True Blood: “Jesus Gonna Be Here” Review

HBO’s True Blood is back for its final season. Before we hear the iconic theme song, we’ve lost a major character, and after it, things don’t get much better. The town of Bon Temps is in a chaotic state after the vampire attack that ended last season. Eric has yet to make an appearance, though we see Pam searching for her Maker in the only portions of the episode that happen outside of the small town.

As a fan, I’m not sure what I want to see this season. True Blood is among a small list of shows that I’ve seen in their entirety—Lost, Six Feet Under, and Weeds are the only things that come to mind. I have tendency to start shows but then to lose the thread eventually because of scheduling or loss of interest. And I did do that with True Blood—more than once. But I’ve always picked back up the thread, and I’ve enjoyed doing so. Truthfully, it’s one of the best for binge-watching, adding one guilty pleasure to another. Add popcorn and peanut M&Ms, and you’ve got a triple threat.

I’m not binge watching anymore, though. I’m all caught up, and I turns out that’s a good thing. The episode hits the ground running. There’s no “previously on” or “last season” montage to catch-up. We’re thrown immediately into the horrific attack on the vampire/human mixer in Bon Temps, the infected vampires in their rampage. The attack is called off, and we start to see the aftermath—some of have been taken, and some are dead. (Warning: Spoilers below!)

Among the dead is Tara, who we saw fighting another vampire, desperately trying to save her mother, but whose true death we didn’t see. Lots of people are speculating that this suggests she’s alive; over the seasons, True Blood has taught us that if we don’t see the character die, then (s)he isn’t dead. But I’m inclined to think that Lettie May screaming, covered in vampire remains, is enough of a confirmation that this is Tara. I’m ambivalent—I admire the gutsiness of killing off such a major character so quickly and of killing such a major character off-screen. We learn about the death in the way that normal people find out about death—-when they’re told. But the two combined are just too much for a character that has been an integral part of the show for 6 seasons. Even Lafayette seems ambivalent, though Lettie May’s dramatic reaction is predictable, as is the vampire blood addiction that it’s already evident she’s beginning.

Once the humans and vampires that are left have gathered inside Bellefleur’s, we realize that Holly, Arlene, and Nicole have been taken. Later, we see them in the basement of Fangtasia, chained up and terrified as a group of vampires feeds on another prisoner above. In the meantime, we see the price of living after the True Blood factories have been bombed and with Hep-V vampires on the loose. Sam is mayor of the town and is working with Bill as much as possible; they declare “one vampire for every human.” The humans’ jobs—to feed the vampires; the vampires’ jobs—-to protect the humans. This seems a more tenuous operation than ever after the infected vampires attack the party, especially given one man’s observation of Sam’s shape-shifting, prompting even more suspicion and concern.

A small mob forms, and despite warnings from Jason go after Bill. Later, this leads to a tense situation between the group and Bill and Andy, who has stayed home from the mixer entirely, vowing instead to protect his daughter Adilyn, the only one of his half-fairy daughters still living. Jessica, who killed the other girls and almost killed Adilyn, sits outside. She has promised to protect Adilyn at any cost in an effort to make up for the loss of control that led to the death of the other girls, and she almost has to pay with her life. Andy leaves after hearing of the vampire attack, and Jessica stands on the porch, aware of Tara’s death but unable and unwilling to leave Adilyn. When Bill and Andy encounter the mob, they form an uneasy alliance, as Andy protects Bill. Moyer and Bauer are at their best here, and the tension between them is mesmerizing.

Sookie is once again an outcast, blamed for the situation by most of the townspeople. It isn’t long before she can’t listen anymore to the multitude of negative thoughts in Bellefleur’s and walks home. Even Alcide succumbs to “what if” thoughts, blaming Sookie for her fascination with dead things. We see the two discuss this, later, their emotional distress obvious. Alcide isn’t my favorite Sookie pairing, mostly because I’d just like to see her on her own for a while, but they seem better matched than she did in her previous relationships.

Jessica (Deobrah Ann Woll) and Adilyn (Baily Noble) have some of the best scenes of the night, as we watch Adilyn talk to Jessica through the door, Jessica clearly struggling to maintain control and Adilyn clearly struggling against fear and revulsion, the two reaching out to each other and talking about friendship, boys, and Jessica’s transgressions. When an infected vampire shows up, Jessica enters a stand-off that lasts until dawn. Against the advice of both her father and Jessica herself, Adilyn invites Jessica in just as the sun is rising; the infected vampire bursts into flames, and Jessica locks herself away in the attic.

