shrewd.buddha

I'm not getting any sense of urgency or impending climax -- do they really intend on wrapping this up next week? In the first episode there was some discussion of the possibility of extinction by Ethan, but that hasn't really built towards anything major (as far as I can tell from the parts I manage to stay awake during..).

Yeah, normally you could relate to someone wanting eternal life -- so that they could 'live' large and continue doing things that they enjoy. But these vampires are sexless, disfigured monsters who dress in rags and lurk in the dark. ..What's the upside? And the episode ended with the reveal of The Master without his hoodie. Was that supposed to be a big deal? ...Because he was creepier with the hood.

Characters in this show make the worst choices. It defies suspension of disbelief. Hobbit guy (Jim) wants to leave town with his wife. But she doesn't want to go to the airport early and questions why he would leave the city during an outbreak. Five minutes later, Jim wants to stay and his wife wants to go immediately to the airport. C'mon people, at least stay consistent for 30 minutes or more... The police arrest Gus and ignore the bloody creature with a tentacle tongue who should be laying about two feet away? Sure. I guess giving Gus a naked cavity search was more interesting than getting murdering monsters off the streets..

Also, judging by the kids' ages, it just so happened that Jason, Lafayette, Arlene, Sam, Hoyt, and others had all started relationships around the same time that lasted for five years or more. A record for these people. I suppose relationships in Bon Temps do a lot better off-camera..

The most redeeming aspect of the episode? That the show is finally over. It ended a lot weaker than it began -- this last season felt like mostly filler. And our TW cable had the main HBO channel as unavailable, so we ended up watching the Latino version. It actually made the episode more interesting as we tried to catch all the Spanish dialogue. And I still don't feel as if I missed anything since almost all the conversations have been had before. And they had the entire wedding ceremony..! I guess giving some of the series regulars some last lines of dialogue didn't seem that important to TPTB. Bye, True Blood.

Not sure why, but it doesn't bother me so much when Emma manipulates Hank and Evan. Maybe because they should have learned their lesson dealing with their dad. Maybe because Hank himself is living high on the hog in the Hamptons, basically sponging off Boris. "Bills? Budgets? Expenses? What are these things?" Also, besides doling out sanctimonious medical advice, Hank really doesn't have much going on anymore ..

This slow episode made me think that there is no grand finale planned for True Blood. It is playing out like any other season. ...Just more cliffhangers and Sookie in danger and things go on as usual in Bon Temps. This season's writing feels especially weak. Even the homages to the first season are falling flat and don't seem to be adding up to anything special. Bill could kill himself at any point he wants. A few episodes back he was all concerned about leaving his estate to Jessica. Wouldn't it make more sense to get cured, figure out how to get things transferred, then kill yourself without all the look-at-me-dying drama?

Is the Eclipse over? Or are we still in the middle of it? It was hard to tell... Are people turning into Zampires in just a few minutes now? Zampires are killing people with mouth tentacles in the middle of the street and it doesn't cause a panic? Those New Yorkers are really jaded. Note to Eph and Exterminator guy : if you want you loved ones to leave the city -- you need to pack them up and take them yourselves. Once Eph saw people being attacked in the street, he should have immediately headed to save his son. (But we know his real priorities..) I am enjoying the growing mayhem - it's keeping the show going. But once you have roaming gangs of killer Zampires, what does it matter what happens with the Goth Rocker guy and Lawyer Lady. They would seem minor in comparison. Another week with no sighting of The Master.. At this point we are now picking out who needs to die. The top candidates : Eph's ex-wife's boyfriend. (Eph will save his family.) Eph's ex-wife's BFF who swills wine all day and gives bad advice. Gus' not-too-bright sidekick. Who opens a body bag "just to see" ? Nora's not-too-bright mom. Nora is annoying enough without the added baggage.

I like Sean Bean, which was the reason for checking out this show . I will probably stick it out for a few episodes since there isn't much 9pm competition. But things such as the following could probably cause me to tune out : Tech team with magical skillz (feeding a false internet search in about 20 seconds? No.) Must stop Imminent Terrorist Attack - for the 10 millionth time ... Deep cover spy who wants to reconnect with his family. Yeah, that should go well. First episode and the lead female is already playing a stripper. Not a good sign.

