As recently as earlier this month, O’Hare told THR that fans should “never give up” on Russell’s return. He also reiterated what series creator Alan Ball had told fans, “Russell’s not dead.”
When HBO released the episode descriptions for this season’s finale episode, it stated “the denizens of Bon Temps brace for a new crisis with a familiar face” and we thought for sure it was referring to Russell.
The last time fans saw him, Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) sealed Russell in a cement grave, but he vowed that he’d be back. This season has been kind of an ode to the character as his televised killing of a news anchor created violent discord between humans and vampires, setting in motion many of the events of Season 4 – dubbed the “Post-Russell Edgington world.”
When we spoke to exec producer and writer, Alexander Woo, before this season’s premiere about the character’s reprisal, he told us, “He’s been locked away, so he’s kind of a time bomb. He could come back in any moment.”
One of the things they talk about is Sookie’s dream. Much like the V-trip last week, I didn’t love the dream scene this week. I thought it broke the pace of the episode and took too long to play out, all to get to an issue that was sort of already implied. Sookie wants both Eric and Bill. That’s an interesting non-twist. I just think it could have been demonstrated in a less obvious way. Then again, TB’s not exactly known for subtly.
Moving on, there may be a big clue to how things are going to wrap up. Pay attention to what’s said about Lafayette and Jesus, and what went on with Mavis. The story of the woman with the lost baby seemed sort of a tangent, but maybe not…
“This thing that Jesus finds that he’s able to do, and this thing that Lafayette finds that he’s able to do is going to prove helpful to the people of Bon Temps.”
Right now, Marnie is possessed with Antonia’s spirit. Perhaps Lafayette being a Medium and Jesus having the ability to extract a spirit from a medium’s body will play a part in getting Antonia out of Marnie’s body and sending her (and her magic) away.
Swift’s hit song, ‘Haunted’ was featured during a racy sex scene between Jason Stackhouse and vampire Jessica on this week’s episode of HBO’s ‘True Blood,’ and not because her management said it was okay.
Swift’s team felt the risque and explicit show would not be a good fit for one of the country star’s songs, but she must be a fan, because she overruled their decision, and gave it the green light.
BAUER VAN STRATEN: I cannot even tell you how much fun I had this year, with this direction. When Alan told me about what would happen, with the witch putting a spell on my face, I thought, “Oh, she’s really going to fall apart and cry a lot.” He said, “No, she’s angry,” and I thought, “Right!” It was endlessly fun to play.
You’ve been working with Alexander Skarsgard for awhile, and developing the relationship and bond between Eric and Pam. Was it weird to turn that on its head, this season, with him having no memory?
BAUER VAN STRATEN: It was weird. For one, I did scenes with other people. Usually, he’s standing on my left or my right, and I got very comfortable with that. When I would see him in the parking lot, and he’d been off over at Sookie’s while I was running around in my own mess, we’d go, “Hey, when are we going to get back together in Fangtasia?” So, it has been different. It’s fun to branch out and get to do scenes with other people, but I’ve missed my Maker.
True-Blood-season-4-image-Anna PaquinWhat can you say about what fans of the show can expect from the remainder of the season?
BAUER VAN STRATEN: It’s great how far and wide and all-encompassing the witches aim their spells. One thing I love about True Blood is that all the relationships are multi-faceted and complicated, just like our lives. So, Pam’s relationship to Eric has obviously shifted, horribly for her. She wants him to be a rock in her life, and he can’t be that, as of yet. Her relationship to Bill – and it’s so much fun that she hates him, or doesn’t respect him – leaves her now having to work with him. And, her relationship with Sookie is very interesting because she is also attracted to her, but Eric doesn’t want to share, so Pam is also jealous. It’s a fascinating season, with the alliances that are formed and the battles that happen. Where we end up, at the end of this season, is fascinating. Right now, I just can’t wait to see Episode 1 of Season 5.
As Pam, the vampire co-owner of Bon Temps’ Fangtasia bar on HBO’s “True Blood,” Kristin Bauer is hell on high heels. But when she kicks off her sky-high pumps and peels off the false lashes, her Wisconsin roots come shining through.
