True Blood: “I Wish I Was the Moon” Flip-Flops Bill and Eric

Is everyone else seeing this too? Since losing his memory, Eric Northman has become the sweet, loving vampire, wearing his heart on his sleeve and oozing poetic words about Sookie, kind of vampire that Bill Compton was in the first couple of seasons. Bill, on the other hand, has become ruthless, cold-hearted and downright mean since taking the crown; much like Eric had been. I’m really liking it!

This week’s episode of True Blood gave Eric a wonderful opportunity to shine and to show Bill that Sookie was right when she told him that Eric really is different. Bill was unconvinced, and rightly so, given Eric’s history. It wasn’t until Bill was about to stake Eric that he finally sees that this is not only a different Eric, but that Eric doesn’t like the old one. Doesn’t even wish to defend him. It is this along with the fact that both vampires only want Sookie to be happy, that finally saves Eric’s life. Bill showed some of his old self too, when he allowed Eric to go to Sookie. Bill is still in love with the girl.

Sam Trammell had a chance to show off his acting chops in this episode as well. Since Tommy killed his mother, a shapeshifter, he is now a ‘skinwalker’; a shifter who can now change into anyone and anything. Tommy finds this out when he shifts into Sam. It looked like his strong emotion of self-loathing may have been the trigger, but I’m sure we’ll see that Tommy will learn to control this just like he can control his other shifting abilities. But the point is, Sam Trammell had some awesome acting to pull off as Tommy. He totally nailed the character and it was a treat to watch.

“I Wish I Was the Moon” was an excellent episode which not only moved the story forward, but showed a lot of character development in flashbacks and story-telling. The Sookie and Jason moments should happen a lot more often, the flashbacks with Antonia are chilling and Tara talking about her life in Bon Temps adds to the depth of the character. The love scene between Eric and Sookie at the end was so preciously handled and carried a different tone than what we saw with Bill and Sookie. Rightly so; it’s an entirely different relationship. The scene was sweet, emotional and set in a beautiful place, under a full moon. Atmosphere is everything!

Speaking of a full moon, we didn’t see Jason turn into a werepanther like the Hotshot nuts were hoping. The season is not over yet, and there’s still a chance that something may happen, but since Alcide explained to Sookie that weres cannot be made, they must be born, who knows? Jason’s fear was both sad and funny to watch, though.

Alcide and Debbie had a rough patch, but I have to say that I liked what I saw in Debbie. I just hope that joining this new pack doesn’t bring back the old Debbie.

An altogether strong episode. What did you all think about it?