True Blood season 4 episode 7 : Cold Grey Light of Dawn

Summary : How to succeed in the popcorn industry (Foreword by Ms. Pam-pam, the Rotten Queen of the Damned) plus a free cinematographic wondårwful journey featuring the Fangtastic Four Sins

Score : 8/10

The past two episodes featured some funny and exciting scenes but you know it's time to give up on a show when you don't dream about it nor await its next installment. It's actually the True Blood: Vampires Are Our New American Heroes story on TV.com that convinced me to give it one last chance because Lily Sparks passionate words and witty analysis made the episode just irresistible.

This se7enth episode finally delivered what I always wanted True Blood to be, a production that is both entertaining and profound enough. It can make you laugh or surprise you in the most disturbing ways but when it came to harvesting the power of our wicked neurons the show was weak most of the time. Indeed Cold Grey Light of Dawn proved that it's possible to merge the best of both worlds, guilty pleasure and emotional intelligence. What I enjoyed the most were the eternal dialogs. Those were delightful moments of empathic character development and good acting. That's probably why the drunken editing didn't frustrate me as much as usual. Moreover these long and timeless sequences were plunged in a boiling cauldron full of hilarious and soul reaving ingredients.

Lección I : You can't be wrong when mixing English, Español and Français in the same episode !

Leçon II : Jason is one hell of a naughty boy. Girls you have to see him wearing boxing gloves while working out ! As always Ryan Kwanten performance felt like dancing in the rain and the psychedelic flashes featuring Jessica were as arousing as the title sequence sexy babes.

Unterrichtsstunde III (Don't ask) : Kristin Bauer van Straten aka Pam was back to finish what she started with Tara-Toni and her girlfriend. One zombie joke to rule them all ! And they even found room to point out how some people become passive rotten potatoes when they trade their brains for cellphones. As for the screaming blonde on the coffin she tasted like the following refreshing cocktail : ½ Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally…, ½ Clint Eastwood as Blondie in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The only thing missing was a cowgirl hat ! Last but not least Kristin atrocious make-up deserves an award because the artists pushed the horrific barrier even further this time. They definitely succeeded in turning her ravishing beauty into a monstrous pile of stinky melting Roquefort ! And please stop by her official website for some close-up shoots.

Otherwise beneath its tasty surface they're still plenty of elements that keep preventing True Blood from reaching the hell of cult TV shows. First something was revealed about Lafayette and I couldn't care less. Seriously what's going on with all these miraculous developments ? It would be so much more captivating if the writers had carefully left breadcrumbs behind them to surprise us. Instead our only choice is to play dumb and believe they planned it all from the very start. And the most disappointing is that the novels probably cover all these missing pieces in great details ! An other weakness would be the multiple anecdotic arcs. From the cop who is a drug addict to Sam the shapeshifter they should just get rid of them or better, elegantly intertwine them with the other stories. Sam could join the different werewolf-panther clubs in town for instance ! The third con would be the way silver chains were used. I'm not asking to trap Jessica into some shibarynthic web but all along I had a giant question mark – you know like ?! - raised right above my elephantic head. The last undead worm in that shiny, beautiful and juicy red apple would be the fairy. Or should I say, the non-fairy. I mean the only event related to the pilot was the killing of Sookie's godmother four weeks ago.

But in the end once you have washed over all these minor issues this episode was the best and most refreshing of the season. Sookie & Eric's arc was nothing strange compared to the third installment but their relationship definitely has potential. Fiona Shaw also gave a convincing performance as Antonia and I also quite enjoyed how Tara was involved in her vendetta. In general the aftermath could be even more dazzling than the time jump between seasons 3 & 4. Like if it wasn't already enough the chat between Maker Bill and Baby Jessica was almost philosophical and should wow you if you're fascinated by vampires and specially what separate them from humans. Last but not least the ending couldn't have been more cinematographic. From the dual pace, both slow and furious, to the distorted vision effect my only complain would be that 48 intriguing hours separate me from the next feast. All in all a bittersweet fruit you'll definitely want to bite a second time !

Falling Skies season 1 episode 10 : Eight Hours

Summary : A few rare good minutes saved this episode from exploding in the deep blue sky

Score : 5/10

It's actually a story praising the finale, and even mentioning Lost, that convinced me to give Falling Skies an other chance. Now that I have seen its finale second part it's not that I regret it but sadly it didn't live up to my expectations and the inevitable jaw dropping effect I was awaiting never happened. It's obvious the production budget is limited but I just don't get the biped robots. The premiere intrigued us about these metal creatures but when they reminded me of RoboCop's ED-209 series their CG rendering is just too cheap and watching them walking in bright daylight is almost ridiculous. Moreover their masters have super advanced technologies that allowed them to blast the Earth and travel through space but their robots fire ammos and rockets. So it was weak in the action department but also when it came to the substance. I get the creators good intentions of teaching a few things to the audience about moral values and history but Tom's speech was misplaced, Noah Wyle played his part like a machine, and the flag metaphora was poor. Worst the characters behavior is questionable. One minute they're scared like chickens, the next they laugh and joke about what just happened. What would be wrong with frightening our children a little ? Hopefully the arcs involving the mutant and the captain were good. I think the teenager has done a decent job so far and looks spooky enough to make us believe that he's turning into something inhuman. Tom and Anne's relationship also developed further and even if it was nothing surprising it should make these characters grow on you even more. However I still consider Moon Bloodgood's talent deserves more than such a cliché role. As for the cliffhanger its concept was good but its execution was flawed. From the flimsy visual effects to the hasty development its quality wasn't worthy of a finale. In fact my biggest reproach would be the general lack of spirit. Falling Skies doesn't feel at all like a Steven Spielberg production. Where is E.T. : The Extra-Terrestrial poetry and magic ? What about Close Encounters of the Third Kind epicness ? Otherwise I can only admit that it was at least interesting and made me curious about what could happen in season 2.