Aside from the rarity of being a twin (roughly only 33 out of every thousand births are multiples of any kind), being born at the same time as another human being imparts a special bond that people born through single births simply can’t understand. Growing side by side as their bodies develop turns into growing older at the same rate and often going through the same familial issues. It’s the shared experience of brothers and sisters – complete with different personalities and personal quirks – amplified even further through closer proximity. But what happens when someone’s biological other half passes away?

This is the question director and twin Anna van der Wee looks at in her hour long documentary Lone Twin (airing Wednesday, February 15th at 9pm on TVO), a deeply personal and soul searching look her own loss and struggles to come to terms with a fractured sense of identity following the loss of her brother Dirk when they were only twenty years old. Anna, who always acted as the wild child to Dirk’s calm loner, takes stock of failed past relationships that she sees now as not working out because she was always searching for a replacement to Dirk. She talks at length about feeling alienated from her family after her parents and older sister monopolized their grief to the point where they acknowledged Dirk’s death, but not the fact that Anna was still alive, the scarring from which Anna admits hurts almost worse than Dirk’s passing.

Following a brief look at twins through history (from the Greek mythology of Cator and Pollux to the modern mythology of Luke and Leia Skywalker) and interviews with various twins talking about their deep personal bonds, Anna sets out in search of other “lone twins” and talks to experts (many of which are also twins) about personal identity following the death of such an extremely close loved one. A particularly bittersweet section of the film finds Anna talking to Graeme, a sweet and lovable Star Wars cosplayer (complete with a really awesome Boba Fett costume) who only lost his brother two years ago. With the memory still fresh, Graeme constantly wonders if he should hold back introducing himself to people as a twin since it was a huge part of his identity that suddenly doesn’t exist anymore.

The first part of the film takes a little while to get going, but as it gets more and more personal, Lone Twin offers some keen insight into a world that few people outside of those living within it can really comprehend. Anna van der Wee does a great job behind the camera telling a story equal parts personal and universal, while never shying away from people in her past telling her answers she doesn’t necessarily want to hear. Lone Twin equates losing a twin sibling as losing a family member, a best friend, and part of one’s soul at the same time, and it does a fine job showing just how awful that truly sounds.

Lone Twin airs on TVO Wednesday February 15th at 9pm on TVO.

With the second season premiere of the sword & sandals epic Spartacus just around the corner, we had the opportunity to talk with Australian actress Viva Bianca, who plays the manipulative Roman aristocrat Ilithyia on the Starz series.

We discussed the untimely passing of Spartacus star Andy Whitfield, the show’s second season, its depictions of sex and violence, and even had a little time to talk about Punky Brewster.

Dork Shelf: First we’d like to express our sincere condolences on the passing of Andy Whitfield. He was insanely talented and a huge part of the show obviously, part of what made it such a big hit. He seemed like a hell of a guy.

Viva Bianca: Thank you. Andy is an exceptional person and quite clearly a highly talented and charismatic actor. It’s a great loss personally and also a great loss for the industry.

DS: Agreed. So you character, Ilithyia, is one of my personal favourites on Spartacus. Tell me a little bit about how you joined the show. What drew you to the role initially?

VB: Aw… thank you. Of course, that was a little while back now when we first started making the show it was 2009. I was cast from Australia and it was the biggest production I had ever been on. It was very exciting, but at that stage we didn’t even really know what the show was going to be. I’m told that that’s often the case with new series, particularly cable series on a network like Starz. So it was really kind of falling into the unknown.

With regards to Ilithyia , I had no idea that she would emerge as the villain that she did emerge as. As you might recall she began as this bratty princess on the show, but the part just kept growing and twisting and unravelling. The great thing about season two is that audiences can expect to see even more complexity in the character, and even some vulnerability.

DS: Watching Ilithyia in the second season so far, I’m reminded of some of the great TV villainesses of the 80s and 90s. That clear villainess who is always making power plays and scheming in the background. Have you drawn any inspiration from some of those classic archetypal characters?

VB: No, I haven’t conciously at least. But I watch film,TV, and go to the theatre a lot, so I think subliminally you’re bound to draw inspiriation from various past performances. I think I’m always drawn to complex, strong women, but with any kind of character like that I would want to explore vulnerability, fragility, and softness. On the contrary, if I were to be playing a more vulnerable, fragile character, I’d always be looking for the strength or the dark side. So to me, it’s about creating the most well-rounded, realized, and complex human being.

DS: Well you’re certainly achieving that in season two. What can you tell us about the new season? What can viewers expect?

VB: In season three the stakes have risen across the board. Every single character wants something desperately and every single character is seeking vengeance. It’s highly dramatic. For Ilithyia in particular, it’s a seriously epic rollercoaster. She’s fallen from grace, and she’s grappling for her very livelyhood and survival. So she’s a woman on the edge.

DS: Okay, we’re going to talk about some spoilers here, so reader beware. Ilithyia is pregnant, is it safe to say that Spartacus be the daddy?

VB: That’s a cheeky suggestion! We don’t know that yet, but that’s obviously a big question and a big secret to be revealed in season two, so stay tuned.

DS: You and Lucy Lawless’ character are growing much closer this season. The roles have almost flipped, now Ilithyia has become the manipulator. There’s a great scene in episode two where Lucretia sacrifices the goat and you’ve got the knife, and there’s that palpable tension. Are we going to see more of this new dynamic?

VB: The relationship dynamic between those two women just becomes more co-dependant and complex. The writers gave us so much material to work with, so we were very fortunate. In addition to that, Lucy and I really took full advantage of one another, we had a great chemistry together and have become great friends off-screen. So it was a real delight playing through the drama in that relationship.

I think what’s really fundamental here is that Ilithyia becomes the doma of the house, of assiartus, and Lucretia has lost all of her power in that situation. Both characters find themselves in totally new territory.

DS: You seem like you’re constantly surrounded by burly fighting men on the show, do you ever get the desire to get in on that action? Duck into the writer’s room and ask if Ilithyia could maybe take up a sword every once in a while?

VB: Oh no, I love being princess-y and pretty! Sitting on the lovely Persian cloth-covered loungers, sipping on wine and eating cherries. I’m quite happy with the decadence in which my character dwells, thank you very much. But not to spoil anything too major, there is a little bit of crossing of worlds for Ilithyia in the upcoming season. She doesn’t stay entirely clean, but that’s all I can say.

DS: Right on, that’s something to look forward to! Not related to that, but obviously at the forefront of the show is the nudity. It almost always helps drive the story forward, but what’s your take on how it’s handled on the show?

VB: First and foremost, whenever the prospect of nudity arises on the show in a particular scene or episode, there will always be a meeting about it with the director or the producers. What’s always discussed is the relevence of that scene to the story. The nudity and the sex scenes have to be driving the story forward in order for them to be appropriate and justified. I think that for all of the actors in the cast, that’s kind of the unanimous philosophy.

But doing sex scenes and doing nudity is never easy and never comfortable. It must be dealt with in the most clinical, professional, and respectful manner. And on this show it absolutely is, we’re really protected.

DS: The nudity never feels excessive or just there to be there. It’s also very balanced. I’ve seen far more male genitalia in that season alone than I’d seen in my life up to that point.

VB: That’s a really good way of looking at it. You could never say that the show is objectifying women for the male gaze, because it certainly goes both ways. And another thing, the female characters on this show are ballsy and empowered and scheming. They’re often the ones who are manipulating their husbands to get what they want. Ilithyia is a perfect example of that. She’s an incredibly empowered and sophisticated lady in a world where women really didn’t have much power.

DS: Behind every strong man is a strong woman. Ilithyia is the powerhouse in that relationship. The Praetor may strut around puffing his chest, but you can tell that Ilithyia is the one scheming and pulling the strings. As did Lucy Lawless’ character when the roles were reversed.

