77 replies to this topic

[Prettyeyes]

Meet Russell Edgington. He lives in a beautiful home, has a loving spouse and has a great job-wihch is no suprise, since he's the Vampire King of Missisippi. However, just ruling Ol'Miss isn't enough for Russell, so, with help from his pet werewolves (among others), he plans to expand his empire by marrying Queen Sophie. Should that happen, the South won't just be dirty, it will be crazy and it will be downright bloody-or rather, even dirtier, even crazier and even bloodier than ever.

Talk about His Royal Nuttiness, King Russell here.

[StayClassySD]

I liked Russell's entrance. And the actor playing him fits the ideal I had in my mind of Russell. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him this season.

[nikotonic]

Bringing this over from the 3-5 episode thread, since my question is Russell specific:

What I don't get is why protect Sookie from Russell? The Queen, clearly, already knows about Sookie. Are we to believe the queen is a better option than Russell? We've already seen that she's crazy and mercurial. Heck, once she finds out about Sookie's special gifts she might sell her to the highest vampire bidder or farm her out. Russell, at least, seems to have a long term plan.

Not that Sookie is any less screwed either way.

Perhaps we ARE to believe that the queen is a better option. Either way is forced servitude, but at least the Queen is on home turf. Though if Russell's marriage/takeover of Louisiana proceeds, who knows. His long term plan may be much more harmful to humans in general than, say, sitting around in the day room at the Queen's palace till she needs someone telepath-ied up.

Besides werewolves under his employ/addicted to him, and seeing him feed on Ann in the last episode, have we seen Russell interact with other non-supe humans at his compound? Or anywhere else?

[Kris]

The actor who is playing Russell is doing a great job. His words convey just the right facade of "Southern gentlemanliness" with an undercurrent of menace.

[iliveTV]

The actor who is playing Russell is doing a great job. His words convey just the right facade of "Southern gentlemanliness" with an undercurrent of menace.

Agreed, I wasn't sold completely till the last 2 episodes but man they made a good choice with his casting.

[darkestboy]

I love Russell. He is by far the best villain we've had on this series. Even Maryann would be impressed with him.

And Denis O'Hare is actually rather attractive as well as being compelling in the role.

[tze]

Is it just me, or do Russell's clothes just scream "Old Man!"? He dresses like a wealthy grandfather, which kind of makes sense, but amuses me nonetheless.

[iliveTV]

Is it just me, or do Russell's clothes just scream "Old Man!"? He dresses like a wealthy grandfather, which kind of makes sense, but amuses me nonetheless.

IDK, I was thinking that he was doing a pretty good job. Like the jacket he had on in this episode was pretty modern, and he usually seems to wear some nice colors. I like his style, except for his white horse riding outfit.

[Teshi]

It's the pants. He wears grandpa pants.

[December13]

Really great interview with Denis O'Hare.

[darkestboy]

It makes sense for Russell to have some old fashioned clothing in his wardrobe but the outfit he was wearing when off to meet Sophie-Anne seemed modern enough and almost better than Eric's sweater. He's becoming one of my favourite characters on the show at the moment as well.

[dimples1]

All Hail the King of Mississippi. Russell Edgington is a bad ass.

If I was Denis O'Hare, I would of had the time of my life portraying this role. He's so awesome.

[Tim Thomason]

Any ideas on where Russell is from? He's 3000 years old, has only been in Jackson a couple years, but has a Southern accent that he seems to use reflexively.

I'd assume he's been in the Southern US for at least a couple decades to pick up such an accent. From the looks of him, I'd guess he'd be from ancient Northern Europe, but I have no skills for that.

[Sexy Sadie]

Denis O'Hare is a blast, he has this Al Pacino quality that makes the rest of the cast pale.

[December13]

Any ideas on where Russell is from? ... I'd guess he'd be from ancient Northern Europe...

Nice guess, but wrong. According to interviews of Denis O'Hare and AB himself, King is from the opposite part of Europe. From south-east, more precisely, my area: Balkans... and if he is old as they claim to be, than he is probably of the Celtics origin

[labprincess]

All Hail the King of Mississippi. Russell Edgington is a bad ass.

If I was Denis O'Hare, I would of had the time of my life portraying this role. He's so awesome.

ITA. Russell may not be the "king of all vampires" but he should be. Maybe that's his plan...?

[LReeses]

Any ideas on where Russell is from? ... I'd guess he'd be from ancient Northern Europe...

Nice guess, but wrong. According to interviews of Denis O'Hare and AB himself, King is from the opposite part of Europe. From south-east, more precisely, my area: Balkans... and if he is old as they claim to be, than he is probably of the Celtics origin

Does he change his name and style and accent every 100 years or so? I can't imagine a 3000 year-old vampire with the given name "Russell Edgington." How does he choose his name and persona?

Or, is all of this just nitpicking? Either way, I'm happy Russell is who he is. I hope he sticks around, although I fear he is a one season-only villain.

[darkestboy]

Russell is by far the best villain we've had on the series. I think maybe he does alter some things to fit into his surroundings like a lot of vampires. I wonder how long he's been King though.

