The McGuffin True Blood Review: Season 2, Episode 5 - 'Never Let Me Go'

Posted by Cory Johnson on 07.24.2009

Get ready for Texas vampires and learn how Eric was made. Bill and Sookie enjoy the benefits of a vampire hotel and Sookie finally meets one of her own kind. Jason goes to boot camp and is rewarded for his efforts. All this plus a surprise return!

Daphne strips off her clothes while she leads Sam into the woods, telling Sam that she knows he has a secret and she can see how lonely he is. Sam keeps denying that he knows what Daphne is talking about while following her trail of clothes. Sam comes across a deer THAT SUDDENLY SHIFTS INTO DAPHNE! Sam is taken aback, and probably not just because she is naked. The dirty, dirty sounds of “Bad Things” welcome us to this week’s episode, “Never Let Me Go”.

Sam can barely speak. Daphne tells him that she saw him shift last night. Daphne leans in close enough to kiss him, kindly saying that he is not alone anymore. Their kiss is broken up by Terry and Arlene, apparently sneaking into the woods for a little fun themselves. Terry is wild eyed, and comments that this is a great party. Naked Daphne whispers that she has to run and takes off. Terry cracks that he will see Sam at work and picks up Arlene, honeymoon-style.

In Dallas, Sookie chases after a fleeing and freaking bellboy Barry. Barry is desperate to get away from Sookie, and terrified that she can hear his thoughts. Sookie, being Sookie, introduces herself and let’s loose a lifetime’s worth of questions on poor Barry. The vampire room service boy walks past them in a glamoured fog, but Barry doesn’t recognize that he is glamoured. Sookie points out that glamoured people’s thoughts sound like fog and disco music. Barry cannot be glamoured either, but he fakes it. Barry cannot hear vampire thoughts, either and he just wants to get away from Sookie because crazy Texas vampires will kill them. Sookie desperately tries to get Barry to talk to her, but he shuts her out and hurries back to work.

Bill reprimands Jessica for ordering human room service, saying he wouldn’t let her order porno either. Jessica perks up and shares the porno possibility with Sookie who says “yuk” with a great guilty look (since she was about to order one last week). Bill orders Jessica to her room. Jessica stomps out, screaming that her room is private and that Bill will be sorry when she gets an eating disorder. Bill pleads with Sookie to be careful. Sookie, still very turned on, starts unbuttoning Bill’s shirt, trying to turn him on by talking about how she is safe because she belongs to Bill. Bill cools off, and makes Sookie promise that she will listen to him, not because he told her to, but because that is the only way he can keep her safe. Sookie asks if the room is secure, and once Bill agrees, she pushes him down on the couch and takes off her robe, noting that they are in a vampire hotel, and for the first time they can stay together all night and he won’t have to leave in the morning. Sookie manages to get Bill to see her, um, point.

Jessica calls Hoyt and they have a great teenage “can’t stop thinking about you” conversation, interrupted by Hoyt’s mom. Hoyt reads Jessica a comic book over the phone.

Jason is awakened by a poor man’s Lee Emery and taken to drills. Jason is shocked when Sarah tells him that he has not earned the right to use the bathroom yet. Jason and Luke both have to do push-ups, and when they get competitive, Jason starts doing his one handed.

Tara wakes up with Eggs (I hate that name and that sentence). Tara stares at the picture of her with Sookie and Gran. Tara tells Eggs that Gran would have liked Eggs. Tara feels safe in Gran’s house. Eggs tells her that her last birthday was the first of many good ones. They snuggle.

Sookie manages to slip out of bed without waking Bill and finds Barry. Barry asks her to leave him alone. Barry has never met another telepath and tells Sookie that his life is shit, and that he works at the vampire hotel to preserve his sanity (he can’t control his telepathy around normal people). Sookie offers to teach Barry how to control it. A vampire….hooker (?) pleads for a sucker, er customer loudly in her thoughts. Sookie tries to give Barry a crash course in blocking out thoughts, but Barry doesn’t believe her, and walks out telling Sookie that there are too many people in his head already.

Sookie tries to slip back into bed. Bill dreamed that she was gone, and gets angry/concerned when she admits that she was gone. Sookie tells Bill about Barry, but instead of being happy that she found another telepath, Bill worries that he will not be able to protect her. Bill shares his frustrations about trying to protect Sookie and Jessica, but not being able to call any of the shots. Sookie goes colloquial on him, saying that he is walking a mile in her shoes and it is giving him blisters. Bill is worried about Eric. Sookie believes that Eric needs her and wouldn’t do anything to make her mad. Bill tenderly tells her that he cannot lose her.

