True Blood – “Night on the Sun”

Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) realizes that a shotgun is more reliable than glowing hands.

Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘True Blood’
Season 3 – Episode 8
“Night on the Sun”

The third season of ‘True Blood’ continues to be the strongest of the series. The first was engaging due to the newness of the show and a season long mystery. The second season felt clumsily cleaved in half; a stronger half about the Fellowship of the Sun and Godric gave way to the disappointing resolution of the Maryann plot. Despite a few subplots that I’m less invested in (I’m still looking at you Jason Stackhouse and Arlene Fowler), this season as a whole has felt tighter conceptually than the previous two.

Even the Sam and Jason’s two storylines appear to be converging after the confrontation at Merlotte’s between Sam and Tommy and Crystal’s father and fiancé. The meth dealers somehow know that Sam is a shapeshifter and his nose got twitchy as they entered the bar. Also, Jason’s encounter at the meth farm indicates that these folks may not be human either. The easy answer is that they’re werewolves, but I’m hoping for something new.

Lafayette’s mom, Ruby, may be crazy, but isn’t that the case with most oracles? She left the hospital so she could protect him from vampires and monsters that she says are coming for her son. She also makes a claim that Lafayette has power. I don’t believe this is monetary either, so I can’t wait to see how this may play out.

Bill and Jessica finally get some time to bond as Maker and Baby. Stephen Moyers does a great job of showing Bill’s resignation once he realizes how similar his and Jessica’s current romantic situations are. Also, they’re all each other have at the moment. The speed fighting exercise worked as good preparation to the fight that was the climax of the episode.

Once again, I have to rave about how much I love Deborah Ann Woll as Jessica; and not just for the obvious reasons. Between Woll’s performance and how Jessica is written, this baby vampire continues to be a really fun character. Whether it’s a quick, southern-fried metaphor or retort, or sweet wave to a werewolf before a savage battle, every mannerism and bit of dialogue just seems right for the character.

It looks like it’s going to be full-on war with Edgington for the rest of the season. Bill may have an uneasy ally in Eric, too. Edgington is no dummy and it won’t take him long to figure out that Eric was the one to stake his husband, Talbot. I’m glad Eric finally played his hand, too. The Vampire Authority is certainly going to get involved due to the Magister’s death and merging of the kingdoms of Mississippi and Louisiana, which could put Bill and Eric in powerful positions if they play their cards right. Could the season end with these two as kings of those two territories?

Like most viewers, I’m not surprised by the expedience of Bill and Sookie’s reunion. I’d rather she takes him back sooner rather than to endure a couple of episodes of Sookie acting conflicted and distraught at whether or not she made the correct decision. That being said, I do like the continual warmth of her friendship with werewolf hunk Alcide.

“Night on the Sun” continues a very strong string of episodes for ‘True Blood’. The Edgington storyline has been enticing and it continues to spread out and affect more characters as the season progresses. I just hope it doesn’t fizzle out like the end of last season.