[Prettyeyes]

Ouch! Looks like King Russell's definitely living up to his thread title, whether he was whacking Eric's family for a crown, forcing Queen Sophie-Anne to marry him, taking Talbot for granted or dispatching the Magister. Russell was certainly a pain in the Magister's neck, especially when he separated his head from it. However, something tells me that Russell's hubris will backfire. Chances are that The Authority won't take Russell's disrespect, defiance and the Magister's decapitation lying down. While Russell was right about Sookie's naivete, in some ways he's just as naive, if not more, specifically when it comes to Talbot. If Russell thinks that ignoring Talbot, letting him be dissed in his own home and never taking him anywhere won't also come back to haunt him, then he's even dumber than Sookie & Jason combined, which is a frightening thought.

Spoilerish spec ahead: If Russell doesn't start doing right by Talbot and I don't mean just he occasional booty call, then Talbot might find someone who will and if that someone happens to be Eric, it would serve Russell right. If Talbot willingly confirms Eric's suspicions about Russell killing his family, then so be it. On another note, kudos to Denis O'Hare, who has not only made King Russell True Blood's greatest villain, he could be one of the greatest TV villains of all time.

Edited by Prettyeyes, Aug 8, 2010 @ 1:03 PM.

[AutumnWind]

If Russell thinks that ignoring Talbot, letting him be dissed in his own home and never taking him anywhere won't also come back to haunt him, then he's even dumber than Sookie & Jason combined, which is a frightening thought.

I don't think Russell is dumb or naive, but I do think that he has become consumed with his own power. Powerful men tend to think that they can't be brought low... but pride always comes before destruction. He definitely takes Talbot for granted; I guess after 700 years, it was bound to happen. Another thing I've wondered is why Russell even associates with someone like Franklin. He finances him, and cleans up after all of his messes and woman drama. There has to be something more to that relationship besides Franklin being a great PI. And I wonder why Russell lets Franklin disrespect Talbot, since Talbot is supposed to be Russell's love and all.

[Glorfindel]

I've been thinking about the Russell/Franklin relationship which has been intriguing me a great deal (slow weekend). There's clearly affection there - I remember Denis O'Hare saying that Russell sees him 'as a son' - but I think the key point here is POWER.

Russell. Sophie-Anne. The Magister. Eric. This season is all about vampire politics - about attaining status, power, territory. Franklin? Well, that doesn't seem to be his bag at all. Play the slots. Do a bit of sleuthing. Terrorise unsuspecting women with death-wishes. He's got no agenda, no wish to rise to the top. For Russell - who presumably trusts very few people - it must be...refreshing. Ask him a straight question, get a straight answer.

Edited by Glorfindel, Aug 8, 2010 @ 3:50 PM.

[December13]

Glorfindel, I love your take on Russell/Franklin relationship. I love simplicity of it. I was thinking so much about it, as I love both Russell and Franklin and dynamics they brought to this show, but it never occurred to me that it could be this simple. Now, I know it may not be right, but nevertheless, I will hold it as true explanation (as long as we don't get one from TB).

That said, Denis is playing Russell with such easyness, one would think it's a piece of cake. He manages to portray so many things about him with so little face/voice/gesture changing, it's amazing! Where was this guy before?

eta
I quoted your opinion where we talk about Franklin, just so others can see it. We were brainstorming so much about nature of R/F r-ship, yet this explanation never came up.

Edited by December13, Aug 8, 2010 @ 4:41 PM.

[Glorfindel]

Denis O'Hare is amazing, isn't he? I haven't seen him in anything else, but I know he's done a lot of impressive stagework.

I'm probably wrong about my little theory (especially given the fact that TB is a big old x-rated soap opera)! But I just thought...if you're King of the hill, where do you get a truthful, straightforward answer from? Not from your sycophantic minions, not from the other vampires who have their own interests at heart. And probably not from Talbot: Russell loves him IMO, but he does treat him like the 'little woman', and it doesn't seem to me that he'd respect Talbot's opinion on political or work matters.

I can buy that Russell and Franklin go way back - are friends even - but I can't see Russell employing him in any capacity unless he trusted him. And given Franklin's poor impulse control (to put it mildly!), he's probably not someone who'd censor himself, even to Russell.

[mshepnj]

Denis O'Hare is amazing, isn't he? I haven't seen him in anything else, but I know he's done a lot of impressive stagework.

O.M.G. yes! I continue to be enthralled by DO'H's Russell Edgington and will checking out whatever other roles he's played.

ETA:

I can buy that Russell and Franklin go way back - are friends even - but I can't see Russell employing him in any capacity unless he trusted him. And given Franklin's poor impulse control (to put it mildly!), he's probably not someone who'd censor himself, even to Russell.

Ah, but the impulse control problems seem to be a minor flaw from Russell's perspective, compared with Franklin's value as a detective. Franklin did find the information on Bill that Russell was after so he's good at getting results. Also, maybe Russell indulges Franklin because he finds him more amusing than troublesome.

Edited by mshepnj, Aug 9, 2010 @ 10:08 AM.

[K42]

Taking this from the 3.08 episode thread.