VB: That’s correct. The fun thing for me in season two is that I have my husband around. Glaber, played by the great Craig Parker, becomes the man of the house. I get to explore a wonderful character dynamic with Craig. The marriage between Ilithyia and Glaber is extraordinarily complex; passionate, but also manipulative and destructive. It goes down a really dark path in season two.

DS: Oenomaus looks like he’s going to play a big role in the return of the House of Batiatus. Can you tell us a little bit about what’s going on there?

VB: Oenomaus is one of my favourite characters, he is so noble and stoic. Of course, played by the great Peter Mensah, one of my dear friends from the cast. He brings such a sophistication to the show that we’re all so grateful for. He plays a note that none of us provide. His storyline stands apart from everyone elses, he’s a solitary man that doesn’t take easily to the rebellion and Spartacus’ cause.

DS: It’s certainly nice to see him return to the House of Batiatus. So we have to wrap up here, but we have to ask what is on your Dork Shelf?

VB: This is a really hard question! Well, I must say that I’m gypsy so I don’t have a home as such right now. I have a series of collectible dolls from my childhood that I’ve never thrown away. I’ve got an array of Barbie dolls and antique dolls, but I’ve recently started collecting little figurines of characters. For instance, I have a Punky Brewster doll that I’ve had since the late-80s when I was a little girl. For some reason I think it’s very cool.

DS: Punky was of course the first true independant woman for a generation.

VB: Punky rocked! The different coloured shoes, the pigtails, the freckles, the thing around her knee. She also had the phone that was a hamburger.

DS: Thank you for your time, Viva. It has been wonderful chatting with you.

VB: Really nice to meet you. Ciao!

You can find more Viva at VivaBianca.org and her official Twitter and Facebook pages.

Spartacus: Vengeance premieres at 10 PM on tonight on Starz in the United States and January 29th on The Movie Network in Canada.

If you’ve been missing the humorously misogynistic d-baggery of Entourage, then Showtime’s newest half hour comedy House of Lies might just be the show for you.

Don Cheadle (whose movie career is apparently over) plays cutthroat business consultant Marty Kaan, who on a douche scale of 1 to Jeremy Piven comes in at about a 9. Kaan works for Galweather & Stern, a top-tier image consulting firm that is in the business of using smoke and mirrors to make corrupt corporations look good in the public eye. Kaan and his team of professional a-holes consisting of Jeannie (Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars), Clyde (Ben Schwartz aka Parks & Recreation‘s Jean-Ralphio) and Doug (Josh Lawson of… something) jet-set around the world, deceiving CEOs and banging strippers like there’s no tomorrow.

Professionally, Marty seems to have everything (mostly) under control but his home life is another story. In the first scene he is shown throwing around the limp, naked body of a woman who is passed out in his bedroom and tells the audience, ‘Never, EVER f*** your ex-wife.’ Um, good advice. The only soft spot Marty seems to have is for his ‘pre-gay’ adolescent son who’s more interested in starring in musicals than doing typical boy things. Marty is fiercely protective of his son, although that doesn’t stop him from banging his son’s rival’s mother… in the back of a van… while his son performs on stage. Whatta guy, huh?

Maybe House of Lies sounds like fun, but the gratuitous raunch and assholery combined with the cheesy narrative devices (Cheadle breaks the fourth wall so often that even Zack Morris would cringe) leave you feeling more repulsed than entertained. It’s hard to tell if this show is condemning corporate greed or celebrating it. It feels as if it wants to say something profound but the message is lost somewhere between the unrealistic and lazily written business jargon (it feels as though the writers forgot to consult a consultant) and the overzealous and non-sequitor lesbian bathroom showdown between Marty’s fake stripper date and his colleague’s slutty Stepford Wife.

Although House of Lies has no shortage of strong performers, Cheadle somehow feels miscast after his memorable performance as a compassionate concierge in ‘Hotel Rwanda’. Kristen Bell is good but underused and although the energy drink double fisting of Ben Schwartz’ Clyde faintly echoes his iconic Parks & Rec character, it’s just not enough to keep the show interesting.

If any of this sounds appealing to you, then you can watch the second episode of House of Lies tonight on The Movie Network and Showtime at 9pm.

This week’s instalment of Boardwalk Empire brought us a heaping portion of the old ultra-violence that we so cherish. It’s Veteran’s Day in Atlantic City, a city “built to help people forget” says Nucky in his speech to the throngs gathered to commemorate the occassion, “but today is for remembering.” Is it ever. Nothing in this episode seems to be forgotten or forgiven – every past slight is remembered and every debt paid for.

The ceremony itself goes off without a hitch, Nucky pays tribute to his nemesis, the Commodore, who is incapacitated by his stroke and unable to attend the festivities. Nucky then calls Jimmy to the podium, to Jimmy’s surprise. It’s a challenge, and one that Jimmy handles ably despite his shaky nerves. “You think I don’t know how to play this game?” Jimmy asks his ‘father’, “I don’t even think you know the rules.”

But Jimmy does know the rules, he downplays his own acts of heroism, captures the ghastliness of the war, and pays tribute to the reasons for the soldier’s sacrifice: mothers, son, wives and America.” It’s not the first time we’ve seen Jimmy demonstrate his political savvy (I’m thinking of his conversation with Rothstein a few weeks back), but it’s the first time Nucky has; as the look on his face, and his continued obsession with Jimmy in the country club dressing room reveals.

With the Commodore in a vegetative state, Jimmy has assumed control over the “political coup” against Nucky, but his financial backers, Eli and the Ward Bosses are skeptical about the young buck’s leadership. In a meeting with the old men, including the guy with the facial hair (who I only this episode realized is played by Dominic Chianese, famous for his portrayal of Uncle June in The Sopranos), they appear to be very worried about their investment. “You’re trying to diddle the wrong men,” they tell him when he won’t own up to the Commodore’s ailment.

Jackson Parkhurst is the financial backer who is the most hostile towards Jimmy. A veteran of the wars against the Sioux, he brags of his exploits to the group, who have clearly heard every word a million times. He also boasts of his war profiteering, something not likely to endear him to a veteran like Darmody.

When Jimmy grows tired of the threats and whining from the old men, he points out that they don’t scare him, quipping, “oh yeah, you’re going to throw me out of your yacht club?” Parkhurst responds by striking Jimmy across the face with his cane and admonishing his lack of “respect.” Jimmy withdraws with a panicked Eli, who Jimmy doesn’t even attempt to pacify. It seems as if the coup leaders are fragmenting in a hurry…

The icky relationship between Jimmy and his mother Gillian is re-visited again shortly thereafter. It’s been clear that the incestuous undertones of their relationship would be a major theme of the season since Gillian told Jimmy’s wife about how she used to kiss baby Jimmy’s “winky” while changing him (I’m still not over that quote). In this scene Gillian cleans her son’s injury, dotes on him, touches his face in a way that makes me squirm, and advises Jimmy that he’s not to be “disrespected” and he has to “make that clear.”

In effect, Gillian has indirectly ordered the murder of Jackson Parkhurst (a man she probably used to dance for, and perhaps service), and is now in effect the “real leader” of the coup. In contrast to Gillian and Jimmy’s all encompassing openness, in a scene later in the episode, Jimmy tells his wife that he hurt his head on a car door. She is, as she suspects, not the main woman in Jimmy’s life.

On Nucky’s return from golfing with the Attorney General, he is greeted by Margaret whose first line to her husband is, “where’s Owen?!” She is worried, of course, because Eli has come to visit and she knows what that could (and does) lead to, but it also provides some fuel for fire for those viewers who believe that Margaret has something of a crush on the sexually explosive Irishman.

Eli reveals that the Commodore is “out of the game”, and that he “knows who is going to testify” against his brother. None of this information is valuable to Nucky, who has “just played golf with the Attorney General of the United States,” but Eli nonetheless pleads for forgiveness. Instead, Nucky calls him a “scared child,” and requires his brother to “kiss my fucking shoes you piece of shit” which Eli can’t abide. A fist fight ensues and Eli probably would’ve murdered Nucky then and there had Margaret not come along with an unloaded rifle and broken up the fisticuffs.

