True Blood 3x03

A werewolf stalks the Stackhouse residence back in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie shoots at the wolf, but Eric dives in front of the bullet. He may know where Bill is, Eric explains, but the were refuses to talk. When Eric notices the rune in his neck, he can no longer restrain his fury and kills him. The only thing Sookie could make out was something about Jackson. “Jackson, Mississippi,” Eric adds. Meanwhile in Mississippi, King Russell continues his conversation with Bill, while Lorena cools off from the burns sustained by Bill. Russell intimates that it is Lorena who wants Sookie dead, and that the only way to save her life is by joining the King. After Bill pledges his allegiance, Lorena seething with anger taunts Bill until he rapes her in his rage, twisting her neck until its facing backwards. Sam has returned to Bon Temps after his awkward reunion with his birth parents. Tara and Franklin enjoy a one-night stand at some seedy motel. Later Franklin visits Jessica to ask her about Bill and Sookie, and then he shows up at Sookie’s house, not knowing that’s where Tara is staying. He charms her with his mesmerizing glamour. And then there’s Alcide Herveaux, finally, the handsome werewolf sent by Eric to protect Sookie on her mission to Jackson. Once there, Alcide takes her to a bar frequented by werewolves, where she telepathically picks up a lead from one of Bill’s kidnappers.

I’m a little puzzled by some of the minor changes the series has made to Charlaine Harris’ original. Lorena’s last name in the novel, for instance, is “Ball” (not very imaginative, I admit, but still) which is changed to “Krasiki.” The bar in Jackson is originally called “Josephine’s,” although in the shape-shifting community it goes by the name that gave the title to the novel, Club Dead, but for whatever reason it has been changed to “Lou Pine’s.” Fortunately, though, they skipped the part about the goblin bouncer. And I’m glad they have left out vampire Bubba. Overall, I am still unconvinced the series is improving on the original, or even if it’s better than the previous season. There are, again, too many distracting subplots – and the two main plotlines are at the moment not particularly fascinating either. The situation between Tara and Franklin might become more interesting, but I have no clue where Sam’s subplot is going, or Jason’s. The scene of Sookie and Alcide in the bar went much too fast. She picked the brain of the right were in two seconds flat. And the rape scene was, well, gruesome. I know they need to establish that Bill was forced to have intercourse with Lorena against his will. I am enjoying the chemistry between Sookie and Eric, though, and I remain having high hopes for Alcide.