True Blood Season 4, Episode 1: “She’s Not There”
This episode is quite the doozy. We land with Sookie in fairy land where we ended at season three. Claudine identifies herself as Sookie’s fairy godmother. Sookie sees Barry and her grandfather here. As they catch up, fairies walk around and hand out light fruits – a glowing fruit that everyone digs into. Sookie is uncertain about eating the fruit, as everything doesn’t seem quite right.
Mab’s Crew
Sookie tries to warn her grandfather telepathically that this is a trap. However, everyone here can communicate telepathically. The queen fairy, Mab, steps forward and declares that she wants to shut fairies off from humans and demands that Sookie eat the fruit. When Sookie uses her light powers to release herself from Mab’s grasp, it reveals a grey wasteland version of the fairy land she is in. The fairies appear as goblins, and Sookie has seen the true nature of this place.
Sookie and her grandfather run to get away, being followed and attacked by the fairy/goblins. Sookie is helped by Claudine’s brother who opposes her views and Sookie and her grandfather drop back down to Earth. We see Bill and Eric become aware of her presence. Sookie and her grandfather land in the cemetery and Sookie shows him her grandmother and parents’ graves. Sookie’s grandfather dies at their graves, but not before giving her a pocketwatch to give to Jason. Before he disintegrates, Sookie’s grandfather tells her he loves her.
Time Warp
Sookie returns to her home to find a crew working on renovations. The crew calls the police and Jason – as a cop – shows up. Jason is relieved to see her and reveals that she has been missing for twelve and a half months. We have jumped in time tremendously. Jason, in his grief over Sookie’s disappearance, sold the house. Sookie explains where she has been and when Jason doesn’t believe her, she produces the watch. She tells him that Grandaddy Earl gave it to her before he died and that he felt like he’d only been gone a few hours. Sookie herself felt as if she was only gone ten minutes while in fairy land. All of this gets Jason to believe that she is telling the truth, if somewhat reluctantly.
Cover Story
Bill arrives at the house and tells Sookie he has hasn’t felt her presence for a year. He suspected she was with Claudine. Eric shows up as well and asserts that he never gave up on Sookie. Just then, Andy shows up and is very upset when Sookie says she wasn’t kidnapped. Bill covers for her, saying she was on “secret vampire business.”
Back in the cruiser, we see Andy battling a V addiction and later on Jason scolds him for still using.
We see Eric and Bill trying to rebuild vampire-human relations post Russell Edgington and his outburst. Eric gives a television announcement as a local business owner and Bill presents a town ribbon cutting ceremony.
Witchy Ways
Jesus takes Lafayette reluctantly to a witch gathering. The head witch communicates as Eddie through herself. Lafayette is angry with Jesus, thinking he told her about his experiences with Eddie in order to convince him the witchy powers are real. Jesus insists he told no one, but Lafayette won’t hear it.
When he goes back again with Jesus, he is forced to participate in a ritual that brings a bird back to life for a minute. One woman from the coven is a plant and arrives back at Bill’s house. It seems Bill may now be the king of Louisiana.
Dark Tendencies
Arlene comes home to find Terry in the bathroom and her new baby, Mikey, in the living room floor with headless Barbie dolls. Terry assures Arlene that Mikey is a good boy and will be fine.
Jason takes food to Hotshot to the kids that he is looking after for Crystal. They tell him that the freezer isn’t working and that it isn’t cold. Jason goes to investigate, but the kids lock him inside the freezer.
Mixed Martial Arts
In New Orleans, we see Tara as a successful mixed martial artist. Tara is in a romantic relationship with another female mixed martial artist named Naomi. Tara is also going by a different name.
Trouble in Paradise
We flash to Jessica and Hoyt living in the house he bought for them at the end of last season. They seem to be okay, but it is clear that the human dating a vampire dynamic is getting to them. The pair go to Fangtasia for date night where a human hits on Jessica. It seems she has a moment of enjoyment of this, but then decides she loves Hoyt and walks away from it.
Sookie catches up with everyone at Merlotte’s. When she asks Lafayette about Tara, he says he doesn’t know where she is because she’s moved a lot since Sookie went missing. However, we see Lafayette text Tara and tell her that Sookie is alive and back in Bon Temps. Tara ignores the text message and makes up a story about the text being her father saying her grandmother has died to Naomi.
We see Tommy come into Merlotte’s with Hoyt’s mother. He is in a leg brace and we learn that Sam has been paying for his physical therapy since shooting him. It seems Hoyt’s mother replaced Hoyt with Tommy when he left. Weird situation.
