drive back from Fangtasia, after Sookie gets sprung from the wheel of misfortune. They play a game of imagining what their “normal” relationship would be like, and their dreams are heartbreakingly simple. Bill wants to be a third-grade teacher who loves his job, and he wants to go fishing with Jason. Sookie wants a big flower garden, a  real-estate license, and an occasional double date with Terry and Arlene.
That’s just so… sweet. And sad. Because even though they allow themselves a moment of fantasy, Bill and Sookie clearly know that they will never have these things: Not just because they’re together, but because Bill is a vampire and Sookie is half-fairy. The paradox is that they are human enough to appreciate what they’re missing by not being fully human. Hearing them voice that—and watching Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin convey that—drives home another rich emotion that runs through this series: Ache.

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True Blood Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 9

Team Talk Blood Member,  Mark Blankenship send us his Ep 9 "Sucker Punch" 

This week's installment may be called "Everything Is Broken," but I'd argue for "Everything Is Waiting" instead. The episode feels like it's moving chess pieces into place and leaving the final three installments to make decisive plays.
But even without lots of action, "Everything Is Broken" is elegantly structured. The storytelling's obvious plan gives me confidence that we're going out with a bang this year.
Take Bill's descent (ascent? dream-scent?) into fairyland. It's solely designed to deliver information that we can use later. Or rather, it's designed to let us know that Bill has received information, even though we don't get to know what it is. There's no action, per se, just the preparation for actions yet to come.
Clearly, this plot strand is about to overlap with several others in the super-narrative that I'm calling Sookie's True Identity.
Who else is participating in STI? Well, Cousin Hadley, of course. Her arc began when she whispered to Eric about Sookie's nature, and now she's confessing to Sookie about her confession to Eric. (Follow me?) Meanwhile, she's also introducing Sookie to her own mind-reading son, Hunter, and intimating that whoever wants Sookie will want him, too.
Another piece of STI comes from Bill's secret file. This week, he tells Sookie about it, but doesn't quite tell her what it means.
In other words, lots of people know about Sookie's True Identity, and they're all prepared to reveal or act upon that information. The only ones who don't know STI are Sookie herself and us.

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 7

I've already emailed Mark to ask him what size Texas Stetson hat I should send for him to eat...now remember he is  TV critic ! 

WE WILL be talking Sunday night on Talk Blood Radio about my belief that the debate about whether True Blood fans should be reading the books is OVER and that the script writing assumes much of the time that watchers have read the freaking books (Alan Ball in EVERY single interview certainly thinks you have ) and I certainly believe you get LOTS more out of True Blood,  if you have read the books than you lose! I can guarantee that!!!

I think I'll also put a copy of “Dead to the world “in the mail to him today. 
Peru ( or the TB equivalent) here we come ! Haha

Team Talk Blood member , Mark Blankenship Sucker Punch for Ep 7

After delivering two exceptional segments in a row, True Blood comes closer to earth with “Hitting the Ground.” That’s not to say that the episode is bad—it’s really pretty good—but it does contains some frustrating elements.
And by “frustrating elements,” I mean, “this whole thing with Bill.”

Now in this very moment, I’m engaged with what’s happening to him. By viciously attacking Sookie in the back of that van—despite the fact that he seemed to be unaware of what he was doing—Bill has gotten himself ostracized from the human community that means so much to him. By helping Sookie kill Lorena (Bye-bye, diva! We’ll miss you!), he’s only furthering his alienation from his fellow vampires, whom he’s already been pissing off or avoiding for quite some time.
In other words, Bill has become a creature without a country.
And the show is suggesting this will make him an evil bastard. You noticed, I’m sure, that after drinking Sookie’s fairy blood (more on that in a minute), he is kinda-sorta impervious to sunlight. And then when Sookie is in magic fairy dreamland, her magic fairy bestie tells her that Bill is going to steal her light. And then dreamland gets dark.

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 6

Mark Blankenship gives us his "'Sucker Punch"  for this week's True Blood episode!

What a difference a year makes, you guys. Around this time last season, True Blood and I were in a fight. The turgid Maryann business was driving me crazy, the subplot in Dallas felt disconnected from everything else… it was rough. Now, however, the show and I have more than made up. We’re thinking about moving in together. Because seriously… the series is having its best run of episodes ever.

Case in point: “I Got a Right to Sing the Blues.” An exceptional hour of television—written by Alan Ball and directed by John Dahl—it hurls scene after scene at my gut, my heart, and my brain. In fact, so many moments strike me so deeply that I’m hard-pressed to anoint just one Sucker Punch. But since they don’t pay me the big blogger bucks to be wishy-washy, I’ll make a choice.

Before I do, however, let me ask you this: Have you noticed that most of the action is unfolding at Russell’s Mississippi estate? Every room  has its own drama, from Franklin and Tara: Totes in Love in the upstairs bedroom to Stealing Daddy’s Crown in the basement. Meanwhile, the slave quarters have become Lorena and Bill’s own Grand Guignol theater, and the manicured grounds are being prowled by werewolves

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 5

Team Talk Blood Member, Mark Blankenship nails episode 5 with this week's Sucker Punch"

This episode, “Trouble,” was kind of flawless. It may be my favorite of the entire series.

I’ve been chewing on why this television morsel tastes oh-so-sweet, and here’s what I’m thinking: It perfectly balances the multiple dichotomies of the show. Humor and terror, sweetness and cruelty, sex and romance… we get just the right amount of everything. And perhaps just as importantly, the funny moments spring from the scary ones, the cruelty springs from the sweetness. It’s much more satisfying when one element leads organically to another.