Eli’s utility may be realized yet, as we see from Nucky’s conversation with the Attorney General later that evening that the AG can’t make any guarantees about their plan to have the charges against Nucky dropped. The Attorney General presents a prosecutor, a flamboyant fellow named Chip, and once the deal is done, they expect to be entertained. Nucky sends in his girls, but his face is resentful throughout, and one suspects that the role of “pimp” is not one Nucky particularly cherishes.

The action then cuts to brother Eli, who is proper wasted and fixing something or other with one of his many children. “Your pops can fix anything”, he assures the youngster, not quite believing his own words as he takes a massive glug from his flask. When he is visited by one of the Ward Bosses named George, he is agitated, cornered and drunk.

George suspects that something is afoot with the Commodore and demands to go see him. Eli tries to protect the status of the Commodore, but he’s drunk and not particularly savvy, and gives the game up. He then freaks out and hits George in the neck with a wrench, which, he clearly didn’t wholly intend to do. Once it’s apparent that George is going to die, however, Eli viciously (and graphically) beats in George’s face with the wrench. Great stuff.

Now let’s get to the major side plot of the episode – Richard Harrow’s walk in the woods. Harrow skips the Veteran’s Day parade, and our fist glimpse at him occurs while Jimmy is reading the names of the fallen veterans of Atlantic City. A few names continue to be read off while the visual transfers to Harrow, himself “among the fallen” despite the fact that he technically “lives on.”

Harrow leaves his flat and his collage book of idyllic domestic settings and goes out to the Jersey Bush about 30 miles outside of Atlantic City. He has his gun ostensibly to go hunting, but in reality, Harrow considers himself “dead inside,” and is looking to formally end it all.

Harrow finds a suitable log, removes his prosthetic face and begins a last meal of brie and apples. We’ve heard Jimmy tell Richard not to be embarrassed to eat in front of his family before, and seeing this “last meal” we finally know why. Merely taking a drink from a flask looks painful and laborious for Harrow.

Richard lies back, puts his rifle in his mouth and looks at the grey sky, he is about to end when a dog approaches, growls at him and steals his prosthetic. It is striking that Richard, who was considering ending it all then and there would be so upset about the loss of his fake half face, which, presumably he’d have little need for once he blew the rest of his face off. Instead, Richard chases after the dog (his deux ex machina object) while yelling: “I need that mask!”

Richard eventually comes upon the dog’s owners, a couple of bush-men named Glenmore and Pete who hunt “tree rat” (squirrel) and drink extremely strong homemade liquor, which, they share with Richard once he confirms he’s not a revenue agent. They talk about flying horses that they’ve seen in Atlantic city, and Glenmore admonishes Pete for going home to spend the night as opposed to roughing it, “you’re getting soft.”

Eventually the talk turns to the dog, who Glenmore refers to as “an old soldier, he just keeps on fighting,” This interests Harrow who asks Glenmore “what is he fighting for?” The response: “you’ll have to ask him.” Glenmore gives Richard a speech about “what these woods is for,” and apparently the woods are not for “foolishness” but instead “they’re for living,” and Richard, now saved, goes on his way to rendezvous with Jimmy.

Jimmy and Richard’s conversation is the proper end to Richard’s soul-searching subplot. “Where were you today?” Jimmy asks. “Went for a walk”, Harrow responds. “I should have gone with you” says Jimmy. At the end of the day, Jimmy’s affection for Harrow isn’t an act, it’s very real. In contrast to Jimmy’s regard for Eli, whom he wouldn’t so much as offer a word of reassurance to earlier in the episode, Jimmy brushes Richard’s face when Richard asks him, “Would you fight for me?” The answer: “Down to the last bullet.”

So they go to work, which, tonight at least involves scalping Mr. Parkhurst. When Parkhurst sees Richard he asks him, “who are you?” Harrows response: “a soldier.” And so his emotional arc is complete, Harrow has come to terms with who he is, he may never have the idyllic domestic life he craves, but he’s not wholly “dead inside”, rather, he’s “an old soldier who just keeps on fighting.” By the way, how hard was that scalping to watch? I’d venture so far as to say that it was a more brutal scalping than anything the Basterds got up to. When you beat Tarantino for gruesomeness, and you’re a cable series, you’re doing something right.

Parkhurst’s screams echo the maid, Katie’s screams. Except she isn’t getting scalped, she’s just getting freaky with Mr. Sleator in the maids quarters at Nucky’s place. They wake Margaret, who checks on the children before encountering her promiscuous, well endowed maid. She asks Katie if she heard anything, but Katie plays the innocent, though the look on Margaret’s face makes plain that she knows what’s up, and she is probably pretty jealous.

The episode closes with a wickedly stark shot of Eli burying George against the edge of a cornfield, illuminated by the lights of his car.

What a crazy episode. The tide has clearly turned in Nucky’s favour in Atlantic City: his lawyer has an ingenious plan, Owen Slater is good at blowing things up, Chalky is out of jail, and the conspirators are vulnerable as a result of the Commodore’s untimely stroke. By the episode’s completion, Nucky has exacted some costly vengeance against Jimmy, while Gillian violently slaps around a stroke victim…

Let’s begin with the Commodore’s stroke, brought on to some extent by the excitement of Gillian’s striptease. Gillian’s striptease was filled with violent metaphors (the story of the stag torn limb from limb by dogs, the arrow she shoots at the Commodore) and the Commodore goes into a stroke that leaves him in a vegetative state. Basically he’s only able to say the word: “cock.”

Gillian lies about what caused the Commodore’s stroke, “I found him like that”, she tells the doctor, while Eli worries about their plans. The Commodore’s cronies have loaned Eli, Jimmy and the Commodore a substantial sum of money, but without the Commodore’s steady hand on the throttle, the conspirators are vulnerable. They decide they better quickly off-load the booze they hijacked from Nucky.

It was only the last episode in which Gillian claimed that she has forgiven the man who raped her, and certainly the striptease would indicate that she’d meant that honestly. Once he’s vulnerable however, her trauma and resentment bubble up to the surface. In the episode’s final scene she recollects the night of the rape, and the memories are clearly still so traumatic that she repeatedly slaps the incontinent Commodore. The scene is all sorts of offensive and tough to watch, which, is in large part a credit to Gretchen Mol’s simmering acting performance leading up to Gillian’s violent outburst.

An interesting part of the episode’s structure is the competing deals that Nucky and Jimmy make to ship booze through/to Philadelphia. Nucky goes through Arnold Rothstein and Waxy Gordon and though the deal itself isn’t consummated by the end of the episode, it seems like Nucky has found a way around the Commodore’s embargo.

For Jimmy, Sleator’s bomb has destroyed Doyle’s warehouse and left him very much in the lurch. Jimmy was looking to ship booze to a Mr. Horowitz in Philadelphia. Mr. Horowitz is a scary fellow who runs a butcher shop and fancies himself a rival to Nucky’s Philadelphia counterpart Waxy Gordon. Anytime a character is introduced in a crime drama, and spends the entire introductory scene handling a knife – he’s not someone you want to mess with. Horowitz, remember, paid Jimmy upfront for the booze that was lost in the fire – so Jimmy will need to be pretty diplomatic in next weeks episode, or he may end up in pieces in Horowitz’s cooler.