Outside of Bon Temps, Pam searches for Eric. We see her play a game of Russian roulette with another vampire, refusing to drink the only clean blood in Africa because it is child’s blood, and moving through informants in Morocco to find her maker. Kristin Bauer van Straten is still one of the best parts of this show—Pam is darkly funny, and van Straten manages to make her likable and almost fragile at times. I hope she’ll soon be reunited with Eric, both so that Alexander Skaarsgard will have screen time in our final season and because I enjoy watching the two actors play off one another.

In the episode’s final scene, everyone is gathered for Tara’s funeral. Sookie places her hand on Lettie May, who unleashes a torrent of anger in the middle of the funeral. When the outburst has ended, Sookie can hear the townspeople’s thoughts, and they are as ugly as they were after the infected vampires attacked Bellefleur’s. She gets up to leave, and then turns to give a heartfelt speech about her love for the town and the people, asking them to let her help. And so we end our first hour of the final season with Sookie’s martyr complex, but at least this time it seems to make sense. “Jesus Gonna Be Here” is one of the most engaging season premiere’s that I’ve seen for the show since its second season, so I’m interested to see what happens here at the end.

Penny Dreadful: “Possession” Review

“Possession” marks the penultimate hour of Penny Dreadful‘s first season, and it’s an aptly titled episode. In another phenomenal performance by Eva Green, Possessed Vanessa returns. Victor Frankenstein, Malcolm Muray, Ethan Chandler, and Sembene sit vigil with Vanessa, watching her try to fight the demonic force that took hold after last week’s tryst with Dorian. He and Brona are notably absent from this week’s episode, and Caliban is only seen momentarily, but the episode benefits from its claustrophobic insistence on maintaining the focus inside the Murray mansion. (Fair warning: spoilers below photo!)

We begin with Vanessa on Murray’s downstairs couch not long after her return from Dorian Grey’s home. She’s talking in a voice that doesn’t sound quite like her own, is harsher somehow, about pornographic photos of dead women. This doesn’t seem to be Vanessa, so when Murray asks if she can hear him, it’s no surprise that the subject is quickly changed. She seems to be Mina for a moment, calling him “father” and talking about his explorations, before mocking his wife and reminding Murray of his infidelities. He’s accused, at least, of making his son have sex with these women, too, tribeswomen from his journeys to Africa. I’m wondering if the writers are going to keep giving us this story in snippets, or if we’ll get it all from a flashback at a later time.

The voice starts listing the name of the tribes that the women were from, and the room slowly starts to come alive. The scene begins to vibrate. First, it’s a cup and saucer. Then it’s books on the shelves. Soon, the cup explodes, papers and then books go flying, the furniture is moving. Sembene steps in and knocks Vanessa unconscious then carries her upstairs silently. Murray decides that at least Victor needs to be called in, and the doctor is fetched.

Frankenstein examines a mostly normal Vanessa, who apologizes for the way she looks and winces at the coldness of the stethoscope he uses. The demon in her reveals itself, though, quoting the Shelley line from “Adonais” from “What Death Can Join Together” that Frankenstein quoted, remarking upon Frankenstein’s lack of sexual experience. He’s surprised and horrified by her condition, and he leaves the room before she can speak anymore. Green and Treadaway aren’t often in scenes together, and that’s quite a shame. They do well together, here, the characters’ complete differences juxtaposing neatly.

Frankenstein returns to speak to Murray about Vanessa’s condition. He diagnoses it as perhaps relating to past sexual trauma (of course). Murray mentions her date with Dorian, and the two seem to agree that it prompted her current condition (of course). As they talk, Frankenstein absent-mindedly plays with a tarot card. Suddenly, a spider appears, and just as soon as there’s one, the whole deck begins to move and shake, revealing spiders beneath. They swarm over and off the table just as we hear Vanessa scream from upstairs, and Murray and Frankenstein hurry from the room. We’ve seen this before—the spiders are indicative of what’s inside Vanessa—and their squick factor still works.

Ethan shows up at Murray’s home about this time, and Murray convinces him to stay and help the group as they help Vanessa in the only way they know how–by taking care of her as she fights the demon that has taken her. Ethan sees Vanessa, and she is momentarily lucid before the demon returns. The demon taunts Ethan about his sexual connection to Dorian, and Vanessa has to be sedated before the group leaves the room to talk. Murray is finally honest about what might be possessing Vanessa, telling the group about the Egyptol0gist’s Amunet theory. Now if we can just get them all to say “vampire.”

