BLOODY GOOD
Eric and Lafayette
E&L have totally replaced Andy and Jason as my favorite pals on this show. I like that Eric rushes to save Lafayette just as quickly as his other blood buddies Pam and Sookie. I could have an hour long episode of these two guys driving around in their ride, dealing V. It could be like Vampire Breaking Bad. -D

[Yes! Although I sort of wish the show would deal with Lafayette's torture-induced PTSD related to Eric more. I guess they, like most of us viewers, have forgotten about it -Z]

Sam’s Parents’ Bon Mots
Much as I’m irritated that Sam’s parents are such a large portion of every episode, I do like the fun sayings that come out of their mouth. Sam’s mom said Tommy’s cheese keeps sliding off his cracker. Not entirely sure what that means, but I like it! I might start using it in daily conversation! -D

Dark Sookie
Can we keep Sookie in disguise for the rest of the season? She looks kind of like Natalie Portamn in Closer, if Natalie Portman were less stripper and more telepath. -D

Kenya
Granted, she doesn’t get as much screen time as she deserves (especially considering she’s one of the few people of color on the show), but Kenya won this week with her all-too-accurate line about Andy’s promotion. Keep up your quiet badassery, Kenya. -Z

Eric Flying
They showed it last season and it was awesome and just the tiniest bit mind-blowing and so it’s awesome to see them bring it out again. -Z

BITES
Violence Towards Women
Seriously, does every woman have to be in danger this week? The first episode back from Bill and Lorena’s head twisting sexual encounter and he punches her into a mirror. Meanwhile, Pam gets tortured by the Magister, Debbie gets branded by junkie werewolves, and Tara continues to be physically restrained and jerked around by Franklin. If little orphan Annie really wants to know what a hard knock life is, she should go to Bon Temps! -D

[Seriously! I mean, Tara's constant peril is one of my big complaints with this show and this week just really ramped up the misogyny, to the point where I was sure Lou Pines was going to turn into a drug-fueled gang rape (and it still might). Ugh. Tone it down, guys. -Z]

Bill’s Descent Into Darkness
For a bit it seemed like Bill might be under the sway of his maker, which would be an interesting (and somewhat female empowering, albeit more messed up) turn of events. Instead, it seems like he’s having the dullest descent into eeeeeeevil ever. Basically, he glowers a bit more, actually acts like a vampire, and gets blah blahed at about nihilism and love by every other character. Let’s hope this potentially interesting plot doesn’t continue to be a massive yawn. -Z

The Compressed Timeline
True Blood has always enjoyed shoving their seasons into tightly constrained periods of time–overall, the whole show thus far can’t have taken place over more than four months, which often causes a certain amount of, um, suspension of disbelief by the viewers. This season, however, it seems more noticeable than usual. For example, Andy shot Eggs maybe four days ago. He should still be under police investigation, not receiving promotions. Or the fact that while a lot seemed to happen this episode, I can’t think of more than one or two plotlines where we know more now than we did last episode. I’m all for cliffhangers, but make sure we’re hanging onto something. -Z

Jason Stackhouse, Struggling For Relevancy
Jason is a character I like a whole lot, even if he often gets shoved into dumb D-plots. And I’m fine with him going through some hard revelations and looking for the easy way out of pain, but boy, this cop plot has gone from amusing to deadly frustrating fast for me. For starters, Jason is not nearly as lazy (or dumb) as the show is playing him right now–he’s ability to learn and lead (when motivated) is what made his religious plot last season make sense. Now he’s back to being a dumb, fumbling drunk and it’s not pretty. I’ll still like him, warts and all, I just wish he could keep onto character growth from episode to episode. -Z

Jessica and Hoyt
I get that the show needs to put contrivances in place to keep things interesting. That’s why Bill called Sookie, after all. But there’s a big difference between a logical and/or believable contrivance and something decidedly less so. Hoyt and Jessica have fallen into the latter camp for most of the show, with Jessica’s misadventures (or teenager/new vampire emotions) causing a lot of the friction. But this season they’ve already had the accidental death and now…talking to another boy? Not only is that pretty pointless, but are we really supposed to believe that Hoyt wouldn’t just talk to her? Or not even care because, hey, people are allowed to talk to people. Even if they’re in relationships. Contrive all you want show, but could you write them a little better? -Z

Each week Dennis and I assemble a list of our favorite (and least favorite) moments for the latest episode of True Blood.