At the Mayor’s birthday party, the showgirls (who Nucky, remember, originally didn’t want to have at the party) reveal themselves as being from Philadelphia initially. The over-heard conversation gives Nucky’s lawyer an idea, get the girls to sign sworn statements at the attorney generals office, and have the case moved to the federal court (where Nucky’s political connections can get the case dismissed). Looks like everything is coming up Nucky!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Chalky was illiterate, and a comment left by one of our readers challenged my interpretation. Alan Sepinwall also seemed to disagree with me in his (much better) review of the episode. Based on this weeks episode, we can safely conclude that my “Chalky is illiterate” interpretation is the correct one. Chalky has clearly been released from prison, and as he joins his family for breakfast his youngest daughter asks if he can check his homework. Ostensibly he won’t because “he’s too strict,” but when he looks to his son to verify that claim, his son responds doubtfully. Pretty clear if you add that scene with the one in the prison cell two weeks ago, that Chalky White is, in fact, illiterate.

Chalky’s illiteracy and “country ways” are the focal point of his characters conflict in this episode. The poor guy has been in jail for a week and all he wants is some damn Hoppin John, but his wife and daughter are hoping to impress the girl’s suitor, so Chalky White’s table is instead set with duck, peas and a bunch of other good stuff. Chalky explodes, and nearly ruins the evening.

Chalky’s superficial refinement is all pretension, and it’s rather ill-fitting, which, is what is pointed out at the Chicken Bone Beach parliamentary session as well. Chalky is clearly responsible for handling some basic issues those in the black community of Atlantic City (labour issues, neighborhood issues) but he’s confronted by the wives and mothers of those who were killed in the KKK raid back in episode one. They’re skeptical of his “promises” and one is particularly obstinate – as she questions his very position within the community. That Chalky is an extremely simple man underneath his “unofficial” political clout and outward appearance is not something that was obvious to viewers last season; and it’s good to see Michael K. Williams given more to do this season.

Finally the explosion was a great visual, and the way Agent Clarkson burned following it was disturbing and gruesome. Clarkson is onto Van Alden’s personal corruption, which, is why the agents were at the warehouse in the first place. Van Alden’s wife is also onto her husband’s personal immorality – as she has checked and knows that he isn’t at the boarding house anymore. The fact that Van Alden’s co-workers and wife are beginning to suspect that something is amiss with the uncompromising zealot, is a sign that the weight of Nelson’s secret (that he has impregnated Lucy and paid her to carry the child to term) may be too much for him to bear. There is nothing more dangerous for the inhabitants of Nucky’s Atlantic City (and more potentially entertaining for the audience) than a desperate Van Alden – so lets hope this particular noose continues to tighten.

Owen Sleator is definitely impertinent, especially when he’s poking fun at Damien while constructing the time-bomb, but he’s more than just “cheeky,” he’s a full on bad-ass. When he shows up at the house at the beginning of the episode, Margaret is none to pleased with the courtesies paid to him by her maid Katie. It’s been suggested elsewhere that Margaret has something of a crush on Mr. Sleator – so it’s worth watching to see if this is addressed in a subsequent episode.

With the exception of Nucky’s confrontation with the Commodore and Jimmy in the restaurant, the third episode of Boardwalk Empire‘s second season is the least eventful of the episodes we’ve been treated to so far. Titled “The Dangerous Maid” for Katie, Margaret’s maid, who at this point “knows too much,” the episode is preoccupied with Nelson’s functional imprisonment of Lucy and fully fleshes out her resultant desolation, but otherwise, it’s a table-setting episode.

The dichotomy drawn between Nucky and Van Alden is stark and tough to miss. Nucky may “order people murdered and fix elections” as Van Alden quite rightly says, but Van Alden is no saint either – and “at least Nucky was fun.”

That Nucky is fun, or more accurately, both generous and highly empathetic, is undeniable – just try to return your fancy clothes as a cost-cutting measure and see how he reacts. When Nucky realizes his wife Margaret is upset about the discovery that her family is in America, he offers her the world, or more precisely Paris, saying “it’s important to always have something to look forward to.” When Margaret is troubled that her recently discovered family wants nothing at all to do with her, Nucky takes her out on the town and plants a big, wet kiss on her upon their return, “I don’t ever want to see you sad again” – he says.

Van Alden on the other hand has cut Lucy off from the outside world, he has forbidden her to talk to anyone and has denied her any and all of life’s joys, simple things like “some conversation, a little music,” which, Lucy understandably craves. “What you might want… can’t be allowed” Nelson tells Lucy when he finds her reading a script and fantasizing about a return to the stage. Hard to imagine Nucky denying anyone their desire,  much less the mother of his future child.

Lucy’s suffering reaches its climax when she stands at the top of the stairs and agonizes about whether or not to throw herself down them – a horrifying way to abort a pregnancy. I found that excruciating to watch on my first go through. Luckily, Nelson has relented, and perhaps taking the bootlegger Doyle up on his advice “treat a Queen like a whore, and a whore like a Queen,” has purchased Lucy a record player so she might enjoy some music in her captivity. When Nelson returns and sees a pregnant Lucy swaying to the music, his face is tough to read, but I think the absence of snarl indicates that the repressed IRS agent is inflamed.

Margaret’s family has moved to Brooklyn according to the Pinkertons (I’m pleased the world famous detective agency has finally made an appearance – I expect we’ll see them again as the series unfolds) and appear to want nothing to do with Margaret Schroeder – or should we say Peggy Rowan. Margaret has Katie the maid contact her family in her stead – Katie is perhaps a bit too quick for her own good, and explicitly uncovers the truth for us at the end of the episode. Katie has, it seems, taken Margaret’s order to “drop the formalities” to heart and grabs her mistresses arm while asking an absurdly personal question – Katie may be quick, but she’s clearly unwise.

Owen Slater seems to be developing into a bad-ass, and that’s certainly timely for Nucky. Slater comes to Nucky with a bold pitch and an offer to cause some particular people a whole lot of pain on behalf of his American benefactor. Slater then intervenes on Nucky’s behalf, and prevents his employer from purchasing liquor from Richard Harrow. The scene, in which Slater bashes a couple of Harrow’s henchman and seems to reach Richard with a combination of respect and straightforwardness – is likely the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we can expect from Slater going forward.

Harrow in this scene strikes me as a bad fit to be Jimmy’s lieutenant. Just doesn’t seem to be enough of a hard-ass. Whereas last season Richard’s particular way of breathing and playing with his mouth came off as sinister – this season he is conspicuously pitiable. When Capone called Harrow Frankenstein last season, it was a fitting name for a scary assassin; when he does so this season, it’s a cruel and unnecessary jab at a sensitive fellow. This transformation in Harrow’s portrayal has made for some good television – but I don’t know that it will benefit his bootlegging efforts.

The conspirators Jimmy, Eli and the Commodore may have money at their disposal and some enviable political connections (The Governor, the Coast Guard) but they don’t seem to garner a lot of respect. The conversation with Nucky’s captain McCoy goes awfully and he calls them out individually for what they are – traitors. Eli doesn’t even have the respect of his father, who though old and confused still manages to call him an idiot. Poor Eli. The scene at Eli’s house, with his wife and plethora of children — the count has to be in double figures — underlines the stakes involved for Eli. Though Eli’s father is battling senility and McCoy ends up having his ships confiscated when the Commodore calls in the coast-guard – their mistrust and hostility towards the group bodes poorly for them.

As do Jimmy’s doubts – about his father and what he wants in life. Both Capone and the Governor ask Jimmy if he’s “following in the footsteps of his old man” and Jimmy is hostile to the idea on both occasions. He even tells his mother “sometimes I think I’d be better suited to a simpler life.” He also comments that the Commodore’s dyed hair “looks foolish” and questions how his mother can forgive the man she’s spent most of her life referring to as “the lech.”

The confrontation scene in the restaurant is awesome – and is the worst portend of all for the conspirators. Superficially it seems, they’ve won the day – they’ve successfully embargoed Nucky’s liquor supply, and they’re sitting at his table in his usual restaurant with the Governor of New Jersey. They even got the last of the Lobster Thermidor. When Nucky confronts them, however, it’s clear who still holds the chips.

