At 66 and four-feet-nine, Linda Hunt is an unlikely action heroine.

But as the enigmatic Hetty Lange on NCIS: LA, Oscar winner Hunt (who won for her staggering performance as a male Indonesian-Australian dwarf in Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously) has become a Teen Choice Award recipient and the show’s breakout character.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, entitled "The Cult of Linda Hunt," in which I sit down with the Oscar (and Teen Choice Award!) winner Hunt to discuss NCIS: Los Angeles' Hetty, The Year of Living Dangerously, water from the moon, and what the future holds. (I also talk to creator Shane Brennan and Chris O'Donnell about the remarkable Hunt and her character.)

NCIS: Los Angeles airs Tuesday evenings at 9 pm ET/PT on CBS.

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The wait is over.

After months of waiting breathlessly for the repercussions of Alicia (Julianna Margulies) and Will (Josh Charles) entering that hotel room together (with Alicia taking control of the situation), The Good Wife returned for the start of its third season ("A New Day"), written by Robert and Michelle King, with a new night and timeslot, a new haircut for Alicia, and a new office for our erstwhile good wife, who proved this week just how bad she can be.

Among other areas, The Good Wife has excelled in its handling of female sexuality, particularly in terms of how it's handled within the confines of a primetime broadcast network drama. This hasn't been a show featuring much bed-hopping from its main character, who spent the first two seasons coming to terms with her husband's infidelity, her passion towards her boss, and her decision to kick said husband to the curb after learning that he had slept with one of the few friends she had (that would be Archie Panjabi's Kalinda Sharma, naturally). On the night of his election victory.

This week's episode--which found Alicia representing a Muslim college student alternately accused of participating in violence at an interfaith rally and first-degree murder--may have revolved around ethnic tensions and avatar-based video gaming but it was the scene between Alicia and Will--in which they continued the affair they started in the season finale--that got tongues wagging this week. Was it too hot? Too steamy? Did it cross the line?

I'd argue that it was steamy but it was also a very mature handling of female sexuality, one that we don't ordinarily see on television, as Alicia gave into her own desires, once again taking control of the situation from her male partner, to achieve her own pleasure. It's no surprise that Alicia refuses to be objectified here; the title of the series speaks volumes about the way she had been objectified as the scandalized politician's wife. Likewise, the courtroom scenes proved that she refuses to bow to her husband, now newly returned to his seat of power, but instead promises an adversarial relationship with her estranged partner.

These two are all smiles in front of the kids, but the facades wear thin whenever they're alone: Alicia tells him that she'll make excuses for him rather than sit beside him over dinner at Zach's girlfriend's house; she refuses to be shaken when Peter tries to goad her into crumbling after proving her mettle in court. They might not be divorced, but these two are clearly already plotting their own particular revenges.

And that's a Good Thing. In its third season, The Good Wife isn't approaching anything--whether it be the struggling marriage between Peter and Alicia, the sexual tension between Alicia and Will, or the now fractured friendship between Alicia and Kalinda--as anything resembling a sacred cow. Instead, it's playing fast and loose with its dramatic underpinnings, creating a shifting landscape where anything is possible, plots can turn on a dime, and relationships can be undone with relative easy.

I will say that I am going to miss Kelli Giddish, who reprised her role from last season as the mercenary-minded Sophia Russo; her presence here gives us hints of the love triangle that the Kings told me would have gone down between Kalinda, Cary, and Sophia. She's a fantastic foil for Kalinda as well, their sexual tension simmering quite nicely (after a fling last season) while their competitive natures get the better of them. Having Sophia turn up like the metaphorical bad penny every time Kalinda got a lead on the investigation served to further intertwine their lives. It's a shame that we won't get to see this develop further now that Giddish is starring in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Cary, meanwhile, is playing for keeps. It's remarkable just how much Matt Czuchry's character has changed since the early episodes of the series. Once an arrogant little minnow, Cary has become a ruthless shark, perfectly willing to do whatever he has to in order to win, in order to prove his place beside Peter at the state's attorney's office. Even his one seemingly altruistic act in this episode--slipping the traffic camera report to Kalinda--had an ulterior motive, as he then flipped the situation on its head, using the report to finger Alicia's client as the prime suspect in a brutal murder. (Which, to me, always felt deeply personal, rather than political: stabbed 45 times screams crime of passion, not hate crime, per se.) I'm curious to see where Cary is headed and whether his closed-off nature speaks to his association with the similarly compartmentalizing Kalinda.

