Season 5 blu-ray extras: 5.4 We’ll Meet Again

Lots of interesting information here about the intensity of the vampire/progeny bond, and background on the faeries.

5.4 We’ll Meet Again

FYI [As Eric and Bill are dropped off to begin their search for Russell] At Bill and Eric’s request, the Authority was kind enough to drop them right outside of Shreveport, a good starting point for their search for Russell.

FYI [As Sookie is rather hysterically confessing to Jason that she killed Debbie Pelt] Sookie holds a special attraction for supernatural types.  As a result, one could say that she attracts conflict, drama, and danger into her life the lives of those around her.

HINT [Just after Bill asks Tara in Fangtasia if Sookie is safe and Tara has been complaining about saving Sookie so many times] Sookie rekindled something in Bill, a feeling he had not experienced in a long time.  That’s not easily forgotten and is probably why he wants to know if she is safe. [Well, at least that is better than reading about how he still passionately loves her, no matter what – and you know they could have gone there. – MVB]

HINT [Eric has just been confronting Pam very physically about whether she was the one who dug up Russell Edgington and he is clearly still enraged] If Pam had nothing to do with digging up Russell, then Bill and Eric’s investigation just got a lot more complicated. [Good point, and one I hadn’t thought about.  Talk about hard choices – betrayal by your progeny or having no clues to where Russell is and a deadline to meet? Eric is fucked either way.]

FYI [ As Pam is telling Eric he might as well release her if he doesn’t trust her] Pam doesn’t really want Eric to release her, but she’s trying anything to get a reaction.  She’s very aware that for a vampire, being released means a lingering sense of loss and confusion, not unlike the human experience of losing a parent. [Is that a truth that is hard-wired into vampires or is it meant to be a psychological phenomenon? Do different vampires experience it differently? And didn’t Bill release Jessica early on, but without a lot of fanfare being made over it? – MVB]

ALEXANDER DREW [the child Chancellor, aka the Annoying One clone] was a child during the Spanish influenza outbreak of 1918 and was almost one of its victims.  His mother, a woman of some influence in Philadelphia’s social circles, took her dying son to a man rumored to have powers over life and death.  The man – a vampire named Edgar – tried to dissuade Mrs. Drew but she insisted.  Alexander was spared death by would forever inhabit a child’s body.  Shortly after being turned, he moved to Edgar’s house when his mother proved unable to tend to the baby vampire’s needs.  Edgar was a member of the Authority and involved Alexander from an early age.  Alexander was very bright and charismatic and rose in the Authority’s ranks, become a Chancellor in 1982.  He worked diligently to push Roman’s mainstreaming agenda in the Scandinavian countries, as well as the more liberal countries in South and Central America.  Normally, turning a human child is considered cruel by all but the most mercenary vampires and child-sized vampires are very rare, with no more than a hundred or so in existence.

HINT [When shifters Emory and Suzanne drop into Merlotte’s to see Sam]  The shifter group is secretive in nature. The members try to socialize in the very specific context of the group and it’s not unusual for them to go days without communication.  But Sam’s real reason for avoiding Emory and Suzanne has more to do with Luna that with any need for secrecy. [Since Luna was part of the group, why does he want to avoid them? Especially since they seem to know they are dating? – MVB]

HINT [As Sookie walks through Merlotte’s, where everyone is thinking nasty thoughts about her role in turning Tara] When Sookie experiences heightened emotions, it becomes more difficult to maintain the concentration required to filter out the thoughts coming her way. [Well, at least that explains why sometimes she hears things and other times she doesn’t. Maybe.  – MVB]

FYI [When Lafayette curses Sookie’s car in demon form] Santa Muerte is a religious figure.  Literally translated it means “Saint Death.” Lafayette is summoning Santa Muerte, saying “come to me, come to me.”
HINT [As Sookie starts to drink at home] Anything that might lower inhibitions makes Sookie more susceptible to the barrage of thoughts from other people.  In a large group, this would become nearly unbearable for her, so she usually avoids alcohol and drugs.

