Hungry for some Game of Thrones scoop? (I know I am.)

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Game of Thrones' Creative Gurus," in which I catch up with Game of Thrones writer/executive producers Dan Weiss and David Benioff to discuss the show's numerous Emmy nominations (and Emilia Clarke's snub), the casting of Carice van Houten and Hannah Murray (as Melisandre and Gilly, respectively), "sexposition," and what's to come in Season Two of the HBO fantasy drama.

All together now: "HODOR!"

Season Two of Game of Thrones will launch in 2012.

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Yes, Downton Abbey adherents, I've got a bit of a treat for you: not just one, but TWO, features about the hit British period drama today.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "The Brits' Surprising Emmy Hit," Part One of Two of my Downton Abbey features today, this time an Emmys feature on the British drama, recognized with 11 nominations this year, including Outstanding Made-for-TV-Movie or Miniseries. I talk with creator Julian Fellowes and the cast about Emmy nominations, the show’s insane popularity on both sides of the Atlantic, and what’s coming up on Season Two.

If that's not enough period goodness for you, there's my second feature, entitled "Inside Downton Abbey Season Two," in which Julian Fellowes and the cast of Downton Abbey (including Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, and Siobhan Finneran) provide me with some clues about what's coming up on the second season of the period drama, beginning September 12th in the U.K. and in January in the U.S. WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Season Two of Downton Abbey begins September 12th on ITV in the U.K. and on January 8, 2012 on PBS' Masterpiece Classic. Check your local listings for details.

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Nominee Margo Martindale, in the running for outstanding supporting actress, may not be prepping an Emmy acceptance speech--but she should be, especially after her magnificently malevolent turn as Mags Bennett on FX's Justified this year.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Emmy’s Stealth Frontrunner," in which I sit down with Martindale to discuss playing Justified’s Mags Bennett, how she won’t be wasted on CBS’s A Gifted Man, and why she believes in ghosts.

Justified returns for a third season in 2012.

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Yesterday, over at The Daily Beast, I ran my interview with Doctor Who head writer Steven Moffat, in which we discussed the shocking identity of River Song (Alex Kingston), criticisms of “bad girl” companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), the tenture of Moffat and series lead Matt Smith, and we dispelled quite a few (false) rumors about Season Seven along way.

Not everything from the time I spent with Moffat made it into that interview, so below you'll find some of the outtakes that were cut for length from The Daily Beast Q&A with Moffat.

Among the topics: whether we'll see Torchwood's Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) in the TARDIS anytime soon (and why River is, in some ways, a replacement for Jack), why Moffat seems to relish killing Rory (Arthur Darvill) over and over again, why Season Six was split into two halves for broadcast, how dark the second half of the season gets, and a brief discussion of Doctor Who's episodic budget.

The Daily Beast: What went into the decision to split the current sixth season into two halves?

Steven Moffat: We got in the heart of summer, and in the second half it tends to get slaughtered a bit. Not in the ratings, just aesthetically: you can hardly see your television set for the sunlight streaming onto it. Also, it just gives you another event. Our ratings went up for “A Good Man Goes to War,” it became an event episode, it got a Radio Times cover, it got a lot of fuss and attention paid to it. That would normally have been the mid-series dip, where we bottomed out and then started climbing a bit… And now we’re going to have another big launch for “Let’s Kill Hitler.” Why do it all at once? We make enough episodes to have two bites of the cherry, so why not do it?

The Daily Beast: How dark are these upcoming episodes?

Moffat: We’ve got quite a range. Tom MacRae’s is very dark, Toby [Whithouse]’s is very dark, Mark Gatiss’ is very dark. On the other hand, “Let’s Kill Hitler” is an absolute hoot. And the same time, it’s got to be moving as well. We’ve got six excellent episodes coming up and you run the full gamut from dark to hilarious and some of the maddest stuff we’ve ever done, and that’s Matt Smith, the comedy Doctor.

The Daily Beast: Any chance of a Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) appearance down the line?

Moffat: Not in these next episodes... People talk as if there’s a rule against it. There isn’t. It comes down to one thing: do we have a good story? He’s obviously a resource. Russell [T Davies] said there’s an extent to which River has taken his place: she’s the cheeky, flirtatious one, but I was the first person ever to write Jack. I love the character. If there was a good story, he would come in. We would have to say, why him and not River? But yeah.

The Daily Beast: She does inherit Jack’s leftover blaster gun, after all.

Moffat: That was in my head and that gun must have ended up in the TARDIS, logically. That must be what it is: she just found it in a trunk and stuck in in her [pocket] on some night, doing who knows what.

The Daily Beast: Do you relish killing Rory off time and time again?

Moffat: The truth is he’s only been killed once and that has pointed out the other times that that has happened. What actually happened was we had two consecutive stories where it happened and I couldn’t make the scene work in “Amy’s Choice,” so I brought that in order to make that work. The Doctor’s companions are always on the verge of death. But we do pay it off, having found ourselves in that situation that wasn’t planned, we do pay it off.

The Daily Beast: There is a sense of responsibility in dealing with the franchise. It is an iconic series, an iconic character—

Moffat: There’s no shame in saying that it’s a brand, that it’s a franchise. Brands and franchises employ a lot of people and bring joy to a lot of other people… Running it is a responsibility and a joy and a thrill and a learning curve bar none. There isn’t any other job that teaches you what you learn here. Doctor Who should be kept going forever just on the basis that every so often it will manufacture a fully-fledged showrunner and a fully-fledged star.

The Daily Beast: How much is a typical episodic budget?

Moffat: £1 million-something, which isn’t really much when you consider that we have extensive guest cast, standing sets that we barely use, and you can’t really go to Venus. I never really think about the numbers, but I know you’ve got three too many sets there. It’s an alien species, but if we have more than three of them in prosthetics, we’re screwed.

Doctor Who returns Saturday, August 27th for the second half of Season Six, kicking off with "Let's Kill Hitler," at 9 pm ET/PT on BBC America and at 7:10 pm GMT on BBC One.

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Once a cult series, British sci-fi drama Doctor Who has become a global phenomenon, and new audiences are embracing the 900-year-old alien time traveler--now played by roughly 29-year-old Matt Smith--with alarming passion. (Witness the rock-star welcome Smith and co-star Karen Gillan got at July’s Comic-Con.) Doctor Who, under head writer Steven Moffat, who replaced Russell T. Davies last season, returns for the second half of its sixth season in the U.S. and the U.K. on Saturday.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Doctor Who’s Global Takeover," in which I sit down with Moffat in Los Angeles to discuss the shocking identity of River Song (Alex Kingston), criticisms of “bad girl” companion Amy Pond (Gillan), and rumors about next season.

Doctor Who returns Saturday, August 27th for the second half of Season Six, kicking off with "Let's Kill Hitler," at 9 pm ET/PT on BBC America and at 7:10 pm GMT on BBC One.

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Julianna Margulies has been nominated for an Emmy Award for CBS’ The Good Wife.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature (and the first in a series of Emmys-centric pieces heading your way), "The Good Wife's Best Actress," in which I speak with Margulies about playing the brilliant and career-driven Alicia Florrick on The Good Wife, Alicia and Will (Josh Charles), Alicia and Kalinda (Archie Panjabi), wigs, gate-crashing the Governor's Ball, and her Emmy nomination.