However, I do want to see Alicia and Kalinda eventually come back to some sort of understanding, though I hope it takes a while for the ice to thaw between these two. As much as I loved Diane's insistence that the two women work out whatever is between them (implicit in that: an understanding that Diane doesn't want to know what it is), I thought the scene between Kalinda and Will at the bar underpinned Kalinda's loneliness this season. She's shut down emotionally again, unwilling to let Sophia in, unwilling to let anyone get too close after she got burned by Alicia. Maybe Kalinda does need a dog. (Plus, how awesome was Will's suggestion that "Kalinda and pooch" could solve crimes together?)

All in all, I thought that "A New Day" represented a fantastic start to the third season, one that immediately made me crave more episodes of The Good Wife immediately... and an installment that made me feel that perhaps winding down my weekend with Alicia and Co. on a Sunday evening is a great thing indeed.

However, I'm curious to know: what did you think of "A New Day"? What was your take on the Alicia/Will scene? Will Kalinda and Alicia ever mend their fences? What's going on with Grace and her new tutor? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on The Good Wife ("The Death Zone"), Alicia must quickly learn English Law when a libel case she won in the United States is retried in a British court.

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Jennifer Ehle, best known for playing Elizabeth Bennet in BBC’s Pride & Prejudice, co-stars in a new CBS drama, A Gifted Man.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "A Gifted Man's Leading Lady," in which I sit down with Jennifer Ehle to discuss ghost sex, Game of Thrones, A Gifted Man, Pride & Prejudice, attachment parenting, Mr. Darcy, and more.

A Gifted Man begins tonight at 8 pm ET/PT on CBS.

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There is an emergency session underway within the writers’ room of CBS’s critically acclaimed drama, The Good Wife, which returns for its third season on Sunday, Sept. 25.

With 48 hours to go, the writers—overseen by husband-and-wife creators Robert and Michelle King—must rewrite the latest script and untangle a Gordian knot to come up with a new procedural case for hotshot lawyer Alicia Florrick (recent Emmy Award winner Julianna Margulies) and the firm to tackle.

In the second season of the critical and ratings hit, the personal loomed large for all of the show’s characters. Alicia gave into temptation and slept with her boss, Will (Josh Charles), after years of having bad timing. Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) went to great lengths to conceal a long-buried secret—that she had, years before, slept with Alicia’s husband, Peter (Chris Noth)—in a storyline that involved baseball bats, smashed-out windows, and assaulting rival investigator Blake (Scott Porter).

With its deft plotting and character-driven storytelling, The Good Wife—this season moving to a new night and time (Sundays at 9 p.m.)—is hard-hitting drama at its best. So it’s all the more surprising that the writers’ room appears almost serene, even as the clock ticks away. This is not your typical writers’ room, a litter-strewn battlefield where exhausted scribes butt heads, argue, and quaff vast quantities of coffee. Here, on a quiet studio lot in Culver City, coproducer Corinne Brinkerhoff—who runs the @GoodWifeWriters Twitter feed with Meredith Averill—stands at a whiteboard. Her neat handwriting is just one of many ordered particulars of the vintage room: color-coded notecards are perfectly positioned on a nearby bulletin board; whiteboards stand at the ready, bursting with plot details; and the writers—split equally between genders—around the polished mahogany table are taking turns to speak. Wait, this is an emergency meeting?

Yes, the smartest show on TV, CBS’s The Good Wife, is back for a third season. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Inside The Good Wife Writers’ Room," in which I report from the writers’ room and sit down with creators Robert and Michelle King in the editing bay and the office they share.

If that's not enough Good Wife-related goodness for you, I also got the Kings to spill on what lies ahead in Season Three for Alicia, Kalinda, Eli, and the others in a second feature, entitled "Inside The Good Wife Season Three." We discuss not only what's coming up for our favorite characters, but also what might have been, with an in-depth analysis of what would have comprised a killer love triangle between Cary, Kalinda, and Kelli Giddish's Sophia Russo. (Sigh.) WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!

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Try as you might, there are some marks that can never be scrubbed out entirely. There are some people who leave an indelible impression on our souls which remains long after they've gone, an afterimage burned onto our retinas, an echo of a cry for help, a sigh, a plaintive wail, or a whispered declaration of love.

