Just Sayin’

3.01: Arlene – “I’m sorry you fell in love with a serial killer, but honestly, who here hasn’t?”

You oughta know Arlene, since you were engaged to one.

3.02: Talbot – “I just redecorated the guest room. Wait until you see the bed…Bill, it’s marvellous! It once belonged to Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Hungary’s legendary serial killer.

Rumor has it, that she loved to torture virgins and bathe in their blood.”

OH REALLY??

Fast Facts: Elizabeth Bathory’s bloodlust was the stuff of legend. So legendary, in fact, that she is often compared to Vlad the Impaler – the historical figure upon whom Count Dracula is based.

JUST SAYIN’.

Meet Your Maker

As most of us have, I’ve often wondered why Alan Ball felt it necessary to change Eric’s backstory with regard to his maker so radically and to a lesser extent, why he gave Bill a child in Jessica. When you think about it, both changes are significant departures from the book series.

It seemed on the surface that changing the identity of Eric’s maker, and bringing him into the story so early was simply to allow the writers licence to show Eric in a more sympathetic light. Similarly, it seemed that giving Bill a child in Jessica was to humanise Bill, make him more sympathetic, and to introduce some comic relief.

But I can’t help thinking there is also a long term plan being enacted here.

In the books, we had the following scenario:

Bill had a maker, Lorena – but no child.
Eric had a child, Pam – but no maker (at least not one involved in the story – yet).

With the addition of Jessica and the changes made to Godric’s character, we have a slightly different scenario on True Blood, in which each vampire now has both a maker – and a child:

Lorena/Bill/Jessica
Godric/Eric/Pam

It’s noteworthy that the True Blood writers have chosen to even things out as far as direct “family” relationships go. As much as I loved Godric, changing Eric’s back story always bothered me – but noticing how it sets up the mirrored relationships above got me to wondering whether these changes were actually made with a very specific purpose in mind.

These changes have resulted in the creation of two “families” that are being used by the writers to mirror eachother. Both families have identical makeup – a maker, their child, and a “grandchild” (for want of a better word). Yet one family is functional, stable and well-adjusted [and I realise this is absurd language to use in reference to vampires but you get the point I’m trying to make here, right?], and the other is dysfunctional, volatile and unstable.

Lorena - Not big on consultative decision making.

Consider the following:

Godric had been watching Eric fight and chose him to be turned as his companion, after seeing something in him that he admired. He found him dying and gave him a choice. Eric was turned willingly.
Lorena took Bill into her house after he happened upon her at random. She too wanted a companion. But she gave Bill no choice in his turning. Bill was unwilling and had to be tricked.

Godric saved Eric.
Lorena murdered Bill.

Eric then chose Pam as his child, and turned her for companionship**. Pam, like Eric before her, was willing.
Bill did not choose Jessica – she was chosen for him – and he was ordered to turn her as punishment. Jessica, like Bill before her, was unwilling and had to be forced.

Eric has a relationship with Godric based on trust, love, respect and shared experiences that he seems to hold sacred.
Bill has a relationship with Lorena based on mistrust, resentment, and shared experiences that he tries to bury.

Pam’s relationship with Eric is founded on respect, loyalty and a mutual understanding.
Jessica’s relationship with Bill is riddled with misunderstandings, volatile outbursts and mutual resentment.

Eric taught Pam what she needed to know to survive as a vampire. He was also willing to fill this role for Jessica in the short term, even though he is not her maker.
Bill has tried his hardest to avoid teaching Jessica much of anything – first palming her off onto Eric and then being completely preoccupied with Sookie on her return.

Through these two “families”, patterns of behaviour are emerging that repeat themselves through the generations. Just as they do in human families.

We have already seen that Godric, Eric and Pam are in control of their destinies. They make their own decisions, and they own those decisions. They don’t blame anyone else – even when they probably could. Have we seen Eric whining like a bitch yet about the fact that SA has him selling V? Did we see Godric even attempt to shirk any responsibility or blame for the Dallas mess? Do we see Pam moaning about anything she does for Eric? No. Because this side of the fence can suck it up, and deal. They are strong, and they are resilient.

