My Review of True Blood's 3x04: "9 Crimes"

Written by Kate Barnow And Elizabeth R. Finch
Directed by David Petrarca

Bill: “I am death. I will bring you only suffering. Our worlds are too different, our natures too. We were doomed from the start.”
Sookie: “I don’t believe you.”
Bill: “Believe what you want. You are no longer of concern to me. Don’t try to find me, I do not wish to be found.”

They say breaking up is the hardest thing to do but Bill made damn sure when he did with Sookie to be as extra callous as humanly possible in the hopes that she would give up her pursuit of his whereabouts. Well, as plans go, it’s safe to assume that this was an utter failure through and through.

Don’t get me wrong – I was pretty convinced by Bill’s utter coldness towards Sookie as well with that phone call and it sure as hell helped that he told her about banging Lorena and allowed Lorena to get a snarky moment in the conversation as well but surely Bill knows something about Sookie by now?

Sure, she was upset as hell, even more so given that this was her first proper relationship seemingly coming to an end but she was still determined to find Bill so he could say it to her face. I couldn’t help but admire and want to face palm Sookie at the same time for that. The girl certainly has gumption and a little stupidity in her corner.

Alcide himself wasn’t exactly a great help either, which was an interesting thing given that he was going through his own woes with Debbie’s engagement to Cooter of all weres. However while his comments were harsh to Sookie, they weren’t exactly all that misplaced and even without prior knowledge to the books, there’s a building of an attraction between him and the telepath.

Sookie herself certainly didn’t want him out of her sight after being dumped by Bill and even liked what she saw when Alcide wasn’t wearing a shirt. To be fair, I don’t fecking blame her for it either. While I’m mixed on him as a character, I definitely can’t help but find him rather nice to look at as well and I don’t find myself annoyed with his annoyance at being Eric’s henchmen either for some reason.

But Alcide and Sookie as a couple? One word: rebound! Sure, there’s Alcide’s biker chick sister, Janice trying to play matchmaker with the pair of them (and please tell me she’s coming back – I really like her) but Sookie’s in an vulnerable position and Alcide himself is too wrapped up in Debbie that I don’t think a relationship between him and Sookie is viable, especially not a lasting one.

I wasn’t especially looking forward to see Debbie Pelt on screen because in the books, she’s rather one dimensional, even if she is a danger to Sookie but I have to admit that Brit Morgan is off to a good start in arguably one of the least thankful roles you could snag on this series. I don’t suddenly love Debbie Pelt but this episode is something of a good indicator for making me at least give a crap about her and that’s something.

Okay, so she’s a horrid bitch towards Sookie in the were bar and pretty damn spiteful towards Alcide as well but for a moment until Cooter interrupted, I almost got the feeling that both Sookie and Alcide were getting through to her. Then she threw it back in their faces and allowed herself to be initiated into Cooter’s pack with some old fashioned branding.

The branding is one of many scene in this episode that sees a female character getting seriously pained. I didn’t particularly enjoy watching that scene and the atmosphere intensified when Russell came in and gave all the weres a shot of his own blood to send them into a frenzy. No wonder the lot of them are so loyal to them. Russell sure as hell knows how to inspire/instil loyalty in various ways.

Threatening Sookie for the past two episodes was the very thing that had Bill in his corner and this episode had him finding out about Sophie-Anne and Eric’s V dealing antics. I actually hated Bill for dobbing them to Russell, even though I understood his motives behind it but it was still a reckless thing to do.

He might hate Eric’s guts but Eric’s probably closest thing to a strong protector that Sookie has outside of Alcide and putting him in danger with the Magister is undoubtedly going to have repercussions down the line. The Magister himself certainly seemed to enjoy making an example of Pam as well by torturing her in front of her maker. I hope Eric is clever enough to come up with something in the next two days or else Pam’s an even deader woman as a result.

When Bill wasn’t dropping Eric right in it, he was also making it clear to Lorena that he despised her. I don’t think Bill gets it really. Lorena’s so bloody obsessed with him that as long as he’s in her proximity, she’ll be content even if that means he does despise. Sadly though, I don’t see Russell eager to actually Lorena anytime soon unless she outlives whatever usefulness she has for Russell. Either that or angers him in some way because I’m struggling to think as to what Lorena is good for when it comes to Russell’s schemes.