Within the world of Fringe, Peter Bishop no longer exists. We saw him blink out of existence at the end of the third season finale, flickering before our eyes as two universes forgot all about him. Nature, of course, abhors a vacuum, so time and space rush to fill the void left behind when an item is plucked out of the timestream.

What does all of this have to do with Season Four of Fringe? I'm glad you asked. (PLEASE DO NOT REPRODUCE THIS REVIEW IN FULL ON ANY WEBSITES, BLOGS, MESSAGE BOARDS, OR SIMILAR.) The season opener ("Neither Here Nor There") contains a rather ordinary procedural plot, but it also reintroduces us to the two universes, and to changes that have occurred as a result of Peter's non-existence. Some of these changes are slight, and some are rather large. The dead walk again as the living, memories are altered, personalities shifted as a result of Peter not being in the mix since the series began.

Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is colder, more distance, less prone to smiling, and still grieving over the boyfriend she lost in the first Fringe case in the pilot. Walter Bishop (John Noble) is emotionally and psychologically untethered, lacking a connection that can anchor his fractured mind; he's now a virtual recluse, a man scared of his own shadow who can't leave the lab, much less venture out into the world. (Peter did more than take Walter out of St. Clare's; he gave Walter a purpose and acted as a life preserver in more ways than one, allowing Walter to explore the outside world anew.) Astrid (Jasika Nicole) is now in the field alongside Olivia, not forced to serve as Walter's primary caregiver and nursemaid in the lab setting. (Look for a particularly hilarious anatomical reference in the first episode back.)

And then there's Lincoln Lee (Seth Gabel).

Lincoln is still the nerdy FBI agent that we met previously on this side of the universal divide, but he doesn't remember the team nor their previous interaction. When a bizarre Fringe investigation drags him into their world, he acts as the audience's introduction (or, for veterans, reintroduction) to the backstory and thrust of the series. The case itself, as I suggested before, feels a bit been-there-done-that within the immense possibility of the show, connecting to an earlier conceit within the series and taking it into a new direction. (Yes, I'm being deliberately vague here.)

But it's the second episode of the season ("One Night in October") that brilliantly showcases what Fringe is capable of: emotionally resonant stories with sci-fi trappings that are intensely character-driven explorations of the human heart. This is very much the case with the largely Over There-set installment which finds the Fringe Division attempting to entrap a vicious serial killer (John Pyper-Ferguson, in a fantastic and gripping dual role) whose methods for spreading death are rather unique, yet also connect to the wider philosophical issues at play here. Are we the sum of our experiences? Do our choices define us? Can we remember when those memories are cruelly ripped away from us?

Peter Bishop does not exist.

We know this to be true, just as we know that the Observers feel that he has served his purpose and the timeline has been corrected. Yet, there is no Fringe without the younger Bishop, and Peter lingers in the, well, fringes beween here and not-here. But his interaction with the makeshift family that comprises the team had long-lasting ramifications for all of them. If they can't remember him, if he never truly existed, how have their lives changed? And why do all of them feel an emptiness where there shouldn't be one? There's a Peter-sized hole in the world, and no amount of gumdrops or creepy cases will change that, even if Walter and the others can't recall just why they feel quite so sad.

What follows in "One Day in October" is a beautiful exploration of memory, loss, choices, and divergent paths in the woods, one that informs not only the case at hand (an intensely creepy and profoundly unsettling one) but also the characters of Olivia and Walter, and their dark counterparts. Olivia and Fauxlivia have an intriguing moment of exchange that reveals just how much the universe has changed without Peter in it... and all of the actors do a phenomenal job creating new iterations of the characters we've come to know and love thus far.

Watch Torv's body language as Fauxlivia, slouched and loose, the timbre of her voice altered, and then see how rigid and unbending she is as Olivia. Noble does a staggering job (how has this man not been nominated for an Emmy already?) as the even more broken Walter Bishop, bringing a scared petulance to his routine, a terror that his fragile grasp on reality is slipping away further still. (There's also a hell of an homage to a certain 1980s commercial that is quite clever.) Gabel is great as the two versions of Lincoln; one sheltered and naive, the other headstrong and edgy. And it's great to see Nicole's Astrid in the field for a change; for far too long, she's been stuck in the lab. (I am curious to see just what happened to Blair Brown's Nina, but she's not in either episode, sadly.)