The writers even changed Godfrey’s name to Godric – presumably to connect Eric’s name with that of his maker. A clever way to subtly reinforce their positive relationship and family connection in the minds of the audience, is it not?

Could you be a companion of death? Could you walk with me through the world...through the dark? I'll teach you all I know. I'll be your father, your brother, your child.

The relationship between Lorena, Bill and Jessica could not be more different to that of Godric, Eric and Pam. These three are perpetual victims – always at the mercy of others, always able lay blame with everyone else for their misfortune. Even when that misfortune is a direct result of their own poor decision making or lack of backbone. Lorena is a victim of her vampire nature, to the extent that she uses it to justify the most abhorrent, sadistic behaviour and a lack of desire to evolve. She is also a victim of her obsessive fixation on Bill. Bill blames either Lorena, or Eric (and eventually Sophie Anne I’m willing to bet) for practically every mess he finds himself in. Jessica blames Bill or Maxine Fortenberry or her father for her various issues. This family is passive, weak – and most likely doomed.

If I were Jessica Hamby I would be pretty nervous, right about now. If there is something to the idea that behaviours in these relationships are repeating down the line, she is fucked – not to put too finer point on it. Based on the patterns playing out between Lorena, Bill and Jessica I think it’s likely that Jessica will eventually turn on Bill. And probably end up dead as a result.

There is a very clear dichotomy being set up here that did not exist in the book series, at least not in this form. Charlaine used various methods to contrast Eric and Bill, but for the film medium many of them just would not translate (the frequent hot/cold metaphors, for example). Ball has come up with a different, yet still very effective way of showing us what is really going on with the characters of Eric and Bill. Or more correctly, showing us where the writers are heading with them. When the series is over and can be viewed as a cohesive whole, I suspect the impact of these changes will be much clearer.

So take heart, fellow Viking lovers. Some heinous crimes have been committed against Eric, and the Eric and Sookie pairing on True Blood. But I really am starting to come around to the idea there is going to be a reason for all of this in the end.

Or maybe it’s just the Prozac talking.

**[I realise this hasn’t really been covered in TB yet. I’m surmising, based on the nature of their relationship, Pam’s turning in the books, and comments made by Kristin Bauer which support the premise that TB Pam was turned voluntarily].

True Blood – Bill and Lorena, Sitting in a Tree…

“There is something I must tell you.”
Here came the Big Bad. His cool fingers twined with mine, and without wanting to, I held his hand hard.
I couldn’t think of a word to say, at least a word that was safe. My eyes fixed on his.
“Bill was summoned to Mississippi,” Eric told me, “by a vampire—a female—he’d known many years ago. I don’t know if you’ve realized that vampires almost never mate with other vampires, for any longer than a rare one-night affair. We don’t do this because it gives us power over each other forever, the mating and sharing of blood. This vampire…”
“Her name,” I said.
“Lorena,” he said reluctantly.

– CLUB DEAD

And so begins the downhill slide of Bill Compton.

In the opening chapter of Club Dead Bill is withdrawn and secretive, spending more and more time on his computer and less and less time giving Sookie the attention she feels she deserves. Sookie is hurt and confused at this sudden change in his demeanour, wondering what could possibly be big enough to cause Bill to lose interest in having sex with her. As it turns out, Bill is slightly preoccupied with matters involving other women – Sophie Anne has him working on a secret database, secret even from his girlfriend and his boss. And Bill’s maker – a vampire with whom he had a long, intense and unusual relationship – is calling him to return to her. Sookie knows nothing of Bill’s maker, let alone the extent of their long history together or the power she still exerts over him.

Bill eventually goes to Lorena, and ends up kidnapped and held at Russell Edgington’s. Sookie turns to Eric for help finding him, and Eric calls in a favour from Alcide. Sookie’s horny hormones do what they do best..and you all know the rest.