HINT [As Jessica glamours Andy Bellefleur to make him forget about Debbie Pelt’s murder] Once Jessica learned to glamour she discovered an almost unnatural predilection for it.  She can glamour a human as quickly and easily as a much older vampire.  Of course, it helps that her victim is Andy Bellefleur…

HINT [ As Pam checks on Tara in her coffin after Tara was burned] Just as the progeny of a vampire must obey his or her maker, the parental feeling and dynamic are built into the relationship . So even though Pam hated Tara before turning her, she can’t avoid caring for Tara now, even if that comes out in Pam’s unique way. [No wonder Eric is so solemn about turning someone – if you can’t help but care of them, it makes sense to make sure it is someone you are open to feeling that way towards. – MVB]

FYI [As Pam agrees to let Eric release her] Releasing one’s progeny is easy to do but difficult to live with.  The emotional hangover, even when the relationship is unhealthy, can last for hundreds of years. [So, Eric is going to feel like shit for a while, no matter if releasing Pam was his choice or not.  Waaaaahh! And knowing this, watching the actual release is a subtly different.  Pam gasps a little as the words are spoken and now I wonder if she actually felt something almost physical when he said it. – MVB]

ANGELA, DELILIAH & LILIANNE [the three fairies who take Andy, Jason and the corrupt judge to the fairy club in a limo] are three young fairies.  They are best friends, inseparable since birth.  Delilah is the leader, Angelica is the funny one and Lilianne is the diplomat of the group.  They all worked for Queen Mab but left when she began severing ties to the human plane.

HINT [As Bill and Jessica are searching his home for bugs, when he finds a “low quality shit” doobie] Lots of makers take a “helicopter maker” approach to their progeny, keeping their offspring on a short leach.  Though strict at first, Bill relaxed over time and now is more like the “cool dad,” letting Jessica learn on her own most of the time – even if that means looking the other way at certain behaviors.

FYI [ As Roman threats to execute Bill and Eric by app] The iStake Mobile App can activate any iStake around the world.  The technology was developed by Molly and is only available to high-ranking Authority members.

LEDA [a fae who beckons to Jason the first time he enters the fae club] Leda, the woman beckoning Jason, is a middle-aged faerie.  She had been living in tiny, protected fairy enclaves until finding out about the faerie club from her friend Maurella.  She made a beeline for Louisiana and has been dancing here ever since.

MELANIE FARLEY [a girl that Pam brings to Tara for feeding] was born in southern Ohio, the daughter of a taxidermist and a dental assistant mother.  Melanie was popular in high school, but she hated college and dropped out to move with in with her boyfriend in Chicago.  Four years later, she caught him cheating and booked it south to stay with her cousin in NoLA. She decided to go back to school to become a paralegal and pays her tuition by acting as a live donor to vampires. [That takes college-age plasma donation – which was common back when I was in school – to a whole new level… -MVB]

FYI [As Roman takes out the stake made of the Judas tree in the Council chambers] Tradition holds that the Stake of the Judas Tree was created by a Roman guard, Marcellus, who discovered Judas’s hanging corpse.  Without quite understanding why, he cut the bough, kept the thirty silver pieces, and over the next three years worked the bough into the form seen today.  Marcellus was turned into a vampire by a Chancellor and became the executioner during the Great Purging, using the stake on all of his victims.  After the Authority had accomplished its goals, the stake was designated as a sacred item to be used only by the Guardian. [“The Great Purging”? I want to know more!!! – MVB]

Rosalyn talks about the Sanguinistas – and mentions Remus, Godric’s vampire brother, who plays a significant role in the True Blood comics in flashback.

FYI [As Roman looks threateningly at the Council, speculating on who else besides Nora might be a Sanguinist] After Roman became Guardian, he immediately began instituting his mainstreaming agenda.  Though most vampires went along with it, there were very vocal Sanguinists among the ranks who did whatever it took to derail Roman and his new Authority.  After an attempt by one Sanguinist group to assassinate Roman while on vacation in Iceland, he made it part of his mission to exercise extreme prejudice in ridding the world of the Sanguinists.  The bloodiest conflict to date occurred in Siberia, where Authority guards were pinned down by a group of 20 insurgents.  The fighting lasted a week but the Authority eventually breached the compound and eliminated everyone inside.  The Authority called it the Siberian Victory; the Sanguinists refer to it as the Siberian Massacre.

FYI [As Roman presents video evidence that the Annoying One/the child vamp is a traitor to the mainstreaming cause] The video shows Chancellor Drew feeding on a human on a rooftop with the unmistakable Seattle skyline in the background.

