The first episode of the final season of “True Blood” certainly set up some interesting situations. Vampires are matched with humans in Bon Temps to protect each other from the Hep-V vampires. Sookie has chosen to take sides other than her usual, against vamps, and with her hometown that hates her more than a little. And what is up with Eric? Is he alive? And what will Pam find in her search for him? Find out after the jump in my review of this week’s episode “I Found You.”
You Found Me
We open most unexpectedly on a coupling that has been sizzling on the backburner for a while now. Jason and Eric. How they are together after we watched Eric burn at the end of season six is dicey, but the soft focus indicates a dream. If you recall, Eric did something like this to Sookie many seasons ago before they consummated. One has to wonder however, why Jason, rather than say, Sookie, or Pam?
Eric is a very old and powerful vamp, I don’t think any of us think he burned up on that mountain, and the producers are smart enough not to write out the sexiest (Alcide just isn’t my type, but he’s a contender) man in the cast. Time will tell how Eric returns, not if. When we see him at the end of the episode, it is sooo not what we expected.
Switching Sides
Sure enough Jason wakes and joins the citizenry of Bon Temps, with their new ally, his sister Sookie. Her words last episode were that she knew more about vampires than anyone else in town, but what’s funny is she’s using simple common sense and police work to help. It doesn’t say a lot about her brother (never a rocket scientist) and pseudo-hero Sheriff Andy.
Team Sookie includes not just our least favorite telepathic waitress but also Andy, Sam, Jason, and the unusually quiet and restrained Alcide. Have the writers forgotten Alcide is a werewolf? A werewolf might just come in handy against vampires. They travel two towns over to Saint Alice for a peek at what Bon Temps will soon be, a ghost town, or more accurately, a vamp town. While they’re away, Bon Temps goes to hell.
The Talking Dead
Small towns are on their own. In another nod to “The Walking Dead,” apparently the government is is ruins after the outbreak of Hep-V, and it’s time for mob rule. The graffiti is almost straight outta that zombie show. Whereas “True Blood” previously paralleled and metaphored gay rights and the holocaust, this episode, with a slam at FEMA seems to be taking a more local and fierce shot toward Louisiana and Katrina.
Vince, leading a rebellion against Team Sookie and basically any sups, takes over Bon Temps. There’s also a bit of gun control commentary as well, and like most of these nods, it’s obvious which side the producers are on. As bad as things look, it was nice to see Tanya Wright’s Kenya get to do something on this show for once other than take orders. I’m just waiting for the ironic twist that turns Vince into a sup himself, right?
Parallels and Dead Bits
The young girl whose corpse brought Team Sookie to Saint Alice leads Sookie to find her diary and an almost identical account of how she met and fell in love with a vampire, which led her to Fangtasia, which led to Hep-V, which led to everyone in town dying. Sookie can’t help but see the obvious comparison. Are they intimating that the vamps had a plan to destroy small towns through innocent girls? It’s out there, but a case could be made. So what does she do? She proves that Jason’s stupidity is genetic and goes to see Bill while Alcide is in the shower.
The story wheel rolls on with multiple subplots, because what is an episode of “True Blood” without such things? Jessica is having trouble healing, and faerie Adilyn, the probable cause, has been captured by Vince’s Tea Party goons. Tara’s mom (always crazy as a shithouse rat to begin with) has become addicted to vampire blood. Like nephew, like auntie, right? And our waitresses are still being held prisoner in the basement of Fangtasia, and things are not looking good for them, but they haven’t since the season started. We should start a betting pool.
Next
Eric is back, but one wonders in what capacity, now that he apparently has Hep-V. Tara is also back weirdly, in the V-induced hallucinations of her mom’s delusions. Will Sookie enlist Bill to Team Sookie? Will Andy help Jessica find Adilyn? Will the waitresses escape? Will the writers remember that Alcide is a werewolf? See you right here, next blood curdling time on the same blood curdling channel. Until then, don’t forget to check out Jessica’s blog and to use hashtag #TrueToTheEnd when talking “True Blood” on Twitter.
The messages on the boarded up buildings are not a nod to The Walking Dead at all dude, but instead are a reference to Hurricane Katrina. As is “SOS” and “FEMA HELP US” and the many mentions of how they are on their own because the feds are too busy. This isn’t the first time Katrina was alluded to in the show either.
I thought I mentioned Katrina? Still, the signs in this episode conjured “The Walking Dead” in my mind.