Tag: Michelle Forbes

True Blood 2.7 – Her Lips Are Warm (While Yours Are Cold)

There are no two ways around it: last night was a very strange night.

I’ll post more details about it later, but in a nutshell, the Television Critics Association Awards took place on Saturday, Aug. 1st, where “True Blood” was named Outstanding New Program. As with all good awards shows, there was a pre-show party and a post-show party, and although neither Anna Paquin nor Stephen Moyer were available to stand with executive producer Alan Ball as he accepted the award, several of their fellow cast members were in attendance, including Sam Trammell, Nelsan Ellis, Rutina Wesley, and Michelle Forbes. Actually, Alexander Skarsgard and Deborah Ann Woll were there for awhile, too, but Mr. Skarsgard disappeared moments after the ceremony was over, and although Ms. Woll stuck around for a bit longer, she managed to slip out before I ever had the chance to speak with her. I hope you’ll enjoy the photos of the folks I did manage to chat with, though. They’re scattered throughout this week’s entry.

Speaking of that, I should probably offer one small warning: I’m out in L.A. for the TCA press tour, and although I had an advance copy of tonight’s episode to watch, I’ll be the first to admit that my mind was going a dozen other places while I was watching it. So if I missed out on anything or perhaps misinterpreted something, let me go ahead and apologize right now.

And, now, on with the show…

Well, obviously, we knew Sam was going to find a way to escape from his captivity, but they managed to wring the suspense out of it nonetheless; we even saw him manage to transform into something other than a dog – a significant accomplishment, I dare say – and fly away to safety. From there, Sammy got his gun and made it quite clear that he wasn’t afraid to use it, but…am I the only one who thought he was heading off to find Maryann? Not that it didn’t make sense that he’d go after Daphne, given that she’d committed such a personal betrayal, but I was still figuring that he was heading to take down the big dog. Daphne managed to stay pretty cool for somebody who was having a gun waved in her face, but Sam was plenty emotional for the both of them. How could you not feel bad for the guy? He thought he’d found his soulmate. Instead, he got stabbed in the back…which is why there was a certain temptation to cheer a short while later, when Daphne got stabbed in the front. Not that you didn’t know it was coming. I think we can all agree that there has rarely been a scene featuring the line “thank you for your service” which has ever ended well for the person being thanked. As far as Maryann, she’s clearly not God, but…what is she? A maenad? Well, I can’t say as I expected Greek mythology to tie into this storyline, but it’s certainly getting more intriguing all the time, that’s for sure.

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True Blood 2.4 – Put On Your Wig, Woman!

I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumours, but those guys from the Fellowship of the Sun have a sick sense of humor, don’t they? Criminey, talk about playing on poor Jason’s worst nightmares! Of course, he recovered pretty quickly, offering up that militaristic monologue (its effectiveness aided in no small part by the score) behind him. Come the next morning, he’s smirking like nobody’s business, offering up great lines about how maybe Jesus was the first vampire, what with all the blood drinking going on. It’s a pretty heavy debate for breakfast, with the discussion about the first evil – was it Cain, or was it Eve? – but it all comes to an abrupt end when Jason gets called off to see the Rev. It’s nothing ominous, though: he just wants to take Jason on a vampire target-practice run. Afterwards, it’s back to the Rev’s homestead for Ribs a la Sexy Sarah. Whew, was there any better song than Sammy Kershaw’s “Louisiana Hot Sauce” to serve as the soundtrack for that display of culinary excellence? I don’t know what kind of career Anna Camp has in store for her as an actress, but I think we can count on a couple of good Maxim layouts in her immediate future, don’t you? Obviously, the other guys in the Fellowship are jealous that Jason appears to be on the verge of sliding into Sarah’s good graces…and, yes, that is a double entendre…and when she turns up in his bedroom in her nightie, there’s every reason to believe that something is going to happen between them.

