Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Season 3 Analysis - Overview
Now that Season 3 has concluded, it's time to start digging in on all the meaty symbolism, foreshadowing and corollary characters (vardogers, i.e. doppelgangers). And this season is loaded with goodies for our perusal. In the next few essays, I plan to review the episodes one at a time, attempt some analysis, and then hopefully, entertain your comments and ideas. Remember, please don't be shy about posting your counterpoints, because all manner of discussion can be fun for us. You don't have to agree with me to be my friend.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Political Deceptions - Lafayette and Bill correlation
Well, I’m really going out a limb on this one but here goes. Live wild and free, right?
In Season 1, we saw Lafayette form a relationship with a customer who was a State Senator. One day when Lafayette was painting his toenails at the bar of Merlotte’s, he saw this Senator disparaging gays and vampires on TV and in front of a live audience. This made Lafayette so angry, he got Terry Bellefleur to cover his shift, he put on a business suit, and he went to one of the Senator’s fundraisers being held that same evening.
At the fundraiser, when folks were approaching the Senator to pledge their support to his campaign and have their picture taken with the Senator, Lafayette stepped up and grabbed the Senator’s hand, shaking it. In a low tone heard only by himself and the Senator, he warned the Senator that bad things happen to those who turn on their own, i.e. engage in hypocrisy.
The exchange ended there and we’ve seen no follow-up to this storyline. Why did this exchange happen? Since Lafayette and Bill appear to be Vardogers, with Lafayette enacting the action set prior to the main character, Bill, will we see Bill have a similar exchange with a corrollary person in his life?
I speculate that we will indeed see Bill having such an exchange with Nan Flanagan. Nan will be shown to be a customer of Bill’s services in some way or form. She will make public statements which Bill believes to be hypocritical and two-faced. He will confront her privately and threaten her with the possibility of retribution.
THIS PREDICTION HASN'T YET COME TRUE, NOT IN S3 ANYWAY. I STILL HOLD OUT HOPE FOR IT COMING TRUE SINCE WE SAW BILL PAYING SUCH CLOSE ATTENTION TO NAN'S STATEMENTS ON TV, WHICH HE WAS WATCHING WHILE SOOKIE SLEPT ON THE COUCH AT JASON'S HOUSE.
In Season 1, we saw Lafayette form a relationship with a customer who was a State Senator. One day when Lafayette was painting his toenails at the bar of Merlotte’s, he saw this Senator disparaging gays and vampires on TV and in front of a live audience. This made Lafayette so angry, he got Terry Bellefleur to cover his shift, he put on a business suit, and he went to one of the Senator’s fundraisers being held that same evening.
At the fundraiser, when folks were approaching the Senator to pledge their support to his campaign and have their picture taken with the Senator, Lafayette stepped up and grabbed the Senator’s hand, shaking it. In a low tone heard only by himself and the Senator, he warned the Senator that bad things happen to those who turn on their own, i.e. engage in hypocrisy.
The exchange ended there and we’ve seen no follow-up to this storyline. Why did this exchange happen? Since Lafayette and Bill appear to be Vardogers, with Lafayette enacting the action set prior to the main character, Bill, will we see Bill have a similar exchange with a corrollary person in his life?
I speculate that we will indeed see Bill having such an exchange with Nan Flanagan. Nan will be shown to be a customer of Bill’s services in some way or form. She will make public statements which Bill believes to be hypocritical and two-faced. He will confront her privately and threaten her with the possibility of retribution.
THIS PREDICTION HASN'T YET COME TRUE, NOT IN S3 ANYWAY. I STILL HOLD OUT HOPE FOR IT COMING TRUE SINCE WE SAW BILL PAYING SUCH CLOSE ATTENTION TO NAN'S STATEMENTS ON TV, WHICH HE WAS WATCHING WHILE SOOKIE SLEPT ON THE COUCH AT JASON'S HOUSE.
Bon Temps – A Supernatural Crossroads
Once in the book and once in True Blood, we’ve heard mention of a supernatural crossroads. Was this said in passing to clue us into something pervasive and influential to the events in Bon Temps? Is there something about Bon Temps itself which attracts supernatural activity and beings and places them in contact with each other for mutual benefit and for power struggles with each other?
Claudine said to Sookie in Book 4 that Bon Temps is a supernatural crossroads. Lettie Mae said to Tara as they walked to Miss Jeanette’s place in the woods, “if you want to meet the devil, you go to the crossroads”. This is related to the supernatural meaning of crossroads. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_(culture) for related information.