Nucky savages the Commodore, pledges to ruin all of them and drives a wedge between the conspirators by bringing up the simple fact that the Commodore is barely a father to Jimmy. Their only connection is that Jimmy is the product of the Commodore having raped his mother, a fact that pre-occupies Jimmy, “He never even asked her name.”

When Nucky returns home, the help remarks “well he’s in good spirits!” Jimmy on the other hand is shown chain-smoking, and drinking alone. When his wife comes and asks him “how was dinner with your father?” Jimmy answers tellingly, “which one?”

The fourteenth episode of Boardwalk Empire is a busy one, centered around the growing conspiracy against Nucky and his imminent rally; a rally that is sure to be buttressed by his live-in girlfriend Margaret Schroeder. The episode takes its title “Ourselves Alone” from the correct English translation of “Sinn Fein,” the Irish revolutionary group that sends a dour-faced emissary to shill for monetary assistance from an embattled Nucky Thompson. Mistaken identity abounds as Nucky is released from jail, Jimmy heads to New York to “lay some ground work” for the planned takeover in Atlantic City bootlegging, and Chalky find himself in a revealing bottle episode.

Let’s start with the scenes involving the Commodore, Eli and his ward bosses. The conspiracy is now well afoot, and every one of the Ward Bosses – save for Damien – is on board. They meet with the Commodore, who has dyed his hair and mustache to look younger. It isn’t effective and he looks preposterous – even his co-conspirators mock him “Did he fall into some shoe polish?”. The Commodore begins with a feat of strength to demonstrate in his own prehistoric way his suitability as a leader, and begins giving marching orders. It’s now clear that Neary and Ryan are the main conspirators – the other Ward Bosses fall into line because, frankly, they’re simpletons.

The Commodore asks the men “when you come face to face with destiny, do you want to be the bear, or do you want to be holding the shotgun?” The issue of course, is that if you’re not a bear – you better be damn confident in your shotgun. Is the Commodore, a sickly old man who has only recently caught his second wind – the most dependable weapon to wield against a bear like Thompson?

Later in the episode Eli calls his brother from the Commodore’s study, Nucky offers his brother one chance to walk away from his conspiracy – but Eli declines and “twists the knife” asking Nucky boastfully to “look around brother – what you got?” What Nucky has is Margaret, a great lawyer and his youth. The Commodore may have money and allies, but youth? Even with Jimmy on board, not so much. When Eli meets the Commodore’s investors, they’re all grey ancient men who toast in an extinct language (and one of them, the guy with the particularly hilarious mutton-chop/goatee ensemble, is the man Nucky recognized from the Klansman’s funeral in the previous episode).

Shifting to Chalky White who has been imprisoned, ostensibly for the murder of a Ku Klax Klan member, but really he’s behind bars for his own protection from potential lynch mobs. Chalky and Nucky talk about their mutual predicament as Nucky tries to re-hash the events of election night. Nucky knows their problems (the KKK for Chalky, and the Attorney General for himself) originate from the same source. Chalky turns out to be a pretty astute political operative – he quickly diagnoses the likelihood that none of Nucky’s Ward Bosses possess the balls or savvy to be acting alone on this one.

While Nucky is released on bail – after urging Chalky to be patient – Chalky remains in the cell where he is shortly visited by his wife. His wife calls him “Albert” (something I’m not sure we’ve heard Chalky referred to as previously in the series), and brings him a book recommended by their son. The book is David Copperfield, and though Chalky happily tells his wife that “it’s a good one,” it quickly becomes apparent that Chalky cannot in fact read.

In an episode dominated by a crises of identities – the Commodore’s mustache, Jimmy the “businessman”, Margaret the poor pregnant constituent – David Copperfield is a sensible symbol to throw into the mix. I’ll let you google it yourself if you’re interested – but David Copperfield is a Dickens work that is preoccupied with examinations of artifice.

A fellow inmate introduces himself as Don Pernsley from Baltimore, and he begins heckling Chalky the moment Chalky’s wife leaves. For all his aggression and bombast, it’s Pernsley who sees Chalky’s stylistic flourishes for what they really are, “the uppity way you tell the world your better than me, when all you really be is jut another juggaboo in a jail cell.” Of course, Chalky calls on his personal relationships with everyone in their shared cell – and they proceed to kick Pernsley’s teeth in. Chalky may be a man of power, dressed to the nines, with a beautiful wife and all the accouterments of being refined – but despite all of that, he’s an illiterate bootlegger rotting in jail.

In Jimmy’s case, he makes a pitch to Arnold Rothstein in New York. He wants to replace Nucky as Rothstein’s pipe-line to the imported liquor in Atlantic City, but Rothstein is a conservative man and won’t have any of it. It’s one of the first times we’ve seen Jimmy in a highly politicized setting and he carries it off pretty well – impressing even Rothstein who tells Jimmy that he’s “better spoken than expected.” He also admires Jimmy’s discretion, and audacity – but asks him “who are you” to which Jimmy responds “a business man,” as well as a war-veteran, a husband and a father.

Though Rothstein was uninterested in Jimmy’s proposal, Lucky Luciano and his partner Meyer Lansky are more receptive. Jimmy goes to their poker game, and meets with the two young upstarts. Lucky and Jimmy nearly come to blows over Lucky’s past relationship with Jimmy’s mother – but Meyer gets in between them, yelling “GENTLEMAN, I’M RUNNING A BUSINESS HERE!”

When it comes down to it, Jimmy isn’t a “business man”, he’s a gangster – as is Lucky. The only businessman in that room is Lansky – and he knows how to bridge the gap. Lucky and Meyer are running side businesses outside of the purview of Rothstein, and similarly to Jimmy harbour ambitions of being bosses in their own right. As Meyer Lansky tells Jimmy “no one wants to be in school forever.”

After Jimmy leaves the poker game he is mugged by two of Mustache Pete’s men – who we see earlier having a loud disagreement with Lansky over territory. They see Jimmy the business man – in his “silk crevat” – but they don’t realize who they’re dealing with and Jimmy viciously murders them both with his boot-knife. The shot of the fountain (the setting of the epically failed mugging) filling with blood that’s spewing from one of Jimmy’s victim’s carotid artery is awesome; but is instantly outdone by the shot of the other victim gasping for air despite his thrashed wind-pipe while Jimmy walks away in the background. Businessman, my ass!

Which brings us to the happy couple – Margaret and Nucky – celebrating Valentines Day in their own unique way. Nucky of course begins the day in prison, his lawyer pays his bail and proves valuable, ascertaining from the court-clerk that Nucky’s “ship is leaking” and that two confidential witnesses (who are revealed in the Commodore’s meeting with the Ward Bosses) are the source of his legal troubles. Nucky’s lawyer offers to accompany him on his upcoming perp walk out of the court house, but Nucky declines “that’s what guilty men do.”

Nucky’s perp-walk starts out poorly with a couple jokes that whiff, but he eventually gets the response and defiant sound-bite he wants “I’m going to put this business where it belongs: in the trash.”

Margaret begins her morning to whispers from the help about Nucky’s arrest. She sees the news in the paper and reacts stoically. She goes about her business ensuring that the children are properly attired and that the necessary preparations are made for a dinner they’re hosting that night with John McGarragle.

Margaret calls Kessler (Nucky’s comic German driver and personal assistant) who is fussing about Nucky’s office – which, the States Attorney officials are turning over for evidence. While there’s no denying Kessler’s loyalty, he’s a fuss-pot and a bit useless to Nucky on matters of importance. The comparison between Kessler and Margaret is night and day.

Margaret borrows her maid Katie’s coat, dresses to look pregnant and goes to Nucky’s office posing as a humble constituent in need of assistance. Her plain looks, drab attire and stellar imitation of a pitiable lady (an act she has some experience with) serve to allow her access to the facilities in Nucky’s office. There she manages to nab Nucky’s Ledger Book – a damning piece of evidence against him – and the twenty-thousand in cash that Nucky received in the season premiere.