It feels as if the series has picked up now that the attacking, hunting, and killing has begun in earnest. The CDC comes off as pretty inept and politically corrupt. Would any official (CDC or other types) realistically think they could ignore a plague outbreak and not be held accountable at some point? And what is The Master a master of, exactly? Lurking in the shadows? Surviving for hundreds of years without drawing too much attention? Not exactly a figure of power and control... I do like his flapping strands of tattered cloak as he whisks in and out of places. Does The Master prefer tattered clothing?

So, there was no Tara storyline this entire time -- it was just a Lettie Mae storyline. And it's conclusion with the gun was lame. Fangtasia should have been a mess after the Hep-V, Vigilante battle. But, whatever .. guess they didn't want to spend more money on sets. And Pam's utter devotion to Eric is just weird now. She just runs around yelling "Eric!" "Eric!" "Eric!!". She gets captured which causes Eric to capitulate to demands of others, and threatens to kills herself if Eric doesn't capitulate to her demands. (She's done these things multiple times.) At this point Pam is no longer bad-ass, just a snarky vampire with codependency issues. The series ending does not seem to be building towards anything resembling the notion of epic.

I believe the Lettie/Lafayette scene was literally about 30 seconds. And didn't include Tara. The 'previously' scenes probably had more screen time of them. Why bother? Eric being a dick about everything, in every situation, seems silly. It's as if he has a death wish - but it also makes him seem sort of dumb - he doesn't seem to be calculating or planning anything. He and Pam seem to be playing the same scenes with the Japanese company men over and over. I was surprised that the episode ended without any 'big' moments. Maybe they are saving all the killing for the last episodes. Wouldn't Bon Temps be pretty devastated at this point? Aren't Andy and Jason about the only people left in the Sheriff's department? It seems odd that things are back to normal after a good chunk of the town's population have been killed by vampires or other townsfolk.

This episode was a better balance of action/gore versus boring family/political drama -- in that there seemed to be less boring parts. But the billionaire's health issues and the gangster's family drama seemed to be really drawn out, just like Eph's family drama (from which we were spared this week). Why do they need to re-emphasize everything? We get that Eph thinks that his son is his last chance - that the gangster cares about his mother - that the sick billionaire is sick.. But TPTB seem to think the audience can't remember the most basic elements of their drama.

So, another undercover Angel? This is starting to become a trend. The William and David stuff seems to be going on forever.. They are both high ranking members of their city's dictatorship. Wouldn't someone be looking for them? The "everything you know is wrong" stuff with Gabriel and Alex just fell flat for me - probably because it's been done so many times by so many shows.

I just found it weird that estranged grandpa was like "Sure, I'll hang out with your robot boy toy and treat him like an ordinary grandchild. No biggie. I do this kind of thing all the time." Then Molly asks grandpa to take Ethan out to dinner and grandpa asks if there are any rules. And Molly just says "make sure he's back by bedtime." Seriously? I would think doctor grandpa would have lots of questions, like "does he actually eat?", "does he need to eat?", "will he need a battery change?", "what happens to the warranty if he falls in the water?". I've been trying to imagine how the role of Molly would be if it were played by someone like Sigourney Weaver - or someone who could bring some gravitas to the idea of being a scientifically minded astronaut. As it is, Molly just seems to be a typical Damsel in Distress. We'll see if moving to 10pm makes any difference. I sorta regret missing Motive -- that show manages to keep my interest, despite being a procedural.

At this point I'm just rolling with it ... Bill openly kills a human? Sure. Okay. I'm sure that won't stick. I've been wanting to see more Tara, but they are really dragging it out to the point of not really caring. Vampires can't marry but they can adopt? Sure. I think Anna Camp captures the right amount of camp in her scenes. That's what True Blood is to me - high camp. It's all so over the top. (Which is fine by me.) It is sort of hilarious how Sookie goes to work at the restaurant about once every three months. We are sticking around to see who lives and who dies before the series ends. But some of the story lines are tedious..

I also found it odd that the vampire hunter was so dismissive of the CDC lady. He could have at least gave her some information on how to contact him when they realized what they were up against. The idea that he alone could track down 200+ victims and their families is far fetched. Ephraim obviously isn't as much of a genius as he thinks he is... "My son is everything to me! I would do anything for him!!" Except, you know, quit my job or make time for him, or things like that... I'd rather be a workaholic and alcoholic and just talk about how much I care. I'm guessing the vampires are going to threaten his family at some point -- but so far the family drama is dragging the show down. I think we've got enough balls in the air at this point - we don't more stuff, like the CDC's Hobbit guy's wife having cancer and him being blackmailed by Vampire butler guy. Where was "the master" this week?

