True Blood 6.10 Season Finale: Sookie, You in Danger Girl (Spoilers)

Whew. True Blood season finale 6.10, "Radioactive" was definitely jam packed.

Sookie and Alcide had a sweet moment after the funeral right before she reunited with Jason, Tara, and Pam, who was surprisingly happy to see Sookie, during the naked vampire lawn party where there was volleyball, sex, jiving, and a mention of Target. Jason's uncomfortably possessive new vampire friend, Violet, greeted Sookie first with the desire for violence, and then some serious tongue action. Warlow finally showed his true Ike Turner side and molly-wopped Sookie, tied her to a tree, choked her a few times, and bit her furiously. I guess I'm the only person who never forgot Warlow killed all of the fairies. I never trusted the rat bastard, and I read plenty of reviews saying he was growing on fans. Never that. Pretty boy Ben was as dark as the figure we kept seeing last season. When he told her that, "The truth is I really do just want to f*** you, and own you, and use you for your blood" I was too ready for someone to decapitate him.

After all the Lillith juice had worn off, Bill returned to feeling like regular, emo Bill and finally regretted sacrificing Sookie and treating her so badly...yet again. Jessica urged him to go save Sookie and not make her promise to maintain his humanity a promise made in vain. Adeline tapped into her fairy light to transport Jason, Bill, Andy, Violet, and herself to rescue Sookie. Unfortunately, Warlow teleported back to the Bon Temps plane and made quick work of the team, once again getting his hands on Sookie.

Holy jeepers, Batman! Is that Niall?! You betcha! Niall made a wonderful, yet brief, return through the portal in Sookie's bathroom and held Warlow as Jason thrust a stake right through his cold, evil heart, leaving him a puddle of glittery blood. Almost immediately all vampire sunscreen wore off.

Let's just take a moment to bask in and scream in horror at Eric's single brief scene in this episode, which I'm sure will leave many fans up in arms, contemplating returning next summer. While tanning completely nude (basking) on top of a snow covered mountain, Eric catches fire and his screams as his flesh was incinerating sent chills up my spine.

Playing out almost like a season premiere or even a series finale, midway through the show viewers are fast forwarded six months from the death of Warlow, and woo-wee things have changed. Vampire Bill was now also Author Bill having written a memoir of his time as Billith. Alcide and Sookie were a couple presumably living together and getting their cute little freak on. The beginning of the episode foreshadowed the possibility of romance blossoming between the two, but to be honest I was just relieved Alcide removed that wig. Jason has been doing some heavy duty "downtown digging" on Violet for 178 nights with no sexual reciprocation, making things incredibly hard for him, literally and figuratively. For some reason I can't help but smell possible, future villain in her. Sam is now mayor and Merlotte's has become Arlene's Bellefleur Bar and Grill. After Bon Temps residents had their blood tested for Hep V, Mayor Sam encouraged all residents to pair up with an uninfected vampire bodyguard in exchange for some of their blood. Lettie Mae and Tara reconciled via Lettie Mae's offer of her blood to nourish Tara in an effort to make up for being a disappointing mother during her childhood. Jessica apologized to Andy and offered her protection in return for nothing. Honestly that was the best scene of the episode for me because you could truly feel all of Andy's pain and rage from the death of his daughters at Jessica's hands as he held his gun at her heart and Jessica was willing to accept whatever fate he deemed appropriate. Andy closing the door and Jessica standing guard definitely tugged on some heartstrings. Bill offered his protection to Sookie as Alcide proceeded to do his growling thing to which Bill responded, "You can growl all you want, bright eyes." And honestly, who hasn't thought that whenever Alcide tries to start a measuring contest? I digress. Hep V infected vamps look a lot like zombies and they roll deep and were headed straight for Sam's Human/Vampire Pairing Party. I'm guessing next season will pick up right where we left off, focusing on the battle of good vamps versus bad vamps as the good vamps try to keep humans safe.

But the real cliffhanger? Did Eric survive!? And how about Pam, for that matter? She took flight in search of Eric but she wasn't expecting to lose her ability to walk in the sun either.

What did you think of the season finale? Will you be tuning into season 7 next summer? What do you think the storyline will be about?

Do You Think Eric Survived the True Death?

Drop Dead Diva Season 5 Poll

The summer airing of Drop Dead Diva season 5 brought with it plot twists, baby bumps, vanishing characters, and an infamous jumping of the shark. If you've been keeping up with my DDD recaps then you'll know that I was infuriated by the storyline of Owen and Jane not getting back together; rather they seemingly made nice while Owen agreed to give Stacy his sperm because she's an awful friend and Jane has more luck dying and coming back to life than keeping a beau. The summer season finale ended with Parker selling the firm by proxy, Jane cheering on Stacy's parade-o-sperm, and Jane then seeking out Grayson to confess her love. However, it was to no avail since he's now getting cozy with the new assistant. 

