True Blood Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[TravisR]

^ If she's only 500 then I would assume that, based on age, Eric would be able to best her physically. That being said, they've never said her age on the show so I wouldn't take that age as canon.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

Originally Posted by TravisR

I'm sure Sookie is curious about her powers but the scene would go like this:


FADE IN


Sookie: "What's with these powers that I have?"


any other character: "Got me."


END SCENE


Why waste screen time with that? I can just fill in the blank in my mind that she wonders what is going on without her asking people who have absolutely no way of answering it.

That's a straw man. You set up a pointless scene as the only way for her to react to the revelation that she can repel a Maenad (Maryanne), then proceed to point out the imaginary scene you've set up is pointless as the basis for saying Sookie reacting at all is pointless.


We didn't need a whole new scene for Sookie to have some reaction. When she repelled Maryanne, she could have looked at her hands for one second. She could have looked at a mirror for a second. There are any number of ways to display a normal reaction, and any number of ways to display a normal truncated TV show reaction. It would appear that Anna Paquin failed as an actress in that scene. I qualify it because who knows in what order these scenes were shot and what she understood about what was going on in the big picture when she shot it.

 

[TravisR]

In my opinion, what you're suggesting they should have done would have been heavy handed and unnecessary. She had an unexplained white glow erupt from her hands that repelled and confused Maryann, it's easy to imagine that she's very curious about what it was whether it's stated or she had a "Whaa" look on her face or not.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

She did somewhat question it last season when Bill asked her to marry him. Something like "I don't know what I am! I don't even know if I'm human."

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

The very purpose of "acting" is to show what the character is feeling. Just as you think itd be heavy handed and unnecessary for Anna Paquin to show what Sookie's feeling in that scene, it struck me as poor acting for her not to show it. Of course it can dull momentum in entertainment to take time to explain things to the audience, but that doesn't apply here. It isn't that we didn't see Sookie, it's that her reaction had no correlation to the event that just occurred. It isn't just that we don't see confirmation of something, but we see evidence (her reaction, or lack thereof) that contradicts what we'd expect.

It's great that we get to see the pretty people on TV in an interesting story, but it's even better when the acting is organic. I've heard Anna Paquin called a poor actress before, but it never jumped out at me. She's been functional enough for my enjoyment. In the past, it was always easy enough for me to feel that however she acted was how she was supposed to act. In this case, not so.

 

[JonZ]

Bills flashbacks are always pretty good - this one was as well. Easily the best part of the episode.

 

[Jeremiah]

I like Bill's flashbacks, I think his maker looks very, very sexy in his flashbacks but not as much in present time(I still find her hot though). Maybe it's the outfits I don't know..


I hate Sams family, but I am sure we are supposed to. Just way too low class, and it's kind of grating.


At least we now know what happened to Jessica's victim. So who is that Vampire anyway? Is he working for Eric or the King?

 

[Lou Sytsma]

The only thing I took away from the last episode are what other kinky sex positions do vampires enjoy?

 

[Patrick Sun]

That ... was twisted.

 

[David Forbes]

I have a feeling that Sam's family is going to overstay their welcome this season the way Maryann did last season.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Originally Posted by David Forbes

I have a feeling that Sam's family is going to overstay their welcome this season the way Maryann did last season.

They already have.

 

[Will_B]

Just tuned in to the first 3 episodes, and I am pleased to report that I am ...pleased.


It was evident from the first episode of season 3 that the showrunner and writers have pulled back from the excesses of the end of the second season, when everything got a bit too punchy, too over-the-top. I first noted the change of tone from Andy. The actor who plays Andy is no longer doing an exaggerated voice and facial expressions as if he were in a cartoon -- he's toned down, back to season one levels of reality. (Even his cast on his arm is now a realistic cast instead of a giant cartoon-like cast!). Jason has also been restored to reality too -- honestly dumb, but not comedy fodder.


This shift is appreciated.


