What I’m Watching: True Blood

True Blood: Season 3, Episode 4 “9 Crimes” (B+)

It’s interesting how different this show now is from when it first started, and even from the end of last year. The introduction of a host of new characters has proved fairly effective, namely in the case of the very creepy Franklin, Alcide, and king Russell. Even Sam’s family may be shaping up to be a decent addition, if the parents take a hike and his younger brother sticks around to become an assistant restaurateur for Sam or something like that. Bill’s transition to heartless vampire is obviously not going to be an easy one, but the process is still interesting even if the very sight of Lorena is off-putting. Sookie doesn’t do too well as a goth, just chugging shots and quickly getting into trouble, but her discovery of the vampire-werewolf connection is far more intriguing. The shots of all of the werewolves shifting in the bar and Alcide yelling at Sookie to run made for an intense and effective scene. I’m glad that Sam has decided to hire Jessica as a waitress, both because her assertion that she’ll never be eighteen is humorous and sad at the same time and it’s entertaining to see the usually friendly Arlene get so worked up about having another redhead working at Merlotte’s. It’s unlikely that Jason will actually become a cop anytime soon, though it could prove amusing and give him something concrete to do. Eric and Pam's decision to give up Bill to the magister should have interesting implications considering Bill's new allegiances, revving up for a possible district war. As always, I find the glamoring scenes absolutely incredible. It’s good to have an episode where Tara spends almost the whole time bound and gagged, not proving to be too much of a distraction like she usually is. The best part of the episode, hands down, was Sookie’s tragic yet hilarious remark to Alcide: “I don’t have a nut sack.”