Isn’t it ironic that Fiona Shaw, who played Aunt Petunia, the character who hated her sister and nephew out of envy for their magical talents in the Harry Potter films, is playing Marnie, a medium who becomes possessed by the powerful witch Antonia in True Blood? I guess ‘ole Petunia finally got what she wanted, because in the new episode of True Blood, Cold Grey Light of Dawn, she uses her magical talents to convince vampires to walk in the sun.
The episode opens when Marnie/Antonia breaks out of her cell, embodies one of the sheriffs imperio-style, and delivers a message to King Bill (Stephen Moyer) that she wants resurrection, aka, she’s going to use her magic to make the vampires see the dawn.
Marnie/Antonia isn’t too strong though and she needs some help to create her unusually windy vampire curse. Of course, there’s always Tara (Rutina Wesley), who is thrown at the writers’ mercy for vampire torture, rape, and attempted killings quite often, eager to aid her in her quest. Tara already told her girlfriend to get out of Louisiana, and that girl was the only good thing that ever happened to her. So why not jump on this crazy train?
Unfortunately for our beloved vamps, such as Bill, Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll), and Pam (Kristen Bauer), this team-conjured spell means that they have to silver themselves into their coffins, preventing them from ever walking into the sun. It honestly leads to semi-hilarious scenes of the vampire leads chained to their beds, shouting, “The sun! The sun!” But nothing compares to the pure hysteria of Fangtasia slave Ginger (Tara Buck) wrestling down Pam’s coffin.
The Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Eric whirlwind romance continues, despite the fact that they both know that if Eric ever regains this memory, their relationship will be doomed. This does come in handy for Eric, who has Sookie keep him in her basement when Pam only has a silver blanket and classy Miss Ginger. Their relationship doesn’t work to the advantage of Debbie (Brit Morgan), because it makes her wonder if her werewolf boyfriend, Alcide (Joe Manganiello), is in love with Sookie, which he definitely is.
Jason (Ryan Kwanten), who didn’t turn into a werepanther despite the many episodes leading up to his transformation, didn’t have much to do in this episode. He does still have Jessica on his vampire-blood-addled-mind, and he definitely feels guilty about the thoughts he’s having about his best friend’s woman. Hoyt (Jim Parrack) has no idea of this phenomenon, which is odd, considering the fact that he should be a vampire expert.
The episode ends with each of the vampires trying to push out of their silver, through their doorways, and into the light. Eric and Pam have humans to keep them grounded, but Bill and Jessica aren’t so lucky. The two are holed up inside the old Compton residence, and Jessica almost breaks out immediately. Jason learns about the vampires’ seemingly inevitable “true deaths,” and runs to help Jessica.
On to Sam (Sam Trammell) and Tommy (Marshall Allman), whose lives are now almost completely unconnected to the other characters on the show. The last time we saw these two long-lost brothers, Tommy transformed into Sam and hooked up with his girlfriend. Not cool Tommy. When Sam solved this “mystery,” he promptly kicked the parent-murderer out.
This leaves us with Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) and Jesus (Kevin Alejandro). They’re in Mexico, crying about Jesus’s grandfather, who forced Lafayette to realize his potential as a medium by throwing Jesus into a near-death situation. So if Lafayette is such a great medium, does this mean he could save the day back in Bon Temps?
At the end of the episode, we are left with Jason running to the Compton house to aid Jessica. We don’t know if he gets there in time, and the episode ends with Jessica crawling through the house despite her silvered ankles, and opening up the door.
Cold Grey Light of Dawn was kind of a strange episode, but it did continue with True Blood‘s strong streak of having fantastic endings. That being said, the episode’s lack of connection between the characters was a bit of a downer and it felt similar in that regard to last week’s full-moon-centered episode.
So, does Jessica see the sun? Are any normal residents of Bon Temps worried about this end-of-days windstorm? Where are Bill’s fantastic sweaters coming from? Check back next week to find out!