The installment also shows the uneasy alliance between Over Here and Over There, and how this dynamic will play out throughout the season. An opportunity for cooperation presents its own dangers. To catch a thief, it often takes a thief, it's said. And to catch a killer, it might require the same. Or at the very least, the killer's dimensional twin, who is a mild-mannered psychology professor. Do they share the same dark impulses? Why did their lives go in such opposite trajectories? And what will their crossing paths do to one another?

All in all, it's a fantastic start to the season for Fringe, in particular that second episode, which utilizes a real alchemy which which to test our characters in unexpected and tantalizing ways. While Peter Bishop may not exist (at least not in the sense that we've come to understand thus far), his presence is felt in intriguing and powerful ways. And so too is this season's first few episodes, which will linger with you well beyond the closing credits.



Season Four of Fringe launches this Friday evening at 9 pm ET/PT on Fox.

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It's no secret that I love NBC's Parks and Recreation.

Over at The Daily Beast, I have not one but two features on the Pawnee-set comedy today, which returns later this week for a fourth season. In Part One of my Parks and Recreation feature at The Daily Beast, in which I visit the set of Parks and Recreation and spend time with Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Adam Scott, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, and showrunner Mike Schur, exploring what Offerman deems "the comedy of hope" that the show taps into, and the intelligence and spirit of Parks and Rec.

In Part Two, I offer some mild spoilers for Season 4, exploring what's ahead for Leslie, April and Andy, Ron Swanson, Ann Perkins, Mark Brendanawicz, and The End?

Season Four of Parks and Recreation begins this Thursday at 8:30 pm ET/PT on NBC.

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The fall television season is now upon us, and the offerings seem pretty underwhelming for the most part.

From must-watch entries like A Gifted Man, Revenge, Homeland, and Pan Am to the better-forgotten Terra Nova, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Man Up!, and Grimm, I break down which new shows you should be watching this fall and which will have you running from the room, in my latest feature at The Daily Beast, "TV to Watch (and Skip) This Fall."

What will you be watching this fall? And what are you skipping altogether? Head to the comments section to discuss.

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While the Primetime Emmy Awards aren’t typically known for offering gasp-inducing surprises, last year’s ceremony did make an instant star out of The Good Wife’s Archie Panjabi, who walked off with the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, even as most of the crowd gathered said, “Who?” (Those of us who know and love The Good Wife, however, cheered for Kalinda’s win.)

Anything is possible, particularly in some key races (like Panjabi’s category again this year) that are going neck-and-neck as we move into the days leading up to Sunday’s telecast, which will air—for the second year in a row—live from coast to coast.

The winners will be announced on Sept. 18’s live Primetime Emmy Awards telecast on Fox.

But, in the meantime, over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Our Emmy Picks!," in which Maria Elena Fernandez and I offer their predictions of who and what will take home the top prizes in 10 key Emmy races. Will stealth frontrunner Margo Martindale win for Justified? Will Jon Hamm finally take home the Emmy for Mad Men? And will AMC’s period drama four-peat this year? Let’s take a closer look at the major categories. (Meanwhile, all of our Emmys-related content from the last few weeks--from Mad Men and The Good Wife to Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey--can be found in one location, right here.)

Who do you think will win at this year's ceremony? And who should win? Head to the comments section to discuss our predictions and debate the potential winners.

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Time to head back to the couch, America. The fall TV season is here and all of your favorite shows—from The Walking Dead and The Good Wife to Dexter and Boardwalk Empire—and a slew of new ones are soon heading to a TV set near you. Will you find Ringer to be the second coming of Sarah Michelle Gellar… or is it the second coming of Silk Stalkings? Time will tell, but at least your TV favorites are back with brand new seasons, and lots of plot twists.

To refresh your memory after the long summer, over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, entitled "The Fall TV Season Begins!," in which Maria Elena Fernandez and I round up a guide to the good and bad times of last season--or in this case, 23 cliffhangers--and offer a peek into what’s coming next this fall.

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I had hoped to have a full review of tonight's fantastic Parenthood season opener ("I Don't Want to Do This Without You"), but unfortunately I'm being pulled in a thousand directions at the moment, so you'll have to settle for a glowing (if brief) recommendation to tune in tonight when this remarkable and emotionally powerful series returns for its third season.

