Truebie Sundays with Neubie

Well how did everyone like the Season 5 premiere of "True Blood?"  This season seems to be shaping up to be vastly different from "Dead as a Doornail," but I think the changes are still true to character.  What do you think?  Let's breakdown the characters storylines and discuss.  If you haven't seen the premiere, this piece is full of spoilers.  So, be warned.  Also, if you haven't seen it, what the heck are you waiting for?!   I've posted the official HBO recap here but read on for more !

Ep. 49 - Recap

Our girl Sookie seems to have a lot to deal with this season.   In the only plot point carried over from the novels (so far this season), Sookie is dealing with the aftermath and cover-up of her killing Debbie Pelt.  Lafayette told Sookie she should've just called the cops as Sookie killed Debbie in self-defense but Sookie argued that wasn't entirely true.  She said she had a moment to contemplate whether or not to pull the trigger and that she wanted Debbie gone and thus, the shooting wasn't done entirely in self defense.  However, one could argue that getting rid of Debbie once and for all was the only way to prevent her from ever returning.  Who knows if Debbie would've been found guilty of attempted murder or any of her other misdeeds.  She may have remained a crazed, homicidal drug V-addict and come back to do more damage.

Speaking of Debbie's damage, Tara jumped in the line of fire to spare Sookie's life while risking her own. Tara sustained what appeared to be a fatal headshot wound. In the novels, Tara and Sookie are still child hood friends but do not have the close relationship that has been seen on the show.  Sookie's closest girlfriend in the books is Pam and even that relationship is awkward.  In "Dead as a Doornail," Tara has emerged from her abusive relationship with Franklin Mott only to find herself trapped in an even more dangerous and abusive relationship with another vampire, Mickey.  As such Tara just like in the show, hates vampires with every fiber of her being.  Sookie knows this in both the novel and show universe.  Lafayette was killed back in "Living Dead in Dallas."  However, he is certainly aware of his cousin's aversion to vampires in the show universe.  So, it was quite surprising to me as I'm sure it was to all that Lafayette and Sookie requested Pam to turn Tara into a vampire.  Surely, Tara would've preferred to die saving her best friends life rather than live forever as the thing she despises most.  It will be very interesting to see how this plays out this season.

Also Pam who stated she doesn't even like Tara but transformed her out of Sookie's promise that she'll "owe her one."  I think we can all agree that you don't ever want to owe a vampire anything.  That's worse than owing a loan shark!  Pam will certainly collect on this debt and I bet it will be costly.  Further, Pam will now be stuck being Tara's maker for all eternity.  I find Tara to be quite annoying.  She constantly made foolish decisions such as trusting the maenad, and leaving New Orleans (and her beautiful girlfriend) only to fall into Marnie's trap last season.  I certainly would not want to be responsible for her for all eternity.

Meanwhile, the other new vampire on the scene, Steve Newlin confessed his love for Jason.  However Jason, "doesn't bark that way..."  In the novels, Steve and his wife Sarah are missing, and on the run for a long time after their sect of the Fellowship of the Sun was compromised after the events of "Living Dead in Dallas."  So it is not entirely unlikely that he became a vampire.  I wonder what happened to Sarah though? 

The premiere also introduced to another vampire, Nora.  Nora is another character unique to the show.  She is Eric's sister and I know some viewers were a little creeped out that the one of the first things that Eric and Nora did to celebrate their reunion was to have wild sex.  I wasn't creeped out because in this vampire lore, that is common and accepted behavior.  While they call each other brother and sister, it is entirely different from a human brother-sister relationship.  Unless you're the kids from "Flowers in the Attic," lol.  I only felt bad for Bill who was stuck listening outside. 

Oblivious to her maker's drama, Jessica continued to enjoy the single life after breaking Hoyt and Jason's hearts took advantage of having Bill's house to herself.  She partied hard with some clueless frat boys. Of all the characters unique to the TV series, I think Jessica is my favorite.

At the conclusion of the premiere, Eric, Nora and Bill, were surrounded by the new Vampire Authority.  Tonight we should get our first glimpse of Christopher Meloni, as the Authority's leader Roman and General Hospital's Carolyn Hennessey as an Authority member.
 
Over on the were/shifter front, Sam took the fall for killing Marcus but Alcide ultimately came forward and admitted he killed Marcus.  Whether or not he will be pack master remains to be seen.  "Dead as Doornail" involves Alcide's father's campaign for the pack master position.  The scene where the weres ate Marcus' body grossed me out more than anything.  It also supported my disgust at weres in general.  No matter how much of a gentleman Alcide may be, I can never support an Alcide and Sookie pairing.  Ugh.

Another plot point not in the novels is the mysterious relationship between Terry and his war buddy.  In the novels, the only friends Terry has are his prized Catahoula hunting dogs.  I have no idea where this storyline is leading but it looks to be interesting.  While I could've lived my whole life without seeing Andy Bellefluer naked, I am enjoying the pairing of Holly and Andy.  However, in the bookverse, Holly is ultimately paired up with Hoyt.  Wouldn't it be interesting if, on the show, Holly cheats on Andy with Hoyt and then Hoyt would be a "girlfriend f*cker," just like he accused his former best pal Jason of being?

Phew, the premiere covered a lot of ground and I think, I covered everything here.  What do you guys think of the show and the books?  Please share your thoughts with me!  You can comment below, send a tweet to @borderlessbooks or email me at neubsreads@gmail.com, please include "True Blood," in the subject line.  Your comments may appear in a future post! Happy Viewing and Happy Reading !

Also, if you haven't seen Jessica Hamby's blog, enjoys this video and shoot on over.

Mama Needs a Drink

Save me a seat at Fangtasia, Neubie the Truebie !