Sam gathers with other shapeshifters after work. He seems to have found a place to belong.
You’re Mine
We end the episode with Sookie changing in her old bedroom. She doesn’t own this house, but alright. Eric shows up in her room and Sookie quickly covers herself up. He tells her that he can be inside the home because she doesn’t own it anymore: he does. He tells her that he bought the house because if he owned the home, he owned her. Eric tells Sookie, “you are mine.”
This episode was quite the journey. The beginning of the episode in fairy land felt like I was watching Lord of the Rings and the time jump was disorienting. This season isn’t off to the best start in my eyes and it was a lot of character changes that will take time to get used to. But hey, I’m rooting for Sookie and Eric.
Don’t forget that if you buy from our links, we get a little $ back
Smile 2, a psychological supernatural horror, released in October 2024 just in time for Halloween, sees director Parker Finn (Smile, Laura Hasn’t Slept) return with a sequel starring Naomi Scott (Aladdin) as pop star and recovering addict Skye Riley. While Smile 2 boasts a talented cast, it ultimately falls short of its predecessor, offering a familiar storyline with minor variations and a predictable finale. The film attempts to introduce a new method to combat the parasitic ‘Smile Entity’, but this addition fails to elevate the sequel beyond a pale imitation of its chilling predecessor.
The Plot.
Smile 2 begins shortly after the end of the original; just six days after Rose Cotter’s death. During a short interlude scene, we watch as the now cursed Joel attempts to pass the Smile Entity on by killing one criminal in front of another. The plan backfires spectacularly, inadvertently passing the curse onto an innocent bystander named Lewis Fregoli.
The film then shifts gears, introducing Skye Riley, a singer and performer making a triumphant return to the spotlight with a comeback tour after a tumultuous past. During a candid interview on the Drew Barrymore Show, Skye opens up about her struggles with addiction and the devastating loss of her boyfriend in a car accident. Her sobriety journey, however, faces a severe setback when she seeks pain relief from her old high school friend, the unwitting Lewis Fregoli. In a chilling turn of events, Lewis takes his own life while Skye watches, passing the Smile Entity onto her.
Unaware of her new cursed existence Skye gets on with rehearsing for her tour, but she begins to notice that strange things are happening. People are smiling at her in an unnatural way and she becomes the target of anonymous attacks and aggressions. When text messages begin to arrive from an unknown number, Skye decides to get some answers.
Highlights.
Let’s not beat about the bush. I found Smile 2 difficult to finish and was struggling at about the hour-and-a-half mark to stay awake. That being said it’s worth watching because everyone needs to see the 3-minute scene of the ‘smilers’ chasing Skye through her apartment. This was possibly the creepiest thing I’ve seen on a screen. The buildup, the synchronicity of the movement of the actors and their positioning, the camera work, and the lighting. I have rewatched it several times and it doesn’t get old. If you are only interested in watching this, fast forward to the 123-minute mark and get ready to be impressed.
Drawbacks.
Where do I start?
My primary concern with Smile 2 is its striking resemblance to its predecessor. The narrative follows a familiar pattern: an attractive woman fleeing a supernatural force, grappling with hallucinations, experiencing a mental health decline, and culminating in the revelation someone close to Skye was the Smiling Entity after all. This repetitive structure diminishes the film’s impact.
While the introduction of a new method for shedding the entity initially offered a glimmer of hope this concept wasn’t fully realized. It just served to add names to the line of people that the entity has infected in the past.
Furthermore, the film’s pacing suffers from excessive focus on Skye’s musical career. Scenes showcasing her stage rehearsals and music videos, while intended to establish her identity as a performer, feel unnecessary and detract from the narrative momentum. Yes, we understand she’s a performer, you told us, you don’t need to prove it. These scenes appear to artificially inflate the film’s runtime, suggesting a lack of confidence in the core story.
The Final Take.
Ultimately, Smile 2 fails to expand upon the established lore of the franchise. The film’s conclusion feels contrived, with a blatant setup for a third installment. Hopefully, if a ‘Smile 3’ is inevitable, the creative team will bring fresh ideas and avoid simply retreading familiar ground.
(2 / 5)
Both Cthulhu’s granted for that one scene.
We’re back again with Goosebumps The Vanishing, episode two. A story too big for one episode, apparently.
Or, maybe this is just a nod to the fact that Stay Out Of The Basement was a two-part episode in the original 1995 show. Either way, after seeing this episode, we could have kept it to one.