Five months have passed since we last saw the sprawling Braverman clan, and change is in the air for nearly all of the family members. Adam (Peter Krause) is still out of work and has been reduced to loafing around the house and going on interviews for jobs that he doesn't really want and is over qualified for, having lost his purpose and identity as the family's breadwinner; Kristina (Monica Potter), meanwhile, is quite pregnant and quite capable of bringing home the bacon, having gone back to work. It's interesting to see how the dynamic between the two of them has shifted so considerably, now that their traditional gender roles have been reversed. (Adam, were you always such a traditionalist?!?) But there's another possible path for Adam, one that involves Crosby (Dax Shepard). That's all I'm saying on that front.

There's trouble ahead for Haddie (Sarah Ramos) and Alex (Michael B. Jordan), as things go in both a predictable and unexpected way in the season opener, and Jordan gets the chance to act opposite a cast member with whom he may not have gotten any screen time last season. (I will say, however, that something needs to be done to Haddie's hair, which just makes me sad.)

Amber (Mae Whitman) attempts to get back on her feet after last season's car accident and decides to move out of her grandparents' house. What follows--and the places that her relationship with Sarah (Lauren Graham) will likely go this season--gives the episode a strong throughline as Sarah too reevaluates her life on the eve of her 40th birthday, and the episode gives Graham some strong scenes with both Whitman and Bonnie Bedelia's Camille as a result. Plus, Jason Ritter is back, as well, which can only mean one thing for Sarah...

Julia (Erika Christensen) and Joel (Sam Jaeger) are still looking to adopt, though the perfect birth mother basically stumbles into Julia's lap. I was a little bit uncomfortable with the sheer incongruity of this development--as well as the massive coincidental nature of the set-up--that it took me a little out of the story, if I'm being honest. (The only instance would be the return of Joy Bryant's Jasmine, who continues to be a major downer.)

But, really, that's a quibble regarding a sterling season opener that reminds us why we love Parenthood in the first place: realistically drawn characters, universal emotions and experiences, and dialogue that captures the natural tone and vigor of familial life in all of its glorious colors. I've missed you, Team Braverman.

Season Three of Parenthood begins tonight at 10 pm ET/PT on NBC.

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"I'll always be with you."

I've been quiet about the last few episodes of True Blood, partly because I've had a massive amount of deadlines at work and am in the process of moving house (and taking time off as a result), but also because my enthusiasm for the series has waned considerably during the final few installments of Season Four. After a series of strong episodes, I felt the quality drop considerably out of the final third of the season.

I will say, however, that I did quite enjoy the season finale ("And When I Die"), written by Raelle Tucker and directed by Scott Winant, which is a head-scratcher as I typically don't love the True Blood season finales as a rule, as they tend to be more about setting up the next season than wrapping up storylines. (I tend to think of them more as epilogues or codas than anything else.) Given how little I've liked the rally massacre/standoff at Moon Goddess storylines, I was surprised by how much pleasure I was able to take in the final episode of the season, which paid homage to past relationships, past friends, and the ghosts of the past, and still managed to set up some intriguing twists for Season Five.

Perhaps it was the opening sequence, which gave us a Sookie-Tara scene that was laden with emotion for a change. Far too often, True Blood relishes in the rollercoaster ride of plot twists and shocking developments, but the series tends to become far too operatic and out there when it loses sight of the baseline of normalcy that has to exist in these characters' lives, given just how compact the timeline tends to be. Yes, life in Bon Temps is scary, brutish, and short, which is why we need to see our characters find pleasure when they can, whether that's in a romantic sense or just kicking back with friends. We need to feel that there's a reason people stay in this not-so-quiet burg, rather than running for the hills (or the big city). Sookie used to sunbath and eat ice cream with Tara and put on a movie every now and then, but she's been so consumed with issues of survival, of vampire-human relations, of massacre-hungry witches, maenads, shifters, werewolves, faeries, etc. that she--and the show, really--have lost focus on humanity in a way.

Which is why I was so glad to see Tara and Sookie just sit in the kitchen and have a heart-to-heart, and talk for a change about what they were feeling, to unburden themselves, and remind the audience that these two really are friends, though the writers seem to relish pitting them against one another time and time again. Of course, this being True Blood, I figured that the fact that Sookie and Tara grabbed a quiet moment together meant that it would likely signal the demise of one Tara Thornton...

