As a follower of ESL, you are very aware that there are 4 of us who work here and that either Erika or I would be the one recapping the “finale” of True Blood’s season 6. I am the “lucky” one who gets to draw final blood for the season. When I write, I try to be insightful with a dash of humor to keep us all entertained and an attempt at neutrality since we are covering “Eric and Sookie” here at ESL. I can’t do that this time, and I apologize. It has taken me a few days to gather my thoughts on what we saw on August 18th. Plus I had to actually watch the full episode since I refused to finish watching the entire thing when it aired.
I was that angry. I think we all were. Wait, I don’t think. I KNOW we were, and still are.
I normally look forward to finale night and was actually season 6 through the penultimate episode. It had a vibe I had not felt in a long time. And devout Viking lover that I am, I loved every minute we had of Eric on our TVs this year. When he flew off at the end of episode 9, I clung mentally to the Entertainment Weekly interview with Mr Buckner that we were going to see Eric in the finale. In a provocative scene.
Provocative: serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate
Well, depending on how you interpret the definition of provocative, they did stimulate us. But not the way they intended to.
After 9 episodes that actually made “sense” as the stories started becoming one strand, we ended up falling down the rabbit hole with the 10th and final episode. What we knew was down, was up. And light was dark. In one episode they undid any positive reaction I had to the 6th season of True Blood.
Because in an effort to “reset” all story lines for next year, they broke the golden rule:
You do not fuck with this fandom.
By now I am sure you all have either watched “Radioactive” or have ready any of the recaps to know how the episode went down. The first half was the slow downward spiral down the rabbit hole with “Vamps gone Wild” crossed with the groom (Warlow) becoming becoming the “bridezilla” and the start of the road to redemption for the Billithless Bill. It was all cringeworthy, cause it was sloppy on how it all flowed. Warlow’s rapid change in attitude can only be explained as “we need to close out his story to move on and find a way to start to redeem Bill”. And while I am pretty much dropping Sookie from my inner circle of caring about from this show, violence against women is never condoned as she was slapped/choked/tied up to await being drained.
The only redeeming moment for me from the first 30 minutes was Pam coming off her high to fly off to search for Eric. She left parting instructions to Tara to take care of Willa. As this was the only redeeming moment for me. Yeah sure, Jason rallied Andy and Adeline to help save Sookie at sunset… but it was blah blah blah, rush to save Sookie, blah blah. It was the same formula they have used before, but this time it was Jason’s turn to shine and save Sookie with a reappearing Niall’s help. It was a tried and true method and Warlow was staked to death, taking with him the ability for all vampires to daywalk. Which is proof we are further down the rabbit hole since it contradicted pretty much what they were telling us in the first 9 episodes. It was a WTF moment quickly followed by the “OMFG they didn’t” moment. For while it was night time when the vampires in Bon Temps lost the ability to daywalk, our Eric Northman was sunbathing nude on a sunny mountaintop in “Sweden” reading. Before he burst into flames and they faded into black. We waiting close to 30 minutes for a glimpse of Eric and it was to watch the show imply he might be dead. But we were supposed to be happy he went full frontal? Do they think we are that shallow? And it was at this moment I lost my cool on Sunday night on the wench account, tweeting to one and all I was done and refusing to watch the rest of the episode. That if Eric did survive, that I would only watch the youtube highlights next year. And I was serious, as were many of you.
You really do not fuck with this fandom.
They could have just had him disappear after episode 9 when he flew off. I would have been fine with that. I would have missed him in the finale, but they would have had the “What happened to Eric?” hype they were looking for. Instead, they wanted us to turn in and promoted that we would see “more” of him. After a stellar season, they reduced him to a “cock shot” before being lit on fire. And we were supposed to be happy about it
5 Days later my blood still boils.
The rest of the episode really doesn’t matter. Not that it made any more sense from how this episode was playing out. But for giggles, lets list it out.
- Its 6 months later.
- Sookie and Alcide are a couple… which means if I do watch season 7 I can skip watching both of them since I cant stand Joe.
- Bill wrote a best selling book, looking for redemption.
- Sam is Mayor of Bon Temps????? WTF.
- Arlene owns Merlottes, and calls it Bellfuers.
- Tara and Willa are BFFs and don’t seem to worry about their Makers.
- Hep V is rampant and you suddenly feel like you are watching a cross over of True Blood and The Walking Dead.
WHAT THE FUCK
Way to go Kate Barnow, you seemed to have penned what might be one of the worst finales ever. From all of the reviews I have read, it sounds like I am not alone in my opinion. Between my viewings, I seemed to have lost a few braincells… and alcohol was not involved in any of it! .
But one thing is for certain from this finale. If Eric is gone, then so are the viewers.
Appeasement: to bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment;pacify; soothe
The fallout from the finale was heard loud and clear by the powers that be. Not only were we the fans in the uproar, major publications like Rolling Stones posted that they were done if Eric was gone. This changed the playing field for us. In an unprecedented move to help calm the masses, Mr Buckner shared in all of the “post mortem” interviews that Alex Skarsgard will be back on True Blood for season 7 as a series regular.
This was much needed news as quite a few of us were ready to jump ship. I still have feelings of being used so i am accepting this news with caution. As a fan I can boo hoo all I want. As consumer, want to make sure my money is not going for a sub par product… or the bait a switch. Because their is a catch. Yes, Mr Buckner had to appease the fans by spilling a bit on Eric’s fate… but I’m sure he is not “happy” he had to make the “mea culpa” at all. So again, I urge caution.
It was probably my spidey senses working over drive as I kept finding ways to not write up about this years comic con experience. It was all to good to be true.
There are 2 things for certain I know from this finale:
- They have 10 months to mend bridges with the people who have supported them through really shitty times.
- You really do not FUCK with this fandom.