As for the killing of poor Anne the stripper, that slippery slope for Bill just keeps getting worse and worse. In some ways though, its good writing but I do wonder when it comes to eventually redeeming Bill whether or not this show will go the easy route in doing it. I hope not but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do.

Speaking of routes, Tara really doesn’t get much fun in this episode either. Throughout the entire hour, she’s being glamoured by Franklin, used to locate Sookie and when that fails, she’s bound and gagged on a toilet seat and bitten by her vampire lover. Franklin sure as hell has a funny way of showing a girl how interested he is in her.

In the book, Franklin didn’t really give a shit about Tara and in spite of the cruelty he subjects her to in this episode alone, there’s an obsessive streak in him as well. Instead of killing Tara or leaving her in his motel, he decided to take her to Russell’s house and then there’s the moment where he talked about opportunity on the car ride as well. He sees Tara as a opportunity of satisfying his own emotional needs and for Tara; this will definitely not end well. That girl really cannot catch a break at all.

Whereas thanks to Sam, both Tommy and Jessica are given ones but in different ways. Jessica scored herself a job at Merlotte’s and seemed to take to it pretty well and Tommy seems to have earned Sam’s sympathy and trust. In some ways that’s a good thing but I’d still be wary of Tommy as well and if I were Sam, there’s no way in hell I would’ve offered Melina and Joe Lee a place to stay. That’s just asking for trouble in a big way. These two will literally have to die if Sam wants rid of them.

Also in “9 Crimes”

No new cast members were added to the opening credits but Jesus still hasn’t shown up again though.

Alcide: “How many relationships have you been in?”
Sookie: “What does that matter?”
Alcide: “All I’m saying is there’s no nice way of getting out of those things.”

I just caught the name of the were bar in this one – Lou Pines! Just like vampires, werewolves seem to enjoy puns as well when it comes to naming bars.

Tara (re Jason): “I thought I loved him for a long time but he never loved me back.”
Franklin: “Then he’s an idiot.”

Eric: “How goes the search?”
Sookie: “Turns out, he’s not who I was looking for.”

That seduction sequence was brilliantly played, even if it was in Eric’s head. And Sookie could smell his memories – very interesting.

Sookie (re Alcide/Debbie): “Why did he stay with her for so long?”
Janice: “She was his first love, he never felt so alive, all that shit.”

Russell: “You’re playing coy, William. Which do you doubt – my intention or my power?”

Talbot didn’t especially look all that pleased to see Franklin with Tara. I sensed a bit of tension between Franklin and Talbot.

Franklin: “I can’t stop thinking about you. Something about you is – what’s the word?”
Tara: “Motherfucker.”
Franklin: “Magical. We have so much ahead of us.”

Calvin: “You’ll have to kill me first.”
Eric: “No, I think I’ll kill your brother cousins first. Does that sound lovely?”
Lafayette: “That sounds good.”

I’m not sure I like this sleazier depiction of Calvin Norris in the TV series and once again, Crystal only briefly appeared and did nothing.

Tommy: “Why did you look us up anyway?”
Sam: “When I was your age, I had no example.””

Pam: “Magister, what a pleasant surprise.”
Magister: “There’s nothing pleasant about this. This is blasphemy. Take her.”

Jason tried to blackmail Andy into getting him as an officer while berating Kitch about getting older. Bud also had a retirement party and Arlene didn’t take to Jessica (who glamoured bible pal Chip into forgetting he saw her working at Merlotte’s) while Terry also thinks Joe Lee and Melina are crap parents.

Russell (to Bill): “You said you were a procurer, now procure.”

Magister (to Eric, re Pam): “They say the loss of a child is the deepest despair. Two days, Mr Northman or she dies.”

Standout music: Massive Attack’s “Paradise Cirus” and Damien Rice’s sublime “9 Crimes” at the end of this episode.

Debbie (to Alcide): “You brought this skank here to make me jealous.”
Sookie: “Skank? Wow, coming from you that’s funny.”

Chronology: A little bit from where “It Hurts Me Too” left off.

After the previous disappointing episode, “9 Crimes” is definitely a massive improvement. We’re not getting much in the way of answers, which is a little frustrating but a lot of this build up and the influences that Russell has both vampires and werewolves certainly is intriguing stuff nonetheless.

Rating: 9 out of 10.