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Yakuza? I didn't even know her.
Brian's recap always has the top spot-Time and Tequila-At the Bush Ball, Eric’s hat is MASSIVE. Please tell me Ginger is hiding under it. And he’s wearing a bolo!! Sarah (Anna Camp) ambushes her mother in the ladies’ and tells her that she’s in trouble. Her mom replies, “Well no shit, baby girl.” Sarah says that the Yakuza are after her, reminding us that just when you think this show can’t get any more ridiculous, it does. The Yakuza show up at the ball and shoot everyone, including Sarah’s parents. Sarah almost gets away but Eric grabs her by the throat, but then drops her so that he can grab the Yakuza dude who killed his French girlfriend and rip out his jaw. So these guys are not vamps?
The pair’s connection was hinted at in previous episodes, with James admitting to “groovin’ on” Lafayette in last Sunday’s hour. When Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) gives James the cold shoulder yet again at Bon Temps’ mainstreaming party, he goes to a sympathetic Lafayette and the pair end up having sex. Jessica walks in on them and breaks up with James. Parsons tells The Hollywood Reporter it’s the last viewers will see of the James-Jessica romance. “The line is drawn after this episode. Now we’ll start to see more of Lafayette and l together, and Jessica has another thing she’s going to start dealing with,” he says.
The actor points out that this intimate a male homosexual relationship has been rare onTrue Blood and that Lafayette’s scenes with Jesús (Kevin Alejandro) in previous seasons were less physical. He tells THR it was a new acting challenge for him, but that working with Ellis this season made it more natural. “It helped immensely to know him and to trust him and trust each other that we’re going to do this right,” he says.
What attracts James and Lafayette to each other?
I think they’re kind of of similar minds. James is a flower child himself. He’s a hippie, he’s free love. The trick with James is, though he’s a pacifist, he’s still a vampire, which is not a peaceful thing to be. This inner conflict that he always has is externalized with Jessica, when she’s getting upset with him. He’s just trying to be the right person for Jess, and she keeps blowing him off. Lafayette’s the only one who has the interest and takes the time to say, "What’s wrong, what’s going on with you?" There’s a mutual connection where they both just want to have fun and be easy, love each other, take care of each other.
James became a vampire because of intolerance to homosexuality in the 1970s. Will he face it again in present-day Bon Temps?
Because the town is already going through so much because of this vampire apocalypse, basically, no matter what your preference is, if you look out for and care about each other, they’re going to overlook it. There’s a lot more that could have been discovered and gone over with that -- there’s just way too much that needs to happen. There is still some other trouble that arises, but that’s not till later episodes. It’s nothing related specifically to sexuality and to gender. It has much more to do with the overarching problems that vampires cause.
Nelsan talked to Vulture about the scene
What was it like shooting the scene with Nathan? Did you do anything to bond with him beforehand?
It was easy breezy, just like Kevin. Because Nathan is a professional. He shows up and does his job, and he puts his heart into it. Kissing him was weird at first, but then I went, "Okay!" Same with Kevin — I can close my eyes, and you can be the girlfriend. It's not really a big deal. It's easy breezy. I mean, he's a wonderful actor. I love watching him work. Love watching him work. Our first scene together, I just listened to him talk most of the time. And we have good chemistry, and it worked. It worked.
Did you ever get a chance to talk to or bond with Luke Grimes when he was playing James, before they switched off?
I didn't, but I'm completely ... I mean, I can say I'm not going to make a comment, but I just think that, you're an actor, you're an actor on a show that'sTrue Blood, we're all sitting there going, "You quit your job because ... really?" I'm just... I'm over him. You quit your job because you don't want to play a gay part? As if it's ... You know what? I'm going to stop talking. MORE
Screencrush's review- It’s been a rough going for ‘True Blood’ to regain its bearings in the final season, or at least enough to passably resolve its many roller-coaster plots in time to craft some kind of meaningful end in the last five episodes. And here we are, at the halfway point of the season, with vigilante posses and Hep-V invaders thoroughly dealt with, and a trimming of the core cast, with the series desperately hoping for a smaller narrative focus to turn things around before the end. The measure of success is difficult to evaluate, but considering the almost real-time pace of the series, and the sheer number of plot and characters to service, the more we shave off at this point, the better.
And to the series’ credit, however awkward it may seem for Sookie to greenlight a hastily-staged party in her home to “celebrate life,” it at least felt in tune for the series to take a breath, and regain its bearings with some well-needed lampshading of the events that came before. Sure, increasingly ancillary characters like Nicole (seriously, how overlooked has she been this season?) may not appreciate the levity of their circumstance, but ‘True Blood’ has certainly been missing some positivity and a sense of joy to remind us its human characters are more than quivering meatsacks, and carry a range of emotions beyond abject terror. What better way to flush that out than with some righteous revelry, really?
The larger events of the party shouldn’t surprise anyone, between James and Lafayette’s attraction finally coming to a head, paving the way for a Jessica-Jason reunion, while Andy finally follows through on his proposal to Holly. Still, with the festivities covering bases of superficial drama, it was at least entertaining to have Eric and Pam back in action on the hunt for Sarah Newlin, in the process trying on yet another pair of ridiculous outfits. The interactions with Sarah’s parents were short, and it bears questioning how much attention the Yakuza would want to draw to themselves to shoot up a Republican dinner as such*, but the event’s various turns provided a suitably thrilling counterpart to the Bon Temps partying.
What attracts James and Lafayette to each other?
I think they’re kind of of similar minds. James is a flower child himself. He’s a hippie, he’s free love. The trick with James is, though he’s a pacifist, he’s still a vampire, which is not a peaceful thing to be. This inner conflict that he always has is externalized with Jessica, when she’s getting upset with him. He’s just trying to be the right person for Jess, and she keeps blowing him off. Lafayette’s the only one who has the interest and takes the time to say, "What’s wrong, what’s going on with you?" There’s a mutual connection where they both just want to have fun and be easy, love each other, take care of each other.