FYI [Just after Roman stakes Drew into a gooey mess all over his laptop] The Guardian has not needed to stake a Chancellor in almost 400 years.  Early in Roman’s guardianship, a Chancellor desiring the guardianship for herself almost succeeded in assassinating Roman.  After narrowly escaping with his life, Roman immediately gathered the Chancellors for the public execution of his would-be killer.

FYI [When Hadley spots Jason in the faerie bar] After the Sophie-Anne affair, Hadley and Hunter were contacted by the faeries in charge of rounding up all human-faery hybrids.  Since Hadley could not travel to their plane, she was put in the protection of some faeries on the human plane.  They eventually made their way to the faerie club, a growing haven for earthbound fae.

FYI [As Hadley explains she is hiding from the vampires] A faerie safe house is a “place” that exists outside of the earthly plane, kind of like a pocket in the fabric of space that allows faeries to be hidden from any vampires.  Entering or exiting only works for someone with faerie blood in their veins, unless physically accompanied by a faerie.

HINT [Just after Hadley drops the bomb that Sookie and Jason’s parents were killed by vampires, not a flood] During Hadley’s time with the faeries, she’s picked up quite a bit about her (and Sookie’s) lineage, some of which she wishes she could forget…[Hmmm.  Does Hadley know something about how fae started breeding with Stackhouses? – MVB]

 

 

Season 5 blu-ray extras: 5.3 Whatever I Am, You Made Me

Just a reminder that I am not transcribing everything on every episode, but any new or interesting information that is not common knowledge.  Missed a previous extras summary? Check out the Season 5 blu-ray extras page, which will update with information as I work my way through the episodes.

5.03 Whatever I Am, You Made Me

[As newly vamped Tara comes upon a stranded motorist, fixing her flat tire] LINDSEY RUBY was headed home from her job just a few miles away when she got a flat tire. She works part-time as a receptionist at an animal hospital, but is taking online courses to fulfill the pre-requisites for veterinary school.  It’s been her dream ever since her first grade class hamster, Shambles died.

THE VAMPIRE AUTHORITY [As Roman prepares to talk with prisoners Bill and Eric, he asks Salome to stay] Although he had heard of her many years earlier, Roman first met Salome in Napes in the 16^th century.  Roman had recently been made Guardian and was traveling through Italy for a top-secret vampire political summit, in which was rumored several human government officials were in attendance.  Salome was participating in the conference on behalf of Italy’s vampire monarchs, and Roman immediately took a liking to her.  Just a few days later, he brought her back to the Authority Headquarters with him to become acquainted with her new job as Chancellor.

FYI: [As Sookie is asking Pam to summon Tara, who has run away] A special facility that makers share with their progeny is the ability to “summon” them at will.  It sends the vampire a sensation many have likened to a cold chill running down their spine.  Sookie has seen Bill use this to get Jessica’s attention many times in the past.

HINT [As Sam is about to find Tara behind his bar] Like vampires and werewolves, shifters also have a heightened sense of smell. In addition to sniffing out other supes, they can even detect emotions like fear, anger, and desperation.

AUTHORITY CONFESSIONAL: Steve Newlin explains his change of view after becoming a vampire.

MOLLY RAY [As Molly is fitting Eric and Bill with iStakes] is one of the youngest vampires working so closely with the Council, having been turned around 100 years ago.  Nora brought her into the Authority to help modernize the outfit, and Molly didn’t fail to impress with her thermal imagine surveillance, blood-readers for all entrances and exits, and, of course, her famous iStake.

FYI: After listening to Roman complain about the mess and danger of staking prisoners, Molly took it upon herself to find a cleaner and safer way to carry out executions. The first prototype was built without the Lilith symbol engraved on the front, but Salome insisted on adding the image to the next iStake model.

FYI [As Tara is knocking back TruBloods in Merlotte’s] Although Tru Blood technically fulfills all the nutritional needs of a vampire, it isn’t quite as satiating as real human blood.  And since newly turned vampires wake up especially hungry and feral, Tara needs practically a whole case of the synthetic blood to feel fully fed.  Most baby vamps don’t know how to feed properly and need a maker keeping a close eye on them if they hope to survive.