When Owen Slater, the cheeky bodyguard for John McGarragle, shows up to ensure his leader’s safe visit at the Thompson residence – he mistakes Margaret for the help. Margaret certainly used to be the help, but now she’s the lady of the house, and so much more. Margaret may look simple to outsiders, but to her maids she’s domineering. When she helps one Katie clear the table after dinner and informs her that she used to be in a similar station, Katie can’t believe it exclaiming “I didn’t think you were like me!”

Margaret may look simple to outsiders, but the help’s interpretation of her is more on the mark. Margaret is a fearsome ally for Nucky, she’s astute and cunning. She is his ace in the hole. After the dinner with McGarragle – who proves himself to be a sober extremist, and terrible company – she gives Nucky some essential council. She insists on burning his ledger book, and she insists that he deal with the issue at hand intelligently. When he won’t say that his brother Eli has betrayed him – she insists: “you must be specific… you are smarter than your enemies and you will persevere, but you’re not thinking straight”. She also insists that he stop kidding himself, when he insists “I keep people satisfied – that’s all I do,” she forbid his delusion “they will not be satisfied, you know that already.”

The stage is now set for Nucky’s attempted comeback. Though he’s devoid of allies at the moment, and facing serious legal trouble – he’s younger than his opponents, as rich, possesses a high-quality consiglieri in Margaret Schroeder, and retains a smart lawyer. As the episode ends, we can be pretty confident that when Nucky comes face to face with destiny, it won’t be as a bear, it will be as yet another hunter with a shotgun.

Boardwalk Empire – the star-studded prohibition era drama from HBO – returned to our television screens with a bang this past weekend. The show seems to have found its footing right out of the gate, and is at its well-acted, violent, multi-faceted best in this season’s opening episode – titled “21” for the year portrayed (1921).

When last season closed, Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) had just won the re-election for his party and superficially seemed to have consolidated his hold on booze distribution and political power in Atlantic City. However, a re-invigorated former boss – the Commodore (Dabney Coleman) – had enlisted Nucky’s brother Eli (Shea Whigham) and his protege Jimmy (Michael Pitt) in a conspiracy to overthrow Nucky. In this season’s first episode, the Commodore and his cronies make their first moves to attack Nucky’s lucrative position of power.

The show opens with a visually appealing montage, set to some of those gorgeous, brassy 1920s tunes that the series utilized liberally throughout its first 13 episodes. We catch up with half-faced Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) and Jimmy – who have clearly professionalized their bootlegging operations – importing a large amount of booze at Nucky’s behest for sale to Chalky White (Michael K Williams). Nucky imbibes spirits with his Ward Bosses as they gamble and enjoy the company of show-girls. Van Alden (Michael Shannon) picks up his wife at the train station, Eli is shown to be healing from the gunshot wound he suffered late last season and Margaret (Kelly McDonald) looks wistfully at Nucky’s empty space in their marital bed. The Commodore – in contrast to Nucky’s carefree gallivanting – is practising his spear-work in his extravagant den. It’s a weird shot, but the Commodore is a weird dude – and it serves to convey the old man’s focus and aggression. The montage serves to situate and misdirect the audience into an apparent calm before the storm – before the episode hits us with an outburst of blood and gun play.

Shortly after Jimmy’s delivery to Chalky White, the warehouse where Chalky waters the liqour down is shot up by a group of four Klansmen armed with shotguns and a mounted chain gun. They slaughter five occupants of the warehouse (and one woman, who saves Chalky’s life) in the name of “Purity, Sobriety and the White Christian’s Jesus.” Michael K Williams, who we interviewed about the show this week, has a tremendous acting moment – his traumatized facial expression, and the stylized manner in which the camera zooms in on it is haunting.

The community’s reaction to the shooting is telling – it’s a big deal that Chalky shot a white man, but the five black warehouse workers who died barely register. Nucky, of course, is indifferent to racial politics and plays both sides; speaking of the evils of the Klan in a black church, before condemning the “obstreperous negro” to white parishioners in a different church. Politics was a good deal easier before YouTube, I can tell you. The shot that seamlessly transitions from one church to the other is clever, and underscores Nucky’s overwhelming political apathy. In any event, the trauma and Nucky’s apathetic reaction to it causes Chalky to close up shop – which is exactly what the Commodore (who unleashed the KKK on Chalky’s men) was hoping to achieve.

Nucky’s awareness of the growing plot against him becomes complete at the funeral of the shot Klansmen when Jimmy shows up. Though Jimmy claims to be there because the deceased klansmen is “a former teacher,” Nucky is wise to what’s happening. He feebly warns Jimmy of the Commodore’s duplicity, and a glance inside at a town elder confirms his suspicions. As the episode concludes Nucky is arrested for election fraud, and – though it’s not clear yet – we can safely assume that the Commodore has had a hand in bringing these charges against his rival.

Though the Commodore’s first moves against Nucky drive the plot forward in the season opener, the driving thematic force is the interplay between fathers and their sons. We’ve got Teddy, Margaret’s son – who is misbehaving at school, and playing with matches – in need of fatherly guidance. Jimmy – whose kids, he tells Nucky, are “nearly old enough to shave” – takes his son seagull hunting, something he used to do with Nucky. In contrast to the hunting Jimmy did with Nuck (his adoptive father figure), his natural father the Commodore clearly never had time to take Jimmy shooting – though he brags of his exploits to Jimmy while showing off his own, impressive collection of trophies.

In the episode’s final scene, Jimmy stores Nucky’s wedding gift, a statue of a man and his boy, hunting in the woods, in a place of dishonour while Margaret and her children watch Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid at a theatre. The Kid was Chaplin’s 1921 full-length comedy feature about a tramp who adopts a boy from a poor woman, who soon becomes a famous actress. In the film, Chaplin’s tramp mentors the child in petty crime, and comes to love the boy, before losing the child at the end of the film. Van Patten – of course – makes sure to select the most domestic of the silent film’s scenes to accompany the action in the theatre. Taken together, the two images convey a father’s estrangement from his son – which is the primary emotional conflict in the episode. Jimmy is choosing his natural parents, his mother who very weirdly admits to “kissing his winky” when she would change change his diapers – and his control freak father – and he’s chosen to betray the man who has loved and raised him.

In the episode’s main side-plot, Mrs. Van Alden has come to visit her twisted husband Nelson, who, for my money, remains the show’s most engaging character. Nelson is increasingly in a dark space – he has given into the temptation of Atlantic City or “Soddom by the sea.” His new G-men, Clarkson and Zewicki, gift his wife a seemingly religious pamphlet “If Jesus Ever Came to Atlantic City” that turns out to be a list of brothels and taverns. “It’s the author’s attempt at cynicism,” Nelson assures his wife, though the pamphlet is just another metaphor for the personal corruption eating at Van Alden.

The raid scene in the restaurant is great fun, as Nelson takes some time out from his engagement dinner to beat up the waiter and raid the establishment. Nelson doesn’t seem to have any plans to raid the joint until his wife urges him to do so, and afterwards he notices a bar-back carrying a crate filled with contraband. When he does raid the place, it serves two selfish purposes for Van Alden – it inflames his wife, and allows him to procure the restaurant’s cash in hand to pay-off Lucy who is carrying his child.

The directors clearly love to poke fun at Van Alden and the shot where they transition from Van Alden’s wife, clearly turned on by Van Alden’s lawman outburst, to the bouncing springs at the Hotel Metropole, is a clever stylistic flourish. When Van Alden then turns out the lights before engaging in some godly, marital sex? Well ,that’s the cherry on top.

The season opener has set the table for what I’m expecting to be a significantly stronger season than Boardwalk Empire‘s first go-around. While Boardwalk suffered from some growing pains through its first five or six episodes, it picked up steam in the latter half of last season, and that seems to be carrying through. Nucky is in a precarious bind now: he’s lost his warehouse, and a giant shipment of booze; he must contend with betrayals from a brother, and a son; and he’s got a significant legal problem on his hands. Clearly the stage is set for a serious Hardeen escape artist act, an act that we can expect to include a significant dose of violence, nudity and all that good stuff we love from HBO.

