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Ugh. True Blood was doing so well, but this week, apart from a few high points, really didn’t score well with me at all.

First of all: Sookie with Sam. Hanging out, sharing meaningful glances, and finally macking. GROSS! No sir, I don’t like him, and Sookie doesn’t really like him either: she was just being a whiney little bitch because Bill didn’t come flying when she was almost strangled at the bar. Did she miss the part last week where he told her he had to go on trial? That he didn’t know when or if he could come back? Dumb hillbilly.

More annoying: Tara and her stupid mom. I am SO glad these annoying characters do not appear in the novels (more on that in another post). Tara’s mom is a real bitch for kicking Tara out, that’s gratitude for ya, but who can really blame her? Tara’s just so unappealing. Except, apparently, to this mysteriously-rich “social worker,” who just happens to be the naked woman who was standing in the road with a pig. What does it all mean? What’s she really up to? What will happen to poor, tortured Tara? Why would anyone care?

Annoying leading to awesome, leading to annoying, leading to awesome: hippy bitch Amy stakes our beloved little Eddie, confirming that she is indeed the skankiest hippy-ho in the history of television. But Jason, the man-ho equivalent of her skankiness, suddenly wakes up and seems to kick her out of the house. Except, well, he doesn’t. And despite his promise that they weren’t doing V again, they do V again. And go on a ridiculous run around the golf course from Caddyshack, complete with sprinkler system. I have to admit, Jason is pretty good-looking and can even make a pair of tighty-whities look kind of sexy. But where this whole thing veered back into awesome territory was when he threw Amy into the air – and she floated away. BECAUSE RENE WAS STRANGLING HER! Ding-dong, the witch is dead.

Bad cop, worse cop: the whole “Andy Bellefleur is a judgemental prick who only sees what he wants to see” thing is really getting overplayed. Yes, we get it. He’s thrilled to be able to pin all the murders on Jason, even though we now know that Jason didn’t do it. Yawn. And the sherriff (whose sole redeeming quality thus far is the fact that he’s played by the completely awesome William Sanderson) will eventually see that Jason couldn’t be the killer, and put Andy in his place, etc., etc. Again: yawn.

When good girls go bad: I love me some Lafayette, and they totally had me with him painting his toenails at the bar. I mean: unhygienic? Yes. Fabulous? YES! But it was so cliched for him to dress up in “straight” clothes and go threaten the congress-critter. Even if it was justified, it was all telegraphed from three miles away. I expect more from my HBO dramas, honestly.

When good girls go bad, 2: though it was broadly played, and almost slapstick, the entire interaction between Bill, Pam, the newly vamped Jessica, and Eric was my favorite part of the whole episode. Why? I don’t know. I think all of the emotions playing over Bill’s face, from his initial horror and grief and guilt, to exasperation and a dawning annoyance, had me really entertained. Stephen Moyer played it well. He’s actually one of the most understated performers in the cast, which is probably why I dream about him EVERY NIGHT. Also, Eric is a hottie. And Jessica? Annoying, but in a funny way — not a Tara way.

So next week is the season finale. It looks like the season was designed to mirror the first book in the series, which they’ve strayed from a bit. It will be interesting at least to see how they tie things up, and then where they go with the show next season (HBO has already ordered a second season). Regarding my references to that book: Yes, I have recently read the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, called “Dead Until Dark.” I’m planning a separate post to compare the book with season one, but I’ll probably wait until after the finale has aired next week. Short summary: the book is much better than the show, but at least now I know there’s some good source material available. Whether Alan Ball chooses to use it is another matter.