FYI [In the Sheriff’s office, with Kevin and Rosie giggling over naked Sheriff be-hind] Now that their secret romance is out in the open at work, Kevin and Rosie have taken their relationship to the next level.  Kevin recently brought Rosie to his hometown in Alabama to meet his folks and Rosie made Kevin a copy of the key to her apartment.

HINT [When Andy discovers Holly’s son posted his naked butt online] Rocky’s “Sheriff Mom Fucker” post garnered sixty-four “likes and over thirty comments.  Wade re-posted the picture to his own wall, under the heading “Sheriff Assy Buttfleur,” another nickname he and Rocky still call Andy behind his back.

GORDON AND BARBARA PELT Long-standing members of the Jackson pack that Alcide once belonged to, Debbie’s parents Gordon and Barbara Pelt own a small pharmacy just outside of Byram, Mississipppi.  Their only daughter’s substance abuse wasn’t the first to plague this family: Barbara battled alcoholism in the late 1980s but sobered up with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous and Ralph Waldo Emerson.  [So, no vengeful sister, which is fine with me! – MVB]

JILL STEELER [Jason’s former teacher who seduced him] used to be an English teacher and part-time librarian at Bon Temps High.  After Jason graduated, she moved to Indiana to teach at a school for the blind.

HINT [At Merlotte’s, where there is a sign on the freezer] Sam usually keeps things in working order, so it’s a little strange that the refrigerator is broken during business hours.

FYI [After it is revealed that Tara is in the walk in freezer] Because vampires are technically not alive and no longer have heartbeats, temperature does not affect them the same way as humans.  Although they may feel cold to the touch, they do not feel cold inside.

ELIZABETH ‘IZZY’ CHANDLER [The prostitute Bill and Lorena are drinking in Pam’s brothel] once hailed from Atlanta, Georgia, but was so disgusted with her parents’ slave-owning history that she ran away from home and moved to Sacramento, California. She applied for work at the Evening Bee newspaper, but without the proper education, she was turned away.  She eventually hitchhiked her way to San Francisco, where Pam took her in and taught her the trade.  [I’m sorry, but slavery ended in 1863, so her parents had owned slaves 42 years before – which had to be at least a good 15 or 20 years before she was born – and she was still upset enough by it to run away? How old were these parents?  Just strange timing all around.  – MVB]

FYI Like many other vampires at the time, Bill and Lorena would frequent the local brothels and have their way with the prostitutes.  This often began with drinking and ended in draining.  Most vampires felt entitled to the girls since they had paid for their time.  Madams like Pam, of course, felt differently.

HINT [While Bill and Eric are fighting in the brothel] Although Eric and Lorena have known each other for some time, this is Eric’s first time making Bill’s acquaintance. Is this altercation why they haven’t gotten along all these years? Or was there something else? [Okay, that’s intriguing, because I assumed this was what set them off on the wrong foot – but could there even be something MORE that put them against one another? – MVB]

FYI Eric met Lorena through some common vampire friends a few decades earlier.  She tried to make a move on him, but Eric wasn’t interested.  Although he appreciated Lorena’s dark side, he often found her to be a “nagging bitch,” as he once described her to Pam.

FYI [While Eric is in Pam’s brothel] Eric was passing through San Francisco on what he considered a routine business trip.  He was not actually a Sheriff at the time, but he decided to intervene in Pam’s brothel trouble because something about the madam struck a chord in him and he felt compelled to help her.

FYI [While Jason is talking with his ex-teacher] When Jason was in high school, he often struggled with his studies. Most of his teachers would pass him anyway so he could keep playing football, but Miss Steeler took an interest in making sure Jason actually understood the material. She offered to tutor him for an upcoming essay on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so he went over to her apartment after practice one day to hit the books.  When they took a study break for cookies and milk, one thing led to another and the two would up having a six-month affair.

HINT [While Alcide is talking to Debbie Pelt’s parents] Debbie’s parents have never been too fond of Alcide.  Although they knew Debbie had a wild streak, they always felt that he was partly to blame for her drug use.

FYI [While Andy is talking to Holly, asking her to ‘go steady’] Andy has never had a girlfriend in his life.  He briefly dated a woman he met at the Police Academy named Sherryl Lynne, but when she found out he lived with his grandmother, she promptly dumped him in favor of another cadet with his own apartment.  Andy is hoping to make Holly his first (and maybe even last) real relationship.

