My Review of True Blood's 2x08: "Time Bomb"

Written by Alexander Woo
Directed by John Dahl

Eric (re Fellowship): “They do nothing but fan the flames of hatred at us.”
Godric: “Let’s be honest, we are frightening.”

Eight episodes in and you can tell that there will be a shift in the focus of baddie behaviour. With this episode, it seemed that the Fellowship Of The Sun decided to end with a bang and yes, there was a pun in there that was meant to be intended.

Sookie from the previous episode was saved from being raped by Gabe and Godric did us all a favour by breaking the scumbag’s neck but it was Eric who tried to escape with her. Godric for his own reasons did not want to leave the Fellowship. If I hadn’t read “Living Dead In Dallas”, I would’ve found this highly suspect but it’s not really.

Godric isn’t like the rest of the vampires in the series. He’s a lot older, more world weary and thankfully not a paedophile either. He offered himself to the Fellowship because he believed that there could be a peaceful co-existence between humans and vampires. And even after Steven refused his attempts of peace, Godric did not waver in his beliefs.

When it came to the treacherous Hugo, Godric could’ve killed him. You could definitely see that Stan was just about holding back but he pitied Isobel’s feelings for Hugo and spared the man’s life. Even better was that he also intervened with a particularly nasty altercation with Lorena and Sookie.

Godric could come close to being a rather saintly vampire. He even extended a welcoming to Jason and that was something a little unexpected. But Eric questioned some of Godric’s reasons, in particular for staying with the Fellowship when he had the power to leave. I have a feeling the next episode will bring all that to light, one way or the other.

When it came to the Fellowship, there were three people to look at here. Sarah was willing to piss all over Jason because she thought he betrayed her beliefs. Nothing made me happier than the moment where Jason chose Sookie over the Fellowship and Sarah. Jason’s come a long way since the first season. And Sarah’s a fucking idiot to put it mildly.

Then there’s Steven and his usual hate filled bile. Yeah, I got that he would view Sookie as a traitor but the fact that he was willing to kill her just showed even more of what a hypocrite he really was. Both Bill and Eric would’ve killed him if Godric and Sookie hadn’t intervened. It’s probably a good thing in terms of future storylines that Steven actually lived but I do hope that somewhere down the line he gets his comeuppance.

As for Luke – suicide bomber? Not as shocking in action because it made so much sense. Cults like the Fellowship brainwash people into committing violent acts because they believe it’s the right thing to do. I’m pretty sure a lot of vampires will be killed if Luke actually gets to hit the switch but I don’t think we’ll have to worry about Bill, Eric or Lorena anytime soon. Especially given the web they’re being spun into with Sookie.

Quadrangles are a hard thing to pull off and this episode certainly mixed things around. Bill finally had the opportunity to get away from Lorena and he took. He even violently bashed her about even though he must have realised that she would survive. Bloody plasmas. However even then Lorena didn’t get the hint.

She gate crashed Godric’s party and deliberately went out of her way to provoke Sookie, even hoping to scare the shit out of her. If Sookie can survive the likes of Rene and the Fellowship, then I think Lorena is going to be out of her depth here. However if Godric hadn’t intervened in their little fight, I’m pretty sure Lorena would’ve at least badly hurt Sookie if not kill her.

Then there’s Bill vs. Eric. Eric after all did set Lorena on Bill to keep him away from Sookie and he was definitely affronted when Bill made it clear that Sookie would not go near him. Again reading the books make me want to shout, ‘yes she will’ and I’m not even really shipping this, though you can tell that Eric is getting closer to Sookie and Bill’s threatened by it.

Love was certainly a potent theme in this episode, whether it’d be platonic or sexual love. Jessica had to realise to her utter embarrassment that her hymen would keep growing because she was a vampire and I don’t think Hoyt’s words were enough to relieve her. That being said, the few scenes they get together are still eclipsing the Sookie/Bill/Eric stuff so I’m hoping that there’s more focus on them now that they’re back in Bon Temps. After all, Hoyt did tell his mother that he was dating a vampire and she wasn’t particularly happy about that.

Another thing that’s guaranteed to make anyone unhappy is being accused of bumping off their ex – especially when they didn’t. Sam really was a silly dog for going back to Merlotte’s and finding Daphne’s body. Even when Andy tried to persuade Bud and Kenya of his innocence, Sam still got sent to the slammer.

In other words, Maryann now has Sam exactly where she wants him but I’m going to assume that Sam will use his shape shifting to get out of there. Contrary to what Bud said, Sam really isn’t any safer in a cell than he would be anywhere else. That being said, not a lot actually happened with Maryann this week.

Okay she cooked up Daphne’s heart in a soufflé and served it to Tara and Eggs but that was it. Granted watching Tara and Eggs consuming Daphne’s heart was fecking disturbing but not as much as seeing the two of them succumbing more and more under Maryann’s influence. It’s only a matter of time before Sookie comes back and sends her packing though, right? Tara really does need to get away from both Maryann and Eggs now and hopefully Sookie will get her to see some sense.

Also in “Time Bomb”

Lorena was the one who grabbed Barry at the end of the previous episode. She also realised that he was different when she fed on him. He survived though.

Sarah: “You Stackhouse’s, you’re nothing but a bunch of heartless, two faced vampire fuckers.”
Jason: “Don’t you ever talk about my sister like that.”

Jason got thwacked in the balls with the paintball gun by Sarah but he got a perfect shot at Steven’s forehead in the church.

Sookie (re Godric): “He’s your maker, isn’t he?”
Eric: “Don’t use words you don’t understand.”
Sookie: “You have a lot of love for him.”
Eric: “Don’t use words I don’t understand.”

Lorena (to Bill): “Oh come now. As I recall your appetite was always insatiable. This human act you do for your girlfriend is charming and all but we both know better, don’t we?”

Lafayette was reading Tara’s fortune and instantly put it away when Eggs interrupted them. Lafayette doesn’t trust Eggs, that’s for sure.

Hoyt (to Bill): “I don’t know what you heard but those were screams of pleasure, right?”
Jessica: “Oh my God.”

Steven (re Sookie): “One more step and the girl dies.”
Bill: “And if you shoot her, everyone will die. Let her go now.”
Steven: “Honestly, what do they see in you?”

Both Steven and Lorena were keen to discuss the fuss made over Sookie, though I think Steven conveyed it better.

Jason (to Steven): “I reckon I’ve already been to heaven. It was inside your wife.”

Sookie (to Bill): “Every time I’ve needed you, you’ve always come running even in broad daylight. What kept you?”

In “Living Dead In Dallas”, both Isobel and Hugo were bound in chains as a punishment. I liked that Godric showed some compassion to them.

Jessica (to Hoyt): “I can’t believe I waited so long. We’re gonna do it every single night whether you want to, don’t you?”

Mike: “They said I sodomised a pine tree.”
Sam: “What did you do that for?”
Mike: “I don’t know. I must’ve blacked out.”

Standout music: I’ll go with Beck’s “Time Bomb” for this one.

Lorena: “You’re no more than a blood bag, you cannot win this.”
Sookie: “I’ve already won. Bill chose me and yet you still won’t give up. Don’t you have any shame?”

Chronology: Right from where “Release Me” left off with Gabe being grabbed by Godric and Sookie buttoning up her dress.

“Time Bomb” seems to be the one that has brought the whole Fellowship Of The Sun arc to an end for the time being but with four episodes left, the writers are going to have to pull out the stops to bring the Maryann arc into play. I have every confidence that they will do it justice.

Rating: 9 out of 10.