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- Episode: Whatever I Am, You Made Me
- Director: David Petrarca
- Written By: Alan Ball (creator), Charlaine Harris (novels)
- Cast: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Rutina Wesley, Sam Trammell, Christopher Meloni
- Network: HBO
- Series:
True Blood: Whatever I Am, You Made Me Review
Overall the threads are weaving and tightening By Joel Rickenbach
June 25, 2012
Source: Mania.com
Season 5, Episode 3, Whatever I Am, You Made Me
© HBO
True Blood is a show that trades on its trashy revelry without much apology. It can be at times goofy, provocative, exploitative and over the top. It can also be all those things at the same time. It's no secret those things are what keeps the majority of the show's audience coming back. However, one of the shows actual secret weapons is when it decides to get downright serious. Blink, and one of those moments may pass you by, lost in all the blood, boobs and barbecue. I think True Blood's pinnacle thus far was the scene in season 2 where Godric decides to meet the sun. It was heartbreaking, wonderfully shot, and had some added weight thanks to the show's additions to the story. There's not a moment in this week' s episode that comes close to reaching those levels, but it has a much more serious tone, and quite a few memorable moments.
Last week we were given flashbacks to Pam's past that were welcomed, but a bit light on content or purpose. This week it all pays off. Surprisingly, Pam's flashback gives us the first meeting between Bill and Eric. Bill is young, brash and impulsive, and Eric is much more serious and refined than the trickster we've known him to be. It's a nice juxtaposition as Bill is now a rational king and Eric is a loyal friend and subject. The real attention grabber, however, is the lengths Pam will go to become a vampire. After her speech to Eric about the fear of growing old and wrinkly falls on deaf ears, Pam forces his hand by slitting her wrists. The threads are weaving together nicely, as this resonates with Pam's present day loneliness and regrets over Eric, and comes back twofold when she is alerted to Tara's attempted suicide. Even if her reaction is "That stupid bitch", we all know by now that's how Pam expresses affection. The other standout storyline is Jason's further adventures in trying to be a good person. He runs into an old school teacher, who we find out gave Jason plenty of opportunities for "extra credit" back in the day. He falls off the wagon at the first opportunity, but he quickly realizes his mistake. He figures out he has a giant hole in himself as a person, and he "fills it with sex". It's a little goofy since it's Jason, but it actually works really well. He even turns down a nighttime tryst with Jessica, which any straight man will tell you is nigh impossible.
There's some other juicy bits involving some biblical figures (and what a nice figure it is!), Reverend Newlin becoming the new "Nan Flannigan", and Sooki telling Alcide about what happened to Debbie Pelt. I honestly felt they would draw that out all season, so it's refreshing to see some serious forward motion. Overall the threads are weaving and tightening, and that's a very good thing.
Best Moment: Sam trying to block Sooki's mind reading powers.
Worst Moment: The kid council member attempting the word "Apostate".
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I was actually pretty shocked that Sookie confessed to Alcide so quickly, it really changes what I thought would happen and that's cool. Showing Pam's thoughts in flashbacks was cool, it was a good way of showing her both suffering from Eric's unexplained absence and her guilt for abandoning her first offspring, because cleary Tara is all fucked up and I'm guessing that's a common reaction for some new vampires. I'm liking the Bill and Eric adventure, it's building up nicely, 3 episodes and we've still only seen Russell very briefly as a very nasty looking monster recovering from an unspeakable torture, they are doing a good job of creating anxiety for his return, at 3000 years he seems to be one of the oldest and most powerful vampires on this show, but they've yet to demonstrate Roman's full abilities and backstory so I'm sure we will find out just what kind of vampires are running the authority.
I'm liking this season so far!