FYI In terms of Holly, Andy represents her first serious prospect since her divorce from Wade and Rocky’s dad.  Although she went on a few dates with a trucker named Ronan from Baton Rouge, she broke it off after discovering he hadn’t paid his taxes in twelve years and the IRS was going after him.  Tax evasions is one of Holly’s three dealbreakers, the other two being men with ponytails, and arrogance.

HINT [While Jason is at his ex-teachers house] Prince Charming [the cat] seems to have not taken a liking to Jason. [Oooh, so maybe something DID happen when he got all bit up by those werepanthers, even if it isn’t a moon transformation? – MVB]

FYI [While Bill is talking with Salome alone for the first time] Although Christian mythology and popular legend credits Salome with seducing her stepfather Herod and ordering John the Baptist’s head on a platter, Salome herself holds that she was little more than a political plaything for her mother, who used Salome to carry out her most base desires.

FYI The Dance of the Seven Veils, which was given its name in an Oscar Wilde play, was the dance Salome performed in order to seduce her stepfather, Herod.  Salome was wrapped in scarves before being delivered to the king’s chambers, hence the ‘veil’ reference.  But how much of a ‘dance’ was it? Only Salome really knows.

TRACY [At Tracy’s Togs, where Jessica is trying on clothes] Tracy, owner and operator of the local boutique Tracy’s Togs, was born and raised in Bon Temps.  She attended Bon Temps High, graduating the same year as Jason Stackhouse. After a brief stint in community college, she married a dentist named Earl and promptly divorced him for his money.  She kept the house, the car and the ring.

FYI [While Eric and Pam are in bed] Eric had never turned anyone until he met Pam.  She was his first and only progeny.  Having learned the gravity of the maker-progeny relationship from Godric, Eric considers procreating a very serious undertaking. [Yes! That was what I had suspected – MVB]

HINT [While Salome is talking to Eric in her chambers] Salome knew Godric for years before he made Nora.  So when Salome sponsored Nora for the Authority and the two women became involved more intimately, she expected Nora to share stories about her 2,000-year old maker.  But much to Salome’s disappointment, Nora kept all the details of her previous life private.

HINT [As Salome tells Eric that she sponsored Nora’s Chancellorship] Chancellors are elected to the Authority Council by the Guardian.  Existing Chancellors can nominate and sponsor candidates but ultimately the decision lies in the Guardian’s hands.  Salome convinced Roman of Nora’s prowess long before her actual election.  By the time the papers had crossed Roman’s desk, it was only a matter of ceremony.  Salome was actually sponsored by Roman himself.

ROSALYN [As Rosalyn is torturing Nora] Roslyn was born into a prominent Texas family, where the oil and money seemed never-ending. But Rosalyn hated how little life offered women at the time and always longed for more. She quickly grew tired of homemaking and when her twin sister Evelyn mysteriously disappeared, Rosalyn decided it was time to make a change herself.  She left in the night for Dallas, and it was that she met her maker, so to speak.

FYI [As Tara is dreaming about biting Arlene in the freezer] Not only do vampires have heightened sense, but their dreams are more vivid and haunting than human dreams.  And because vampires often equate feeding with sex, Tara had the equivalent of a teenage boy’s wet dream.  [Godric said that vampires rarely dream when talking about Eric’s dream about biting Sookie in season 4, which seems like a contradiction, but maybe vampires do dream less often, but more intensely.  – MVB]

FYI [As Roman is undressing while talking to a naked Salome] Roman has been pushing the mainstreaming agenda for centuries.  When he first took up his role as Guardian, mainstreaming was but a flicker of hope.  But with a lot of strategy and a lot of elbow grease, Roman built up enough momentum for the Great Revelation to become a reality.  Although there have been setbacks, Roman has seen the mainstreaming movement take hold of vampires and humans alike.

FYI [As Tara goes into the tanning salon to kill herself] With anti-vampire sentiment pervasive in the wake of Russell Edgington’s stint on national television, vampire suicide is at an all-time high.  Tara isn’t the first vampire to break into a tanning salon in search of UV rays.  But most prefer to stake themselves or to meet the sun, as tanning bed UV rays are rather weak, causing a much slower, more painful True Death.