True Blood on HBO Episode 6 "Hopeless"

There’s a complicated mythology on “True Blood” about the relationship between vampires and fairies.  Sookie Stackhouse, the central character, is part fairy, part human.

Fairy blood is the tastiest, most intoxicating, ambrosia to vampires.  Consequently, fairies are on the brink of extinction because the vampires can’t resist draining them dry.

The remaining fairies now hide out in another dimension. They appear to spend most of their time at a hedonistic sexual-themed night club.  I assume they do this for our voyeuristic pleasure.

Sookie can hear the thoughts of other people due to her fairy lineage.  However, her “superpower” doesn’t work with vampires—she can’t hear the thoughts of vampires.  When Sookie first took up with Bill Compton, her first lover (and her first vampire lover) part of his appeal was that she could not hear his thoughts. It was a bit of peace and quiet, a respite from the constant din of other people’s thoughts.

Vampires have a lot of superpowers including the ability to “glamour.”  A vampire can look into someone’s eyes and do a sort of post-hypnotic suggestion on them to make them forget what they have seen or heard.  However, vampires can’t glamour fairies.

In this episode, some people, including Sookie and Alcide, witness the vampires behaving badly.  The vampires want to kill everyone who saw this.  Eric intercedes and suggests that they all be glamoured instead.  Bill glamours Sookie knowing full well that she cannot be glamoured and Sookie plays along.  (The other vampires are apparently unaware that Sookie cannot be glamoured.)

Eric glamours Alcide and after telling him to forget, he adds a command for Alcide to protect Sookie.  But Eric just can’t resist acting on his jealously about Sookie and Alcide being on the brink of a sexual relationship.  So he adds that from now on Alcide will find physical contact with Sookie repulsive.

It isn’t long before Sookie touches Alcide and he recoils from her.  She immediately figures out the cause for this change, and quickly “unglamours” Alcide.  Apparently, this is another superpower of Sookie—she can unglamour people.  It appears that she transferred her thoughts and memories into Alcide’s head.

So Sookie continues to have three men in her thrall.  Four is you consider Sam Merlotte, the shape-shifter and owner of the bar where Sookie works as a waitress, which I won’t because Sam is apparently over the crush he had on Sookie in season 1. (He now romances Luna, the lady werewolf.)  But on “True Blood” you never know when old flames will be re-ignited.

It looks like Sookie has an additional superpower.  She can make men fall in love with her and carry that torch forever.  That is a superpower I wouldn’t mind having.  Wait, put that in the past tense. I’m at an age now where I would find it exhausting.