‘True Blood’ 6.04 Recap: “So Much Courage, So Little Experience”

Among other issues, the current season of ‘True Blood’ seems very confused about who the “Big Bad” villain of the year is supposed to be. Is it Warlow? Is it Governor Burrell? Is it Lilith (again)? Is it Bill? From episode to episode, the whole axis of the season appears to shift. If this were a series with a more consistent track record, I might give it the benefit of the doubt that this ambiguity is deliberate and will lead to something in the end. Unfortunately, the show has a history of being very sloppily and erratically plotted, and I just don’t have that much faith in the writers.

Episode ‘At Last’ opens with a major plot twist that I certainly didn’t see coming, but I’m not entirely sure that it makes any sense. It turns out that Ben, the fairy halfling who’s been groomed as a new (and seemingly bland) love interest for Sookie, is a fairy vampire (a fampire?). He was a fairy who was turned into a vampire, and has all the powers of both races. He uses his blood to cure Jason of whatever caused him to pass out (why he’d want to heal Jason is not clear at all), but he can also walk in daylight and has sparkly fairy magic. Not only that, he’s… gasp!… Warlow, the evil vampire who has cursed the Stackhouse family! OMG!!!

Wait… Huh? How does that make sense at all?

Whatever. I guess this is just one of those things we have to go with and pretend was actually thought out ahead of time, and not at all thrown together at the last minute by the seat of the writers’ pants.

According to the Vampire Bible, Warlow is the direct progeny of Lilith, a second generation vampire, and only he has the power to destroy Lilith. Because of this, Nora argues that they can’t kill him. They need him to defeat Lilith. But then Nora gets captured by the LAVTF (the governor’s anti-vampire police force) and hauled off to the vampire concentration camp.

Niall pieces together Ben’s secret identity and tries to confront him, but fails miserably and gets tossed into the hell dimension where Warlow had been trapped until recently. Is this really all we’ll see of Rutger Hauer on the show? What a waste.

Sookie, surprisingly not a total dumbass this week, somehow also figures out Ben’s secret all on her own, and stages an elaborate ruse to invite him to a romantic dinner, where she has laced his meal with colloidal silver. After he obliviously chows down on the poisoned food, she gets totally flirty, strips half naked and rolls around with him on the couch, and then, at what is presumably his most vulnerable moment, tells him to get the fuck off of her as she dangles her fairy magic ball over his head.

If Sookie were smarter, she should have just killed him without tipping him off, but I suppose she needs to talk to him so that we can drag this out a while longer.

Other Stuff That Happens
  • Eric forces Tara to tell him that she hid the governor’s daughter, Willa, at a fairground. The girl waits for him there patiently and promises that she wants to help him. She even lets Eric turn her into a vampire, after which he sends her home to daddy to show him that vampires are not something to be hunted. The governor gets weak-willed at this discovery, but Sarah Newlin (confirmed to be his mistress) urges him to stay strong. New babyvamp Willa is overcome with blood lust and attacks her father, until Sarah whips out a vampire pistol and shoots her with a UV bullet. The LAVTF then haul her off to the camp.
  • Andy’s rapidly-growing fairy daughters mature to the rebellious teenage stage, sneak out of the house and take his squad car for a joyride. Bill and Jessica follow them to a liquor store where they attempt to buy beer. Bill sends Jessica in to make friends and invite them to a party at Bill’s mansion. The party, of course, doesn’t turn out to be much fun. Bill takes samples of their blood and orders Prof. Takahashi to synthesize an artificial substitute. Unfortunately, Takahashi doesn’t have much luck because the blood disintegrates too quickly. When the girls get bored and try to leave the mansion, Jessica blocks their way. Still a babyvamp herself, Jessica gets a good whiff of the fairy blood and can’t stop herself from going on a rampage. By the time Bill gets upstairs, all four girls lay bloodied on the floor, a remorseful Jessica in tears over what she’s done.
  • I was wrong last week when I said that Alcide rescued Nicole, the civil rights activist, from the other werewolves. That was actually Sam. This week, they go on the run. Sam sends Lafayette away and shifts into a horse. Later, he and Nicole hide out at a motel and start getting frisky. I guess he’s already over his girlfriend who just died a couple episodes ago.
  • Along with Nora and Willa, Pam is also captured by the LAVTF and hauled to camp. Obviously, things will culminate there in the vision that Bill had earlier.

Despite my continued misgivings over where this season is headed, I have to admit that this episode is overall an improvement over the last few, mainly because it manages to mix in some worthwhile character moments among all the plot exposition. I was especially amused by a running bit of comedy where Jason, having unknowingly drank some of some of Ben’s blood, starts having sexy dreams about the man. The twist where Jessica fears that she’s become the monster that she thought Bill would be is also well done.

3 comments

  1. T.J. Kats

    The stuff with Jessica has definitely been the best stuff this season.

    Also some people(I’m not one) think that Sookie decided for some reason not to give him the silver which is why she didn’t have a plate.

    Also it seems to be assumed that he wants to hurt/kill Sookie but I think he wants to get her on his side and be in control of the fairies so that would be a reason to save Jason and also why he hasn’t harmed her up until now.

  2. I’m liking this season more than last season…I just wish they’d get rid of the werewolves though. And WHY are all the werewolves “trailer trash”? None of them seem to have gone to college or bettered themselves…must be a “pack thing.” 🙂

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