Off with his head, hipster racism & scapegoating poor folks: True Blood S03E06

Hosted by Thea Lim, featuring Tami Winfrey Harris, Joseph Lamour, Latoya Peterson and Andrea Plaid

Tara’s Escape, Sookie’s Rescue

Thea: Was it just me, or were there like a bazillion storylines going on this episode? I don’t remember ever seeing so many concurrent plot lines on this show before. I am impressed that they can all keep in straight. (What?? Did Thea just say something nice about True Blood??) But to start with our girl, goooooo Tara! I was pretty thrilled not only to see Tara taking her power back, but to see a woman rescue Sookie for once. What did we think of the scenes where Tara attacks Franklin and where Sookie and Tara take out the werewolf?

Latoya: I’m not going to lie: my very first, immediate reaction when Tara was like “Sookie, I’m here and we are going to get out of here-” was to put up the black power fist. Go Tara! Then my immediate, second, sarcastic thought was “Okay, so wait, Tara, after all she’s been through, *still* has to save Sookie? She has to fuck her abuser to get away and pluck Sookie from the pedestal?” Then Tara grabbed the mace and silenced my internal squabbling.

Andrea: I was thrilled how Tara used Franklin’s weaknesses–his “freakiness” and his vampiric aversion to daylight–to get away from him. (Though I’m going to be honest: James Frain’s voice is pure aural sex; this scene sealed this for me. I just wish this scene–really, all the Tara/Franklin scenes since their night at the motel–was much more consensual so I could hear his voice being better utilized, like agreed-upon dirty talk while sexing it up.) But I just thought Tara using the mace was like Tara being tied up: all for the visual shock. I just think Franklin’s going to wake up with a bad headache and even more physically vicious.

Thea: My movie watching companion was yelling “use the ax! take off his head!!” while Tara was bashing in Franklin’s skull. Methinks Franklin might survive the bludgeoning. In any case this was the goriest episode I’ve seen in a while.

Latoya: Oh me too – I was yelling at the TV “take the mace! Stake him to make sure he’s dead!”

Joe: Finally, this is the kind of Tara I love! Cunning, quick on her feet and clever. One thing though- you can only kill a vampire in the Sookieverse by cutting off the head or staking. Frankly, if you lived in a world with vampires, wouldn’t you think to know that, just in case? I’m totally afraid that he’s going to wake up and become abusive like we never have seen from him before- and coming from Franklin, that must and will be something awful.

Thea: Were the scenes of female kickback gratifying, hyperviolent, or just gross? Or all three?

Andrea: I didn’t feel a swell of girl power watching Tara and Sookie whupping that were-guard’s ass and escaping. I know that some commenters think I’m being a bit harsh about Sookie (like I care), but I think that sequence underlines off-centeredness about Sookie and Tara’s friendship: Tara’s trying to rescue her friend and Sookie’s trying to rescue her betraying (and quite foolish) man.  At this point, I don’t think Sookie’s actions say “sacrificing herself for the ones she loves” so much as her “spunk” and “sass” endangers, in this case herself and her rescuer, her alleged best friend Tara. To me, Tara is structurally a better friend because she’s self-preserving as well as rescuing her pal when shit goes down, whereas Sookie is materially a good homie, providing shelter when shit is relatively safe. Like I said before, she also has the power–since it’s her house–to take that material comfort away from Tara. Just ain’t feeling Ms. Stackhouse, whereas I root for Tara.

Thea: Even though I have a soft spot for Sookie, it was extremely disappointing when she didn’t side with Tara (or at least show some sympathy or interest in what Tara was saying about Bill – after all this is the first she’s hearing of Bill’s betrayal of Tara). I wanted to yell (a less misogynist version of) “bros before hos!” at the screen.  I think this is just the way this friendship goes – which I blame on the writing more than anything else…this friendship seems to have little that truly qualifies it as a friendship.

Joe: In Sookie’s defense, this must be some situation to find yourself in after 20-something years of non-violence. However, I just want someone to slap Sookie the next time she cries. Is it just me or is she just the biggest crybaby?

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