In the book, Dead To The World, Claudine says to Sookie on page 75: “….I’m here because of all the activity. ….You have vampires, and Weres, and lots of other stuff all tangled up here in Bon Temps---to say nothing of several important and powerful crossroads. I was drawn to all the possibilities…”
Considering that True Blood is based on the book but not precisely in alignment with all the book details, will this Crossroads nature of Bon Temps be actualized in True Blood? And if so, why and how?
One thing we know is Alan Ball has said that although Sookie is the main character, the actress portraying her can’t be telling the TB story entirely through her point of view as it’s done in the books. With that in mind, some things must be changed and other characters need expansion to make up for less Sookie. And to make more of others, it has to be done carefully so as to not change the basic story too much.
How might these characters be expanded within the basic structure of the storyline and by what means? What from the books is open to expansion?
Without a doubt, the supernatural crossroads nature of Bon Temps could lend itself to expansion and use by the TB writers. Lafayette was a very minor player in the books, already dead at the beginning of Book 2. Yet here we are with a very much alive Lafayette as we head into the TV version of Books 3 and 4. Same thing with Tara. She was a minor character in the books and when she did pop up, we only saw the parts of her life where she interfaced directly with Sookie. Sookie mentioned Tara’s history briefly. But in True Blood, Tara is a supporting lead, much more than a bit player.
How can the writers expand these supporting yet undefined characters? Should they portray them living ordinary human lives, never living in tandem with Sookie’s supernatural-infused life? Or should they put these characters into supernatural contact, too, make them struggle with the strangeness of it all?
One way to tie the supporting characters into the supernatural world is to use the very nature of Bon Temps itself as a Supernatural Crossroads. This adds credibility as to why and how everyone is getting mixed up with supernatural beings of various types while the rest of the world is only getting mixed up with the newly outed vampires.
IN MY OPINION, THIS IS BEING SHOWN AS TRUE NOW THAT WE HAVE THE FAIRIES MEETING AND GREETING SOOKIE IN THE BON TEMPS CEMETARY.
Claudine said to Sookie in Book 4 that Bon Temps is a supernatural crossroads. Lettie Mae said to Tara as they walked to Miss Jeanette’s place in the woods, “if you want to meet the devil, you go to the crossroads”. This is related to the supernatural meaning of crossroads. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_(culture) for related information.
In the book, Dead To The World, Claudine says to Sookie on page 75: “….I’m here because of all the activity. ….You have vampires, and Weres, and lots of other stuff all tangled up here in Bon Temps---to say nothing of several important and powerful crossroads. I was drawn to all the possibilities…”
Considering that True Blood is based on the book but not precisely in alignment with all the book details, will this Crossroads nature of Bon Temps be actualized in True Blood? And if so, why and how?
One thing we know is Alan Ball has said that although Sookie is the main character, the actress portraying her can’t be telling the TB story entirely through her point of view as it’s done in the books. With that in mind, some things must be changed and other characters need expansion to make up for less Sookie. And to make more of others, it has to be done carefully so as to not change the basic story too much.
How might these characters be expanded within the basic structure of the storyline and by what means? What from the books is open to expansion?
Without a doubt, the supernatural crossroads nature of Bon Temps could lend itself to expansion and use by the TB writers. Lafayette was a very minor player in the books, already dead at the beginning of Book 2. Yet here we are with a very much alive Lafayette as we head into the TV version of Books 3 and 4. Same thing with Tara. She was a minor character in the books and when she did pop up, we only saw the parts of her life where she interfaced directly with Sookie. Sookie mentioned Tara’s history briefly. But in True Blood, Tara is a supporting lead, much more than a bit player.
How can the writers expand these supporting yet undefined characters? Should they portray them living ordinary human lives, never living in tandem with Sookie’s supernatural-infused life? Or should they put these characters into supernatural contact, too, make them struggle with the strangeness of it all?
One way to tie the supporting characters into the supernatural world is to use the very nature of Bon Temps itself as a Supernatural Crossroads. This adds credibility as to why and how everyone is getting mixed up with supernatural beings of various types while the rest of the world is only getting mixed up with the newly outed vampires.
IN MY OPINION, THIS IS BEING SHOWN AS TRUE NOW THAT WE HAVE THE FAIRIES MEETING AND GREETING SOOKIE IN THE BON TEMPS CEMETARY.
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