The story
We begin this second episode with Anthony investigating the parasitic plant taking over his body. Rather than, I don’t know, going to the hospital, he’s decided to phone a colleague and send her some samples from the bulb he pulls out of his arm with a handheld garden trowel.
Meanwhile, Devin is having his own worries. He’s haunted by what he saw in the sewers. So, he gets CJ to go with him to investigate. What they find is more of the tendrils of the plant that dragged him down through the manhole last episode.
I sure would have liked to see more about that.
Instead, we see Devin pivot to flirting with a newly single Frankie. Because teenage hormones I guess.
Meanwhile, Trey is having a terrible day. First, his girlfriend leaves him. Then, Anthony breaks his car window.
Needing a way to deal with his frustration, Trey decides to break into the Brewers’ basement. There, he starts wrecking up the place. Until he meets the plant creature and has an unfortunate accident.
What worked
The big difference between this episode and the last is the increased gross-out factor. This episode had some straight-up cringy moments. From the tendrils waiving from Anthony’s arm to the whole goat he brings home to feed his new pet, this episode was skin-crawling gross in the best way possible.
The series is called Goosebumps, after all.
What didn’t work
Unfortunately, that’s where my praise ends. This episode, unlike the last, just wasn’t that great.
To start with, there was a lot of unnecessary drama between characters who are not in danger of being eaten by a plant from the inside out.
I especially disliked the focus on the Frankie/Trey/Devin love triangle.
Now, I don’t hate it. This part of the story adds extra emotional depth to the show. We can see why Trey would be especially incensed by his girlfriend falling for the son of the neighbor he’s feuding with. But it would be more enjoyable if it wasn’t so cliche and dramatic.
I hate the way Trey tried to gaslight Frankie. It makes me dislike him when he should be a sympathetic character. I hate how whiny Devin is every time he talks to Frankie. And I hated the impassioned speech Frankie gives after Devin asks her why she was with Trey.
Listen, I understand what we’re going for here. Devin and Cece are not struggling financially. They’re doing alright, and their new friends here in Gravesend are not. We kind of got that without Frankie claiming that her socioeconomic status is why she’s dating a bully and gaslighter. It felt out of place. It felt like pandering. It certainly didn’t feel like something an eighteen-year-old would say. I hated it.
Finally, there was a moment near the end of the episode that irritated me. I don’t want to give too much detail because I wouldn’t dare ruin an R.L. Stine cliffhanger. But, well, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I get that we’re watching a show about a carnivorous plant that is going to wreak havoc on this family and neighborhood. I understand the suspension of disbelief. Some might even say I am a little too generous with it. So I can buy into a teenager being absorbed by a plant and turned into a monstrous version of himself.
I can’t buy into what happens at the end of this episode. It doesn’t make sense with the rules established. It certainly doesn’t make any sort of scientific or logical sense. It is a lazy moment meant to further the storyline but threatens the structural integrity of the season.
All in all, this wasn’t the best episode of Goosebumps. But it’s only the second episode. Honestly, the season has plenty of time to go either way.
(2.5 / 5)
So, this is a convoluted post, not going to lie. Because it’s Thriller Nite. And we have to kick it off with a link to Michael Jackson in homage, because he’s the bomb and Vincent Price is the master… (If the following video doesn’t load properly, you can get there from this link.)
The movie monsters always approach so slowly.
Their stiff joints arcing in jerky, erratic movements
While the camera pans to a wide-eyed scream.
It takes forever for them to catch their victims.
Their stiff joints arcing in jerky, erratic movements
As they awkwardly shamble towards their quarry –
It takes forever for them to catch their victims.
And yet no one ever seems to get away.
As they awkwardly shamble towards their quarry –
Scenes shift, plot thickens, minutes tick by endlessly…
And yet no one ever seems to get away.
Seriously, how long does it take to make a break for it?
Scenes shift, plot thickens, minutes tick by endlessly…
While the camera pans to a wide-eyed scream.
Seriously, how long does it take to make a break for it?
The movie monsters always approach so slowly.
So my father used to enjoy telling the story of Thriller Nite and how he’d scare his little sister, my aunt. One time they were watching the old Universal Studios Monsters version of The Mummy, and he pursued her at a snail’s pace down the hallway in Boris Karloff fashion. Both of them had drastically different versions of this tale, but essentially it was a true Thriller Nite moment. And the inspiration for this poem.
For more fun music video mayhem, check out She Wolf here on Haunted MTL. And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.
