True Blood ‘I Wish I Was the Moon’ Recap

Previously:

Tommy is a Skinwalker, Arlene & Terry’s house goes up in a devilish blaze, Jesus & Lala arrive in Mexico and the witch is in custody. Pam is slammed for treason after she lets Eric’s location slip in a fit of rotting anger and King Bill holds a meeting of his Sheriffs because this witch problem has gotten really real, and his heart is broken from Sookie’s betrayal.

“I Wish I Was the Moon”

I absolutely adored how “The Moon” brought together all of True Blood’s fantastical, wonderful, funny and terrifying elements together so gracefully.  Under the full moon the forest in Bon Temps is crawling with all sorts of supernaturals and all of our main players end up together, lost and wandering through the night, in the hub of magic and supernatural that is Bon Temps the full moon carries that special power that makes everything more frightening, feelings more heightened and a sense that this night is forever and not quite part of reality.

“The Moon” felt like a twisted take on “Midsummer Night’s Dream” with all the fantastical elements, vamps, weres, shifters, witches, fairies, lovers, royalty and other ridiculous folks stumbling around the forest during one crazy summer night getting lost, chasing, finding love, and getting into trouble, and let’s remember the night’s not yet through.

First Jason runs into the woods, soon followed by Jessica who feels his distress, and by Sookie with a shotgun prepared to shoot something, but not Jason. She meets Alcide and Debbie along the way, before falling into the arms of a newly freed Eric while Bill watches, powerful and powerless. It’s all very romantic.

We return from last week to Sookie and Eric right where we left off, the pair are tumbling through the door, still kissing and struggling to free themselves from their clothes. This scene is shot beautifully with the camera jumping and cutting all over the place capturing the frenzy, romance and passion of this moment between Sookie and Eric.

Nothing good lasts long in Bon Temps, moments after the pair find their way down to the sofa Bill barges in, the hurt and betrayal is written all over his face as he masks it with his anger. Eric and Bill both vamp out, being the older, stronger vampire Eric hurls Bill across the room and pins him to the floor ready to kill.

Sookie yells out that Bill is Eric’s king and Eric stops immediately and drops to his knees. “My Liege, forgive me”, Eric bows down before King Bill who is a mess of emotions, the reality of what Eric has become at the hands of the witch hits him hard. He seems to have been expecting more of a fight, it’s much more difficult to take out anger, and revenge on a man who doesn’t know what he’s done or who he is.

Bill doesn’t back down, he calls in his team and orders them to silver Eric because he is dangerous. Sookie rightly exclaims that he’s no threat, and extra force is not necessary as he is going willingly.  Bill denies that this harsh treatment is because he is jealous of Eric and Sookie being together. He pulls out a zinger even of badass Bill standards, “Believe it or not my entire existence does not revolve around what or who is between your legs” Even Jason (maybe) could figure out that isn’t entirely true.

Scorned Bill throws Sookie out “For once in your life, stay out of vampire business”.  Not bad advice really, but going against the advice of dear-departed Gran Sookie has fallen hard for the undead once again and we all know that Sook is stubborn as hell.

King Bill’s Prison. “Why does it smell like death in here?” Eric is thrown into a cell where Pam is hiding beneath a blanket in the corner to hide her rotting body. Eric is calm, and kind and asks her to remove the blanket, Pam is reluctant at first but he tells her it is okay. She appears in much worse form than before, falling apart and bloody from crying, she tries to explain to Eric the gravity of this situation. Bill wants to kill him, he is not just the king, but the king wants you dead.

“You are a fucking Vampire Viking God and you bow to no one!”

This cements Eric’s decision to stick with the nobler path and leave his past of evil behind. He will not fight back against his king. Eric was Pam’s whole life, now she needs him more than ever and he rejects the life they had together.

Godric has rubbed off on Eric more than he knows, he would be proud.  As we learned from Godric the choice of good is not easy or viable for a vampire. In one of the most moving scenes in the series Godric paid for his choice as he stood and watched the sun rise with Sookie by his side.

King Bill’s Video Chat. Just as Pam predicted as soon as Eric went missing, Bill is on the line with Nan Flanagan requesting a warrant to sentence Eric to the true death.  Even now Bill appears conflicted as he lies through his teeth, that Eric is dangerous, violent and does not recognize the authority. This was true perhaps of the old Eric, not the vampire who just dropped to his knees in his presence.