Bauer, who says she was somewhat typecast throughout her acting career as either sitcom girlfriends or tragic hookers, is relishing her role as Pam, the golden goddess of bloodsucking glam.
“God, I love her,” Bauer says. “This season, she’s going through a lot … she’s tough, she’s funny and she does have a vulnerable side when it comes to her maker (the powerful Nordic vampire Eric Northman, played by Alexander Skarsgard) and she does get to physically fight. It’s a really deep character.”
Complex characters are the signature of “True Blood’s” creator and executive producer, Alan Ball, who was also the creative force behind HBO’s critically acclaimed series, “Six Feet Under.” The characters in “True Blood,” Bauer says, “have contradictions and dichotomies just like people in real life. Nothing is a cliché, ever.”
Hoyt Fortenberry on the HBO hit True Blood, talks about a sex scene he recently filmed with costar Ryan Kwanten as well as his role in James Franco’s upcoming film about murdered gay actor Sal Mineo in an interview with New York magazine.
Parrack is asked about the sex scene, which happened during a dream had by Jason Stackhouse (Kwanten’s character). “I still haven’t seen that, but to play the cowgirl straddling my buddy?” he says with a laugh. “That was a very interesting scene to shoot, to say the least.”
“The witch puts a rotting spell on me so my face is falling off,” Bauer says in the Wired.com video interview above, shot last month during Comic-Con International. “It was really challenging, but really meaty for me, no pun intended.”
Pam’s rotting spell hasn’t been the only thing the actress has enjoyed about her character. She also appreciates sinking her teeth into the role’s mean demeanor.
“Pam is the most unapologetic vampire; she’s happy to be a vampire, she was done with humanity, so it’s a very clear, simple character,” said Bauer. “I am such a softie, I cry about 30 times a day, and somehow to play this relentless bitch is so much fun.”
Song: Wacky’s Tackle
Artist: The Hollow Trees
Scene: Sam goes to Luna’s to apologize
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Song: Crazy Like Me
Artist: Camp Burnette
Scene: Jessica hops in Jason’s truck
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Song: Shuffle Your Feet
Artist: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Scene: As Alcide and Debbie cuddle by the fire, a fight breaks out at the Pack Party
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Song: Te-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu
Artist: Slim Harpo
Scene: Terry and Arlene over the baby being unsupervised in Merlotte’s kitchen
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Song: No Place To Hide
Artist: Jace Everett
Scene: Marcus warns that something big is going down
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Song: Heebie Jeebies
Artist: The Boswell Sisters
Scene: Lafayette has a dream of Mavis before she appears
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Song: Spellbound
Artist: Siouxsie & The Banshees
Scene: End Credits
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The problems with “True Blood” all steam from the same big problem: Too many characters. We count at least 20 recurring ones (who’ve appeared in multiple seasons) and dozens of other minor ones. To compound things, we’re not only talking about characters but supernatural characters (vampires, werewolves, werepanthers, witches, shapeshifters, skinwalkers, maenads and fairies). While you can get away with that many freaky characters in a series of novels (“True Blood” is based on books by Charlaine Harris) where you’ve got hundreds of pages of exposition to work with, you can’t with a one-hour weekly TV show (even soap operas are five hours a week). The result is lack of focus, lack of continuity, lack of attention to detail and characters acting, well, out of character.
Consider:
+ We spent three seasons getting to know Bill Compton, the show’s central vampire, as a benevolent protagonist, thrown into his preternatural existence against his will and unwilling to succumb to the lust for human blood that comes with the territory, hopelessly in love with a human woman he can never truly have as a partner. Then, in Season 4, with no foreshadowing and very little setup, Bill turns bad – very bad – and we learn everything about Season 1, 2 and 3 Bill was an act and that he’s really a power-hungry vamp social climber who doesn’t care who he hurts along the way. Um, OK. But wait, there’s more. After six episodes of getting acclimated to cutthroat (pardon the pun) Bill, he goes soft again on us, bailing out on the opportunity to eliminate his chief rival, a move that certainly would have cemented his power, something we’ve been told for six episodes is ALL HE CARES ABOUT.
