‘True Blood’ 5.03 Recap: “You Smell Awesome”

At this point, my feelings for ‘True Blood’ are so fickle that I’m not even sure what it is that makes me like one episode over another. I was pretty bored last week, but this week’s new episode did a better job of keeping my interest.

I think that mostly has to do with the fact that ‘Whatever I Am, You Made Me’ has more interesting character moments that I could latch onto, even when the storylines don’t do much for me. For example, I really liked the flashback sub-plot about Pam’s introduction to Eric and the world of vampires. Last week, this just seemed like unneeded filler, but this week, the lesson Eric tries to impress upon her about a maker’s responsibility for whatever new vampires he/she turns contrasts nicely with Pam’s own dismissive attitude toward Tara. Clearly, she’s primed for a change of heart in the next episode. (It’s also nice to see Lorena again in these flashbacks, and Bill’s first meeting with Eric is pretty amusing.)

Speaking of Tara, she seems to have most of her mind back now. First, she runs to Sam for help. Unsure what else to do with her, Sam locks her in his walk-in freezer for the day. Eventually, she outs herself as a vampire to Arlene, Alcide and a bunch of others, then runs off. The episode ends with her attempting to commit suicide at a hair/tanning salon (hilariously named “Curl Up and Fry”). As I said, I fully expect Pam to rescue her.

Other Stuff That Happens
  • Reverend Newlin is officially “the new Nan Flanagan.” Roman puts him in his place when Newlin suggests that humans are little more than sheep.
  • Bill and Eric have been spared in exchange for agreeing to hunt down Russell Edgington. To prevent them from running off or getting out of line, they’re both harnessed with electronic doohickeys that can stake them by remote control. The vampire I.T. girl (Tina Majorino) explains that she can easily do this from her cell phone: “There’s an app for that.”
  • Jason runs into the old high school teacher who indoctrinated him into his sex addiction. He seduces her again, but then feels terribly guilty about it and starts to re-evaluate his life. Hasn’t he been down this road a few times before already?
  • Terry leaves town with Patrick to take care of whatever nonsense is going on with his old Marine Corps squad. Arlene is pissy. Whatever. This storyline still bores me.
  • Debbie’s parents have arrived in town to search for their missing daughter. This leads Alcide to confront Sookie, who eventually confesses that she killed Debbie. Alcide is mad at her. I’m sure he’ll get over it.
  • We learn that Salome is in fact the Biblical Salome. She tells a little of her backstory, then seduces both Bill and Eric independently. (The actress has a nice body, which she exposes extensively, but her face doesn’t hold up so well to close-ups.) Salome determines that they are not Sanguinista sympathizers. Nora, however, confesses to being a Sanguinista when tortured.
  • Jessica randomly gets a whiff of a fairy and chases him to an empty field. I guess this means that the fairies are back. That sucks.
  • Hoyt dresses up like a Goth douchebag and hangs around at Fangtasia. Really? That’s what this character has been reduced to? Just write him off the show already.

Writing it out like this, I see that there was actually a lot that I didn’t like about the episode. Yet, overall, it was OK. I’ll give this one a pass.

[Banner image screen cap from HomeoftheNutty.]

3 comments

  1. Shayne Blakeley

    I felt just the opposite, I thought the first two episodes were showing promise, and this one completely deflated that hope. We both mentioned last week that there were just too many separate plot lines going on, and I defended it by pointing out that they just needed to wrap up the loose ends from last season, but then this episode they have to reintroduce the damn fairies and show the voodoo demon thing in Lafayette? Goddamnit.

  2. I have the constant urge to get an ice cream cone or take a bathroom break when Tara is on screen. I can’t stand her or any story line involving her at this point. For as many people as they give the “True Death” to they never give it to the characters I hate.

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