Season Three of The Good Wife begins Sunday, September 25th at 9 pm ET/PT on CBS.

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Oscar nominee Chloë Sevigny may be the former star of Big Love on TV – but online, she’s developed a viral following at the hand of her drag-queen impersonator, Drew Droege.

Over at The Daily Beast, Droege writes about his muse and inspiration, and how the two came face to face, in the hilarious first-person piece "Becoming Chloë Sevigny." (Complete with video from Droege's mordant and biting viral video series Chloe.)

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Confession: I couldn't bring myself to rewatch last night's episode of True Blood.

This hasn't happened to date. Typically, I watch the series via press screener a few weeks ahead of broadcast and then sit down on Sunday night to rewatch the week's latest installment in order to have it fresh in my mind so I can write my review. This was not what happened this week.

In fact, I was so turned off by Sunday's episode ("Let's Get Out of Here"), written by Brian Buckner and directed by Romeo Tirone, that I couldn't actually force myself to sit through it again. Which is saying something, I think. Perhaps it was the overabundance of Emma (shudder), the hostage standoff/Ghost Whisperer plot of Lafayette (double shudder), Sookie's intensely unerotic dream, or the irritating showdown at the Vampire Rights rally (yawn), this episode just got under my skin in the worst possible way.

I've been able to rationalize a lot with True Blood and find deeper meaning for some of the metaphors that the show employs on a weekly basis, whether it be the show-covered shower scene from last week or the beauty, majesty, and sacrifice of Godric's death in Season Two. But this week, I just couldn't find a way into the episode, nor muster any sympathy for the characters, which is extremely odd as I've stuck with them this long.

But this week's lackluster episode tested my patience in ways that True Blood hadn't before. After a jaw-dropping cliffhanger the week before--Sookie is shot and dying!--it's quickly reversed with little fallout: Alcide rescues Sookie from the graveyard, Bill gives her his blood (which means they're bonded again!), and Sookie dreams of taking him and Eric to bed, but instead indulges in a weird '50s music-tinged daydream. Sookie nearly dying should have been a much bigger moment, but the second that that possibility was eliminated without a second thought, really, sucked all of the drama out of that scenario. Bill, it seems, is always a speedy run away from saving her life, which means a gunshot--or mortality, essentially--isn't a real danger for our Sookie Stackhouse.

Which is a bit of problem for a show that revolves around life, death, and the undead. A safety net such as that eliminates much of the tension... and the lack of dealing with consequences (whether about Sookie's shot to the gut or Jason's gang rape) is problematic as well. Yes, the plot is moving at a high-octane pace, and that doesn't leave much down time for the gang in Bon Temps, but if we're to believe that Sookie and the others are real people (or, well, former people), there needs to at least be a moment or two here and there in which they take stock of their lives, or at least process things that happen to them. This is especially an issue in a show where the main characters are largely reactive, rather than proactive (stuff happens TO them, rather than them setting things in motion), but I want to see some character growth and this was a key moment where that was entirely thwarted.

(On the other hand, I was glad to see Debbie revert back to form in a way. She's a recovering addict struggling with maintaining control over her life. While she wants to broker peace with Sookie, she's also jealous of the hold her rival has over Alcide and while she's quick to offer her help, she's also quick to sell Sookie out to Marnie/Antonia when the opportunity presents itself to eliminate the competition. But Debbie's not a lost cause either: she could have driven away, leaving Sookie to suffer at Antonia's hands, but she hesitates and lets her get in the car. There's still hope for Debbie, but it's a rocky road ahead and her imperfections are all the more apparent as she tries to become, well, perfect.)

I've been upfront about my disdain for the child actor playing Emma, whose every line of dialogue makes me cringe, but this week instead threw more Emma at me: Emma, Sam, and Luna camping; Emma playing with Sam the Bunny; Emma; Emma; Emma; Emma. Sam Trammell is acting the hell out of this season (witness him channeling Marshall Allman's Tommy a few weeks back) but putting him next to this kid is sucking the life out of these familial/domestic scenes with Luna... and not making me care about this storyline at all.

Tommy tried his hand at redemption at took Sam's place at the rendezvous with Marcus, which quickly turned bloody as Marcus and his men began to pound on Sam/Tommy, before--bloodied and broken--he shifted back into Tommy, shocking everyone there. Alcide intervened and carried Tommy away. Alcide seems to be doing a lot of this lately.

And then there was the ludicrous Lafayette storyline this week, which had him possessed by Mavis, the spirit of a long-dead grieving (and vengeful) mother, who kidnapped Mikey and held him hostage at gunpoint at Jessica and Hoyt's house. The tenseness of the situation devolved into a weird Ghost Whisperer-lite plot about Mavis coming to terms with her son's death and her own, and everyone lends a hand to dig up the grave containing the corpse of Mavis and her baby, before Mavis sings yet another lullaby and dissolving into gold dust or something. While I was intrigued by this particular storyline, this week's culmination of the plot destroyed any interest I had it in, rendering the conclusion leaden and deadly dull. Sad.

Are there really only three episodes left this season? Because this week's episode seemed a poor opportunity to shoehorn in these inane plots and crush the momentum that had been building thus far. While I'm not giving up on True Blood, "Let's Get Out of Here" severely tested my patience and loyalty. It's an episode that I will never, in any circumstance, wish to revisit, and, with just a few installments remaining, a major misstep in the fourth season. Luckily, next week brings us Nancy Oliver, and--I can only hope--more of a return to form...

Next week on True Blood ("Burning Down the House"), as all hell breaks loose in Shreveport, Sookie summons her most potent powers yet to save Bill, in the process breaking a spell and leading Marnie/Antonia to re-evaluate her mission; Jason urges Jessica to glamour him for Hoytʼs sake; Terry drags Andy to “Fort Bellefleur” for an intervention; Alcide reconsiders his allegiances after Marcusʼ fight with Tommy; Jesus, accompanied by Sookie, Lafayette and Jason, tries to breach the Moongoddess Emporiumʼs defenses to liberate Tara and Holly, while Bill leads a brigade of vampires committed to blowing the place to kingdom come.

Ep. 46 - Preview

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The British drama The Hour, launching on Wednesday, Aug. 17, on BBC America, arrives at an inauspicious time for British journalists currently mired in a phone-hacking scandal and charges of police bribery that has closed newspapers and brought media moguls in front of Parliament. Those involved with such illicit and illegal wiretapping bear little resemblance to the journalist-heroes of The Hour, set in and around a BBC newsroom in 1956, where the truth was the most important principle.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "The British Mad Men?" in which I sit down with The Hour's creator Abi Morgan to discuss the journalist-heroes of the six-part series, comparisons to AMC’s ‘Mad Men,’ and Morgan’s upcoming Margaret Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady.

The Hour premieres tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on BBC America.

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"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce." - Freddie Lyon

CBS' newsmagazine 60 Minutes represents something tangible and honest to most Americans: an hour of news and opinion that cuts through the news cycle clutter to offer insight and context about the issues of the day. In England, the show's analogue would have been something like Panorama or Tonight, but British journalists at the moment are widely tarnished by a phone hacking and police bribery grand scandal that has to date closed a newspaper, saw the departure of longtime Rupert Murdoch confidante Rebekah Brooks, and brought the media mogul himself before Parliament to answer for the grievous charges against the tabloid newspaper he owned.

