As expected the recent Paleyfest has spurred fangirls to start fighting once again. There are a couple reasons for this I suspect. For one, the crowd there was decidedly Team Eric… this translates to the fandom in general IMHO.
A Tweet from @TrueBloodHBO:
Team Bill vs Team Eric vs Team Alcide? The crowd goes wild for all three (actually, just Eric and Alcide).
Second, the character of Eric was really hyped up and was in fact the focus of the long awaited season four teaser video. Bill and Sookie are supposed to be the top two characters and yet consistently the fandom cries out for Eric and HBO has started to deliver. Third, director Alan Ball stated that Sookie and Bill’s break-up was REAL and that chances of reconciliation were slim to none. Add to that the confirmation that Sookie and Eric would in fact become involved this season and you can see why Bookie fans are pissed.
Eric fans have had to wait three season for their favorite Eric/Sookie story lines so I am having a hard time feeling bad for them. 
One of the chief “diggs” I am seeing from Bill fans is that they are saying Eric fans only really like Eric AFTER the amnesia. Eric fans need this whole amnesia farce in order to make Eric all loveable and likeable, they say. Huh?
Yes, many fans really like the amnesia storyline but that is not the beginning of our Eric adoration, nor is it the end. Most Eric/Sookie fans fell in love with Eric before amnesia even entered into it, books or TV show. I have already made the case for why Eric with amnesia is not some cheap trick and it IS the “real” Eric still.
To me the key factor in Eric getting amnesia and Sookie starting an affair with said amnesiac Viking was not that Eric suddenly became loveable, spurring Sookie to get involved. He always was loveable and desirable. Sookie merely had trouble making the leap to a relationship due to his obviously darker and more dangerous nature. The desire was already there… what was missing was the way for Sookie to rationalize the relationship in her head. When Eric got amnesia it was easy for her to see “base Eric” with all his tough exterior layers stripped away. It was like getting Eric but without all the baggage. Book Sookie couldn’t resist anymore when all her excuses and rationalizations were stripped away. She gave in and they had a glorious and short lived affair.
Later when his memory of all that transpired with Sookie returns, Eric too sees the amnesia for it was… a chance for he and Sookie to be together without all the vampire bullshit. Having seen what was, makes him aware of what is possible.
Eric fans love dark, dangerous Eric. We love how he manipulates people to get his way and how he apologizes to no one for being the strong vampire that he is. We love his arrogance and his ability to take charge and do what needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. We love that he ENJOYS feeding on humans and using them for his own ends. Hello vampire? But we also love that he has a soft spot for Sookie and that he feels compelled, against his own better judgement, to protect her. We love his tender relationship with his progeny Pam too. We love it all folks… the good and the bad. Amnesia or no. We didn’t have to dumb Eric down or “pussify” him to make him loveable. He always was.
Let’s just get that straight okay?
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Season 4 is loosely based on Book 4 in the Sookie Stackhouse series:
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Love this!! And I totally agree, we do not need a false version of Eric to <3 him!!! His character is awesome in every book and I am so glad to read that AB said Bill & Sookie's breakup was REAL!! Finally!!!
GOD, i hope that AB doesn’t mess this up and change too much of the story from the 4th book in season 4. I know that he’ll change it up a little but lets not go too crazy. I started watching true blood first and then read the books and let me tell u i fell in love with Eric both on the show and in the books. I read all of them and hopefully AB will try to be true to some of the story lines in the books or it’s going to mess up the hold love story between Eric and Sookie. oh and let me tell u that Eric is not soft in any way in the books, there’s still a lot of fierce in that man!!!LOVE HIM!!!
You said it! I also like the fact that he forgets and Sookie decides it’s better not to tell him. I like that he’s back to his normal self with this one niggling thing bugging the crap out of him for a few books. And Sookie knowing, and kind of yearning for him to remember himself. Yep, I love kick ass Eric, sly witty Eric, fierce Eric, with that damn soft spot for Sookie!
