In the last review, I speculated that Alan Ball was building up the plots of all the random Bon Temps characters for the fourth season. And that was confirmed in a series of cliffhangers I could care less about with few exceptions.
The vampire plot was by far the most entertaining and the only thing that kept the episode going, though Russell came to a disappointing end, encased in concrete with silver around his neck. His great moment on camera, sadly, did not go anywhere.
But Bill made a couple spectacular moves to protect Sookie. He also encases Eric in concrete and confronts the Queen. However, Pam saves Eric and he's younger than the Queen, so he's probably much weaker and has no chance. Nice try though! After breaking up with Bill, Sookie runs out to the grave, touches hands with a fairy and disappears.
Worst of all subplots was Tara's. At first, we're given the oh so cheery prospect of Tara slitting her wrists, but it turns out she just wants a new 'do and a fresh start. The extremes with Tara go from having all this crazy shit going around her to nothing at all, and the screen time for both circumstances are approximately the same.
Lafayette's visions continue and Jesus reveals himself as a witch. I have absolutely no desire to know what happens next, but we'll have to bear at least a few episodes of the plot next season.
Jason, as usual, acts like an idiot, tipping off the people at Hotshot and ruining his chances to become law enforcement. No blood is shed, though from the number of people there and their condition, I'm guessing a raid wouldn't have ended in deaths either. The result is Crystal taken away by her brother, Jason promising to look after the people of Hotshot, and more subplots I don't care about.
Tommy wreaks havoc, destroying many of Sam's possessions, the last straw for Sam who finds Tommy and takes a shot, although we don't know if the bullet landed. I was hoping for some kind of redemption for Tommy who was horribly abused, but his behavior fits in with the theme that people can't escape who they are.
If I had to choose one subplot over the others, it would probably be Hoyt and Jessica, simply because I think Jessica is a great character. Unfortunately, like most residents of Bon Temps, she's isolated in her own world along with Hoyt, his mother, and Summer. Hoyt's mother toting the big gun certainly isn't a viable answer to give Jessica something do since it's unlikely she'll be phased, but it's a start.
After the disappointing second season finale and third season of True Blood, I'm no longer as interested in the show as I once was. I'll continue to watch, but I'm surely not going to spend over 10 minutes reviewing an episode when the majority of time is spent complaining about Bon Temps and how boring it is. What I would like to see in the fourth season is a return to the basics. True. Blood. Basically, a bloody mess with wild plot twists all over. If that means dispensing half the characters, I'm all for it.
Score: 8.2/10
