Monday, August 27, 2012

Fangover: Day 1: Goodbye Russell


He was fun while he lasted.
Russell Edgington, the 3000-year-old blood-drinker who met Jesus and was not impressed, met death by Eric with a belly full of Fae.
His final words? The less than memorable, "Oh, fuck."
It's a whole lot different than his defiant appearance on a national news show, where he ripped an anchorman's heart out, said he'd eat everyone's children, then calmly asked Tiffany about the weather.
He was fun to hate. He had such a gleeful way of doing the most horrific things and making us secretly wish we could have that much fun doing anything.
Irish actor Denis O'Hare infused the King of Mississippi with such panache. The first time I recall seeing him he was wearing a red riding jacket, atop a beautiful white horse. As he leaned down from the saddle, he invited a befuddled Bill Compton to have a ride back to his place.
We learned his terrible connection to Eric Northman and saw how Russell indulged the love of his life, the drop-undead gorgeous Talbot. When Eric (Who can ever forget that baby blue V-neck sweater?) first took revenge on Russell, it was to kill Talbot, who mis-"Staken"-ly thought he was in for a night of pleasure with our favorite Viking vamp.
I loved watching Russell drag that crystal jug of ex-Talbot around Bon Temps, and delighted right along with Sookie as she dumped the goo into Fangtasia's garbage disposal, turning it on while watching Russell scream.
I did enjoy the season without him, but what fun it was when he escaped his cement grave via Salome and returned to form to take his place on the Authority board.
Maybe it was his advanced age or having delved into orgies before, the Lilith-fueled bloodbaths didn't seem to affect him as much as Salome, Bill, Steve, Nora or the rest of the Authority. While he delighted in drinking as much human blood as he could stand, he thirsted for the headier stuff--Fairy blood--and its light-walking ability.
His one foray into the sun wasn't enough for the guy I believe to have been the oldest vampire around.
Stalking Sookie, he used her dimmer brother Jason to discover her hideout.
His final meal was probably a Fae woman as old as he was and the glory of her blood made him vulnerable for one of the few times of his long, long life.
It cost him dearly.
He was staked and dying before he could realize what had happened. I don't think  he realized he was meeting the true death until he looked down and saw a stake sticking out of his chest. Being held up by Eric, who was enjoying every last minute of Russell's life, all the vamp could do was utter those final, sad words.


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