Spoil True Blood for me (11/2)

[Hi, Neighbor!]

This weekend, I took a trip down to Philadelphia to visit some friends and watch the Phillies parade. On the day of the parade, I'd spent the whole morning and afternoon drinking heavily, so by the evening, I had a monstrous headache.

I desperately wanted to sleep, but the pain was keeping me awake. My friend has HBO, so that night, I ended up staying up and watching every single episode of True Blood. Yes, that's right. I watched from 9PM to 5AM. I watched an entire third shift of True Blood.

It's funny, because I never had any interest in this show before that night. I thought it was such a silly concept.

Anyways, flash forward to tonight. I'm back home now and without HBO. My friend from Philly just called me to ask if I had just seen the newest episode. She said it was GREAT! Since there is no way that I will be able to see it in the foreseeable future, will someone please tell me what happened? My friend refused to tell me anything. But I need to know... and fast!

[AuntiePam]

Scenes not in any particular order, but it doesn't matter:

Somebody killed Sookie's cat.

Bill killed the vampire embezzler to protect Sookie. Eric, Pam, and some dude named Chow came to Bon Temps and got Bill -- he's going to be tried before a vampire tribunal for the killing.

Bill asked Sam to protect Sookie while he was away. Sookie decided to spend the night in Bill's house. Sam changed into a dog to evade Sheriff Bellefleur and went to Bill's house, where he slept (as a dog) at the foot of the bed. Sookie woke up and found naked Sam. More on that next week -- this was the last scene.

Jason and Amy have the vampire tied up in Jason's basement and they're drinking his blood. But Jason is getting to know the guy and he's ambivalent about it.

Sam gave Tara $800 to pay the hoodoo woman for an exorcism.

Someone who paid more attention than I did will come along soon and flesh this out.

[Eleanor of Aquitaine]

The captured vampire tells Jason the whole story of his life and how he became a vampire, and Jason is feeding him Trueblood behind Amy's back. (Stephen Root is fantastic.)

I think it's strange that Bill asked Sam to take care of Sookie. In the show Sam hasn't shown any sign of supernatural strength or speed (the vampires took him down pretty easily a couple of weeks ago) and he doesn't even turn into a particularly fierce dog. What's he going to do, shed on the killer?

So, Lafayette works construction, cooks at Merlotte's, sells drugs, prostitutes himself and runs an adult website. Busy man.

I've read the books, but I actually don't remember who the killer is and I have deliberately avoided looking at the book to find out. Assuming the show will even track the book - there are a fair number of deviations.

[Hi, Neighbor!]

Are there two dogs running around? I swear I remember seeing Sam and the dog on screen at the same time. The dog actually jumped into his arms while Sam was sitting on his porch. Two werewolves? Who is the other one? But then again, this was during the day. Hmm...

[Xan]

Originally Posted by Hi, Neighbor!

Are there two dogs running around? I swear I remember seeing Sam and the dog on screen at the same time. The dog actually jumped into his arms while Sam was sitting on his porch. Two werewolves? Who is the other one? But then again, this was during the day. Hmm...

It could be that there is a real dog and Sam just copies its form. We also don't know if that's the only thing Sam can turn into.

Also werewolves don't turn into dogs.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Xan

It could be that there is a real dog and Sam just copies its form. We also don't know if that's the only thing Sam can turn into.

Also werewolves don't turn into dogs.

If he is going to turn into a dog, it would make sense to have a similar looking dog hanging around so as to not rouse a lot of suspicion.

Weredog?

[Hello Again]

In addition to the above, it was revealed that Sam can change form at will but at the same time, he does not have total control over his transformation. He changed into a dog in order to give the detective the slip and in dog form set out to protect Sookie by staying with her at Bill's house, but at the end of the episode, the "hook" was that Sookie woke up with Sam lying nekkid at the foot of her bed, apparently having lost control of his transformation in his sleep. There was lots of screaming.

There are two dogs. Sam's dog form is brown and white. The other dog, which apparently belongs to Sam (but he called him "brother" in one scene a few eps back) is black and white. They are of the same or similar breeds (looks to be Border Collie).

I have a feeling Bill either knows or has a strong sense that there is something supernatural about Sam. I suspect that, like Sookie, he can perceive that Sam's thoughts are not quite like those of other people.