Michael K Williams, who most famously portrayed the iconic stick-up boy Omar Little in HBO’s The Wire, was in Toronto this week – and we were lucky enough to sit down with him to talk about Boardwalk, his upcoming role on NBC’s Community, and his love for Game of Thrones.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Finale?! WHAT?! Why did no one tell me this season was only 12 episodes long? Oh, I’m supposed to know that because I’m the reviewer? Oh, I see how that works now. On Sunday night, True Blood ended its fourth season with a bang… or a wet fart, depending on who you ask. It seems Alan Ball chose to dangle plot promises for next season in front of our faces instead of making the end of this one any good. He kind of does this every year but I keep forgiving him for some reason. Damn you, Ball!

‘And When I Die‘ kicks off with Lafayette and Jesus having breakfast while discussing the crazy events of the previous evening. Jesus apologizes for dragging Lafayette into the whole magic thing and promises to be done with spirits and witches if that’s what Lafayette wants. Little does Jesus know that Lafayette was actually possessed by Marnie’s spirit the night before. He finds out soon enough when he goes in for a kiss and gets stabbed with a fork instead. I hate it when that happens.

Sookie is puttering around her kitchen when she sees her grandmother’s bloody corpse on the floor. Sookie blinks and the vision disappears, but she tells Tara that she feels her presence and has been thinking about her ever since Marnie channeled Gran and warned Sookie about giving her heart to Eric.

Sam lays his brother Tommy to rest in the graveyard when Mrs. Fortinberry shows up to pay her respects. Sam apologizes for his brother’s behaviour towards her. “Nobody taught Tommy how to love someone without hurting them.” Mrs. Fortinberry tells Sam that they are family now and that he should call her ‘momma’. I’ll call her anything she wants for a taste of her famous porkrind casserole.

Marnie has Jesus tied up and not in the sexy kind of way. Jesus tries to reason with Marnie and communicate with Lafayette, but to no avail. I don’t like watching Lafayette be somebody else. He’s not very good at it and he doesn’t swear nearly as much. Marnie threatens to harm Lafayette’s body unless Jesus gives her his Brujo powers. “You can’t trade magic like fucking Pokemon cards!” Apparently you can, because Marnie forces him to utter incantations in Spanish then proceeds to stab him and steal his magic. Up until that point I would have been sad to Jesus go, but since his acting got worse as his character’s plot escalated it’s probably for the best.

It’s Halloween (aka Samhain for all the Wiccans out there) and everyone at Merlotte’s is in the spirit. Sookie comes to offer her condolences to Sam and ends up with her job back, since it was Tommy who fired her in the first place. Sam gives her a pair of bunny ears which she wears begrudgingly. “Nobody likes an angry bunny.” he informs her. No, but everybody likes an angry pirate. Guess he’s fresh out of eye patches.

Terry’s ex-marine buddy (played by Scott Foley, NOT Scott Speedman. Did you know that they are two different people?!) shows up at Merlotte’s to say hello. He had a weird look on his face when Terry introduced Arlene as his wife. Was it surprise? Joy? Or perhaps… disappointment? There was that telling neck grab that could almost be a caress… was Terry taking advantage of that ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy? Can’t say I blame him. I’d check out Scott Speedman’s Foley’s fox hole too if given the chance. Later that night, Arlene is visited by the spirit of Renee, her serial killer ex-boyfriend. He warns her about the ghosts of Terry’s past and says she can’t run from them forever. I KNEW IT. HE’S TOTALLY GAY!

Alcide stops by the bar to tell Sookie that it’s over between him and Debbie, “Remember when you said if you were smart you would have fallen in love with someone like me?” Sookie tells him she’s sorry, but she can’t choose who she loves. Awwww… poor Sookie, another guy is in love with her. Alcide is disappointed but takes off after he receives a mysterious phone call.

When Tara stops by Lafayette’s house and finds Jesus’ bloody corpse inside, she rushes over to Merlotte’s to find Sookie and Holly. Somehow she knows that Marnie is behind all this. Because it’s not like there are a MILLION OTHER WAYS for a person to die in Bon Temps. Sookie gets worried when she can’t locate Eric so the three of them stop by Bill’s house, but it looks like Marnie beat them there and is about to burn Bill and Eric at the stake. Of course Marnie makes the classic bad-guy mistake of explaining her plan and while she pontificates, Holly casts her own spell. She, Sookie and Tara call upon their ancestors, which causes Antonia, Sookie’s Gran and a host of other spirits to appear. Antonia puts out the fire while Gran pulls Marnie’s spirit from Lafayette’s body. Marnie gives yet another ‘I used to be weak and now I’m powerful’ speech (yawn) but finally gives in when Antonia points out that vampires have to live on earth forever and that’s punishment enough. THAT’S ALL IT TOOK?! WHY DIDN’T THEY SAY THAT TO HER BEFORE?! Marnie begrudgingly accepts her fate (“This fucking sucks!”) and she disappears quietly along with the other spirits.

Jason finally grows a pair and tells Hoyt about him and Jessica, and Hoyt punches him in the face a few times. Later, Jessica stops by Jason’s place for booty call and tells him that she doesn’t want a relationship right now. After a little wham bam thank you ma’am (people still say that, right?) in a role reversal that Jason’s not used to, Jess gets up to leave. She assures him that it’s only because she’s hungry and she’s not ready to drink his blood yet because that’s ‘too intimate’. “So you’re gonna drink a stranger’s blood? I get it. It’s king of like a hooker with kissing.” Not long after Jessica takes off, Jason answers the door to find Reverend Newlin who has been missing the last few months and is now a vampire. Sweet.

Bill and Eric heal themselves by drinking Sookie’s blood. When they’re done, it’s time for ‘the talk’. Eric points out that Bill has given them his blessing and he already blew his chance when he lied to her. Sookie says they all lied to each other and as much as she loves Eric, their time together is over. Bill tells her she’s the love of his life and she pulls a Han Solo: “I know. That’s what makes this harder.” Sookie chooses neither of them and she walks away.

Poor, guilt-ridden Lafayette is visited by the spirit of Jesus who tells him it’s not his fault. Besides, “everything is temporary” (ooh, cryptic) and that he probably would have died of cancer anyways. Way to find that silver lining. Jesus promises that he’ll always be with Lafayette because, “Dude, I’m dead. You’re a medium.”

Andy Bellefleur brings Holly flowers and apologizes about their last date. He confesses that he was on V at the time. “Now I’m sober, I’m lonely and I could be good to someone.” She gives him a hug. Odd that the whole ‘sober and lonely’ line isn’t being used by everyone. Yet.

Alcide’s mysterious call leads him to discover that a giant hole has been ripped in the concrete in a parking garage he must have worked on. Which can only mean that next season, Russell Edgington is back! WOO HOO!

Nan Flanagan, accompanied by armed guards, makes an offer to Bill and Eric. She’s quit the American Vampire League and the Authority and plans to go rogue. She tells them that there’s a death sentence on their heads and she’ll likely be next. Bill and Eric aren’t interested in joining her so she threatens Sookie as leverage, claiming to have known she was a fairy the whole time. Bill and Eric try to act nonchalant but she calls their bluff. “I saw the way you both looked at her. Like puppy dogs slobbering over the same juicy bone.” In the blink of an eye, Eric slaughters here guards and Bill stabs her to death with silver. “We are no fucking puppy dogs,” Bill spits out. Yeesh, okay we get it.

Sookie returns home in search of Tara but instead she finds herself on the wrong end of a shotgun being held by crazy Debbie. “I should have done this a long time ago.” says Debbie. Tara walks in and Debbie fires, but Tara takes the bullet for her. Sookie grabs the gun and shoots Debbie in the face (fuck yeah!) but it looks like it might be too late to save Tara.