It's fitting, really, that an episode about the lifting of the veil between life and death should feature so much death and despair. In just a single episode, we witnessed the demise of Jesus (which depresses me more than anything), Nan, Debbie, and possibly Tara. (As well as seeing the "return" of Adele, Rene, Steve Newlin, and Russell Edgington, but we'll discuss that in a bit.) I'm not at all convinced that Tara is dead, for several reasons: (1) It would be a piss-poor end to a character who hasn't really gotten much of a fair shot and has been--in my opinion--battered around far too much by the writers, (2) Sookie's cry for help at the end, given how many vampires she's shared blood with who are in the nearby vicinity, (3) the dangling plot thread with Sookie seeing faeries rushing at her when she's reunited with Tara earlier in the season, and (4) Alan Ball told me he has an incredible plotline for Tara in Season Five.

Of course that plotline could be that she's deader than a doornail (or Alan was just lying to me in order to conceal Tara's fate), but I think that we haven't seen the last of Tara: she'll either be saved by a vampire (and possibly turned in the process) or Sookie will be forced to bargain with the faeries in order to save the life of her best friend. It's the latter that's the most likely, I think, given that the faeries stayed largely off camera after the incident with Claudine and Eric (save for Andy's forest tryst) and Tara has some sort of connection to them, given Sookie's vision. But whatever happens, I hope it's a new beginning for Tara, who has largely been thrust into two roles: angry black woman or victim. And it's time that we see her moving forward and not back, both in terms of character and plot. More than any other character--even Sookie, really--she's been put through the ringer and had her insides scooped out and replaced by hate and rage. But I want to see Rutina Wesley get something more to do than play the victim. (And, if she is turned, I hope it's actually poor Pam who does the turning. I loved her scene with Ginger at Fangtasia as she cries and then is hugged by Ginger. Aw.)

If this is the end of Tara, however, she at least went out trying to save the life of her best friend in a moment of self-sacrifice, as she jumps in front of Sookie to protect her from Debbie's shotgun blast, taking a shot to the head in the process. It's an act of love and friendship that connects to that opening scene and to the bond that Tara has with Sookie. In those moments, it's not about the suffering she's experienced, the things she's lost, the places she's had to go, but it's about putting the life of someone she loves before her own, of risking death in order to ensure Sookie lives.

As for Sookie, she uses Tara's sacrifice to get the jump on Debbie, wrest the shotgun from her, and then SHOT HER IN THE FACE AT POINT-BLANK RANGE. I don't think I ever expected that from lil' Sookie Stackhouse, who has grown up considerably in the last four seasons. I also think that the location of the attack--in her kitchen, where Adele died in a puddle of her own blood--played a role in her righteous vengeance upon Debbie Pelt. Throughout the episode, Sookie is haunted by flashbacks to discovering her gran's corpse in the kitchen, experiencing a sensation that Adele is nearby, hovering around her. While Adele wouldn't counsel murder, Sookie's gran is clearly on her mind, her kitchen once again turned into an abattoir, the body of a loved one pooling in crimson. In that precise moment, Sookie makes a break from her own humanity, her morality, and her sense of reason: she becomes as monstrous as Debbie or the vampires, pulling the trigger and relishing in the satisfaction that comes from destroying her enemy. It's brutal and nasty, bloody and personal.

Elsewhere, the body count ratcheted up in unexpected ways. While I was intrigued by Nan's rebellion against the AVL and the Authority (whom we'll learn more about next season), I was bloody shocked that Eric and Bill partnered up to turn Nan into a puddle of goo after she called them lovelorn puppy dogs. (They must really not like puppies.) In choosing neither Eric or Bill, Sookie seemed to bring the two of them closer together, each on the receiving end of an emotional evisceration from the faerie object of their affection. In killing Nan, the two are further bonded still, operating as a single entity in their efforts to contain the secret of Sookie's identity from other vampires. Once Nan let that gem fall from her lips, her fate was sealed in their eyes. No one is going to use Sookie for their own ends...

While I was shocked by Nan's death (and stunned by Debbie's), the one that I was most upset about was Jesus', especially as it came at the hand of the possessed Lafayette, who likely won't soon recover from dispatching his boyfriend, even if it was Marnie who pushed the blade into his chest. And, yes, we're given a glimpse of Jesus on the other side of the veil, having cast off his mortal coil, able to speak to Lafayette, and promising that he'll still see him, given that he's dead and Lafayette is a medium. Which is true, but all I could think about was that Kevin Alejandro left Southland so he could play a ghost that turns up every now and then? Sigh. Jesus and Lafayette were a fantastic couple, which in True Blood parlance meant that their happiness had to be short-lived. I'm curious whether Lafayette retained any of Jesus' brujo magic or whether that evaporated after Adele plucked Marnie out of him and she went off with the dead. But I'm sad to see Jesus go, really. Alejandro added a certain something to the series that will be missed.