In other words: it's not a good time to be a British journalist, with the world watching and waiting. In a quite prescient move, creator Abi Morgan's intoxicating and atmospheric British drama, The Hour, harkens back to the journalist-heroes of such films as All The Presidents' Men and Broadcast News. (It also reminds me, somewhat, of State of Play in some respects.) It's interesting to think back to a time when journalists-as-heroes was quite de rigueur. After all, we're meant to be truth-seekers, to shine a harsh light on corruption and wrong-doing, to punish the mendacious and expose injustice, tyranny, and falsehood. The pursuit of truth is the hero's prerequisite in way: a call to arms, a purpose of being. Who better then to embody that than the hard-working journalists of 1956, amid an era of paranoia and the end of the Empire?

(For my interview with Morgan about The Hour, click here.)

In The Hour, the troika of journalists at the center of Morgan's story--which artfully fuses together workplace romance, political potboiler, and noir-tinged espionage thriller--find themselves enmeshed in a love triangle that can't possibly end well. The Wire's Dominic West (yes, McNulty himself) plays Hector Madden, the face of the BBC's new (fictional) news program, The Hour, a highly polished and charming gentleman (in every sense of the word) who has made the right sort of bargains to end up in the position. His rival, Freddie Lyon (Brideshead Revisited's Ben Whishaw), is a middle-class hothead whose ambition is at odds with his iconoclastic nature. (He wants to be a part of the system while abhorring it.) His would-be paramour is the lovely Bel Rowley (Atonement's Romola Garai, here in pitch-perfect form), a career-driven woman in a man's world who seizes the opportunity to produce her own news show for the BBC, the "hour" of the title.

In the numerous comparisons between The Hour and Mad Men, Bel is typically compared to Elisabeth Moss' Peggy Olsen, but the two--apart from their intelligence, drive, and the desire to shatter the glass ceiling and define themselves outside of societal constructs of the period--aren't all that similar. Bel has a thing for married men, and seemingly for tormenting the lovelorn Freddie. The two exist in a semi-platonic state, Bel chafing against Freddie's insistence on calling her "Moneypenny" (she quickly becomes his boss on the show-within-a-show The Hour) though there are all sorts of mixed signals, even as Bel finds herself drawn to the unhappily married Hector in no uncertain terms.

In their own ways, they're all outsiders.

The Hour could have unfolded with a standard romantic arc, as Freddie pines for Bel, Bel is drawn to Hector, and Hector cheats on his cold wife Marnie, but that's not what The Hour is about. Set against the backdrop of 1956's Suez Canal Crisis, this is a super-charged political plot as well, one with clear parallels to our own times: violence and revolution in the Middle East, rising concerns about Communist powers, phone-tapping and surveillance, and overt paranoia and tension.

Just as the fictional Hour of the title seizes upon the crisis in Egypt to make a name for itself (and cast off the shackles of Parliament's barbaric 14-day policy of journalism silence) and take a stand on an issue, so too does The Hour itself, exploring class, nationalism, and identity through the prism of this historical event and the small moments that define a time period: a weekend visit to a country estate, a cup of tea in the canteen of the BBC's Lime Grove Studios, a tense walk through the Underground, a drunken night out.

The show is also, however, a spy thriller, one that recalls AMC's short-lived Rubicon with its double-crosses, encoded clues contained within newspapers, and shadowy operatives. But while Rubicon harkened back to 1970s thrillers like The Conversation, The Hour's espionage plot is a mix of 1950s B movies, Sir Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, and the noir of the previous decade. It's also, at times, a bit of pastiche, as seen from the terrible play within the show, "The Man Who Knew" an over the top bit of theatrics that both enhances and sends up the spy plot contained within The Hour.

For Freddie, the stakes are not only high here, but the espionage arc is also deeply personal, as he has a connection to several of the major players. As the bodies start piling up (two within the first episode, in fact), secrets slowly start easing their way from the shadows and into the light. Secrets that are both personal (Freddie's past) and political (Soviet agents?), in fact. Burn Gorman (Torchwood, Bleak House) is at his menacing best here, portraying the enigmatic Thomas Kish, a man with far too many secrets and a glinting knife's edge of anger.

The Hour takes its time with its espionage plot, laying out clues and hints throughout the first few episodes, keeping it on the backburner for now, though it threatens to explode at any moment. (Particularly, within the third episode.) Morgan deftly juggles multiple plots, tones, and styles within the first four hours (provided to press for preview), her characters springing to life with vivacity and wit.

Garai's performance is exhilarating, particularly seeing her go toe-to-toe with West; the screen crackles with intensity every time they look at one another. Whishaw is the show's moral center, a man determined to see the truth, no matter the personal cost; he's equally strong and frail at times, pining away for a woman who clearly doesn't love him, yet is empowered by the weight of his convictions. The supporting cast is equally as game: Anna Chancellor is fantastic as the hard-drinken Lix Storm; Anton Lesser provides gravitas as BBC executive Clarence Fendley; Julian Rhind-Tutt is appropriately oily as Eden's adviser Angus McCain; Oona Chaplin radiates haughty froideur as Hector's well-heeled wife Marnie; Lisa Greenwood's Sissy is adorably out of her depth; and Vanessa Kirby infuses socialite Ruth Elms with a brittle, damaged quality that's heartbreaking to behold.

Ultimately, The Hour is atmospheric television at its best, a deeply intelligent period drama that strives to present a time where the world was changing every single day in so many different ways, where lines were being crossed for the wrong reasons, and where a world-spanning empire had fallen and was seeing the last vestiges of its imperialism thrust back into its face. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose...



The Hour premieres tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on BBC America.

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"She has a warrior's heart." - Eric

Upfront: I haven't read the Sookie Stackhouse novels, so I approach HBO's True Blood from a very different vantage point than I do, say, Game of Thrones, where I'm familiar with the novels, the characters, and where the story is going several seasons down the road. Not so with True Blood, which means that I'm not approaching the material with any degree of anticipation of future events, seminal moments, or the infamous shower scene, which--as promised by yours truly several weeks ago--did play out this week, albeit in a vastly different fashion than many of Charlaine Harris' fans expected.

They say that familiarity breeds contempt, but the reverse is also true: familiarity can breed passionate love, particularly where adaptation is involved. Knowledge of the source material can color one's perceptions of an adaptation, especially one which strays from the established for the new. I say this with no judgment whatsoever, as I'm as much of an avid reader as I am an obsessive television watcher, but the two media are vastly different from each other, and changes are to be expected.

Which brings us to this week's episode of True Blood ("Spellbound?"), written by Alan Ball and directed by Daniel Minahan, and the aforementioned shower scene, one of the books' most beloved Eric/Sookie moments, which was handled in an unexpected rather than literal manner here, though the underlying result was more or less the same. (And, again, I say this as someone with the most cursory knowledge of the Stackhouse novels; if I'm making a misstep, do let me know.) Given that the two have already given into their mutual passion in the woods (and the entryway of Sookie's house... and her bedroom), this moment isn't about carnal union but a spiritual one, a profound interaction that bonds their souls as much as they are already by blood.