Is Tara dead? A better question might be, ‘does anyone care?’ She was pretty useless this season. Every season, really. I say either make her a raging lesbian again or kill her off.

And so another entertaining, exciting and frustrating season of True Blood comes to a close. As usual I’m left swearing that I won’t come back for the next one, but you know I will. Until next year, fang in there.

See what I did there?

As the season’s end draws near, True Blood amps it up this week with the eleventh episode ‘Soul of Fire’. This latest installment was dynamic, but felt somewhat rushed. That can only mean Alan Ball is gearing up for one hell of a finale, right? Here’s hoping.

Last week we left off wondering about the fates of Sookie, Holly, Tara, Jesus and Lafayette after they disappeared while crossing Marnie’s magical barrier. Turns out they didn’t fry or get transported to some higher plane; they just ended up back inside the store (wah wahhhhh). Marnie looks out the window and scoffs at Bill, Eric, Pam and Jess who are armed to the teeth and about to blow up the store. Marnie’s prisoners aren’t quite so flippant about it however and Casey freaks out and charges at Marnie. That doesn’t go over well and she ends up with an enchanted dagger buried in her stomach. Don’t these fools know by now that this bitch ain’t playing? Antonia appears and starts to pick a fight with Marnie, but only Lafayette can see her with his newly honed medium skills and he gives everyone the play by play (“Marnie just puked a bitch out”). Antonia tells Marnie that she crossed a line by killing one of their own, but Marnie forces Antonia back into her body with a binding spell. Jesus sums it up nicely with “we’re fucked.”

Outside, the vampires are about to let loose with the explosives when Jason appears and warns them that Sookie is inside. “Fucking Sookie!” Bill and Eric both agree that they can’t hurt her and need to find another way but Pam is unmoved. “Do not tell me you’d put our entire species at risk for a gash in a sundress.” (and the award for best description of anything ever goes to…) Bill and Eric try to think of another way to get at Marnie. Out of nowhere, they are attacked by one of Marnie’s hypnotized zombie-vampires.

Sam and Alcide are still at Marcus’ garage holding one of his pals at gunpoint but he won’t give up his pack leader. Luna bursts in screaming threats because Marcus has taken Emma. Sam tells her that Marcus murdered Tommy and promises to set everything right and find Emma. Meanwhile, slime-ball Marcus has brought Emma over to Alcide’s house and is trying to convince Debbie to run away with them. Debbie keeps insisting that she can’t leave because she loves Alcide but Marcus seems to be wearing her down.

Back at the store, Jesus insists that Casey still has a pulse and begs Marnie to let him try to save her. Surprisingly Marnie shows some remorse and she lets Jesus and Lafayette take Casey into the back to heal her. Turns out Casey really is as dead as can be, but Jesus has a plan. He’s going to try to force Antonia out of Marnie’s body, but he needs Casey’s body to get his Brujo magic started. Holly and Sookie see Marnie’s concession as an opportunity and try to talk some sense into her. Sookie tells her that she can end all of this and that she knows Marnie is a good person deep down. Marnie almost looks swayed. Almost.

Bill, Eric, Pam and Jessica have won out over their zombie-vampire attacker and Bill demands that the witch come out and face them herself. Marnie goes outside to face them and brings Sookie along. When they step outside, Marnie summons her zombie-vampire, but only to teach the rest of them a lesson because the vampire fries the second she hits the magic barrier. ‘I’ve harnessed the power of the sun,’ boasts Marnie. Turns out any vampire who crosses it will meet the true death. Again, bitch ain’t playing. Bill and Eric both demand that Marnie let Sookie go and Marnie agrees, under one tiny condition: Bill and Eric both have to kill themselves. Pam and Jessica scoff, but Bill and Eric both seem perfectly willing to die. Seriously. This is some messed up Twilight shit right here. Pam isn’t about to see Eric go and kill himself over Sookie so she aims an explosive at Marnie, but that backfires when it bounces off the magic barrier. Marnie retreats back inside; negotiations are over.

Sam comforts a worried Luna. Just when she’s convinced herself that Marcus has taken Emma out of the country, Emma calls her cell… from Alcide’s home number. Sam, Alcide and Luna high tail it over there and find Marcus in the bedroom with Debbie (Alcide looks thrilled) and Sam starts to kick the shit out of Marcus.

Jesus has gathered supplies and he and Lafayette get to work on Casey’s body. “I’m going to be using a very dark part of myself. However I talk to you, please don’t be offended.” I’m going to start giving this same warning to all my potential suitors. Jesus carves up the body and drinks some of Casey’s blood. Awesome.

Eric freaks out at Pam for disobeying him and nearly killing Sookie. Her apologies only make him angrier and he threatens to kill her if she doesn’t get out of his sight. Harsh. Jason was badly burned when the explosive backfired and Jessica feeds him some more of her blood. They have a nice little reunion and Jason seems to have finally come to terms with the fact that he’s stolen his best friend’s girl.

Marnie looks into the future and prophesizes her own imminent death, which she’s not exactly thrilled about. She seemingly repents and asks everyone to join her in a circle so that she can put everything right. You’d think after being held prisoner for days and seeing your captor stab someone in the stomach it’d take a bit more cajoling, but Stockholm syndrome has fully set in and only Sookie is wary. Marnie promises Sookie that she wants to see everyone get home alive and Sookie joins the circle.

Back outside, Jason and Jessica’s tender post-rescue moment is cut short when Jessica, Bill and the other vampires suddenly lose control of their bodies and start moving dangerously close to the vampire-zapping magic barrier. Marnie isn’t trying to save anyone; she’s trying to kill all the vampires again (DURR). Sookie reads Jason’s thoughts and realizes that Bill and Eric are about to die, so she uses her fairy magic to break the circle. Marnie retaliates by trapping Sookie inside a circle of flames. The spell breaks, but Bill and Eric are still freaking out because they can sense that Sookie is in peril but can’t help her.

Meanwhile back at Alcide’s, Sam is beating the much-deserved shit out of Marcus as Debbie watches in tears. Sam gets the upper hand but can’t bring himself to finish Marcus off and he steps away. That’s just enough time for Marcus to get his hands on Sam’s gun but Alcide steps in and kills Marcus before he can use it. Alcide denounces Debbie and swears that he will hunt with her no longer. Sam, Alcide and Luna leave Debbie to cry over scuz-bag’s body.

Lafayette watches in awe as Jesus’ magic grows stronger and the crazy Brujo face/voice comes out. Just when it looks like pretty lil’ Sookie is going to get burnt to a crisp, Jesus’ spell kicks in and Antonia tears herself away from Marnie’s body and disappears along with the magic barrier and the rest of Marnie’s spells. Guns ablazing, Bill and Eric burst in to the store and shoot Marnie, fulfilling her prophecy. The vampires clean up the mess and glamour the survivors as Lafayette tries to comfort Jesus who feels badly about Marnie’s death. The most acknowledgement Sookie gives to Bill and Eric for laying down their lives for her is an across the room is a brief eye-fuck. Really, that’s all you can muster? It is. For this week at least.

Later, Lafayette and Jesus are safe at home discussing the night’s events as they drift off to sleep. Lafayette tells Jesus not too feel badly about Marnie since, you know, she did attempt genocide and all. Just as Lafayette is about to close his eyes, Marnie’s spirit appears over him and jumps down his throat – literally. You didn’t think you could get rid of her that easily, did you?

Oh yeah, and Andy Bellefleur had sex with a fairy named Mirella. Big whoop. Who on this show HASN’T had sex with a fairy, magical or otherwise?

OH-MY-GOD-WE’RE-SO-CLOSE-TO-THE-END! My only hope for next week is that Sookie acknowledges Bill and Eric’s near-sacrifice with a little more than an across-the-room eyefuck. Two guys offer to die for you; they deserve something in return… you know what I mean?

See you next week, Fang Bangers!

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