"Cold Grey Light of Dawn" marks the beginning of the second half of the season, and it's a pretty eventful episode. Setting aside the mountain of plot holes, Antonia coming back to kill vampires is exciting, and she actually casts the spell by the end of the episode. Of course, Jessica won't actually die, but the final scene, with Jessica clawing her way out as Bill yells at her, was spectacular.
Crucial to the episode is how Antonia's spell is used as the instigator for deeper looks at the characters--and pleasure for Ginger atop Pam's coffin. Bill decides to order all vampires out of the state and those who remain to chain themselves in silver. It's a painful experience for everyone, but the alternative would be getting dragged into the sun and burnt to a crisp. In the pain, there are some key character moments--between Bill and Jessica, and Eric and Sookie. The Eric and Sookie stuff is the sappy love dialogue we've seen, ending with Eric saying that he doesn't want his memories. After a fun start to Eric losing his memories, I'm getting tired of the constant melodrama.
Bill and Jessica's conversation, on the other hand, is the sort of thing that I wished there was more of. Their relationship is platonic (one of the few on the show), but there is a warmth to it that isn't seen in almost all relationships on the show. On the eve of potential death, Jessica expresses her thoughts to Bill about her condition and of Bill himself, assuring him that he did good by making her.
What was problematic about the episode was the morality behind the coven's actions. At the beginning, True Blood had this message that vampires weren't monsters and should be treated equally. As we've seen through the seasons, however, they can be vicious, dangerous, and vengeful--perhaps more than humans in comparison. Clearly, Tara and Antonia both have legitimate points to make about vampires and the vampire culture which ignored or even encouraged abuses.
But if we are to follow the "big bad" pattern of the show, Antonia would indeed be the big bad, the person everyone gangs up against in the final episode. To me, she seems on par with the vampires. She's angry and wants revenge, not unlike Pam earlier in the episode. The troubling aspect is that she's going after all vampires in the state, and everyone else there seems fine with it, knowing there are innocent vampires they will kill.
The episode didn't spend too much time on the other plots, which was a plus, but, as expected, they were disposable. Sam figures out what Tommy did and throws him out. Please, please, please, please, please make this the end of Tommy. Please? More Alcide and Debbie drama. Lafayette sees the woman that the baby saw last week. And... ?
Score: 8.7/10