The shared vision that they experience within the shower, as the curtain becomes a figurative gateway to a snowy paradise reminded me in some respects of the blood bond gestalt experienced by Jason and Amy way back when in Season One. Whereas they encountered a sun-drenched meadow, Eric and Sookie wander into snow-dappled woods, finding a bed with fur blankets underneath a dimly lit sky, the snowflakes melting on their skin. It's a curious juxtaposition of elements: warmth and coolness, comfort and excitement, night and day, passion and friendship. It's perhaps the moment that Sookie gives into exactly what Adele's spirit warned her against: she gives Eric her heart.

It's an impossible scene that can only exist in the fragility of dreams, a magical landscape that connects their souls and their hearts, bound by blood, by lust, by love. Sookie realizes the possibility of love here, the notion that she can fall in love after Bill, or in spite of him, that she does love this "new" Eric. But Adele's words ("it won't last") imbue the scene with a sense of dread as well: this is all perhaps fleeting, and Eric's amnesia--and therefore the couple's happiness--may be as brief as a snowflake's life. Time may not exist here, but it marches inexorably on back in the waking world.

Outside of the heart's cocoon these two form, things are not well in Bon Temps, though perhaps not as bad as they could be, considering when we last saw baby vamp Jessica, she was hurtling through the open doors of Bill's house into the daylight. There's an intentional allusion to be made of Jason Stackhouse throwing himself from the hot, white light onto Jessica's body and an angel emerging from heaven. (Though, let's be honest, Jason Stackhouse is no angel.) But Jason has saved Jessica's life, though--spellbound--she nearly rips his neck out. I loved the way that he carried her downstairs and re-silvered her before being surrounded by Bill's human guards.

Poor Jessica has found herself in quite a quandary, in fact: she still loves Hoyt, but she's drawn to Jason, perhaps not just because of their own blood bond, but because of her own (human) desires as well. She yearns for adventure, hungers for new experiences, and she's grown complacent in her relationship with Hoyt. She dreams of freedom, not in terms of solitude, but in terms of co-dependency. Her dream "Hoyt" begs her to stay, to reconsider leaving him, saying that he'll die without her, that he can't live without her. She smashes his pathetic head against the wall before climbing into Jason's truck to engage in sexual shenanigans. This is, of course, the dream of the guilty. She's determined to leave Hoyt, but not at the expense of her own broken heart, or his rejection of her. In reality, naturally, Hoyt doesn't act at all as she had imagined, instead withdrawing his invitation and casting her out of the house they shared, smashing things, and yelling at her with the hurt rage of the dejected.

Likewise, Jason isn't turned on by seeing her covered in blood (as she dreamed), but instead wary of her appearance at his house and concerned about hurting his best friend further. There is no congress to be had here at this time, no sympathetic shoulder, no sexual advances. Jessica only receives further rejection, another invitation taken back, more heartache and heartbreak. Reality rarely lives up to fantasy, as she discovers to her chagrin. Which worries me, as well, where Sookie and Eric are concerned. He will remember his past, she will discover he's not who she thought he was, and her hopes will be dashed against the (figurative) rocks. Sigh.

Alcide and Debbie settled into their new pack under Marcus' authoritarian gaze. It's clear that Debbie needs order, rules, and a rigid structure in her life: she needs to feel that she belongs but that someone else is in charge. But it's hard to do so when you don't trust your partner... and she follows Alcide when he runs off to Bon Temps in search of Sookie. Alcide is also going to have to choose between Sookie and the woman right in front of him, between fantasy and reality. Or Debbie could make that decision easier by walking out on him... or by killing Sookie and getting rid of the competition.

In the meantime, however, Alcide is being pushed towards more of a leadership role within the pack, and he appears to have forgotten all about Marcus' creepy introduction (I haven't been so lucky) and seems to now like his werewolf packmaster. But Marcus himself is revealed to be an ex-con with a parole officer and a nasty temper, shown when he shows up unannounced at Luna's, looking to tuck his daughter in. (The less said about Emma the better. This child actor is driving me up the wall with her unrealistic cutesiness and any mention of Barbies and Sam makes me break out in hives at this point. I'd ask Alan Ball and the writers to please, please, please, curtail this storyline, but there's even more of it next week. Ugh.)

While Luna has forgiven Sam for the Tommy/skinwalking/sex incident, Tommy continues his downward spiral, slipping into Maxine's skin in order to cut her out of the lease-rights to her property. I loved seeing Dale Raoul as Tommy-as-Maxine-Fortenberry, ordering tallboys and shots of tequila, growling at Arlene, and trying to "sweeten the deal" in any way she could, albeit with a sailor's vocabulary and a trucker's appetite. While there are way too many subplots going on in this season of True Blood, I am curious to see whether there is any hope of redemption for Tommy, though--SPOILER!--next week's episode does offer him a potential opportunity to balance the scales, as it were. Whether this is just Tommy's guilt eating away at him or some form of recompense remains to be seen, though.

Lafayette was possessed by the spirit of the singing woman always cooing over Mikey, the one with a penchant for French lullabies and fire-starting. It creeps me out to no end that spirits enter mediums' bodies through their open mouth; there's something ominous and nightmare-inducing about the sight of the black smoke-like substance forcibly entering Lafayette's corporeal form. We learn a bit more about the spirit, including that her child was killed by its (white) father and that she too likely died in or near Jessica and Hoyt's house, after attempting to bring the doll over as a present. But rather than sit by idly, she heads over to the Bellefleur house and takes Andy's gun, Mikey, and the dirty old doll without anyone noticing. Sigh. (I was enjoying this storyline but now it's getting a little tired at this point.)

Bill tries to broker a truce with Antonia/Marnie after appearing on the local news, and both sides bring reinforcements despite their agreement that they'll arrive at the Bon Temps cemetery alone. (Does anyone ever really do that?) Sookie is surprised to see Tara on Antonia's side; Eric reacts without thinking and eviscerates one of Antonia's witches before all hell breaks loose. And by that, I mean that Eric's body is hijacked by Antonia's spell, Tara is nearly killed by Pam (but saved in time by Bill, who tells her that she knows why he's spared her life), and Sookie is shot in the gut by someone's bullet.

As she collapses onto the fog-covered ground, red blossoming all over the front of her shirt, it seems as though her faery luck as finally run out (after she even got to use her powers properly!) and her life is slipping away. But as the two vampire men in her life can't get to her, it falls to Alcide to pick up her prostrate body and carry her to safety, the fog swirling around them.

I'm curious to know what viewers thought of this week's episode. I liked it but nowhere near as much as last week's installment, but it's also a final hurrah of atmosphere and tension compared to next week's muddled mess of an episode. What did you make of the revised shower scene? Yay or nay? And what did you take away from "Spellbound?" Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on True Blood ("Let's Get Out of Here"), convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where thereʼs room for both Bill and Eric; Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica; despite Tara and Hollyʼs misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a “Festival of Tolerance” event at Shreveport.

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Michael Voltaggio, the swaggering winner of Top Chef prepares to open two Los Angeles eateries, ink. and ink.sack (opening this week!) in West Hollywood.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "A Top Chef’s Next Act," in which I sit down at the restaurant with the chef to discuss sandwiches, his future, his personal regrets, and how The New York Times insulted him.

ink. is set to open in September in Los Angeles, while lucky Angelenos can get a taste of ink.sack's amazing sandwiches this week.

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Yes, I ate my way through the menu at ink.sack last night.

ink.sack, of course, being the top secret sandwich shop overseen by Top Chef Season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio, which the chef unveiled last night at a press event held at his upscale boite ink., which is slated to open on West Hollywood's Melrose Avenue next month.