The Devil Did it. At Arlene & Terry’s they smell smoke, their house is up in flames, the kids escape but Mikey is missing. Terry drags a frantic (when is she not these days) Arlene out over his shoulder only to find that Mikey has been outside the whole time with the creepy doll. He waves to a mysterious woman who disappears when Arlene turns towards her.

Is it a thing that the other house that went up in flames belongs to Holly, the witch? Maybe, maybe not.

Merlottes. Sam is dealing with the mess down at his trailer park and asks PTSDing Tommy to open the bar. Just as we all expected, cracking under the guilt and the pressure Tommy shifts into Sam, scared at first, but then starts to enjoy the swagger of a new body, one with power.

 

Mexico. Let’s do this one up in one fell swoop. Lala wrestles with the idea of eating goat tongue for breakfast as Jesus begs his Bruha Grandpa for help with the witches. They wait in the desert for their sacrifice to come; it does in the form of a rattlesnake. Bruha Grandpa explains Marnie has been using bloodletting to be possessed by the witch, throws the snake in Jesus’ face and uses the same magic to allow Lala to become possessed and heal Jesus with magic. Now this is pretty boring, later I’m assuming (hoping) this Mexico journey will be relevant.

Gratuitous Lesbian Makeouts. I’m pretty sure that Tara’s entire story this season is just there to have girls making out on the show. Naomi shows up looking for Tara (not yet knowing that Tara and Toni are one in the same) gets mad, then pins her to the floor. They make out for a while.

Merlottes. Sookie runs into Sam’s office with the usual I’m sorry I can’t work today thing and Tommy-Sam does what Sam-Sam should have done a long time ago. He tells her that not showing up for work, ever, is unacceptable and he fires her ass and tell her not to hit her cute blonde ponytail on the way out.

He struts as he imagines Sam does into the bar, stopping by Maxine Fortenberry’s table, despite his earlier decision to cheat her he misses her, she really was a mother to him. Through Sam’s eyes he sees the side of her that he wishes he hadn’t. She curses Tommy for leaving her and says he was hardly worth it in the first place. That’s the hurt talking, but a shocked Tommy-Sam stumbles away from that sting as Mrs. Fortenberry walks out.

Sam Trammell does such an exceptional job of being Tommy-Sam, imbuing his already well worn character with a new inside. This made me want to go watch Dollhouse just to see Enver Gjokaj work those same kind of transformations.

Jason. Sookie knocks on Jason’s door, no answer so she barges in, worried since he hasn’t been to work and isn’t returning messages. Jason yells through his door that he’s been on super secret police business, she walks right on in, discovering Jason handcuffed to his bed. Wondering if it’s some weird sex thing (makes sense) he tries to avoid explaining until he can’t anymore. He tries to tell her about what happened in Hot Shot, about Crystal and the werepanthers leaving out the worst details.

She points out that if he shifts his hands will fall right out of the cuffs anyway. “oh”.

Alcide. Does anyone really know why Alcide has taken Debbie back anyway? She’s gone behind his back and joined the local pack, inviting creepster Marcus McPackleader into their home. Alcide walks in on this and is pissed.

“I’m sorry if I alpha’d you a little hard last night” I was laughing out loud, if running away at Alcide’s first sniff is his idea of being an alpha I don’t want to know what his sorry little pack looks like. Marcus reminds us of why Alcide might be hesitant seeing as his last pack leader was consorting with a vampire (Edgington) and got the weres hooked on V, Nazi shit and all that, then he slinks out the door.

Marcus leaves and Debbie begs him to consider, she says isolation is bad for her recovery. The pack is meeting to turn together tonight under the full moon. Out and about the night is beginning to take shape. This is exciting.

Marnie’s Cell. Marnie is cutting herself with her nails doing that bloodletting shit Jesus’ Grandpa was talking about trying to conjure up the power of the witch. It’s totally gross and creepy but it works.

Marnie is transported back to the day Antonia was burned at the stake, how there was chanting and the vampires were forced to walk into the sun. How Luis, the vampire at the sheriff’s meeting was there, with his maker egging him on to make her scream. He bit her and nothing, he raped her and she would not scream. This scene was actually pretty awful, terrifying, and I want this witch to exact her revenge, sort of. Nothing is better than more complicated right?