[Xan]

Originally Posted by John Mace

If he is going to turn into a dog, it would make sense to have a similar looking dog hanging around so as to not rouse a lot of suspicion.

It does make a lot of sense. It also has the side effect of screwing with the viewers.

[Hi, Neighbor!]

There was another thread about a True Blood episode about a month ago. Many people were calling that Sam could in fact change into a dog.

Now, I just watched the first 8 episodes in one sitting, but I did not pick up on this at all.

I knew there was something with the dog, because at the beginning of one episode, it was watching Sookie enter her home from nearby bushes. Also, Sam was once caught running through the woods naked.

Those are all the clues I got. How did everyone else manage to put it together before watching last night's episode?

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Hi, Neighbor!

Those are all the clues I got. How did everyone else manage to put it together before watching last night's episode?

Sookie can't read Sam's thoughts, or she can't read them as easily as she reads everyone else. That was the first clue.

I'm pretty sure Sam's secret was given away in other threads -- hints from people who've read the books.

[Omniscient]

Originally Posted by Hi, Neighbor!

Those are all the clues I got. How did everyone else manage to put it together before watching last night's episode?

I thought they beat you over the head with the foreshadowing. First of all they've had a bunch of scenes where the dog is following Sookie and shows up unexpectedly when she's at risk or alone. Often those scene were followed up with Sam arriving on the scene as the rescuer or shoulder to cry on. In one episode when Sookie was explaining to Sam that she couldn't read his thoughts, only that she could pick up sounds and emotions, simpler stuff, they took the time to show a large picture in Sam's office of a dog standing over a hurt or unconscious blonde girl. It projected a pretty clear message that Sam was the dog and he was protecting Sookie, and the scene echoed that. Lastly, Sam was barking and growling in his sleep when he slept with Tara. That's about as blunt a hint as possible.

[Dewey Finn]

Hijack: Does the Trueblood artificial blood exist in the books? If so, does the author explain how it was developed? Was it developed for use in blood transfusions and then used by vampires, or was it developed specifically for vampires?

[maladroit]

yes Trueblood is in the books. It's the device that makes it possible for vampires to make themselves known, since now they don't have to prey upon humans to survive. Seems like the Japanese created it for medical use. iirc

[OpalCat]

I just got hooked on this show as well. Rob was in town for a week and he'd downloaded them from his TiVo to his laptop. Problem is that he's gone back to DC and I don't have HBO. WAAAHHH!!!

[Hi, Neighbor!]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

Sookie can't read Sam's thoughts, or she can't read them as easily as she reads everyone else. That was the first clue.

I'm pretty sure Sam's secret was given away in other threads -- hints from people who've read the books.

She can read his thoughts, but she chooses not to. I think Sookie made that announcement in one of the earlier episodes.

Oh gosh, it's Thursday already. Another new episode in just three days already. I need HBO

[Hello Again]

Originally Posted by Hi, Neighbor!

She can read his thoughts, but she chooses not to. I think Sookie made that announcement in one of the earlier episodes.

It's true she chooses not to in general, but she has done from time to time, and on one occasion told Sam that his thoughts were not like those of other people - they didn't contain many words but were mostly flashes of emotion and sense perceptions.

[Rubystreak]

Amy is damn creepy. I agree with the captive vampire: she's a dangerous psychopath. The cover of sweet hippie girl is going to get blow bigtime, and it should be very interesting when that happens. Boy, Jason Stackhouse is a complete moron, isn't he?

[drastic_quench]

Originally Posted by OpalCat

I just got hooked on this show as well. Rob was in town for a week and he'd downloaded them from his TiVo to his laptop. Problem is that he's gone back to DC and I don't have HBO. WAAAHHH!!!

http://www.sidereel.com/True_Blood

[OpalCat]

I don't get it, what am I missing? I see a page with reviews and stuff...

[drastic_quench]

Scroll to "links". There's a list of episodes. Click an episode, and you'll get links to watch each episode online. If you're using Firefox and NoScript, you've got to allow scripts for sidereel, otherwise it should work just fine. The links that say "megavideo" are typically the most reliable, but the quality isn't quite up to TV standard.

[OpalCat]

aha! Thanks.

[OpalCat]

By the way, am I the only one who keeps thinking that the hoodoo lady looks like Lafayette in drag?