Re: Russell's true geographical origin: it's from the "druid people", but from where exactly?

From this interview, O'Hare talks about the people coming from east of Danube. And he says they moved west. Yes, that's the origin of the druid people, they arrived to the British Isles in the end. And they are not Celts, because this is an era BEFORE the Celts, who are from the Iron Age (starting nearly 800 BC in Europe, while human Russell's date of birth is probably around 850 BC). And yes, it's not possible Edgington is his human name, he surely took it not too many centuries ago. But it's the only lead we have to establish its geographical origin, because if he just took an English name randomly, he could be from everywhere. It's true that O'Hare also talks about his initial researches on Charlemagne, whom can be considered a Germanic figure, but I don't know if he intended Russell as someone linked even loosely to the German area. It strikes as strange to me for a Germanic immortal to assume a modern English name in the end, instead of a modern German one. Unless Russell Edgington is the name he took after being a nazi in WWII, as many Germans did before coming to the U.S. in order to hide their not-so-welcomed German origins.

[grim squeaker]

ETA: I think we are talking about different things here. To you, O'Hare speaks of Britons, but I think he's talking of Celtic priests, namely druids. Too bad we can't ask him to find out.

That aside, though, I don't see why he would have to stick with his origin where names are concerned. Talbot obviously doesn't, after all, and I think Russell would have created his aliases after his needs - for instance when he was moving in Germany in the 1930s/40s, he likely used a German name. O'Hare has said that Russell has used many names and disguises, that he speaks countless languages. He doesn't really have to restrict himself to just one area, and since English names are rather common in the US, it makes sense to use one if you want to blend in.

Edited by grim squeaker, Aug 10, 2010 @ 9:14 AM.

[K42]

I totally believe Russell took on many names during his undead life - he also would have been forced to do that, as his aliases had to die at least once or twice per century. But I'm still not convinced about the "Russell Edgington is just a random English-sounding name totally not related to his true and mysterious origin". And even if my own theory of a nazi hidding his previous identity in the U.S. could make sense, it doesn't seem probable that Talbot would call him with his last made up name, instead of the name he used to call him when they first met in the 14th century. I see a vampire, and especially Talbot, as someone that would not care at all about the name of the current human disguise of his partner.
This issue is not without ramifications, anyway. Some vampires are young enough to use the same modern name they had when they were humans. Bill Compton, for instance. Yet Bill Compton died 150 years ago. The "disguise among humans" concept (still standing 2 years ago, before the Revelation) would suggest he had to use some other name during 20th century - and he did, as we see him and Lorena disguising as French in the 1920s. Now he uses his original name, though. So he never felt too much attachment to his aliases. Why Russell is still stuck with his last human-disguising name, instead?

We only know two other very old vampires, predating surnames conventions: Godric and Eric. I agree Godric was meant as a very ancient-sounding name. But it could be the name Godric was using when he and Eric met in "Vikingland". They bonded so much that Godric still used that name in the 21th century, among vampires. As far as we know, Texas Federal Register (or whatever) has him listed as John Anderson, born 1989, son of the late William Anderson, born 1965 (being still Godric himself), and so on.
Eric chose to sport his real birth name, adding the location surname "Northman" when the surnames are starting to be used, and making this his vampire name since. Or maybe Northman is just the last of his human-disguising surnames. If so, Eric (and more importantly, Charlaine Harris and/or Alan Ball) chose a name that reminds us of Eric's geographical origins. I just wonder why that's not true for Russell as well.

Edited by K42, Aug 10, 2010 @ 9:33 AM.

[darkestboy]

Maybe this isn't the right thread but I kind of wish that we had at least seen one sex scene between Russell and Talbot. For a show that's liberal with man on man stuff, it's a little disheartening that we didn't even see the two of them at least kiss. I would've preferred that to Talbot/Eric to be honest.

[grim squeaker]

Why Russell is still stuck with his last human-disguising name, instead?

We don't know how long he had it, though. It might have been for the last two years, i.e. as long as he seems to have been in Mississippi.

As for why Talbot calls him Russell, on a Watsonian level, I chalk that up to us never seeing him addressing Russell without witnesses. Maybe they don't want Marcus, Timothy, Claus and the rest of the boytoy minions to know their real names. Maybe Talbot doesn't even know his real name.

Ultimately, we don't know, so all we can do is speculate. We're simply coming to different conclusions, that's all.

For a show that's liberal with man on man stuff, it's a little disheartening that we didn't even see the two of them at least kiss. I would've preferred that to Talbot/Eric to be honest.

I liked Talbot/Eric (well, the whole staking thing obviously makes it a bit uncomfortable), but I agree, we should have seen some intimacies between the royal couple. Maybe in flashbacks?

[Jessimuhka]

For a show that's liberal with man on man stuff, it's a little disheartening that we didn't even see the two of them at least kiss.

Honestly, I don't think this show is all that liberal with man on man stuff. But yes, it would have been nice to have seen at least one tender moment between Talbot and Russell before Talbot's death. Russell's reaction was great, but it might have connected with viewers more if we'd seen some interaction between the two of them.