Only two more episodes of “True Blood” to go after tonight’s, so it’s almost time for the viewers to steel themselves for the inevitable, and time for our favorite characters to make desperate last moves in their television lives. Eric, Sookie, and Bill are all just about at death’s door, while Lafayette and Lettie Mae are trying to dig their way under that same door, and Violet plots her revenge. What’s next? Find out after the jump for my review of “Almost Home.”
Still Alive for the Moment
As I mentioned, there are only three episodes left in this final season of “True Blood.” I get a lot of snickers and people asking in mock surprise, ‘oh, do they still make that?’ when I say I’m reviewing it. It’s true, after seven seasons, the show has definitely seen better times, and in my opinion, the final nail in its coffin (pun unintended) was when series creator and show runner Alan Ball left two seasons ago.
Since then the show has been splashing frantically in the water, managing not to drown. It became more campy than its own conceptual inspiration “Dark Shadows,” so much so that it was almost a parody of itself, and yeah, I’ll say it, almost an embarrassment to its fans, even the most hardcore among us. This season has been better however, more focused with giving everyone a tidy if not necessarily nice ending, and looking back on when “True Blood” was cool. Let’s see how the second to the last episode fares.
Life and Death
Eric, Pam, Mr. Gus and the Yakuza had tracked the wildly delusional and hallucinating Sarah Newlin to the old Light of Day Institute. Before an assault could launched, she surrenders and Eric, at vampiric speed, takes point, and also takes a bite out of the raving ‘savior.’
Bill and Sookie, back together, and dying happily ever after, sure could use a bite out of Sarah as well. Back in Bon Temps, their pillow talk fills gaps in previously loose ends of the ongoing story of the series. They are rediscovering their love by reliving the secret origins of their relationship. However, it could just be the rationalizations of the doomed as well.
Faith
Lettie Mae finally convinces the Reverend to join her in partaking of vampire blood so he can see what she and Lafayette have been seeing on their V-induced vision quests. Having previously brought them to their old house, the ghostly Tara in white now pulls them inside and into the past. We see a birthday party for Tara with a young Lafayette and Sookie, as well as Tara’s drunken abusive father.
This is just not any day however. This is the day Tara’s father leaves, the day Tara almost shot him with a gun, the day Lettie Mae fell apart and started drinking. It’s the gun that Tara buried that they’re looking for. Secrets unearthed, origins told, and Tara is released. It’s both heartbreaking and heartwarming at once, one of the few moments that do make “True Blood” worth watching.
Rough Trade
In the midst of Hoyt and his girlfriend fighting, Jason gets word of Violet’s insidious plans for Wade, Adilyn, and Jessica. With the girlfriend in tow, he calls Andy (conveniently out of state) and heads over into what is surely a deathtrap. Or a torture chamber. After a rather graphic tutorial on torture, Violet’s dead lights are put out by Hoyt. Much too conveniently. Not cool, tying up loose ends is no excuse for lazy writing.
The action moment is sacrificed for the emotional moment. The horror that has trademarked the early days of the show was traded here for happy endings all around. Here, Hoyt meets Jessica for what he believes is the first time, and Jason doesn’t have to feel bad about being attracted to Hoyt’s girlfriend. Is this twisted foursome a good thing? Could be the beginning of one… and almost makes up for Violet’s too easy end.
The Cure
There is no honor among thieves. Now that Mr. Gus and the Yakuza are in possession of Sarah Newlin, the trust between them and Eric and Pam is strained. The Corporation’s plans for New Blood are along the same lines as oil companies with electric cars and battery companies with eternity batteries. The antidote will not be distributed as a permanent cure, but as a continuing habit. There’s more money that way. “True Blood” has always loved conspiracy theory.
This makes Eric and Pam expendable, especially if they don’t keep their mouths shut about the permanence of the cure. Mr. Gus would be right to distrust them as the first thing Eric does is tell Sookie all about it, and she of course tells Jessica, and Bill (and who knows, probably everyone she ran into on the way home, she’s like that, you know). When it’s starting to look like maybe Bill and Sookie will actually get that happy ending however, Bill refuses to drink from Sarah.
Next
Has the Hep-V, as I’ve suggested earlier, made him insane like the other H-Vamps? Are his flashbacks a symptom of this or are they just more building backstory like much of this final season? We also saw a disturbing dream from Bill, of Sookie rocking a baby with a slightly more insane look on her face – and the baby’s face, a void. What does that mean?
Will Hoyt and Jessica find love again? Will Jason and Hoyt’s girlfriend find lust? And will Mr. Gus and the Yakuza just kill everyone in the basement of Fangtasia? Only two more episodes, folks and fangbangers, hang on to your coffin lids.
#TrueToTheEnd
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