Things seems to be progressing ... slowly ... and in mostly predictable ways. Halle seems more natural in her party dress than a space suit. The whole robot child concept just doesn't work for me, and it's making the show fail for me. Let me count the ways: Smell, taste, and touch are a big part of a child's development. But those things would be a major programming effort. Children sweat, get tired, get sick, and poop. Again, this would be very complicated to duplicate in any way. A.I.'s don't forget things. Children do. You would have to dumb-down a child robot to make it seem more human. Making a robot weight less than 60 lbs, and less strong than it could be -- again, way too complicated. Some kids are intellectual or physical prodigies - but Ethan cannot be -- because he's programmed to be ordinary. Ethan's character would work if he were some type of genetic hybrid. But as it is, every. single. conceivable. aspect. of his behavior is part of a very complicated mechanical and computer program. It sort of sad that Halle's character is supposed be to an astronaut with with enough technical skills to handle a 13 month solo space mission. But she is not applying any of those problem solving skills to her current dilemma. She just runs, cries, shouts, and denies things are happening... I did like Halle's mobile phone, tho.

I just realized that Jason should be infected with Hep-V. At the prison, he was fed on by all the female vamps who had just drank the tainted True Blood. Eric saved him with vamp blood, but I don't think Jason infected him since there wasn't mouth-to-skin contact (or was there?). ...Anyways, I doubt the writers will address this if it doesn't fit their agenda.

Please just give Hank another chemistry-free romance storyline instead of one of self-pity about the lack of a reckless youth. Besides, he's reckless enough as a doctor...

The party was a horrible idea and ridiculous story-wise. I thought it was just an excuse by the writers to have all the cast together before the end of the series. The Jessica/James/Jason/Lafayette was also sloppy and felt forced just to have some sexy scenes. The same goes for Andy forgiving Jessica for eating three of his daughters -- it felt forced. The whole episode (in Bon Temps ) just felt like a midway hurdle the writers used to set up the last half of the season. It was okay, but just okay ..

Wow. That was a really slow episode. I can seen now why this was dumped into the death valley of summer viewing. Keeping my interest up is becoming quite the strain .. And at the end of the hour they are only just getting around to finding out what happened to the coroner. All that wasted time with What-the-Eph visiting his son, the Russian health inspector cop pulling rats out of bags, and the dinner conversation with two of the survivors... If this is going to be the weekly routine, I will probably just record it all and fast forward though a lot of it. (If there is an actual custody hearing with What-the-Eph, then I am totally out of watching live.) Come on show, get on with it already.

There just seemed to be a lot of talking this episode. The 'training' with Michael and Alex didn't really add much to the action quota : Alex sucks - we already knew that. And now PrettyPrettyPrincess is a manipulative Machiavellian blackmailer, too. These humans really aren't worth saving. I had already guessed that Riesen's demon lover was his dead wife. So, the lower angels need host bodies to come to Earth, but if the host body is killed does that mean the angel-demon goes back to the other dimension - or is it dead-dead? It also appears as if the possessed victim retains some of their memories. But Riesen is a cold-hearted bastard who shots people in the head from behind (last episode), so killing off his possessed wife isn't much of a stretch for him. ... Did I mention how lousy the humans on this show are?

It seems as if everyone loves the bad boys (and girls), but would they think the bad-asses were so awesome if they were on the receiving end? Maybe Ginger is a cautionary tale of being a super-fan of a super-dick. For some reason, people just like dicks (innuendo acknowledged). Eric and Pam seem as if they are supposed to be the older, jaded, more ruthless, less human type of vampire. They don't seem to empathize with humans because they don't remember being human (unless those memories are needed to fuel their revenge motives -- then they are all emo and hurt). And I like Eric and Pam - as characters. They can be scary and also funny. But they are dicks. And I wouldn't want to meet them or be part of their orbit, if such a thing were possible.

Yeah, it had moments but seemed to lumber along as if it knew it had 10 weeks to get to its destination. del Toro excels at visuals, but can get pretty cheesy with character names, stereotypical character types, routine horror tropes, etc. I thought Pacific Rim kicked ass as a two hour movie -- but if it were stretched out to a 10 hour mini-series ..? No way. ..But it's better than anything else that's on at 10pm on Sundays, so I'll be back next week.