Cut to True Blood, and things are decidedly screwy in Alan Ball’s alternaverse. Bill’s maker, Lorena has already made an appearance in Dallas. While she is still in love with Bill, her reappearance in Bill’s life is due to Eric’s intervention rather than any inclination of her own. Bill appears to loathe Lorena with a passion he never had in the books, and Lorena and Sookie have already faced off and are well and truly aware of eachother’s existence. Lorena has “released” Bill, though what that means exactly is yet to be explained. Such a concept does not exist in the books – maker and child are bound until final death. This makes alot of sense to me, but what the hell do I know.

Based on what has transpired between Lorena and Bill on True Blood so far, I had written off any hope that Bill would betray Sookie with Lorena as he did in the books.

But then…then Mariana Kloveno gave this interview.

First of all, there is this comment about Bill:

…the hardcore Sookie and Bill fans are going to have some rough road up ahead. Bill has an interesting arc this season, yeah, that’s all I’ll say, but you’ll see different shades of vampire Bill than what we’ve seen before.”

Pedestal, and Big Long Fall are the first things that come to mind. But since we’re all pretty much expecting that, this isn’t such big news.

What has really been driving me crazy about the beginning of season 3 is how Ball will have Sookie hook up with Alcide when there has been none of the set up with Bill that preceded this in the books. This is very risky territory for a TV series – if it’s not handled properly, the audience could very well end up viewing Sookie as cheating bitch and lose sympathy with her altogether. With Bill being held and no other factors in play, Sookie playing around with Alcide is flat out cheating. She doesn’t have the “get out jail free card” that Book Sookie had, namely that Bill had cheated on her and dumped her first.

Without any of that set up, Ball HAS to have Bill do something that will make Sookie and Alcide palatable to the audience.

So let’s go back a bit.

Back to the SFP in the season 2 finale. The SFP that seemed so random, ill-timed, and out of left field. Even if you’re a Bill lover, you cannot argue in any rational way that this marriage proposal made sense. I know this – I’ve read forums and Bill sites discussing the proposal, and when you scratch past the grand romantic gesture it represents, not even the most devout have any explanation that gels with the plot. They didn’t see it coming and even though it wets their panties no end, they’re as dumbfounded as we are as to how it fits into the story arc.

Bill was kidnapped thinking that Sookie was about to turn down his marriage proposal. I’m 100% sure that Lorena is behind the kidnapping, since Russell Edgington is appearing in season 3 and the suggestion in the books was that Edgington was behind the whole thing and Lorena was just his pawn.

Kloveno has revealed in this interview that Lorena will show us she is capable of controlling herself and learning from her past behaviour:

“I think in this season … she may surprise you a bit. You’ll see, or you think you may, you think that she’ll do something horribly evil, and she chooses not to, which I really love, and I think it’ll maybe surprise people. Not as monstrous as maybe once perceived.”

It seems that Godric’s “Vampire Morals 101” lecture to Lorena in season two was anvil-style foreshadowing. Lorena may be about to see the light, realising that she will only ever have a chance with Bill if she changes her ways.

Retract...Your...Fangs.

So where do we find ourselves if Lorena starts showing a willingness to change because Bill has (and she has totally come off as desperate enough to do that, so far), while Bill is thinking that Sookie has rejected him?

Could Bill – who let’s face it, is not known for his ability to control himself in the face of temptation of any kind – end up having a moment of weakness just long enough to screw himself over?

Could that proposal have been nothing more than a plot device, designed to set up the kidnapping and create an emotional and physical separation between Sookie and Bill so that the playing field is left open for both of them?

I’m really starting to wonder now whether Bill and Lorena are the lost cause on True Blood that I thought they were. What we’ve seen from Ball so far is that he takes the basic premise of the book story and he twists it. Sometimes he strangles it beyond redemption, but sometimes he does get it right (Eric and Godric for example) and I’m prepared to give him credit when that happens. Lorena having an attack of conscience would be unpredictable – but not out of character. We only know Lorena through Sookie in the books, and Sookie was understandably hostile.

This could open the door for Bill’s betrayal and Sookie’s relationship with Alcide in a way that bookies wouldn’t expect. I really love Lorena on True Blood, and it would be great to see facets of her character that Charlaine couldn’t show us in the books because of Sookie’s feelings about her.