So it's time to sound off on the poll below and in the comments section:

Will you be tuning into the fall return of Drop Dead Diva on Sunday, October 6?

True Blood 6.9 Life Matters (Spoilers)

By choice, I haven’t watched True Blood for the past few weeks. Since about season 3, it’s not uncommon for me to check-out of the season for many of the middle episodes and check back in for the penultimate episode and then the season finale. True Blood has a knack for convoluted storylines and storylines that go so left field that I end up hopping the fence and finding something else to watch for a few weeks. Invaluable characters are often left by the wayside while other characters bask in too much screen time and plotlines that seem to continue ad nauseam i.e. Alcide and his pack lacking basic home training skills. Season 6 was on an even tighter leash since it is 10 episodes rather than its usual 12. Last night I watched the penultimate episode, 6.9 “Life Matters” and enjoyed the episode. I suppose it was a combination of the heartwarming funeral for Terry with touching, comedic flashbacks, and cast members reuniting, and finally exiting that dreadful vampire internment camp.

The episode opened with Sookie trying to help Warlow after Eric almost drained him in his quest to walk in the sun. Bill cursed at Sookie some more and attempted to forcefully take Warlow to the Vamp Camp to save their friends. In response, Sookie did what all women wish they could do to their verbally abusive and controlling ex-boyfriends: blasted his butt out of the sky. Though, my favorite part of the scene was Sookie’s response to Bill as she attempted to give Warlow some of her blood to rejuvenate him, which stirred Bill. “Seriously? I’m gnawing at my own arm and you drop a fang on me?” Sookie definitely has her moments. On his way to rescue and free his friends, sexy Eric easily ran through vamp camp soldiers in broad daylight leaving limbs, blood, and butts in his wake. He even had time to rip off a scientist’s whole groin and the only full frontal male nude scene of the show came in the form of a gory, dismembered mess, and not the sexy Eric Northman. Bummer. Bill then proceeded to stomp a mud-hole in said scientist’s head…literally. I would hate to have been that guy. He was definitely not having a red-letter day.

On the other side of town, Terry’s storyline finally wrapped up nicely with a heartwarming funeral complete with touching stories, flashbacks, and a very prejudice, senile, yet comedic Grandma Bellefleur.

1.       Lafayette’s lashes. Yes, honey. Also, his memory of first working with Terry was heartbreaking, beautiful, and hilarious all at the same time.
2.       Sookie came out…as a telepath and her flashback, younger self was super annoying.
3.       For about 5 minutes I almost forgot how much of a tool Alcide has been for the majority of this season.
4.       Tara’s mother, Lettie Mae made things awkward by telling Arlene she “wouldn’t miss [Terry’s funeral] for the world”
5.       Breastfeeding made an appearance. Woman power!
6.       Arlene found peace with letting Terry go.

Eric freed all imprisoned vamps, allowing them to take revenge on all guards and scientists that tortured, poked, and prodded them. Basically you saw humans getting their canines ripped out and running naked on the hamster wheel at minimum speed. More homo-erotic dreams await Jason after being healed by Eric’s blood who requested Jason dream good dreams of him. Yowza.

Irony: Former Fellowship of the Sun leader Reverend Newlin met the sun after giving Jason once last declaration of love shout out.

However, Sarah Newlin won again because not only did Eric not sense a very alive and pulse pounding Sarah Newlin hiding amongst dead bodies, but she escaped with her life. Though Jason chased Sarah Newlin down shouting, “You ain’t gonna get away! Too f*ng slow! Too f*ng evil!” and let her know that he had a direct line to Big J, Jesus, his conscience hindered him from spilling any more blood and blowing Sarah’s brains out. However, I think it’s a safe bet that we will be seeing the diabolical and religiously maniacal Sarah Newlin again.

With enough of Warlow’s blood coursing through his veins, Bill sacrificed his body to all vampires trapped in the sun room protecting them from death. They went on their merry way skipping in the sun in a fairy blood stupor while Bill had the Lillith trio slowly advancing on him threatening to take him from this earth. Jessica’s BF James gave Bill some of his blood to offset things and, boom, almost every Bon Temps vamp was skipping in the sun. Vamps all across the world started destroying cartons upon cartons of True Blood infected with the infamous Hep V. Viewers were left with the image of daywalking vamps high on fairy blood with no alternative source of blood as Eric took flight (in a Supermanesque display) and left Pam behind.

Drop Dead Diva 5.8: 50 Shades of Grayson (Spoilers)

I'm not going to delve too deep into tonight's Drop Dead Diva 5.8 episode, "50 Shades of Grayson" because 1. I didn't see every scene and 2. the moral of the DDD story appears to be, "You can get a second chance at life, but your love life is going to stink and you won't get a happy ending. Oh and by the time you get to your third guardian angel, well he just won't really be around." Time to crank up Beyonce's "Single Ladies" and get your groove on, Jane.

