True Blood season 4 review - Let's get out of here

We're up to episode nine, meaning after this episode we're into the final leg of the show, which means that the tension should be building continually from this point into the finale.  I have the distinct feeling that isn't going to happen, however, because as much as I love Fiona Shaw, Aunt Petunia aka Marni/Antonia isn't Russell Edington.  He was a terrific villain for season 3 and so far, season 4, dramatically speaking, just isn't shaping up. 


But they could prove me completely wrong on that.

• Will the Previously on True Blood section last less than 2 minutes this week?
• 1 minute, 30 seconds, you know, it's almost as if they think we haven't been watching the show for the past 8 weeks and we simply can't get by without those.
• Oh yeah, Sookie got shot, fake peril.  lol, Bill saved her from Alicde.
• Oh Crap-King Bill, you tell Alcide.  He shouldn't be there anyway.  Why the hell is he there?
• Oh dear, Aunt Petunia has Eric.
• Well it's too late to change your mind now, Tara, you signed up for buckets of crazy, that's what you'll get.
• Yeah, Alicde, Sookie didn't ask you to come riding in on your white horse, she's not actually obligated to listen to your dumb ass.
• Oh it's the oh so very interesting, Sam and his girlfriend and her kid subplot, joy, /end sarcasm.
• LOL - Debbie is watching Cheaters.
• LMAO - Jessica crying to Nan Flannegan.  
• Nan Flannegan is awesome.  "What a decisive leader, you've turned out to be."
• Aw poor, Hoyt.  Hmm...  I didn't know they made big cans of Budwiser.
• Hoyt, you're just being a petty, petty boy now.
• Ok.....  You see, Lafayette is great at being Lafayette, but he's terrible at being a ghost kidnapper lady. 
• Oh God....  now, I knew this scene was coming.  This supposed daytime fantasy scene involving Bill and Eric, hearing about it made me dubious.  I doubt that watching it will change anything.
• Yeah, that was boring.
• Woo, Troll-Tommy!  I'm glad we haven't seen the last of him.
• Everything is great about this scene with Jason, Andy, Arlene and Terry....  except for Lafayette.  
• Poor Sam's girlfriend's kid, not knowing if you'll be a were or a shifter.
• Oh we're back to the dream are we?
• Oh for fuck's sake, I don't watch True Blood for "I love them both" Twilight shit.
• Yeah...  that was unneeded rubbish.
• Oh dear, Debbie's back on the V.  
• Please let Debbie not go crazy again. 
• So, ghost lady is gone now, what a fully pointless arc that was.
• Hang on....   Debbie is helping Sookie break into the Witch lair to rescue Eric?  Yeah....
• Tara, how stupid can you get?
• What a happy little vampire conference.
• Hoyt, stop being a douche.
• Oh Troll-Tommy, you're gonna get yourself killed.  As Sam.  You dumbass.
• On a special note, Sam Trammel is very good at copy Tommy's mannerisms.
• Remarkable self restraint, Jason.
• Or not so much....
• How can an entire episode just feel like filler?

Summary:

I actually don't have it in me to rant any more about this show.  Nothing feels like it's going anywhere, it's not a plot, it's just shit happening.  Every episode just seems like more and more filler until they get to the last episode where some of the plot might pop it's head up. 

Season 3 was great and exciting, the end of each episode made you crave for the next one because interesting things were happening from all sides.  This is just dull.  I understand that actors want more stuff to do with their characters, but the show is supposed to be about Sookie and she's getting less and less screen time in each episode. 

What bearing did the creepy doll, ghost lady, dead baby, Lafayette possessed have on the series?  None, nada, zip, zilch, the big goose egg. 

This is a screencap from the promo for next week's episode, the last time we saw that weird tattoey thing, it was to do with Jesus.  Why is stuff to do with Jesus making it into the promos?  The promos should be Sookie, Eric, Bill, Villain, with allowances for Sam, Tara, Jason, Lafayette then if there's any time left, secondary villains and anything involving Pam, Andy, Terry, Arlene, Jessica, Hoyt.  (Unless they were involved in major plot points, in which case they get bumped up the list.)  Small characters like Ginger, Jesus, Nan Flannegan, Kevin, Kenya, Bud, Holly, Maxine, Portia, should never be included in the promo unless they are in a scene which plays into the main plot.  I know the main plot disappeared some episodes back, but you only get 30 seconds to promote a 1 hour show and if you've got to put minor side characters into those 30 seconds, you're doing something wrong.

Good Stuff:

• Sam Trammel's acting, can't fault it.
• Nan Flannegan was hilarious.
• Tara was actually in the plot this week, if you can call it that and not moaning about how much vampires fucked up her life and she actually executed some common sense.
• Arlene and Terry.

Bad Stuff:

• The kidnap baby story line
• The possessed Lafayette story line
• The Shreveport wolf pack leader is a bit of a douche story line
• The Sam and girlfriend go camping with child story line
• That goddamn stupid dream sequence.
• Andy still being on V - bored now.
• The Jessica/Jason/Hoyt storyline.  Hoyt, the sweetest, nicest guy in the world, becomes an asshole so the audience won't hate Jason for sleeping with Jessica.