True Blood - S02E07: Release Me

True Blood's second season is really starting to get down to business. The plots developing over the course of the season are starting to reach a climax, or the beginning of a climax. I have absolutely loved this season as every episode seems to be better than the last. Many fans think this episode is the best so far. I'll admit, it was amazing, but all of this season's episodes have been fantastic. Usually the developing of plots will be quite dull, until the entertaining pay-off starts to happen, but this is not the case with True Blood. I believe this is do to the subversive and unpredictable nature of the show - something that HBO seems to do quite well. Jason's whole time at the camp was extremely entertaining, as was the Maryann story which could have been obvious and predictable, but turned out to be ambiguous and subversive since her first appearance.

Speaking of which, the chase scene with Sam was genuinely creepy. The gross looking arm at the end of the scene was great too. The production values of True Blood are exceptional. Michael Ruscio directed this episode and Raelle Tucker wrote it. This is Ruscio's television directorial debut and due to his experience as an editor on HBO shows, he excels. Again, the end-of-teaser shots and cliffhanger endings are always great. Sam's reaction shots at the end of the teaser in Never Let Me Go and the cliffhanger ending of Hard-Hearted Hannah were absolutely fucking gold! Not even in a bad way - they were just awesome.

Another highlight was Andy Bellefleur. Every time I think he could not become more ridiculous he surprises me. Chris Bauer's portrayal of Andy becomes more camp and over-the-top every episode - I love it! His screaming in pain this episode was hilarious. It reminds me of Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He now uses all the ridiculous noises and movements that were only used very occasionally in the earlier seasons, all of the time. If you watch the show, you should know exactly what I mean.

It will be interesting how they keep the tension for another 5 episodes. Normally, I would have guessed this would have been about episode 9 or 10 in the structure of a season. But you know, this is HBO, not Dexter, so I will may well end up surprised by the 'structure' of the season. Obviously Jason isn't dead, as the gun would have sounded like a gun instead of a pop if they were going to kill him off. Gabe was a strangely funny character who will probably die, and rightly so. It should be interesting to see how Godrick stirs things up, and what Eric does about his fascination with Sookie. Some of Bill's flashback scenes were a little meandering, but others gave us some important information, such as: A vampire is never stronger than their maker, when Bill's conscience got the better of him, and Lorena does have some scrap of humanity left in her. Is another one of Jason's girls going to end up dead? If Sarah goes back to Steve, she will most likely end up dead. Considering Godrick is free, this seems quite likely. It sure would be satisfying to see Steve get ripped apart! But on the other hand it would be disappointing to see such formidable villains with such power killed so soon.