Highlights:

Kim's water broke in the middle of a case and she attempted to push through, no pun intended, and surmised she would be back to finish up closing arguments after a lunch break and quick delivery of her baby. Tough gal.

Jane and Owen can apparently be civil, all things considered, while casually overlooking the fact that Stacy will most likely make Jane the godmother of her and Owen's future child.

Stacy got shot up with Owen's sperm and in The Back-Up Plan type scene, she sat in a hospital bed with her legs up figuring that she was presently conceiving Owen's child while simultaneously urging Jane to go confess her love to Grayson (again) because that didn't make the scene awkward at all.

Jane stumbled upon Grayson smooching Nicole and was heartbroken yet again.

Paul wasn't around.

Parker sold the firm which seemingly means everyone is out of a job...until you see the fall preview which shows everyone in their respective offices.

**Side note: Jill Andrews' cover of Trent Dabbs' "I'm Not OK", which was playing during the heartbreaking scene of Jane stumbling upon Grayson and Nicole, is going on my playlist ASAP.

What did you think about tonight's DDD episode? Did I miss any key highlights?


Now it's time to sound off on the poll below and in the comments section:

Will you be tuning into the fall return of Drop Dead Diva on Sunday, October 6?

'The Expendables': Action Films, Action Heroes & Lots of...Action Part 2

Think of all the macho, action movies from the 80s and early 90s. Now, put all those leading, muscle-bound men in The Expendables. Finally, crank out some sequels and you’ve got yourself an All-Star Dream Team franchise of all the old-school bad asses you ever wanted to see on screen together. Remember in Last Action Hero when we were only able to imagine what it would be like to see Sly and Arnold on screen together?! Well, over a decade later and a few pounds heavier…wish granted. Apparently Willis got a little too big for his Die Hard britches, though, and demanded $4 million, rather than $3 million, for four days’ worth of shooting. Stallone was not having that and I think he said something to the effect of “I AM THE LAW!”  and in approximately 72 hours, Harrison Ford came swinging in ready to take the reins and replace Willis. Ford may be also taking the title of ‘Sequel King’ with Indiana Jones 5, Star Wars VII, and now The Expendables 3 in the works. Turns out even Expendables are expendable, after all. Well, at least in Bruce Willis’ case; but then again he is G.I. Joe, so he’ll probably be okay…

We're three days away from the 3 year anniversary of the release of The Expendables. My choices for future Expendable members (not including the recently revealed Gibson and Banderas and mentioned Snipes and Segal). My brother says you might as well just apply 6 degrees of separation from all the cast members and anyone who has ever been in a film with Sly, which in turn would result in a never-ending mega cast, but I'll stick with this list ;) 

·         Clint Eastwood (he wouldn’t even need any weapons, just his trusty finger gun)

·         Hulk Hogan (Suburban Commando style)

·         Carl Weathers (Mr. Action Jackson/Apollo Creed himself)

·         Sasha Mitchell (I miss his long legged kicks)

·         Danny Glover (but he’d have to have a cigar the whole time, don’t ask me why)

·         James Belushi (comedic timing precision)

·         Val Kilmer (Iceman, anyone?)

·         Tom Selleck (stache staying power)

·         Rutger Hauer (blind samurai, anyone?)

·         Armand Assante (Judge Dredd take 2)

·         Kurt Russell (Tango and Cash take 2)

·         I would be good with just a cameo from Roddy Piper delivering his They Live line, “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick some ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum” and then whipping out a bazooka. End scene. 
·         In memoriam: Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee and Charles Bronson

 

Marvel's Future Looks Bright

Last week I wrote about how DC Comics' film plans and attempts were faring against those of Marvel Studios. Well, this week Marvel Studios' President Kevin Feige was interviewed by WIRED and I'm not saying Feige was subliminally telling DC “now this is how it’s done,” but I sure am! Forthright to boot.

 

Basically, Marvel Studios has projects and plans mapped out down the road for about another decade. According to comingsoon.net:

____________________________________________________________________
"I could arguably say what we're planning for the year 2021," Feige told WIRED. "Will that happen? I don't know. But what we planned for 2015 in 2006 is happening." Marvel's 2015 plans include Avengers: Age of Ultron and the long awaited Ant-Man feature.

Feige also teased further expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with future films. "Five years ago, looking at our plan, we knew that if Avengers was going to work, the movies had to stand alone," he says. "Now we have to prove to the studio that we're more than just these five characters, these five franchises."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I think with the excitement over Guardians of the Galaxy, they’re well on their way to proving the miscellany and staying power of Marvel Studios. Now DC could counter that the “best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray” but I have a piggy bank of savings just for Marvel Studio movies, so I have confidence that they’ll be just fine.