Take what happens with Eric. He starts the episode all silly-flirty with Russell and Talbot as he tries to manipulate the V situation. This leads to Talbot’s lust-face as he takes Erik on a tour of his expensive old junk, and I’ll tell you… that mess is hilarious. Theo Alexander plays his lusty antiques collector with so much verve that I want him to have his own talk show. Possibly with Mo’Nique.

Anyway, the great thing is that the tour prompts Eric’s discovery of his dead father’s viking crown. And then.. boom! We’re sucked into a somber, affecting flashback about how Mississippi Russell instructed werewolves to murder Eric’s family just so he could steal some bling.

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 4

Ring ring, hooker. Ring, ring. It’s your Sucker Punch calling, so pick up the damn phone.

This week’s installment, “9 Crimes,” features many delights, like Lafayette’s flawless telephone greeting, but the real story just might be Destiny-Camilla-Anne. You know, the stripper whom Bill “procures” and then devours in the back of a limo with Crazy Lorena & The Mississippi King.
When Bill glamours our young dancer in a topless bar, she says, “I know the truth about love. It’s a hell I’ll never get out of alive.” And damn if that’s not a valuable tool for examining this entire season.
See, I’ve been talking about the show’s fixation on power and weakness, but this episode makes me see another dominant theme: The unavoidable sacrifice of love.
In one way or another, almost every character is sacrificing something in order to obtain or protect a loved one. The sacrifice is not always noble and the love is not always pre, but the underlying motivations are the same.

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

Team Talk Blood member Mark Blankenship just posted his "Sucker Punch" you can listen to us discussing this episode Sunday night click on widget to right !

Before we dive into “It Hurts Me Too,” I need to talk about a recent review of True Blood by Entertainment Weekly‘s Ken Tucker. In his conclusion, he wrote:

What show creator Alan Ball has brought to True Blood‘s pulp-horror trappings is a unifying theme of power versus helplessness: an insistence that victims are capable of toughening, of overcoming their powerlessness to become smarter and stronger. It’s a positive message that Ball and his writers and directors smuggle into a show that only seems to revel in decadence, gore, and duplicity. True Blood‘s dirtiest little secret is that it may be among the most ethical, even righteous, shows on television.

Meanwhile, in his recap of the season premiere, Tucker said, “I like True Blood best when it’s fast, dirty, and funny.”

These statements clarify my own relationship to the show: Yes, it’s full of metaphor, and I certainly enjoy it on that level. However, I mostly like True Blood because it’s trashy, bloody, sexy, and funny. It’s more valuable to me as candy than as vitamins.

This isn’t always how I roll. I like Big Love‘s sweeping themes more than its individual plots, and as much as I love the campiness on RuPaul’s Drag Race, I love its subtle critique of American society even more.

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“True Blood” Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 2

Team Talk Blood Radio member,  Mark Blankenship send us his " Sucker Punch" review of TB S3.02 (You can listen live Sunday night's to our radio show  !)

Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments on this week’s episode of True Blood.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
–
Howdy y’all! I didn’t get around to watching “Beautifully Broken,” this week’s installment of True Blood, until Wednesday night (!), but it was the cap to an excellent day. I signed a lease for a new apartment and made it through every audition round for a popular game show… and then I enjoyed a tasty stew of fangs, fur, and freaks.
But I dig into that, let’s be real for a minute… This season will keep our core characters apart from each other and that makes me nervous. Remember last year, when the “half in Louisiana, half in Texas” stuff made made True Blood feel like two disconnected shows? I don’t want to deal with that again.
That said: This season’s storylines have all been really engaging so far.

For instance, I’m grateful the writers are giving the human characters such interesting things to do. When the humans have human problems—problems that don’t arise from werewolf bites or whatever—then the show becomes much more powerful. To me, at least.

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True Blood Sucker Punch: Season 3, Ep. 1 Mark Blankenship, Pop Culture Critic Huffington Post

I must have been channeling Mark when I posted the "Vamp on Shifter " video. Mark is also Team Talk Blood : True Blood Radio on Sunday night's with me and @SoookieBonTemps
Welcome to Sucker Punch, the only blog post that ranks the gaudiest moments on this week's episode of True Blood.

Hello everyone! I'm excited to be recapping another season of True Blood, and I'm even more excited to see you again. You look great! Did you change your hair? And thanks for sending me that postcard. That trip sounded like a lot of fun.

As for me? Last fall, I got a full-time job running a theatre magazine. I love what I'm doing, but that means that unlike last year, when I had the flexible schedule of a freelancer, I won't be able to stay up until 2 AM on Sunday nights and get my recaps posted the next day. I'll get them written as fast as I can, however, and they'll always be up before the next new episode airs.

And now... let's do this thing!

Season three launches with "Bad Blood," and it is heavy with responsibility. A season-opener not only has to remind us what happened last year, but also has to convince us that this year will be full of exciting stories. Sometimes, this responsibility can be too much for a series to bear, and we're left with a stilted kick-off epsiode that delivers tons of information with almost no action. (This happened during season three of Six Feet Under, Alan Ball's first great HBO series.)

Happily, "Bad Blood" dodges this problem. The exceptional writing, credited to Daniel Minahan, makes exposition emerge organically out of compelling situations.

Case in point: When the Magister and Queen Sophie-Anne interrogate Eric. The scene crackles because Queen Sophie-Anne and Eric are lying to the Magister, pretending they don't know who's selling V in Eric's area, and the Magister clearly suspects them. The stakes are high -- the Magister will destroy them if he can definitively prove that they're desecrating vampire blood by harvesting it and selling it to junkies -- which makes their bobbing and weaving a thrill to behold.

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