Mr. Doggett: TRUE BLOOD Turns Up the Heat
Season 4, episode 46: “Burning Down The House”
After last weeks episode left me scratching my head I didn’t have a lot of excitement about watching this week. Thankfully I was corrected as this episode finally gives us (or at least me) some closure on some of the story lines that have been bugging me for some time.
So this week we finally get some closure on Tommy. Last week he shifted into Sam and decided to confront Marcus and his were-goons on Sam’s behalf. I guess he was expecting a beating and they gave him one. All the way up until Alcide jumped in to break up the unfair fight. Seeing that Tommy was in bad shape Alcide decides to pop him in the truck and rush him to the hospital. Along the way Tommy figures out he’s dying and not from the beating he just got. I’m sure that didn’t help him much but he says this last human shift did something to him and he knew it was the end. So he instructs Alcide to take him home … to Merlotte’s. When they arrive Sam is waiting there and they lay little brother out on the pool table for his final goodbye. In an attempt at a touching moment Tommy apologizes for everything and Sam tells his little brother that he loves him. Having only wanted his big brother’s love Tommy checks out of this mortal realm content while Sam vows revenge on Marcus.
Alcide continues to show his loner traits by sticking with Sam as he goes in search of Marcus. Little does Alcide know that Marcus is back at his house making time with crazy Debbie who isn’t shying away from the attention. This is a little surprising since Marcus knows that Alcide is an alpha and one big son of a gun and could crush him and yet he still has the nerve to go sniffing around his woman.
I believe my favorite scene this week actually involved Andy and his V addicted ways. I know. I’ve been harping for weeks about how long this has been drug out but finally this week there is light at the end of the tunnel and that light is called Terry. After Arlene finds a vial of V in the house with the children she and Terry have no choice but to confront Andy about his problem. Terry uses his own past experiences with drugs and addiction to confront his cousin where they argue who had it better growing up. These two obviously have issues that have been there for years and this was their chance to get them out in the open. Yes, they did briefly detour into some fisticuffs but in the end it all worked out and Terry is going to help Andy get clean. Finally!
Now that Jessica and Hoyt are broke up all we see now is Hoyt crying over the end of his relationship and Jason sitting there with the most uncomfortable look on his face trying to hide his betrayal of his best friend. I hope they don’t drag this out for too long. After Jessica and Jason hooked up in the truck last week Jason realizes he can’t go behind Hoyt like this. Such news after passionate love making doesn’t make a girl happy to hear and while Jessica is a vampire she is still a girl and boy did that hurt her feelings. From this point forward she is a woman scorned and looking to do some damage which should make the next couple of weeks fun.
The big massacre that Antonia started at the Rally last week came to a quick end when Sookie had to resort to pulling out all the fairy power she could to stop Eric from killing Bill. In the process she broke the curse on Eric and gave him his memory back and surprised the hell out of Antonia. In a moment of weakness Antonia notices the human bloodshed she had caused. This was not her intention and with Eric no longer under her control she high tails it out of there and back to Marnie’s crib. Once safely back there she jumps out of Marnie deciding that she is done with all this. In a nice twist Marnie convinces her that she wants to be possessed by her and wants them to stay joined together to wipe out the vamps.
Sookie is both happy and skittish about having Eric back to normal. He assures her that while he can now remember everything he still loves her and that he is still the man she fell in love with. That’s all well and good for her but she also still loves Bill and that’s why she couldn’t let Eric kill him before. Pam shows up to worship her maker and once again declare her loyalty. Now here is a head scratcher for this week. Pam is still suffering from Antonia’s rotting curse and when she hears that the spell on Eric was broken by Sookie all she can say is ‘Thanks’. Why would she not ask Sookie to relieve her as well. Go figure.
Sookie relays what she learned last week about Tara and the others being held captive by Antonia and enlists some help from Jason, Lafayette and Jesus to rescue them before Bill moves forward with his plan to blow the place up with everyone in it later that night. Gathered out on the street Jesus volunteers to be the one to go in since Marnie is his friend and he’s got some witch mojo of his own. The other three sit back hidden behind a truck while Sookie uses her mind reading ability to keep tabs on what’s going on inside while Tara and Holly are trapped inside trying to figure out a spell to get free. Before Jesus can make it all the way across the street he is dropped to the ground by Antonia’s invisible force field. Antonia comes out and tells them he is welcome to enter if he can cross the threshold. He agrees to give it a go but it’s not as easy as he thought. At one point you see his face turn into that of a demon as he finally makes it through thus not only getting on the inside but impressing Antonia/Marnie at the same time. Finally inside he starts chatting with Antonia and then Marnie and is surprised to learn that his friend Marnie doesn’t need rescuing after all. She’s actually the ring leader and now Jesus is in a pickle. Just then the spell that Tara and Holly tried started working and the front door flung open allowing them to make a run for it. Sookie and Lafayette run out to get them but it’s too late. Antonia shows up at the door, says some mojo and just like that all four of them disappear as Jason looks on helplessly.
Finally night time falls and the vamps are free to carry out their plans. In a scene right out of the A-Team a van pulls up in front of Marnie’s and out walks 4 black leather clad vamps ready to throw down. Did I mention it was in slo-mo? Nice way to end the episode.
Next week it looks like all hell is going to break loose. In the preview for next week there will be a showdown between Sam and Marcus, Marcus and Alcide, and the witches and vamps. We also see that Sookie and party are indeed safe. They were just transported back into Marnie’s crib to be held captive with everyone. So now Bill is preparing to blow the place up but will he go through with it when he finds out that Sookie is inside? We’ll find out next week.