With that a vision of the witch appears in Marnie’s cell and dives into her body. I think this means that Marnie will become awesome. This is the second (three in total I think) time a person has inhabited another body tonight. I think this one will be damn good too, and probably better.

Jason & Sookie.  Sookie seems to have talked Jason out of his cuffs and the pair are camped out on folding chairs equipped with beers and a shotgun that Jason is trying to convince Sookie to shoot him with should he shift into a panther.

The moon is rising and there’s no sign yet, Sookie seems unconvinced, and quite certain that she won’t shoot him. Sookie laughs at the idea of a werepanther, especially when Jason describes them as “like a werewolf, except a big-ass cat.”. Sookie awesomely and kind of hilariously remarks that before Eric “I thought witches were just in fairy tales.” especially since she is in fact a fairy, and she had already got a handle on vampires and werewolves.

Jason is having a crisis once more, finding his use in life. He tried to help people, becoming a police officer, helping Crystal and her town and it all went to hell. What now? He asks Sookie what he’s got, he’ll have this conversation again tonight, in the woods.

 “Everybody’s got something in them they’re ashamed of or can just do without even trying.”
 “Like how I’m extra good at sex. And shooting.”  

Good ol’ Sookie skips off to the house to get fresh beers and by the time she returns offering to fix something to eat, Jason is gone into the woods and he’s left behind the gun and his shirt. Sookie is on tonight so she grabs the shot gun before wandering into the woods after him.

Werewolves and panthers and vamps, oh my! Fairies and Witches and shifters too, all under the full moon.

Merlottes. Tara and Naomi find themselves seated at Jess’s table, with all the juggling of wait staff between fires and firings our lovely Jessica has been promoted to waitress. Vamp-hating Tara is in luck. It really of no consequnce, could have been anyone’s table because a second into service Jess’s vamp-senses are tingling, she vamps out and zooms off into the woods. Yes!

Tommy-Sam. Luna appears to jump Sam at the full moon because this is what shifters do. She also rips off her dress because we haven’t seen enough boobs yet tonight. They hook up and she notices something is different, but doesn’t figure it out. Tommy-Sam promptly fucks up Sam’s life some more when he boots her out of bed right afterwards because he seems to be melting down, shifting uncontrollably. “You got what you came for”. Luna is pissed and stops away. Sam finds Tommy later, on the floor in a pile of his own vomit, white as a sheet.

Off to the forest where the fun really begins, the running around in the magical woods under the power of the moonlight.

Jessica & Jason – The Woods. Jess zooms out to Jason’s rescue using her vamp-senses and her blood left inside him. I love how this turns the whole season one business with Bill always running to Sookie’s rescue on its head. Now that we’ve seen how Bill and Sookie have turned out it leaves a sour taste, but even as a vampire Jessica has a purity and sweetness about her. And Jason in all his adorable dumb nature, despite everything he’s been though has an innocence about him too although these days it’s overshadowed by confusion and guilt. They are very similar, despite the age difference, both basically confused teenagers dealing with hormones, urges and discovering themselves.

Jason confides that he’s sure he’s going to turn into a werepanther, because he was bitten. He starts to hyperventilate, is he shifting? Jessica quickly recognizes this as a panic attack. She holds his hands and tells him to breathe, think of somewhere beautiful and safe. Because this is Jason he stares are her chest as his safe place, he calms down almost immediately.

Jason still wary of being alone with Jessica after his sexy confusing blood influenced dreams tries to get her to leave, she promises to stay. She knows this must be scary. The night she was turned was the most terrifying night of her life.

Sookie – The Woods. Wandering around with shot gun in hand searching for Jason who for all she knows is currently a

panther bumps into Alcide and Debbie on their way to the pack meeting. Debbie confirms that being a were is purely hereditary and not transferred by a bite.

“Go shift. Kill stuff. Do whatever werewolves do.”  With that Sookie is off into the woods again. Alcide lags behind wanting to follow Sookie, Debbie has to pull him away, she knows she doesn’t have all of him.

Jessica & Jason. The pair stargaze on a beautiful patch of grass in a clearing in the woods. This bit reminds me a bit of “Dazed and Confused” something about teenage freedom and discovery.