PS: Alan Ball didn’t definitively say Bill and Sookie were over for good though, unfortunately. The first time he mentioned it, it sounded more final. The second time he said eventually, which really burns me, unless he’s talking about her just forgiving him and admitting she would always love him as her first love but not her forever love and in the SVMs.
He can’t say that or a lot of Bill fans wouldn’t watch anymore…not all, but some.
I totally agree with this 100%. My LORD, can they not be happy for anyone else on that show? It’s time for the other stars of the show to step up and get their recognition. I’m sure Joe Mangniello is going to have a bigger role this season. & It seems that Kristen, Deborah , and Jim are getting the hooplah as well. So ..are they not happy for them? It’s just rediculous that they have to bash Eric. Sorry that your infamous Bill Compton is going to have less Screen time…it’s the way of HOLLYwood(and the books people)…OUT WITH THE OLD, AND IN WITH THE NEW@!!!! and I am loving every stinkin’ bit of SKARSGARD TIME!
Yes, glad you said it. FFS, should bill fans be the only people to have some happiness on the show? Of course we want to see cherished plots such as the amnesia brought to the screen, it doesn’t mean we didn’t love Eric before. We loved AE because of what it did for Sookie. And Sookie has someone that needs her, and cares about her, and that makes her feel appreciated and loved.
And of course we love him when he’s being the 1000 year old vampire badass…I fell for him in Season 2.
RIGHT ON! I fell in love with ERIC because of what I saw on the show. He’s the dirtiest player in the game! He may have to cheat and steal to get shit done, but at the end of the day, he gets shit done! He’s not all high and mighty like Bill Compton. He doesn’t try to be the hero, he just is! When he chained Sookie in the dungeon at Fangtasia, I was thinking in my head, he has a plan. He would never do that to her if he didn’t have a plan. LOW and BEHOLD he did. I’ve read book 4 over 100 times now and the story never gets old. I was thinking Alan Ball has to do the amnesia storyline. The whole plot of Book 4 is driven by Eric and his amnesia self.
EXACTLY!
What they fail to realize as well is that Bill is all darkness. Eric is light and darkness, the perfect combination for Sookie.
I don’t see Bill as all darkness. He’s got his very caring and loving side. It comes out in the fact that he’s still religious and that he loved his dear sweet wife and children so much and that he still looks in on his kin living today. He’s also been there for Sookie.
However, Bill also has his manipulator dark VIOLENT sides also!!! Even in the latest book he’s manipulating Sookie every bit as much as Eric ever has. The TV show doesn’t work as well for me because it makes excuses for Bill’s dark side.
All the vamps are dangerous – that’s their nature. You can have a poisonous pet that you love very much, but don’t be surprise when they bite you – and even kill you! That’s their nature – not their meaness. It’s the same with the vamps. Eric has proven that he can control his dangerous side – mostly. But even he becomes dangerous when caught up in the bloodlust (read book 11 page 301…I’m going from memory on the exact page).
I loved Eric from the very beginning. Unlike Bill he doesn’t hide what he is, he is actually quite proud of it. I don’t think that you get to be 1000 yrs old and not sure of yourself. At least with Eric we know that he is looking out mainly for himself(Pam as well) and shockingly to him for Sookie as well. I have been waiting for three season for more Eric time. Team Bill can just suck it up.
I hope AB understand that the heart of these books is the relationship between Sookie and Eric. I like Eric before I even knew that True Blood was base on some books. I read the books and that make me like Eric even more (if that is possible). Bill lie to Sookie, in the show he did worst things to Sookie that what he did in the books. Ex True Blood Bill made the Rattray’s almost kill Sookie so he can give his blood to her. How in the world somebody is going to forgive a person vampire or not about this. He even killed her uncle without telling her (in the book and series). He betray the queen, Eric, Pam and everybody that is between him and Sookie. He is like the vampire version of Glen Close in fatal attraction. If wasn’t for Eric’s intervention he will have never told Sookie the truth. After all this AB still wants them together, well…I think he needs to go to a psychiatrist.
bill fans can cry all they want,THE TIME HAS COME; ITS TIME FOR ERIC AND SOOKIE
It is interesting that Bill fans (and for the record I do not hate Bill) claim he is a better guy than Eric.