We then see a passage of time, and it appears to have been a week or so since Vanessa was first possessed. The men keep watch over her, trying to keep her from harming herself as much as they can. Then one afternoon, she wakes, talking to Ethan of his kindness and about the way the demon inside her feels. She loves Ethan, and we finally hear her say so, just before she asks him to kill her if it becomes necessary. But then we see that it isn’t really Ethan she’s talking to—much like the night that the demon took on the guise of Murray, the demon has taken Ethan’s appearance. She asks what it wants, and we finally hear a real reply—for her to be the mother of darkness and rule a broken, ruined Earth next to him after overthrowing god and killing everyone.Vanessa fights, but it’s clear that she finds the demon’s voice seductive, the idea of giving in to the darkness a relief. And Green turns in one of the best possessed-woman performances I’ve ever seen here, her ambivalence and emotional distress so clear.

Meanwhile, the real Ethan and Murray are discussing the possibility of a trip to Africa; Murray really wants Ethan to go with him. Ethan is suspicious, though, of Murray’s intentions and of the journey. The two don’t get much further into conversation before they have to go upstairs to help Frankenstein and Sembene sedate Vanessa, who is clawing at her wrists and chest, which seem (at least to her) to have engorged veins and what looks like it might be a hieroglyphic.

Victor goes downstairs, where we begin to see his morphine addiction in earnest for the first time. I am really interested in this turn, especially given his later admission that he was given a cocaine derivative as a child. I hope we’ll see more of boy-Frankenstein. He glances out the window to see Caliban watching, but there is nothing to be done. He turns to Ethan, and the two discuss Vanessa. They both seem to agree, but for different reasons, that letting Vanessa die might be the best thing to do given the situation. Ethan continues to show his suspicions of Murray, questioning why he is so desperate to keep Vanessa alive. Frankenstein and Ethan go to the basement, where Ethan begins to teach Frankenstein to shoot (he’s a quick study, evidently).

A little later, Ethan takes Sembene some food, and we finally get to hear him speak a little more, though he’s hardly forthcoming. He claims to have “no past,” and even when Ethan continues to question him, he reveals little except that we all have our debts to pay, our responsibilities to shoulder. I’m still hoping to see him get a lot more use as a character in a season 2 partially set in Africa. (Please, writers?) Anyway, while they talk, Murray is in Vanessa’s room, urging her to try to use the possession (and Dalton is truly frightening here), the state she’s in, to contact Mina. She’s enraged, and so is Ethan, who hears part of the conversation.

Ethan orders Murray out of the room, and the two converse with Victor about what to do for Vanessa. They agree upon a priest for last rites—and an exorcism. When he arrives, though, the priest refuses to perform the exorcism, a rite that must be Vatican approved before its performance. He goes upstairs to perform last rites; he approaches the bed cautiously, frightened by Vanessa’s appearance. When he identifies himself as father Matthew, the demon react, telling the story of Matthew nailed upside down to a cross “to come to me faster” before biting a chunk out of the priest’s face.

Vanessa breaks her restraints and jumps to the ceiling, where she perches before pouncing on Sir Malcolm. Ethan manages to tear her away, and Sembene gets Murray out of the room. Ethan readies his gun as he faces off with Vanessa, crying out for her to wake up. He grabs her head, pushes her against a wall, still pleading for her to fight the demon and return. She comes back long enough to ask him to kill her, knowing she doesn’t have much time before the demon returns.

And then, Ethan does something wondrously strange. He pulls out Brona’s St Jude necklace, presses it to Vanessa’s forehead, and begins chanting in Latin, his gun pressed against her neck. The chant works, Vanessa falls, ridden of the demon, and Ethan leaves the house. Murray and Sembene go upstairs to see Vanessa peacefully sleeping, her face full of color and life for the first time in weeks.

Then we get the final punch of the episode—-Vanessa is dreaming, seeing snippets of Mina interspersed with scenes from The Transformed Beast, the play from The Guignol, all of this against the lines: “there cannot be a happy end / the claw will slash and tooth will rend.” She awakens, goes downstairs, and informs Murray “I know where Mina is.”

I think it’s clear, from that ending and from the last episode’s title, that Mina is in The Guiginol. I’m wondering, though, when we’ll hear more about that thing that Ethan just did. How did he know what to say? Did something tell him? Has he done this before? What is he?

Looks like next week we might see a wrap-up of the Mina story-line as the season closes, and Brona and Dorian will be back, too.