James became a vampire because of intolerance to homosexuality in the 1970s. Will he face it again in present-day Bon Temps?
Because the town is already going through so much because of this vampire apocalypse, basically, no matter what your preference is, if you look out for and care about each other, they’re going to overlook it. There’s a lot more that could have been discovered and gone over with that -- there’s just way too much that needs to happen. There is still some other trouble that arises, but that’s not till later episodes. It’s nothing related specifically to sexuality and to gender. It has much more to do with the overarching problems that vampires cause.
Nelsan talked to Vulture about the scene
What was it like shooting the scene with Nathan? Did you do anything to bond with him beforehand?
It was easy breezy, just like Kevin. Because Nathan is a professional. He shows up and does his job, and he puts his heart into it. Kissing him was weird at first, but then I went, "Okay!" Same with Kevin — I can close my eyes, and you can be the girlfriend. It's not really a big deal. It's easy breezy. I mean, he's a wonderful actor. I love watching him work. Love watching him work. Our first scene together, I just listened to him talk most of the time. And we have good chemistry, and it worked. It worked.
Did you ever get a chance to talk to or bond with Luke Grimes when he was playing James, before they switched off?
I didn't, but I'm completely ... I mean, I can say I'm not going to make a comment, but I just think that, you're an actor, you're an actor on a show that'sTrue Blood, we're all sitting there going, "You quit your job because ... really?" I'm just... I'm over him. You quit your job because you don't want to play a gay part? As if it's ... You know what? I'm going to stop talking. MORE
How nice was it for Lala, and Jackson (still with Stacy Haiduk's Jenny!) to bring food, get Sookie to bed and get the party going? They had a DJ and lots of booze to go with, very glad Sookie didnt bring up not loving Alcide again.
Zap2It's-Not making happy strides forward were Sam and Nicole. Though she is very, very pregnant with his child and they are engaged to be married, she is one character who does not belong in Bon Temps, and she knows it. This puts the couple at an impasse, as she will likely want to return to her home and her family. Either their relationship is doomed, or that maybe they'll both end up leaving town. Sam might do better starting fresh somewhere else, and leaving to create a new life with his family would be a nice end to his series arc.
While "Return to Oz" largely focused on a party thrown at Sookie's house to help everyone cope with their loss, particularly the loss of Alcide, the episode also sowed the first seeds of a rekindled romance between Bill and Sookie. They were very far from loving one another at the beginning of Season 7, but with other romantic ties out of the way their connection is coming to the forefront again. Whether you believe these two are soulmates or not, it seems inevitable that they will be together by the end of "True Blood."
EW's usual long recap at the link-Jessica meanwhile is being a party pooper, standing guard alone outside. There was a lovely scene between her and Andy, who told her that seeing her torturing herself for killing his girls keeps the pain alive for him, too. She's kept Adilyn safe and helped rescue Holly—life is too short to keep looking backward. He's moving forward, and he needs her to help him.
Since there's been no time to ring shop, he wants to borrow one of hers to propose to Holly, but Jessica has a better idea: Gran's ring, which she'd left for Jason to give to the woman he'd marry. Violet says she doesn't need a ring to tell her that Jason is hers (especially not one with such a tiny diamond), and Jason isn't the only one cringing at her assumption.
Proving Jason does have a cop's eye for some things, he warns Adilyn and Wade that they'll need to stop f---ing, if they are, and kills the music so a terrified Andy can kneel in front of Holly and deliver a pitch-perfect marriage proposal. He's done letting the idea that he doesn't deserve someone as beautiful and as kind as her hold him back. He knows she has healing to do, and he wants to be there every step of the way. She says yes before he even pops the question. Everyone's thrilled, except Nicole, who looks strangely uncomfortable, and Adilyn and Wade, of course.
Pam and Eric do Dallas: Back to where we began. When Eric and Pam find Sarah's vampire sister, Hep-V-infected Amber, it's believable that Eric would patiently sit and listen to her tell her story both because he's a bit weak and also because the sibling bond is one that he respects (RIP, Nora). Amber explains how she was a fangbanger right out of high school, and her boyfriend, Jeremy, who turned her, helped her get her s--- together. Sarah was married to Steve Newlin and the Fellowship of the Sun and paid off broke Amber to stay in the coffin and let Sarah say she'd been taken by vampires and never seen again.
Amber and Jeremy's House Hunters-marathon-filled romance came to an end when he died in her arms—just like Eric watched Nora die. Amber agreeing to help them because she wants them to kill Sarah receives the raised eyebrow of approval from Eric and Pam's highest praise, "I like you." (Pause to admire Kristin Bauer van Straten's impeccable comedic timing.)
Amber tells them Sarah will run to their parents, who will be attending a Ted Cruz fundraiser being hosted at the Bush Library that night. Brilliant. Amber doubts Pam and Eric will be able to get past security—only a--holes were invited. "You don't know us, sweetheart," Eric says. "We can be assholes." Costume change!
AV Club's Stray observations:
What are the point of these Bill flashbacks we are forced to watch each week? What an epic waste of time.
I can’t figure out of True Blood is actually clever for having the Yakuza shoot up a Ted Cruz rally at the George W. Bush Presidential Library, or if it just thinks it’s clever. I admit I snorted when they stormed the doors.
Poor Ginger. Poor, sexually frustrated Ginger.
“This shit doesn’t happen in other towns!” Nicole is the only one here who speaks the truth.
Pam: “Oh. My. God. I’m a Republicunt.”
True Blood After Show - Season 7 Epsiode 5 by truebloodaftershow
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