(For more on both restaurants, you can read my feature over at The Daily Beast, ""A Top Chef’s Next Act," because of which I had to keep mum about ink.sack for several weeks now.)

After a champagne-fueled question-and-answer session in the dining room of ink., Voltaggio took us two doors over to the newly unveiled ink.sack, which has a soft opening today (Wednesday) and will be fully operational tomorrow. This is not a restaurant, per se, but a small sandwich shop with no seats, no alcoholic beverages, and no tables whatsoever. (It's intended as a takeaway shop, though there are narrow counters for those of you who want to stand and eat rather than rush back to your offices.) It will be open Wednesdays through Sundays, from 11 am to 5 pm... or until they run out of food, whichever comes first.

As for the food, each sandwich was outstanding in their own way. The ethos behind ink.sack is simple: these are familiar sandwich concepts redone with a modern flair, and the relatively small size of reach (roughly four inches) and low price point ($4-6 each) means that you can mix and match with abandon. So what's on offer? Let's take a preview at the menu.

Sandwiches

Cold Fried Chicken: House-made ranch cheese, Gindo's Spice of Life

Spicy Tuna: Miso-Cured Albacore, wild rice, Sriracha Mayo

Banh Mi: Pork cheek, chicharrones, pickled vegetables

The Jose Andres (a.k.a. "The Spanish Godfather"): Serrano ham, chorizo, lomo, manchego

C.L.T.: Chicken liver mousse, curried skin skin, lettuce, tomato

Maple-Pepper Turkey: Camembert, mustarda, arugula

Beef Tongue "Reuben": Appenzeller cheese, kraut, Russian dressing

House-Made Snacks

--Two different kinds of potato chips, including one with salt, pepper, and vinegar and fiery Maryland Crab chips, redolent with Old Bay Spice.

--Vacuum-packed fruit, including one with compressed watermelon, sriracha, and lime, and another with pineapple, jicama, mango, melon, and chile y lemon.

--And ink.sack's fitting take on dessert (which I didn't get to try): ice cream sandwiches. The shop will offer two, including one with peanut butter and jelly, and one with Mexican chocolate chip and Horchatta.

I don't think I can pick a favorite when it comes to the sandwiches (which will change seasonally as well as more quixotically, depending on Voltaggio's wont), as each was incredible in their own way. The cold fried chicken (sous vide chicken is chilled, breaded, and fried and then topped with ranch "cheese"--made from centrifuged buttermilk from which the curds and whey are separated and then flavored--hot sauce, and Gindo's proprietary spice blend) was a knock-out on so many levels, the chicken rendered perfectly smooth by the sous vide process, with a nice balance of heat and coolness. Banh mi had an unexpected jolt of crunchiness from the crackling embedded within.

Elsewhere, The Jose Andres was a Spanish-influenced version of the classic Italian "Godfather" sub, here scented with paprika (from the chorizo) and a winning blend of cured meats and manchego. The C.L.T. and "Reuben" were both clever and thoughtful modern twists on classic American deli sandwiches, elevated to new levels through unexpected ingredients (chicken liver mousse/chicken skin and beef tongue). The maple-pepper turkey is house-brined and perfectly paired with luscious camembert and mustarda; the green pepperiness of arugula sets it off quite nicely.

In fact, my only complaint was with the spicy tuna sandwich: while the flavor profiles were amazing (those strands of nori were genius), the tomato that was contained with the spicy tuna rendered the interior too wet, as a bite led to much of the liquid being dribbled onto the floor (or one's shirt). If you're going to use tomato to bind it together, it needs to be super-drained and removed of all wetness. Otherwise, this sandwich could get really soggy, real fast, especially if you were hoping to get it to go.

But this is a minor quibble from a place that's still tinkering with its menu but has its concept down pat before even opening its doors to the public. The street fruit idea is genius, embodying both the refreshing and reviving qualities of fresh fruit with some nice heat, rendering the vacuum-packed bags as a course that fits snuggly between sandwich and dessert. (It's very nearly a street-level palate-cleanser, to be honest.) The potato chips--both kinds--are made over at the kitchen at ink. (everything is, in fact) and were perfectly crisp and seasoned, with not a hint of greasiness.

ink.sack is the sort of convivial and imaginative sandwich place that we all wish were in our individual neighborhoods. Or at the very least, conveniently located around the corner from our offices. Look for the lines to form almost instantly.

ink. is set to open in September in Los Angeles, while lucky Angelenos can get a taste of ink.sack's amazing sandwiches this week.

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The fall of 2004 kicked off a television season that brought us some of the biggest hits of the last decade, launching Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, and House. Seven years later, those supernovas are either burning out or dead altogether, victims of audience fatigue or oversight, as their once-huge numbers dwindled year after year.

ABC announced on Sunday that Desperate Housewives will end its run in May—-the demise of the once powerful drama signals a death knell for serialized storytelling at the broadcast networks.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Desperate Times for TV Networks," in which I examine the death of massively popular scripted TV, with the announcement that long-running drama Desperate Housewives is to end.

Have the days of 2004-05 season--and those massive ratings--gone for good? Does Terra Nova have a chance in hell? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate.

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Enter the daylight.

Vampires, as we all know (or at least within the world of the Sookie Stackhouse novels and True Blood), are denied the warmth of the sun and forced to spend their existence in the cold darkness of night. Sookie Stackhouse's faerie blood allows the user to daywalk, granting limited exposure to the sunlight for the vampire in question. But this is just a taste of the sun's light; it's far from permanent and it often leaves the user even more vulnerably cast back into the shadows. Sunlight, then, is deadly: the rays of the sun bring the one true death, a crispy, sizzling, burning one as a vampire is consumed from within, their blood boiling and their skin smoldering in the heat.

It is not a pleasant demise by any stretch, which must be why vengeful spirit Antonia finds it so deliciously simpatico with her needs: bring the vampires into the one thing they all crave but cannot survive.

Quite a lot happens in this week's episode of True Blood ("Cold Grey Light of Dawn"), written by Alexander Woo and directed by Michael Ruscio, but the moment that had me completely riveted was the final sequence of the installment, in which Jessica throws off her silver and attempts to walk into the sunlight, under Antonia's enchantment.

Does she succeed? Is she burned to a crisp? Well, you'll have to wait until next week's episode to find out the fate of our favorite baby vamp, last seen attempting to hurl herself through the open doors of King Bill's home into the harsh white light. It's a staggering and heartbreaking image of imminent destruction, as Jessica is forced to escape the prison of silver and bars that Bill has constructed for them. The irony isn't lost that they're the ones trapped while their former prisoner has become the jailer in this scenario: but rather than keep them chained in the basement like vermin, she seeks to drag them out into the light... and seal their fates in the process.

Is there a death wish inside each vampire? Do they long for the one true death even as they rip open the skin of their victims, bringing death with each step? As Jessica manages to free herself from her silvery imprisonment, the expression on Bill's face is a mixture of fear and jealousy, it seems. He knows what will happen to them should they breach the perimeter and enter the light of the sun, but at the same time he too craves self-destruction, another victim of Antonia's thirst for revenge.

