And on the fan side, you have two completely separate discussions: the week-to-weekers, like us, and the DVD people next year, right before the next season; it's the same in comics. In TV, it's easier in some ways to balance, since there's no purchase outlay to watch each individual episode which means even disgruntled viewers aren't risking anything by watching, while comics people might just drop the book and wait for the trade so they don't pay twice, but it's the same basic principle. So you get on paper, "in these six episodes Jason will fuck a lady and feel weird about vampires, because that's his arc for this part," which is fine on paper but means six. weeks. of. fucking for people watching in realtime. Which turns them off of Jason, which sucks because I don't know if you're aware, but to me Jason is the bomb.

My favorite one of those is Buffy's classic magicks junkie plot, which lasted all of two episodes, but they happened to be stretched over the winter break so it seemed like the person was in this ridiculous repetitive drug spiral that lasted two months because, subjectively in realtime, IRL time, it did -- but in showtime it was all over before the sun came up. Same deal with Sookie's bullshit, which in actual showtime makes sense because each season takes only two fun-filled weeks, and not four months like it does for us to watch it, so instead it seems like she's been fuckin' crying about Gran for exactly 280 days... Which is also true. This show particularly is rife with those. "My God, Lafayette stop whining! It's been two weeks!" Actually no, it's been literally ten minutes since I laid down on this couch, give me a sec.)

So anyway, sorry, it's hard to think about the business and stuff when everything is so intense all the time, but I take enormous pleasure-slash-comfort in thinking about that stuff when the magicks have got me down, and Tara finally lets Sookie go uncomforted for five seconds to ask why, of all places, did Sookie choose Dallas for her romantic getaway? They laugh, and Sookie says brightly as ever, "Bill has some business there." Tara thinks about this for a second, suspicious, and then nods angrily. "Hell. Do those vampires wanna use your mindreading again?" Sookie points out that Bill will protect her, which as a response is such weak sauce even she seems a little offended.