Random notes:


The har: I like the new hairstyle on Eric Northman, and on Bill. Eric in particular looks more healthy all around. I was worried from all the commentaries that talked about how often the actor was sick that he must have picked up some nasty bug when he was filming in Africa before he was cast in True Blood. I know the vampires don't exactly look healthy even at their best, but I worried that actual illness was responsible for some of it. Now he looks healthier, and I'm glad about that. I HATE Hoyt's new haircut. BIG MISTAKE. Maybe the actor thought his hair would grow back in time for the start of the season and was wrong?


The pacing: Season 1 was paced quite slowly, with lots of time for the viewer to linger and look at the new environments. Season 2 was faster, sometimes too fast. Season 3 is in between the two, so far.


I just read some questions about whether Sookie should be more in awe of her ability to make her hands glow purple.Character-wise, I buy it that there's nothing for her to do but add it to her list of questions about herself. What else could she do but chalk it up to one more thing left unexplained, which maybe someday she'll figure out? (If she lives long enough!). Sookie is not so introspective as to sit around wondering about herself. She's the kind to press on.


Baby Vamp Jessica has had more good moments... she's never had a dull scene in the series, ever.


And Pam remains a personal fave.

 

[Will_B]

I like the casting of Sam's mom. That actress was good in The Crow as the addicted mother of the skateboard girl, and I remember her from some Showtime comedy series as well (HBO's comedy show Hardcore TV, as Cindy in "Cindy's Sex Talk"). She's older now, but she's a good genre actress to pick for the role. UPDATE/CORRECTION: Doesn't seem to be her. The actress in The Crow and on HBO was Anna Levine aka Anna Thomson, while the actress on True Blood is J Smith-Cameron.


I hope that the Sheriff is not leaving the show as he leaves his badge. He's another fantastic actor -- loved him from Blade Runner to Newhart, to really anything he's ever done. His voice is amazing.

 

[Will_B]

Originally Posted by Jeremiah

I like Bill's flashbacks, I think his maker looks very, very sexy in his flashbacks but not as much in present time(I still find her hot though). Maybe it's the outfits I don't know..

It's the lipstick. She was wearing dark lipstick in present day in season 2, but she's not now in season 3. Plus she seems less evil now that she's second fiddle to King Fancypants. She was more evil when she was ruled by no one.

 

[Henry Gale]

yes.

 

[mattCR]

My wife and I have been reading through the books.. we're almost finished with "Club Dead" which this season is patterned after. There are going to be some great options for some action later.

But I'm interested in how many changes.. and there are some big ones. And the changes are the part that really seem poor about the show ;(

 

[Will_B]

Best to avoid the books then! I'm saving them for after the show is long-since gone, which I figure will be after season 5 (best guess).

 

[Will_B]

The Magister's inquisition could go so many ways. I won't mind if he takes down the Queen, but obviously I don't want any of the main characters (and I include Pam in that) to get staked.


I loved Eric's daydream. I mean nightdream! Paquin got buff! (I mean she looked muscular. The cast gets *into* the buff so often as to not be worth mentioning!).


I'm liking the wolf pack.


I was genuinely surprised by the way Sam took the "it's about time you started looking after your own, Sam!" advice.


And I laughed out loud, literally, at the new hire at Merlotte's.


When I'm watching this show alone, I tend to rewind scenes right after they occur because I want to revel in the developments. It's that entertaining.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

First episode of the season that finally felt like something was happening. Sam's storyline feels so over and done with already.

 

[Will_B]

And Sookie was looking a wee bit like vampire-slayer Chastity (comic book character) in her disguise! (Maybe not, maybe just a general goth/biker/Vulcan look).


I like Sam's story well enough. It doesn't seem to be any of our business, it's just his private life, but I'd imagine that at some point he'll be called on to use his shifting abilities to pretend to be a werewolf.


I liked the show's decision to make werewolves simply wolves, rather than Underworld-like bipedal furry monsters.