The sequence itself is filmed exquisitely: the swaying chandelier, rocking in the force of the witches' whirlwind; the POV of the room from Jessica's dark-adapted eyes; the intense white light that spills onto her when she rips open the door, conjuring both the celestial kingdom and her doom in one shot. But it's worth noting that Jessica is not in control of her emotions, or of her actions: she wants to meet the sun more than anything in those moments, to walk out into its embrace like Beulah Carter does, bursting into flames.

I loved the fact that Jason Stackhouse attempts to come to Jessica's rescue, rushing the guards at Bill's compound in an effort to keep Jessica inside the house. While his fate is also left unclear at the end of the episode (there's that gunshot that rings out after he's tackled by one of the human guards), I don't think for a second that he's going to be killed off in such a fashion. (Hell no.) But clearly he has some sort of feelings for Jessica that go beyond the blood bond they share; he's willing to risk his own life to save her undead one.

It's the witch Antonia who drives Jessica's desire for combustion, aided by her circle of Wiccans, who are as yet fully unaware of what spell they cast. Antonia is canny, to say the least (bye, bye, Katerina!); she's not foolish enough to inform her coven of what she's attempting here. (I don't for a second think Holly would wish the one true death upon coworker Jessica, had she known that they were attempting to destroy every last vampire within twenty miles.)

She's also clever enough to bring Tara to her side as well, sensing with her a hatred of the vampires as well. Marnie says that it's written all over Tara: her rape by Franklin, countless attacks that have propelled her fear and her rage to their breaking point. She needs willing souls, and Tara has lost everything in those moments before their chance encounter on the side of the road: she believes that she's lost Sookie (who has chosen Eric and the vampires over her) and she's lost Naomi as well, remaining unwilling to allow Naomi to endanger her life by staying. She chooses Tara over Toni, casting off her false identity to reclaim her life. But with that life comes bitterness, loss, and grief; those are threaded over Tara's soul, they make up the features on her face, and it's that which Antonia sees and which she uses to draw Tara to her side.

While we see the truer side of vampires via Bill, Eric, and Jessica, I don't blame Tara for her actions. Vampires have completely destroyed her life (one could broaden this category to include supernaturals of all kinds) and I can see why she would be gently pushed into line behind Antonia. Just earlier that evening, Pam came after her and Naomi and surely would have killed one or both of them had video camera-wielding humans surrounded them. I'm actually glad that Alan Ball and the writers chose not to kill off Naomi, because Tara's had way too much death in her life already. She could lose Naomi from her life, but it had to be by choice here, rather than having the decision made for her by a hungry vampire biting down.

(Meanwhile, I loved the return of Doctor Ludwig, who performed a full-body peel on poor Pam and instructed her that she can fight off the exterior rot by injecting herself with six shots every for, well, forever. And I loved Ginger's efforts to keep Pam in her coffin.)

Elsewhere, Eric and Sookie continued their romance, moving from the woods (where they're spied on by Alcide and Debbie, once again questioning her boyfriend's fidelity) and into Sookie's house, where they explore the hallway floor and her bed. And, later, I loved the scene where she had to silver Eric to keep him in his subterranean cubby, laying down next to him as his skin sizzled under the silver. It's a contrast to the animal passions they expressed earlier, harkening back to the sweet innocence of their chaste encounters this season. Could it be that Sookie not only has passion for Eric but also love?

Sam found out about Tommy being a skinwalker (and pretending to be him) and kicked him out after confronting Luna about her sudden chilliness, which seemed to come out of nowhere. I'm trying to feel some sort of sympathy for Tommy, but it's not exactly easy to feel bad for him, despite the awful things that have happened to him. Perhaps it's because he chooses to continue doing bad, in spite of the many kindnesses shown to him. Rather than hide away, he chose to become Sam and pretend to be him, sleeping with Luna and firing Sookie. I can only hope that there's some potential redemption for Tommy down the line, because Sam was the best thing that ever happened to him (except for, say, that gunshot) and his actions have further deteriorated their already tenuous relationship. I think Sam is more than justified in throwing Tommy to the curb.

And then there was the latest twist in the Mikey storyline as Lafayette, following the events in Mexico with Don Bartolo and Tio Luca, is able to see the spirit hovering around Mikey and singing to him. Now that he's accepted his abilities as a medium, I dare say that Lafayette will become a pivotal character in the ghostly plot around Mikey, which clearly involves this woman. (I also can't help but wonder if it doesn't mean that Rene's own disembodied spirit will be turning up before the season is over.)

Finally, Andy and Holly attempted to have a date, but it went horribly awry, thanks to Andy's addiction to V. While I was intrigued by a V-addicted Andy Bellefleur, I have to say that I'm growing extremely tired of this particular storyline, as Andy continues to act continually erratic and bizarre, exhibiting super-strength and super-rudeness with equal measure. It's all a little too on the nose for me and while I was curious to see just whether Andy and Holly could make a go of things, the V storyline intruded once more. Meh.

Still, that's a minor quibble for an episode that was pretty damn strong overall. I had the luxury of watching next week's episode immediately following "Cold Grey Light of Dawn," which I needed as I think I would have combusted from anticipation and anxiety after seeing Jessica throw open those doors. (All I'll say is that next week's sensational episode--which contains a variation on the infamous "shower scene" of Charlaine Harris' novel--is not to be missed.)

I'm curious to know: what did you think of this week's episode? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate.

Next week on True Blood ("Spellbound"), as Bill and Marnie brace for a dangerous midnight faceoff, Sookie and Eric pledge their allegiance to the King; Jason is torn between friendship and passion, and Jessica is spurned from two homes; Lafayette becomes the pawn of a tormented spirit; Tommy takes a walk in someone elseʼs shoes; Sam contends with yet another adversary in Marcus, Lunaʼs ex and the leader of Alcideʼs new pack.

Ep. 44 - Preview

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It is known: Game of Thrones is the winner of this year's Outstanding New Program by the TCA.

As a member of the venerable Television Critics Association (TCA), I joined the professional journalists' organization this evening for the annual TCA Awards, which are always a fantastic evening celebrating the best of television.

At the ceremony (which, as per TCA tradition, are not be televised), Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman was on hand as the host of the evening, which saw awards given out to Game of Thrones (Outstanding New Program), Friday Night Lights (Program of the Year), Mad Men (Outstanding Achievement in Drama), Modern Family (Outstanding Achievement in Comedy), Sherlock (Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials), and The Amazing Race, among others.

Individual winners included Mad Men's Jon Hamm, Parks and Recreation's Offerman, Modern Family's Ty Burrell, and Oprah Winfrey, who was the recipient of a career achievement award.

The full list of TCA Award winners (as well as the official press release) can be found below.

THE TELEVISION CRITICS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES
2011 TCA AWARDS WINNERS

DirecTV/NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” Named Program of The Year
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” Wins Outstanding New Program

“Mad Men,” “Modern Family,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Restrepo,”
“Sherlock,”
“Sesame Street” and “Amazing Race” are honored along with
Oprah Winfrey and “The Dick Van Dyke Show”

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Television Critics Association (TCA) tonight recognized the top programs and actors of the 2010-2011 television season at its 27th Annual TCA Awards presentation. Nick Offerman, star of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” hosted the annual invitation-only event, held at The Beverly Hilton hotel in conjunction with the TCA’s summer press tour. The non-televised ceremony bestowed awards in 12 categories to recipients in comedy, drama, reality, miniseries, news and youth programming.

