True Blood episode 403– “If You Love, Why Am I Dyin’?” True Blood is a great series, but at the same time it’s been a problematic one. Every season ups the ante until there are so many balls juggling that it’s hard to keep up with the momentum that Alan Ball and his staff of writers seek to emulate on a year to year basis. Season Two was most definitely the strongest of the seasons because it gave all of it’s characters something to do. Jason had the anti-vampire religious cult and the rest of Bon Temps had to deal with Maryann and her evil reign over them. Season Three has so much going on that it could be called the most random season of television ever. I still have trouble figuring out exactly what it was supposed to be about. It dealt with fairies and the vampire king, Russell Edgington, that’s about the most streamlined way to describe it.

We’re now three episodes into the new season and we’ve been introduced to the local coven of witches and their burgeoning power of necromancy, which by this episode has been fully grasped, the hillbilly Vee heads out in Hot Shot and their Werepanther heritage which is a slight holdover from the particularly messy season three and the fact that Bon Temps has a new vampire king in Bill Compton. Not to mention, that Arlene and Terry have a new infant that may or may not be the progeny of serial killer Drew Marshall (Rene)and that their baby also might have supernatural powers. Right now, there is a lot of business going on in the season but it’s not overwhelming save for the fact that I can’t really tell you all of the new character’s names other than going through the end credits and matching faces with names.

As we saw in last week’s episode, Eric had lost his memory after he confronted the witches’ circle at Bill’s request. He knows that there’s something special about Sookie but he can’t seem to put his finger on it. Pam is frustrated that her maker has no clue who he is. Violently frustrated. Lafayette and the circle of wiccans are running scared that Eric is going to aim his crosshairs at them to try and get back at them for whatever spell they did. They have no clue they erased his memory. Jessica has to deal with her growing bloodlust and her self-loathing that she’s pulling away from Hoyt. She even glamours him to try and get back in his good graces. An even more interesting part of their storyline is the fact that this creepy doll, spied very briefly at the end of season three when they bought their house, keeps finding it’s way into the home despite the fact they keep disposing of it. A very creepy angle.

I’m not a fan of the Jason/Hot Shot storyline, I feel like it’s going nowhere other than addressing the storyline of the books that turns Jason into a werepanther but Ryan Kwanten just started to get a fantastic storyline and they keep him tied to a bed getting raped by meth-head werepanthers. He deserves better. Tara’s storyline is pretty boring, she was never a big character to begin with but saddling her with a half-baked UFC fighter/current lesbian storyline, is just fighting to try to do something with a character that was once full of piss and vinegar that has been relegated to a victim. Also, trying to give Tommy a storyline about natural gases and robbing Maxine Fortenberry out of all the party was a better storyline on Justified (the mountain scandal with Mags Bennett) and an excuse to drag poor Sam Merlotte into another storyline where the brilliant Sam Trammell will be underutilized. Sam’s got his story this season, please leave him out of this.

Two great things in this episode: Alexander Skarsgard was great as a memory-less Eric. His performances have always been fantastic but in this one he just truned his performance up a notch. It reminded me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Spike regained his soul, not to mention seeing him wear a sleeveless T-shirt is priceless. Another thing I love about this season is Andy Bellefluer’s Vee addiction. I love it when any character crushes under their addiction and lashes out violently at anyone, this week’s victim being Sam Merlotte.

I could be wrong about the plethora of storylines and it could all gel together nicely, even if it doesn’t I still wouldn’t give up on the show. I never give up on a show if I’ve been involved this long.

Some shows you just can’t quit.

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