For the very last time, Comic Con will be seeing a True Blood panel. *cries* With this in mind, here is a rundown on everything that was said and done during this epic finale panel. (Sincere gratitude and immense thanks to DigitalSpy and HitFix for doing all the hard word of transcribing the panel so quickly!) We have included some of the highlights directly for you to enjoy, otherwise click on the DigitalSpy and HitFix links after our recap for the full coverage.
So what happened? What was said? Did anyone cry? (HINT: It’s Kristin Bauer van Straten mostly…)
It seems with all the sad goodbyes, there was plenty of reminiscing going on. When asked about the very first episode of True Blood, the panel had the following to share:
“Can anybody remember seven years ago?” [Stephen] Moyer ponders. “I just remember that ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ was shooting next door and we had all of these naked bloody people walking around,” [Sam] Trammell says. [Rutina] Wesley remembers being terrified, because it was almost her first job out of school. Lafayette was supposed to die at some point. [Nelsan] Ellis remembers wondering why his shirts had to be so tight. Moyer remembers a moment in the pilot when Nelsan was cooking and started humping the grill. Nelsan said something to an extra named “Big John” and Big John has been in every episode since.
As for all the flashbacks included in Season 7, it seems Brian Buckner is trying to find closure for all the characters. Bill (Stephen Moyer) is finding himself, Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) and Fangtasia had to have a backstory that was suitably appropriate – considering how long us Truebies had to wait for one!
And what of the last day on set? Since we are still remembering?
Wesley calls it “weird.” She remembers a long hug with her TV mother. “It was beautiful and sad and also… it’s like it’s on to new things.” Buckner promises that we haven’t seen the last of Rutina, yet. “My last day, I wrapped at 4 a.m. off in the woods somewhere,” [Deborah Ann] Woll remembers. She says that they wrapped 17 people at once, so that they could all go together. [Carrie] Preston admits to being the first cry, “mourning, but celebrating too.” “We started crying at the table read for that episode,” Preston says. “I’m still waiting for that cry,” [Kristin] Bauer [van Straten] admits. Moyer also wrapped with a 5 a.m. shoot, saying that we’re as much a part of this as they are. He references the continuity with the crew as well. “Seven years is like doing a doctorate in vampirism and it’s all with the same people and that is just extraordinary to have,” Moyer says. In his last moment, he was struck by saying “Bye” to the crew, because he knew he’d see the actors again here.
When discussing the tea party massacre in Episode 5, it seems Kristin Bauer van Straten was happy to hear that Sarah Palin drew offense from it:
“She’ll weigh in on anything. It’s sweet, many many years later that I’ve made her angry,” animal rights activist Bauer van Straten says, recalling Palin as the wolf-killer-lady.
And who will Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) end up with? Brian Buckner had the following to say:
They’re in each other’s spheres for sure. This show started out and worked because of the chemistry they shared. They got married for us! I certainly felt coming into it that we had to go back to Bill and Sookie. How we come back to them, I’m not telling you.
While it is a stock question lately, it seems the cast are still filching things from set. So what have they taken now from the True Blood set?
“I’ve got my brown hair in case I ever need it,” [Anna] Camp says. Buckner took Sookie’s porch swing. Moyer took two dead deer feet from Merlotte’s. “I strongly suspect they’re gonna end up in our house,” says a disgusted [Anna] Paquin. “HBO should probably sue me, because I’ve been stealing from them for seven years,” Ellis says. He’s been forgetting to bring back a lot of Lafayette’s wardrobe. All of the vampires took their fangs. Rutina also took some human clothes, including a pair of Tara’s jean shorts. Trammell took a couple boxes of matches and his boots. What Trammell really wants is the big wooden menu from Merlotte’s, but Warner Brothers took it.
An awesome fan question came in the way of “is there a reason there hasn’t been much time to mourn Tara and Alcide (Joe Manganiello)?” It seems these is:
You don’t get to mourn before you know what’s going to happen.
It seems Brian Buckner wanted people to see all aspects of death, not just those massive scenes where people are prepared – both before and after – for it. He wanted people to be just as shocked and horrified when they didn’t see it coming, that they would have to work through the pain themselves.
And what about looking ahead? What can we expect in the second half of Season 7? Brian Buckner had this to say:
It’s not done changing, it’s not going to slow down… You guys love these characters and we felt we had to land them in places where you would be okay not seeing them anymore.
Will Sarah Newlin get what she deserves before the show ends? Anna camp had the following to say:
I think I get what I deserve.
She wouldn’t elaborate any further, but did admit that even her boyfriend (in real life) thought Sarah deserved to be punished!
You can read the full transcripts here (for HitFix) and here (for DigitalSpy)
Sources: HitFix - ‘True Blood’ visits Comic-Con for the last time: Live-Blog
DigitalSpy - True Blood at Comic-Con 2014: As it happened
(Photo Credit: Twitter/HBO Inc.)