Sam and Daphne are still skinny-dipping when we pop back in on them, but Sam’s also laying bare his feelings a bit as well. Everything looks like it’s sittin’ pretty between the two of them until she climbs out of the water and Sam spies those nasty claw marks on her back. Still, it’s been the kind of evening that’s made him rethink his plans to depart…or, at least, it’s served to delay them slightly. Sookie’s ego forces her to presume that it’s because of her that he’s decided to leave, resulting in a angry conversation between them. Unsurprisingly, things at the bar remain a little tense for the rest of the night, though it’s also in no small part because of the total lack of customers (the exception being a highly drunk Detective Andy), and the evening takes a surprising turn when Tara’s apparently-still-sober mama turns up to deliver a birthday present for her absent daughter. When he gets over to Sookie’s place, he has brief words with Maryann before Daphne turns up, and he and Madame Clawback start to smooch. They stop briefly, but before Sam can reveal his secret to Daphne, she claims she already knows what he is. Why do I have this feeling that they might not be on the same wavelength?

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True Blood 2.1 – What Can Wash Away My Sin?

Welcome to the “True Blood” blog, the first time Premium Hollywood has deigned to tackle HBO’s top-notch vampire series on a weekly basis. If you’re a regular reader, then you know that I ventured into the first few episodes of the show and enjoyed what I saw, but other responsibilities kept me from delving any further into the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse and company until the Season 1 DVD was released. After absorbing all twelve episodes, I was definitely chomping at the bit to see the Season 2 premiere, so when the call went out for someone to blog the second season, I figured I’d accept. Hey, at the very least, it’s a series that my wife and I both love…and as I’m sure many readers know, it goes a long way toward maintaining marital bliss when both of you enjoy watching the same series.

So let’s get rolling, shall we?

For those who’ve been waiting in suspense ‘til the end of last season to find out whose body was in the car, the mystery is solved almost immediately…and it ain’t Lafayette. Of course, that was always gonna be a little too easy, anyway, but I still didn’t expect it to be Miss Jeanette, the exorcist from season 1. And based on her scream, Tara didn’t, either. She starts off in denial, claiming no knowledge of the woman, but with Sookie barely able to tune out her frantic thoughts, she eventually concedes and reveals who the woman is. “My mama’s gonna fall to pieces when she finds out,” says Tara. (Was I the only one who briefly thought that her mama might’ve been the one who did it? I thought maybe she’d figured out the woman was a fraud, gone on a bender, and killed her.)

Not long after the case gets underway, it looks like Andy’s going to call it a night, but after his protestations that he’s not overworked (nice lack of denial about his state of inebriation, though), he ends up sticking around, despite the sheriff’s annoyed reminder that, “at best, you’re a material witness to a homicide; at worst, you could be a suspect.” Yeah, but there’s one big thing keeping me from buying into Andy as the killer: does anyone see that hillbilly as the kind of guy who’d be able to pull off that kind of acting performance? Once the crew get back to the station, Mama Thornton comes by and gets the grisly details about Miss Jeanette’s demise, which she takes about as well as her daughter had expected. Still, she refuses to concede that the woman may have been a fraud, and as she and Tara are departing the station, Mama starts in on Tara…until Maryann Forester turns up. Man, talking about giving someone the verbal smackdown. Oh, snap! Well, if there’d been any doubt about whether Tara had fallen for Maryann’s schtick before, you can’t blame her for being squarely in her camp now.

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TCA Tour, Jan. 2009: “In Treatment”

The good news: “In Treatment” is returning to HBO for a second season. The bad news: after the network provided us with several great photos of Gabriel Byrne to utilize along with his quotes during the panel, we were given the bad news that Mr. Byrne had come down with a nasty case of the flu and would not be in attendance after all. In a word: d’oh!

Still, we must rise above our difficulties. Though the panel contained 100% less Gabriel than originally advertised, we were at least graced by the presence of Executive Producer Steve Levinson and Executive Producer and show runner Warren Leight. But, dammit, we got these photos and we’re damned well going to use them anyway! And, besides, it’s not like Dr. Paul Weston isn’t going to be a major topic of discussion.

As you may or may not know, Dr. Weston’s marriage has failed, resulting in a new setting for the series; possibly not coincidentally, the series itself is now being produced in New York, which is exactly where Dr. Weston is moving. Now he’s practicing in a Brooklyn brownstone, baby!

“I think once we knew we were doing it there, we thought we would embrace the city and embrace the location and certainly make reference to it,” said Levinson.

New York also happens to be where Gabriel Byrne himself lives. This is definitely not a coincidence.

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