Arlene makes Daphne do her closing duties while she takes a break. Daphne tries to make Terry choose between doing what Daphne wants him to do and what Arlene wants him to do. Poor Terry is having a brain aneurysm trying to figure out what to do, so he just storms out with Arlene following him. Sam wonders why Daphne took off last night (because she needed a run). Daphne felt like Sam had all he could process for one night, and he accuses her of underestimating him. Daphne hints that they will run together soon and their moment is broken up by Lafayette. Lafayette somberly asks Sam if they can talk. Sam bawls Lafayette out for not calling and making them wonder if he was dead. Lafayette just wants to know if he can have his job back, and there is no emotion left in him-not even enough to colorfully swear at Sam. Sam gives him his job back, but wants to know what happened to Lafayette…but he can’t answer and just sadly shuts the door.

Jason and the cadets are running, Jason and Luke competing for the alpha male position. Jason warns Luke to pace himself, but it’s not like Luke is going to listen to him.

Tara finds Maryann in the kitchen, naturally because she slept over. Maryann informs Tara that she is planning on staying a while. Tara uncomfortably explains that this is not her house and she cannot move a bunch of people in on Sookie. Maryanne tearfully walks out. Tara decides that it is time to grill out Egg about his relationship with Maryann. Eggs, Maryann, and Karl move around and take care of each other, like a family, and he accuses Tara of letting her poor family history keep from being happy.

At boot camp, Luke is too out of gas to climb the fence. Jason taunts Luke for a while, then after hearing the drill sergeant scream at Luke about his family dying on the other side, Jason helps Luke over the fence. Luke lands on the other side with a nasty thud. Sarah claps her approval.

Texas vampires Isabelle and Stan debate Eric bringing in a human (with Sookie right there), and whether the Fellowship of the Sun abducted Godrick. Sookie thinks she should infiltrate the church, but Stan thinks they should just wipe them out. Isabelle points out that it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out who did it. Bill doesn’t believe the King of Texas would appreciate Stan wiping out their international political agenda. Stan never agreed with vampires coming out of the coffin anyway. An irate Eric screams at them for being incompetent and things break down from here. Isabelle tells Eric he has no voice here. Stan has a war, and he intends to fight it. Sookie protests that she is not a puppet. Eric calls of them idiots.

Steve accuses Sarah of undermining him. Sarah wants to know why Gabe (the drill sergeant) always knows more than she does. Steve thanks him for sharing valuable information, and Gabe plans to act on their secret plans. Jason arrives and suddenly the Newlines stop bickering to praise his performance. Steve takes Jason for a walk, shutting Sarah out when she wants to come with. Steve makes a marriage joke around Jason, who doesn’t get the joke. Steve shows Jason the Fellowship of the Sun armory, full of wooden arrows, silver bullets, silver bullets with holy water, wood bullets, flamethrowers, silver throwing stars, and mentions that they have a guillotine coming while Jason picks up a rocket launcher.

Outside Merlotte’s, Maryann closes her eyes. Everyone in Merlotte’s is having a bad night, especially Tara. Everyone is on Tara’s ass, Sam, Arlene, Terry, and the customers. Daphne and Arlene get into it. Lafayette even gets into it mildly. Maryann drives away because they are done here.

Sarah enters the bathroom where Jason is taking a bath. She locks the door and offers to “help”. Jason lies back down in the tub, anxiously looking at the door. Sarah takes the loofah and relates the story of Mary Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet with her hair while she washes Jason’s chest. Sarah washes down to Jason’s little soldier and he jumps and tells her no. Sarah knows that he doesn’t mean it. Jason agrees and starts to protest again until Sarah tells him that God wants him to have a reward. Holy handjob, Batman.

Stan continues saber-rattling about taking them all out at once, while Isabelle continues to protest. Eric and Bill point out that there is a traitor in their ranks, because they were the only ones that knew that Bill and Sookie were coming. Isabelle and Stan both blame the each other. Sookie finally puts an end to it, saying that if they don’t stop fighting she is either going to scream or fall asleep. Sookie tells them that she is going undercover. Bill protests, Stan calls it a waste of time and leaves, Isabelle calls it the easiest way, and Eric makes it law. Bill asks Eric for a word. Isabelle asks a suddenly uncomfortable Sookie how her relationship is going.

Bill gets Eric to finally admit what we all suspected for weeks-that Godrick is his maker. Eric was a Viking warrior, mortally wounded in battle in the new world. Godrick is just a boy, maybe Aztec or Native. Godrick saw Eric in battle and was impressed. Godrick asked Eric if he could be a companion of death and promised to teach him all that he knows in exchange for the gift of life. Eric accepted and Godrick bit him.

Daphne helps Sam close up. They find out that they both have slightly higher than normal body temperatures and that it is like having sparks all over their skins when they change. They kiss and undress on the pool table.

Back at the hotel, Sookie excuses herself to ask about Barry. She is crushed to learn to Barry quit.