Members of the TCA, a media organization of more than 200 professional TV critics and journalists from the United States and Canada, voted HBO’s “Game of Thrones” this season’s “Outstanding New Program” and honored the final season of DirecTV/NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” with its award for “Program of The Year.”

Winning its second consecutive TCA Award, ABC’s “Modern Family” took home the award for “Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.” AMC’s “Mad Men” received the award for “Outstanding Achievement in Drama,” its third in this category, having previously won the distinction in 2008 and 2009.

The award for “Individual Achievement in Drama” went to actor Jon Hamm (Don Draper, of AMC’s “Mad Men”) while actor/host Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson, of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation”) shared the honor of “Individual Achievement in Comedy” with fellow actor Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy, of ABC’s “Modern Family”).

While PBS Masterpiece’s “Sherlock” emerged victorious in the category of “Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials,” CBS’s “Amazing Race” received the organization’s first award for “Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming.”

The TCA also recognized PBS’s “Sesame Street” with an award for “Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming,” and the National Geographic Channel documentary “Restrepo” received top honors for “Outstanding Achievement in News & Information.”

In addition to recognizing the year’s finest programming, the TCA bestowed a Heritage Award on CBS’s former series “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-66) for the cultural and social impact the program has had on society. Carl Reiner, the show’s creator and the recipient of the
2003 TCA Career Achievement Award, was on hand to receive the honor alongside series actors Rose Marie and Larry Mathews.

The non-profit organization also presented Oprah Winfrey with a Career Achievement Award for her influence through 25 seasons of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

2011 TCA Award recipients are as follows:
•    Individual Achievement in Drama: Jon Hamm (“Mad Men,” AMC)
•    Individual Achievement in Comedy: Ty Burrell (“Modern Family,” ABC) and Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation,” NBC)
•    Outstanding Achievement in News and Information:
“Restrepo” (National Geographic Channel)
•    Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: “Amazing Race” (CBS)
•    Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: “Sesame Street” (PBS)
•    Outstanding New Program: “Game of Thrones” (HBO)
•    Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: “Masterpiece: Sherlock” (PBS)
•    Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “Mad Men” (AMC)
•    Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: “Modern Family” (ABC)
•    Career Achievement Award: Oprah Winfrey
•    Heritage Award: “The Dick Van Dyke Show”
•    Program of the Year: “Friday Night Lights” (DirecTV/NBC)

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For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you know I spent yesterday in a lovely Downton Abbey dream, as PBS presented their session for Masterpiece (which included several announcements) and a 45-minute panel for Downton Abbey which returns to our shores in January. (I also spent the morning doing one-on-one interviews with cast members Dan Stevens, Michelle Dockery, Siobhan Finneran, and Elizabeth McGovern, but you'll have to wait a bit to read the feature.)

The session--the most lavishly fannish of any TCA session possibly ever (we critics are huge Downton fans)--began with a hilarious sizzle reel from Season One of Downton Abbey set to the strains of "Downtown," (adorable) before executive producer Rebecca Eaton took to the stage to introduce the panel and get through some housekeeping issues. "To our audience, Anglophilia is not a dirty word," said Eaton. (It certainly isn't, this Anglophile thought, nodding sagely.)

Season Two of Downton Abbey, set to launch in September in the United Kingdom, will rejoin Masterpiece on January 8th. The nine episodes of the second season--the eight episodes in the regular series and the Christmas special (airing in the UK in December)--will air over the course of seven weeks on PBS' Masterpiece Classic. In even better news, Eaton promised that "not a single frame" will be edited out of the U.S. broadcast when it airs here next year. (Season One had roughly twenty minutes of minor cuts from the six-hour-plus running time when it aired Stateside. "I'm sure many of the UK adverts you can get on YouTube," Dan Stevens joke, when asked how to get the full Downton Abbey UK experience.)

(Unrelated: Three Sherlock episodes are expected in Spring 2012 (likely in May), and Upstairs Downstairs in 2013. Meanwhile, Masterpiece will premiere Song of Lunch and Page 8 in the autumn as part of their Masterpiece Contemporary strand. Eaton also announced the co-production of a mystery drama pilot called "Endeavour," the story of early life of Inspector Morse. ITV will announce the series lead on Wednesday, so stay tuned.)

But back to Downton. The action picks up in 1916, two years after the events of the first season and the advent of World War I. When asked how Matthew Crawley is different in Season Two to how he was portrayed in the first season, Stevens was candid: "In Series 2, he's surrounded by a lot of explosions." We'll find Matthew as a dutiful soldier "very active at the front" who will experience moments of heroism.

Rebecca Eaton said there's one character from Series 1 who doesn't return for Series 2. Easy: Gwen, a fact that Neame then confirmed, as Gwen was last seen leaving the series for a secretarial role. There's a chance she could turn up down the line as a professional woman, but we won't be seeing her in the second season. New characters this season will include new love interests for Mary and Matthew, the loathsome Mrs. Bates (played by The Tudors' Maria Doyle Kennedy), a new housemaid, new male servants, and several others.

As for the matter of the entail, which some audience members were confused by (but which is all too familiar to readers of Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice"), Stevens said, "I wish Laura Linney had been there to give us a lesson on the entail." ("It would be completely mistaken to think that the British audience had any idea what an entail was," added Neame.)

A random Downton Abbey fact--that Siobhan Finneran, who plays evil Miss O'Brien, has never been to Highclere Castle, where #DowntonAbbey is filmed--was later disproven, as I asked Finneran herself how this could be true. Finneran told me she's been to Highclere many times, carried stacks of linen up those steps more than she likes to remember.

Asked to compare the series to other current shows, Neame called Downton closer in feel to Mad Men, a period-set piece with modern writing, rather than other Masterpiece adaptations. Elizabeth McGovern said that audiences on both sides of the Atlantic responded to Downton Abbey because "it's historically accurate, emotionally true and a lot of fun."

Meanwhile, if that weren't enough Downton-related goodness for you, I've embedded the full Comic Relief 2011 spoof of Downton Abbey, entitled Uptown Downstairs (it's two parts in full) after the jump for your delectation. Carson, you can bring the tea in now...

Uptown Downstairs Part One:



Uptown Downstairs Part Two:



Downton Abbey will return in September in the U.K. on ITV and in January 8th on PBS' Masterpiece Classic.

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"There ain't no such thing as normal."

As I said on Twitter last night, I thought that this week's episode of True Blood was the strongest installment the series has had in quite some time.

Beautiful and emotionally resonant (as well as overflowing with plot), this week's thought-provoking episode ("I Wish I Was the Moon"), written by Raelle Tucker and directed by Jeremy Podeswa, revolved around the full moon over Bon Temps and found the sleepy (and yet supes-teeming) town coming to terms with themselves and their true natures. This thematically made quite a lot of sense with the use of the full moon--planted several episodes ago--bringing out the "special" in quite a few of the supernatural denizens of Bon Temps.

But it was the sequence between Ryan Kwanten's Jason Stackhouse and Deborah Ann Woll's Jessica that stood out as the heart of the episode, as the two lay on their backs in the woods staring up at the moon. Would Jason transform into a panther as he feared (and perhaps secretly hoped)? Is he jealous of Sookie's own gifts, not seeing his own that he's been blessed with in life?