Jessica explains how she’s been liberated from her tiny little life and since she’s become a vampire her life is boundless. She can taste, feel and see more, experience more, and feels like nothing can hurt her.

Jason still down on himself wonder why Sookie got all the special. Jessica reminds him of who he is. He was a football star, got all the girls. “Look atcha” she says “how can you think you’re not special?”

Jason can feel the heat between them and the guilt of the dream is right there with him. He tries to back away, get out of this while he can. It’s always sex that gets him in trouble. They both realize the trouble they’re in and simultaneously utter several random excuses to bail and both decide that it’s better not to tell Hoyt. I think we’ve all learned that lying leads to more trouble, but also more fun.

King Bill’s Court. Bill stands in his yard staring up at the full moon.

Eric is brought out into the yard by men in black, still clad in the unfortunate sleeveless hoodie and basketball shorts combo. If you’re going to kill a man can you at least let him die with some dignity? It will be Eric’s dignity that will save him raggedy outfit be damned. It’s his desire to be good; his willingness to be selfless and truly love that will be his weapon.

[I recommend using caution with this approach, see how it worked out for Ned Stark]

Eric is placed on his knees before King Bill, who asks Eric if he understands why he is here:

“I’ve been told I’m under the spell of a necromancer and I’ve consorted with your human”
“Sookie is not mine”
“But you love her”
“Irrelevant”

Bill goes on to explain that he is under orders to sentence him to the True Death, this is where Eric may speak his piece and he does so beautifully. He expects no mercy, he doesn’t wish it because he has no defense for his past actions. But he has some requests which Bill generously allows him to express. Eric asks for Pam to be released, at the rate she’s decomposing she can’t be much harm. And he asks Bill to deliver a message to Sookie:

 “Sookie, tell her I was born the night she found me and because of her I went to my true death knowing what it means to love.”

Bill’s guilt sits heavy on his face. Especially as Eric continues to tell Bill that Sookie still cares for him and he hopes that they find each other again. Because he wants her to be happy, and wants her to have love.

Eric looks to the moon as Bill raises his stake. We know that we cannot be rid of Eric because there is no True Blood without him, but the cut away at the moment of truth still gives me the chills.

Pam.  Bill has acknowledged Eric’s request and let Pam go free. She has wandered through the woods and found part of what she was looking for, Tara and Naomi.  She walks towards them looking as fabulous as she can with her decaying flesh. She vamps out and zooms towards them.

Marnie. Marnie is hardly Marnie anymore. She is something new and old and far more fierce and powerful, Antonia. Luis sees this through the monitor and is compelled down to her cell. She explains that yes, it is her, but she’s had to find a new body since he made such a mess of the old one. She destroys him on the spot.

The Woods. Under the moonlight a free Eric finds Sookie in the woods. They share one of those beautiful passionate Hollywood kisses where the world seems to stop and the camera circles around them one way and then back again.

King Bill the Benevolent. Neko Case begins to play, and Bill stands on his porch, staring at the moon wondering if he made the right choice, thinking about what Eric said. So much has changed since we first met these characters, they’ve essentially swapped roles between the evil and powerful and the good and honourable.

The Consumation. What started on the couch before ends here now. This is where HBO does its sex and nudity thing well. Sookie and Eric naked in the woods bathed in soft moonlight getting in on among the babbling brook and the lush green surroundings. It’s incredibly romantic, something rare in the True Blood verse. As we know, nothing good can last.

See you next week when we arrive in the “Cold Grey Light of Dawn” for the full moon fangover.

Until then we’re left wondering on a few points:

Who does Pam destroy when we cut away from her about to pounce on Tara and Naomi? My wish is that she devours both of them and that boring plotline is over, but my money is on something different. Tara usually gets everything she loves ripped away from her so I’m guessing Naomi is dinner.

Will Jason shift? I know this was basically answered by Debbie and Alcide promising that were is a hereditary thing, but we know that the panthers in hotshot were trying something new, plus they were the only unrepresented group this week. Shift or not, I could use a little more resolution (not too much please).

When Sam found Tommy on the floor was he dead or will he pull through to be a skinwalker for another day?

Any thoughts or theories on what’s next? Leave ‘em in the comments (please no confirmed spoilers)

Neko Case – I wish I was the Moon