Back at Sookie’s house, Maryann is reading at the kitchen table in familiar clothes when Tara arrives. Tara tells her that she had a rough night. Maryann promises to be out right away, and tells Tara that she made her supper. Tara begs her not to go. Maryann tells Tara that she blooms like a flower when someone is good to her. In gran’s bedroom, Tara curls up next to Eggs.

Bill was disgusted by vicious, petty and vile creatures Sookie witnessed tonight. Bill wants to go home, but of course Sookie cannot leave after giving her word to Eric. Eric makes a threat against the church if they hurt her, but Sookie reassures him that this will be easy. Bill looks troubled, like he might throw up. He tells Sookie that it has been a long night and that she, um, doesn’t have to do anything. Bill would be satisfied just holding her, and Sookie tells him that she WOULD NOT be satisfied with that. Bill makes her say what she wants. Sookie wants Bill, every which way. They kiss and the camera pans to the hallway where Maryann…….NO LARENA, Bill’s maker strolls through the halls, listening for them…popping her fangs when she hears Sookie call Bill’s name.

Analysis
I am not sure that I have the ability to adequately describe the job that Anna Paquin is doing this season. In this episode, she subtly stole every scene. Sookie is an incredibly complex character with dialogue that is equal parts sweet, stern, naïve, full of folk-wisdom, and perceptive. This nightmare concoction could easily make Sookie incredibly irritating and more of parody than a person, but the way Paquin delivers her lines, and the way she uses her body language to convey their connotation is simply amazing. Case in point, when Jessica mentions the porno, her expression flashes to a guilty look for just a second as she decries the porno as yucky. The desire, excitement, and hope that flashes in her face when she meets Barry is incredibly earnest. When she wants Bill intimately, her eyes completely change from sheltered small town girl to absolute sex addict. Simply an incredible performance that is unmatched on TV today.

The way that they are pushing Bill aside, keeping him from actively deciding his (or Sookie’s) fate, is a great idea. Bill is doing a great job of chafing in this role and having to, for the first time in quite a while, use his mind over his abilities to attempt to get back to his normal carefully controlled life with Sookie.

Jason and Sarah finally had their moment, and it was good (sorry, I stole that from a Book). The boot camp-style training just didn’t hit the mark; mainly due to the laughable juxtaposition of sergeant swearing and god-fearing vampire hate they mixed together. The FotS storyline will be over soon, but it would appear that they will grow into a more realistic threat once Sookie is in the mix. I’m begging not to see a scene where Sookie is tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth when Bill comes to the rescue.

Eric had a non-reveal this week, but the scene where Godrick turned him was very well done. If Eric’s reported age is correct, the writers did their homework, as the Vikings were just about done with the America’s about 1,000 years ago. Why Eric tolerates the Texas vampires is another question altogether, as we have seen him become incredibly brutal in the past when he wants information. If future episodes can feature more about Eric’s early days, we have some good stuff ahead.

Things I Wonder
What exactly is a vampire eating disorder? Hemophilia?
King of Texas?? Godrick or someone else? Doesn’t half of Texas already think they are kings?
Why is Lorena back? How did she find them? What has she been doing for the last 150 years?
Could Godrick have turned Lorena?
Jason is never going to touch Sarah again, is he?
Was anyone surprised that Godrick was so young?
Hoyt is the first male to ever get a female to listen to them read a comic book, right?
Why disco music when they are glamoured?
How does Anna Paquin not win an award for this season?
Sookie apparently really likes sex, doesn’t she?
What happened between Daphne and Maryann, and how did Daphne survive?
Does Maryann lose some luster now that she is homeless with a manservant?
Lafayette is just a shell of himself, isn’t he? Nothing like the break-dancer he was last week.
Stan and Isabelle-boring or not?
The guillotine was a great touch, wasn’t it?
Did anyone else laugh at the drill sergeant (not in the good way)?
Who saw Daphne as a shifter? Completely out of nowhere.
The feud between Daphne and Arlene is pointless, yes?
Sam must have had an awful time with the werewolves, huh?
Why am I so excited that Lorena is back?

Thanks for reading. Please keep the comments, feedback, and emails coming, they are much appreciated and I promise to feature some next week. In other Showtime/HBO news, WEEDS has jumped the shark, NURSE JACKIE is only ok, PENN & TELLER’S BULLSHIT is great this season, and HUNG hasn’t developed an identity yet, but it’s getting there. This is Cory and I will be back next week with the next episode of TRUE BLOOD, until then, keep watching.

The 411: One of the best episodes of the season. This episode had a little bit everything and almost all of it good (is the FotS stuff over yet). The entire cast was used very well this week and all the characters seemed to advance and deepen just a little bit more. The actors, especially Anna Paquin, continue to amaze and look incredible while doing it. Definitely a can't miss episode.

Final Score:  8.8   [ Very Good ]