I'm bored to tears with Sam and Luna and the predictability of that wolf turning up at Sam's place, just as he makes a pact to be happy with Luna. (Yawn.) I did like the scene with Sam and Sookie at the bar, with his confusion about "firing" Sookie and their embrace, and the sequence at Tommy's grave with Maxine, but I feel like Sam is getting short shrift these days; he needs an interesting storyline, preferably one with out Emma. (UGH.)

Matching bathrobes? Creepy. That should have been a sign to Sookie to run to Alcide...

I really loved all of the Jason/Jessica scenes. I thought their love scene was provocative and sensual and their interesting dynamic will gladly play out beyond this season, with Jason okay with Jessica looking elsewhere for sustenance, and Jessica gladly taking a walk on the dark side with the far more sexually experienced Jason Stackhouse. As for Hoyt, I think it will be a while before he's able to accept their relationship and not beat on Jason whenever he sees him. But I see why Jessica would need to experience something beyond the safety and predictability of Hoyt, why she would crave the taste of something different, something darker, and something that's not predictable or safe. (Plus, her Little Red Riding Hood costume? Woof.)

And just when Jason thought he had found the perfect woman, he opened up his door to discover... Reverend Steve Newlin. With fangs. This was a great--if expected twist--after a season of hints and subplots about the missing Fellowship of the Sun leader. Given that Jason hasn't invited him in, I don't think that Jason is in any danger, no matter how much tension they might try to create here. I am curious to see how Steve fits into the Russell Edgington plot, and whether it was Steve who helped release Russell from his concrete prison and glamoured the security guard. Is there to be a takeover of The Authority? A mutiny? A vampire rebellion? I'm very curious about all of this... and just who managed to turn the vampire-hating Newlin. Who is his maker? Hmmm...

Finally, there was the introduction of Patrick (Scott Foley), who brought with him some long-buried secrets involving Terry Bellefleur, which the spirit of Rene warns Arlene about. I'm curious just what experience(s) Terry has blocked from his memory and just how dangerous Patrick is. What did these two get up to during the war and how nasty was it? What has Terry forgotten and what memories has he repressed in order to function? Just how many people did Terry kill? "I've met the ghosts of his past," Rene told Arlene. "They ain't gonna rest forever." Looks like trouble will find Terry next year...

Ultimately, I thought that "And When I Die" managed to capture the poignancy and humanity that True Blood can excel at when it tries, as well as the unexpected and shocking reveals that the show loves to throw at the audience. I'm also happy that it has me intrigued enough to want to watch Season Five, as my loyalty to the show was severely tested earlier this season. But it's safe to say that I'll be back next summer, though I do wish the writers would try to better plot out the season-long arcs, keep an eye on tonal consistency, and try to be as organic as possible with the numerous, sprawling subplots.

But I'm curious to know: what did you think of the season finale? And Season Four as a whole? Was I too harsh with my evaluation? Was your patience tested as mine was? Will you be watching next season? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Season Five of True Blood will air next summer on HBO.

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The race for the Emmy Awards’ top drama prize isn’t as cut and dried as it looks.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "The Real Race for Best Drama: Why Mad Men May Not Win," in which I examine the cutthroat competition this year for best drama, and why Mad Men may not win the top spot at next weekend's awards ceremony. (Though it probably will.)

What's your take on the drama race this year? Will Mad Men four-peat? Will The Good Wife claim the top pick? Will HBO's Game of Thrones or Boardwalk Empire walk away with the statuette? Or will Friday Night Lights pull off the impossible and finally get some recognition for its outstanding fifth and final season? Head to the comments section to discuss.

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Mad Men's fourth season episode "The Suitcase" was instantly deemed a classic hour of TV.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Mad Men Up Close," in which series creator Matthew Weiner and star Jon Hamm offer an oral history of the gut-wrenching, Emmy-nominated episode "The Suitcase." Weiner and Hamm dissect six of the most powerful and indelible sequences from “The Suitcase,” the relationship between Don and Peggy, and Hamm’s performance, which Weiner called “magical.”

Get your handkerchiefs ready.

Season Five of Mad Men is slated to begin March 2012 on AMC.

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