I think Eric is just more upfront with his dark side and accepts it. Maybe because he has been around longer. Bill’s dark side is there–he just tries to fight it and hide it. So basically the entire anti-Eric argument, claiming it takes amnesia for him to become “nice” or “lovable” is ridiculous. Eric and Bill are not so different.
Don’t kill me the truth is…
I hated Eric in the first book, BUT then, long before I read the fourth, I just fell for him, he cares for sookie, sending her flowers AND and was like dump Bill, yield! YIELD to Eric already!
I press enter withou meaning, I was still wrinting… *”AND and”, read:
AND visiting her in the hospital in the first book and let’s NEVER forget, ERIC NOT BILL saved her from Longshadow, and I…
My fav book is Dead to the World with the “dumbed down” Eric. He was able to let go of being Mr. Toughguy and be Mr Sexy-Sensitive-HOT! That shower scene between Eric and Sook is the best of the series.
Whatever Ball says, if he follows the books at all, Bill will never go away until the end if ever. He’s made a definite comeback in book 11. He’ll be there til the end – although, I’m team Eric (although, I kinda feel that Sookie isn’t good enough for Eric – she’s doesn’t believe in him enough – in the TV Series it’s understandable – but by book 11 of the series – hmmmm).
I have loved Eric long before I heard about book 4. He is a very strong bad boy type that most women find exciting and the type that leaves us wanting more. I wish that we could see more flashbacks of his life as a Viking warrior. I’m glad to see Sookie and Eric being able to find both of their enter selves.
AMEN!!
Totally agree. Eric is always up front about everything with Sookie. He accepts his dark side as a permanent part of him, embraces it, and uses it to his full advantage. He is who he is, a 1000 year old vampire. You don’t live that long and do as well as he did without having that about you. There’s a point where he’s telling her she can trust him because what he tells her is true, though he may not always tell her EVERYTHING he knows, what he does say is always true. He tells her that the only reason he doesn’t reveal everything is for her safety and his love for her. She’s a minnow in the shark tank, seems to me a good idea to trust the Great White that’s sworn to protect you and has proven his merit repeatedly without being asked and often without reward. Bill on the other hand has flat out lied and blatantly manipulated Sookie. He was deceptive in his manner and used her love for him against her.
Everyone keeps talking about the bloodlust they have her, but if we recall…. BILL held her down in the back of a truck and drained her to near death because he just couldn’t control himself, the excuse being he was near death himself and desperate and any vampire would do the same so it was a bonehad move by Sookie. HOWEVER…. She drags Eric, near death, in out of the sun and feeds him. She knows it’s dumb and hopes the others can stop him if he loses control. HE doesn’t. He relishes in it but doesn’t lose himself in it. Seems to me a lot safer around someone who’s not gonna say “oops I lost it” and eat you.
Eric with amnesia is not the beginning of everyone’s love for his character. Most of us have been fans from the get go. We are enjoying this Eric because it’s stripped away all the bravado and BS to let Sookie see the him that he’s been hiding. This is who Eric really is, the man not the vampire. What he’s lived through has made him who he has become. He tried to show Sookie before and FINALLY she gets it. She even tells him about the time at the LOD church when he offers himself to protect her and Godric. FINALLY she realizes, “even then you were willing to die for me…” and he puts it right in her face with “and yet you didn’t love me?” LOVED THAT! Even though Eric will get his memory back, Sookie isn’t going to forget what was. She’ll still miss him, still want him. She’ll see the Eric that was with her inside the Eric with his memories because now she’ll recognize what she’s seeing.
Sorry for the long post! I’m just in love with this storyline lol.
I’m with you a 110!!! And we all know she had feelings for him since she met him!! Who wouldn’t!
She was intrigued by him at first I think, then she started to really have feelings. Even Bill noticed that it was more than just Eric’s blood at work. So glad they’re doing this storyline!
I MISS THE REAL ERIC….and all the sexual tension between him and Sookie. Eric, please come back. Sweet Eric is so…..boring….and “Billish”
I love sweet Eric and you called “real” Eric both