Happy Fang of July

The Fangover: Drunk makeout sessions; Deadbeat Dads; Dancing Faeries

In a long-standing tradition that's served almost-couples for generations, Sookie and Alcide overcame their awkward romantic tension by slugging down a mess of conflicting liquors and getting busy on the couch. Fan reactions are sure to be mixed (Sookie’s onscreen sexual pairings inspire more argument than the Zapruder film), but the Boston Herald has thrown its endorsement behind a faerie-wolf hybrid, and writer Alexander Woo gave props to drunken Sookie in our Inside the Episode. What do you think?

Sunday's episode wasn't all peach schnapps and lip-nibbling, though. Bill and Eric have pretty much resigned themselves to the True Death as they try to hunt down Russell Edgington -- before the iStakes strapped to their chests go all Final Countdown. This means disowning their respective vamp-daughters to protect them from the wrath of Roman et al. And if abandoning their progeny isn't hard enough, the boys showed up at Sookie's just in time to see their familiar love triangle bend into an uncomfortable were-square.

Since Jason Stackhouse always has such difficulty picking up chicks, his new buddy, the corrupt and randy Judge Clements, dragged him off to a Faerie Land gogo bar as a reward for fixing a speeding ticket. Instead of hooking up with some inter-dimensional strange, however, Jason instead discovered his cousin Hadley -- and the news that his parents were offed by a vampire.

The Authority gang uncovered a traitor among their ranks, and fans on Twitter took some dark glee in the staking of child-vamp/sanguinista-spy Alexander Drew at his own HQ. It may be a pretty tough life lesson for any 9-year-old actor to end his run on a show by disintegrating into a pile of goo, but at least the kid got to take home his fangs and play around with his character's remains.
What was your favorite moment from this week's episode? Would Sookie hook up with Alcide in the cold light of day?
TVGuide 's Megabuzz tidbit-
Woo-hoo! Sookie and Alcide hooked up on True Blood. What's next? —Lila
 NATALIE: Sure, Sookie was drunk (damn those Orange Marzipans!) when they hooked up, but that doesn't mean that she'll regret her roll in the hay with Alcide. "Their relationship goes a lot deeper than that,"  Joe Maganiello tells us. "The fun thing about that scene is that it plays really real and adult. Kids at home, that is how babies are made." Wait, does that mean Sookie's going to be knocked up with... cubs?
Taurilla made a new vid, wow, look at some of them old clips, and a younger looking cast!

Andy and I complain about the heat wave while soaking up the UV rays of Pam's recent time in the spotlight. We also take Sookie to task for her terrible taste in cocktails (although not her taste in men), get a laugh out of her "Herbie Goes Bananas" moment, and celebrate the True Death of the most annoying child vampire since that creature from "Eden's World". All brought to you by Campblood.org!

Tim Stack is the panel mod this year at SDCC too, flashback to last year's con.

Bloody Disgusting did a phone interview with NewClaude, Giles Matthey, not much he hasnt said already-
The characters on the show shift a lot. Is yours consistently what he seems to be?
I’ll have to be vague, but Claude cares. But in the last season – played by a different actor – he helped Sookie escape a bad situation. So he does care a lot.
This is Alan Ball’s last season on the show.
I know. I’m gutted. He’s a genius. You’ve got to be a genius to create what he has, from American Beauty to all his other works. But it’s so well run, it’s a machine. The writers know this world so well. It’s his baby, so even though he’s stepping away from it, he’ll be consulting. It’s like sending your child away to school and checking in with his teachers to see how he’s doing.
Do you think next year will mark a different era of “True Blood”?
This season certainly builds up to a climax. It’s spectacular. The fans will not be disappointed in the arc. I’ve watched a lot of “True Blood” and I think this season has started sharper and more focussed than the last, and that helps with the arc. It’s a whole journey with these characters.
What’s the biggest challenge of playing this character?
In the books Claude is described as bisexual and preferring men over women. But he puts his fingers in both pies if you will. And I’ve been raised by women my whole life, so I have that effeminate feel. I’m not the macho type, I’m very in touch with my emotions. That side of him is something that’s natural to be. I can empathize with what’s happening in the scene, and that’s the way you can create something great.

Nelsan talked to Bullett Magazine last week, more at the link-
What is it like to work with Anna Paquin?
She is a consummate professional. You can tell she has been working since she was a child. She knows camera angles, she keeps it moving, she is constantly prepared. I mean, she knows what she is doing all the time and she keeps you on your toes. She is a great actress but watching her is wonderful, I mean the girl can cry on the dime and cry for as long as she has to.
What makes True Blood different from anything you have ever worked on?
The freedom. Alan just lets you do whatever you want and that is marvelous. In all aspects, make up, costumes, hair, you are allowed to do whatever you want to do. You can command your creative thoughts to play that part.
Which sin do you think Lafayette is most guilty of?
Gluttony. He just wants and wants and wants. Being a hustler, you have these hustles because you want stuff. You want money, you want sex, materials and you don’t want to have a regular job to be what you do to get that. Lafayette just wants shit and he figures out ways to get it.
I just caught up on the first two episodes of this season, what is it like to play a character in the grips of loss and depression? How did you prepare for the task?
When you are dealing with sadness, you are sad. Going into a sad dark place isn’t too fun for me. You have to sort of ponder up the sadness that is already lives inside yourself and no one wants to do that. Lafayette is a jovial, fun character in the beginning so having to judge up sadness is sort of on the cusp of my mother passing. You don’t really want to unearth sadness within yourself. Actually it was hard for me because I was dealing with my own stuff and not wanting to do it publicly but me trying to you know, use a little bit of it to give the character some ground. I was in the angst of emotional turmoil, so there were things that I had to deal with inside myself and yet try to use a little bit to get into character some realness. I prepared for it and tried to prepare not to do it…if that makes sense.
What is in store for Lafayette for the rest of the fifth season?
You are going to see Lafayette come out of his black hole and start to be his old self again. He has some tricks up some sleeves to protect himself from another bout with the supernatural.

More Magic Mike talk 

From THR, in full at the link.

“He is going to reveal something to us, that it is not a surprise to my character, but it is going to be a surprise to Scott’s. And it’s going to have major significance on the second half of the season,” Lowe tells THR.
Terry, an Iraq vet who continues to suffer from PTSD, has fallen deeper down the rabbit hole this season due to the arrival of Devins. They decided to go on a road trip together to find their fellow marine who may have something to do with the mysterious fires that have been attacking the homes of marines from their group.
When THR asked Lowe if he felt that his character was in more danger this season then ever before, Lowe said, “Yes, absolutely.” “Terry isn’t the only one who’s gone crazy,” Lowe adds. “There was an event that happened over there, and Terry and Private Eller are the only ones who are witnesses, so far. There’s still a lot more secrets coming out.”