Linked by blood, Jessica comes to Jason's aid in the thick of the woods, but the two of them are joined by other, weighter issues: Jessica remembers all too well when her humanity was brutally ripped from her; they're both victims in their own way. But she also sees just what she's become, how her dark gift opened up new possibilities to her, bringing her into the larger world and out of the tiny one she had been living in. But there is a price, of course, and True Blood always reminds us that nothing comes for free in this world. Jessica is condemned to a lifetime of darkness and hunger, just as Sookie's gift means that she will stand apart from humanity, doomed to know what everyone is thinking around her.

These supernatural gifts are a double-edged sword, something Jason doesn't quite see in his panic attack-driven stupor, but they also don't define us completely either. For all of her vampiric strength, speed, and cravings, Jessica is still wholly innocent, something that writer Raelle Tucker and Woll remind us of here: she's still very young and very new at this fragile thing called life. But there is truth in innocence, and beauty: her acceptance of Jason, her support, and her understanding are unique to Jessica, who struggles deeply with her own self-identity. What is she exactly? A waitress? A vampire? Hoyt's girlfriend?

I'm glad, as well, to see that it's these two who find themselves alone in the woods. While I've loved seeing Jessica and Hoyt's relationship unfold, it's been far too long since Woll was in a scene with anyone other than Jim Parrack that's more than a few seconds in length. As Hoyt's best friend, Jason is in a unique position with Jessica, and it's clear that she perhaps has burgeoning feelings for the former football star since she saved his life. While they agree not to tell Hoyt about what happened that night (in all honestly, nothing untoward), it's clear that they both feel that they crossed an invisible line, one that might lead them to an unexpected romance down the line. It's a meeting of opposites here: Jessica in her innocence and wiseness; Jason in his debauchery and, well, lovable dumbness. By pairing these two, Tucker manages to give us fireworks against the moon, two souls reaching out to each other for comfort and support, two friends awaiting a transformation that never arrives.

Jason is special, in his own way, something that Jessica is able to get him to see, finally. (Beyond just his insistence to Sookie that he is "good at sex" and shooting.) He's handsome, irresistible, and was a high school football legend. He's also prone to a goofy joie de vivre that is infectious, something we see as he shrugs off his funk and transitions back to being plain old Jason Stackhouse once more. In a town like Bon Temps where everyone seems to have some sort of supernatural power, Jason's humanity is pretty darn special in its own right, especially to someone like Jessica, who had her future, her life, her freedom of choice brutally ripped away from her on the "scariest night" of her life.

Elsewhere, other characters teetered on the brink of self-acceptance: Bill opted to spare the life of Eric Northman in order to ensure Sookie's happiness at the cost of his own, as both Bill and the amnesiac Eric just want Sookie to be happy; Tommy's act of parental slaughter gifted him with a new ability, that of a skinwalker, and he takes a long walk in Sam's skin, sleeping with Luna and firing Sookie, and learning just what Maxine thinks of him; Debbie joins a new pack, despite the insistence of Alcide that she keep to herself; Tara admits just who and what she is (after almost getting strangled by her girlfriend) and takes Naomi on a tour of Bon Temps, including holding hands in plain view at Merlotte's; and Lafayette opens himself up to Tio Luca and unlocks his potential in order to save Jesus.

And Sookie and Eric finally gave into their passion under the watchful eye of the full moon, consummating their relationship after Eric is freed by Bill from execution (i.e., the one true death). But as Bill stands outside on the porch of his estate, I wonder whether he knew that his former soulmate and his sheriff had their bodies entangled in the moonlight at that precise moment. Despite Adele's warning not to give Eric her heart, Sookie gives into the feelings that she's been experiencing the last few days, giving herself over to her own hunger. But do people change, really? Eric's transformation is the result of Marnie's spell, a temporary amnesia that has locked away his understanding of who he really is, the crimes he's committed, the darkness in his soul. Once he remembers (and make no mistake, he will), what happens to this Eric, to the naive and gentle man-child whose pursuit of Sookie has been tender rather than forceful? Where does he go? And what will remain once this new identity is stripped from him by the spell's reversal?

Or doesn't it matter? Perhaps what only matters is right then and there, under the full moon, this moment of passion that they share. Can Sookie let go of her hopes and desires when she's confronted by the "real" Eric Northman? And will she still want him then when he hardens his soul once more?

What else did I think of these week's episode? Let's take a look in a hail of bullets:

• There are a whole lot of disembodied spirits floating about this plotline: Marnie is possessed by the vengeful spirit of Antonia, a witch who was imprisoned, raped, and tortured by vampire priests during the Spanish Inquisition, who burned her alive, even as she ripped the vampires from their slumber and forced them to walk into the light. In a creepy twist, Antonia appears before Marnie and then enters her through her gaping mouth, possessing her body and soul, and working her magic through her conduit. Oh, Luis, you never saw that coming, did you? Marnie/Antonia is able to control Luis and she forces the vampire sheriff (who had raped her in 1610) to his knees. Badness lies ahead...
• Then there's the woman whom Mikey sees after the fire, the one that's clearly connected with the creepy baby doll. Who is she exactly, and what does she want? For one, she wants to go home, namely to Jessica and Hoyt's house, where she keeps bringing the doll back. But why set fire to Arlene and Terry's? And why work through wee Mikey? I still maintain that "not your baby" isn't a reference to Mikey/Rene but to her own child, symbolized by that decrepit doll. Get rid of it, Arlene!
• Tio Luca, meanwhile, inhabits Lafayette's body, drawn out by Lafayette's need to save the life of Jesus and the machinations of Jesus' grandfather, Don Bartolo. Lafayette has been resistent to the notion that he has certain abilities, but his doubts will be erased now that he too has a spirit passenger along for the ride, one with considerable magics, seeing how effortlessly he cured Jesus from his snakebite.
• I loved Sookie with the shotgun, heading off into the woods in search of her brother. A strong image that recalled Buffy, in fact: beautiful blonde girl in the dark, armed and dangerous and not afraid of anything.
• Eric's speech to Bill, seconds before his execution was to be carried out, was a thing of beauty and simplicity, expressing his innocence. ("I was born the night she found me," he says. "Because of her, I went to my true death knowing what it is to love.")
• Oh, Tara, did you really think you'd be able to parade through Bon Temps with Naomi without attracting the attention of the decaying Pam? You'll be lucky if both of you make it through the night without losing your lives or your blood. (Prediction time: Naomi's a goner.)
• Jason handcuffing himself to his bed to await the full moon? Insanely dumb. Sookie saying exactly what I thought, that the handcuffs would just slip off if he became a panther? Priceless.

Ultimately, I thought this was a fantastic installment, full of wonder and possibility, plot twists and poetry, an episode that had the characters largely in their own self-contained storylines, some of which intersected magnificently by the closing credits. And that's not just the full moon talking.

I'm curious: what did you think of this week's episode? Did you fall under its spell as much as I did? What did you like about it or dislike? Were you surprised--or elated--by the final scene? Head to the comments section to discuss, dissect, and analyze.

Next week on True Blood ("Cold Grey Light of Dawn"), with Marnie empowered by spirits of the dead, Bill issues an unpopular order to save vampires from the light; Eric embraces his amnesia; Luna discovers Sam is not the man she thought he was; Lafayette expands his consciousness; Pam gets a body peel; Andyʼs date with Holly doesnʼt go as planned; Jessica has doubts about her future with Hoyt; Alcide and Debbie join a new pack.

Ep. 43 – Preview

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