Sticks and stones could break my bones, but dragged out story lines doesn’t inspire me to spend money. Especially when they drag down episodes during a final season. Really writers of the show, this is the last chance to make a decent impression on consumers to want to follow you to future projects. Maybe.
This past week we were “treated” to the 7th episode of the final season of True Blood entitled “May be for the Last Time”. Which is mightily prophetic now that I think on it… though not in the way the show runner and his team of merry writers intended. Cause it was just an episode, one that took an hour of screen time but hardly advanced the story line of the characters most folks actually tune in to see. Yeah sure it was great to watch those few and far between moments where Alex was on the screen, to see the acting chops of Carrie Preston and Chris Bauer, the return to the TB screen of Jim (Hoyt), Marcia (Ludwig), Rutgar (Niall), Mike (Steve Newlin), and almost everything else. But this was the 4th to last episode EVER of a series and I was sort of hoping for it to have a beginning-middle-end like we had in episode 4 and 5 versus the filler we got.
Speaking of the “filler”, here is what happened.
- Eric starts the episode of interrogating Amber (tied to the underside of the couch) with Pam and Gus (with his entourage) watching on. Amber shares Noomi (who is now a good person in her eyes) is the cure. Eric ends up staking her when he hallucinates she is Sarah. (Knowing folks with Hep C, this didn’t surprise me that his mind went there). Eric and Gus make a deal to produce “Nu Blood”… the cure synthesized with Eric as their spokesvampire. Pam is not thrilled … or is she… about this plan. They head out the next sunset as Gus’s minions tracked Sarah down to the old Light of Day Institute where they will confront her… next week.
- Andy and Holly are on the road to the wrong place trying to track their kids to just around OK City after a mourning Jessica offered to help track Adelyn. Since it made perfect sense for 2 teenagers to head there cause Wade’s Daddy has a place by a lake in them parts. Of course the kids are really with the unshrinking Violet, who has her own place in the area set up with her own sex room. Which she graciously offers them for their use. This screams psychotic plan in the works… that we won’t find out about till next episode since we last leave this storyline with Violet cuffing Adelyn to trigger her fear.
- Sookie and Jessica are all hovering around Bill as the Hep V spreads quickly. They are waiting like the rest of us for him to die… though they are actually upset about it. Sookie calls in Dr Ludwig and Niall to try to save him… and maybe us from more flashbacks? Both are unsuccessful. Though I can’t help but agree with Niall when Sookie figured out he could have helped her avoid sharing the disease with Bill and he told her
“I don’t like him for you.”
While I agreed with his sentiments, it made no impression Sookie. Cause … you know what happened at the end of the episode. The pity sex that disgusted the world in a way that mirrored the moment from season 1. Forget the fact that her live in boyfriend died 2-3 days before. I mean, even if you didn’t love someone enough, you actually mourn that person for more than a couple of days. Its like, Alcide who?
- Carrie Preston’s Arlene graduated to full-fledged TrueBloodism with a V fueled sex dream of her and Keith hooking up on the pool table. Arlene then played hostess to Hoyt and his new girlfriend since they have just arrived to start making arrangements for Maxine. Her heart to heart with Sam over drinks, and a slow dance with Keith rounded out her screen time this episode. Both moments were sweet and proves Carrie is worth her weight in gold.
- Jason. Since they killed of Joe’s character and gave Alex’s Eric Hep V with black lines, they made sure this episode featured plenty of Jason shirtless. Which is how we find him vacuuming in his boxers when Arlene calls to tell Jason that Hoyt was back in town… and doesn’t know him. He rushes over to the bar to see Hoyt and meets (makes eyes at) Hoyt’s new girlfriend. It’s like they are really reverting everyone back to season 1 mannerisms. True Blood turned serious for a moment when Hoyt went to view his mama in the morgue. The girlfriend (whose name i can’t remember) asks Jason to go in to give Hoyt comfort as someone who knew his mama. Of course this moment is short-lived when horn dog Jason returned as the girlfriend joins in on the hug.
- Hallucination Jason, of the shirtless football playing variety as well as the red plaid/blue jean wearing version, makes an appearance as Sarah/Noomi found her way to the old Light of Day Institute. He, along with hallucination Steve and hallucination Guru haunt Sarah while she is trying to hide as she wrestles between Christianity and Buddhism before choosing herself. She does believe she is the vampire messiah. But she is also hiding from Eric… who pulls up with the imitation Tokyo Drift formation posse and Pam…
- Lala was regulated to digging for holes with Lettie Mae.
- No one has heard from Willa in a few episodes.
And that’s all she wrote. I went in to this episode with my eyes wide open… and was neither impressed nor depressed from it, just kept waiting for something meaningful to happen. The episode, it just “was”…
One final note, season 1 was many years and screen time ago. While the writers felt that resurrecting season 1 “would bring the magic back”, most of the viewing public who are still watching aren’t going to forget the details of the seasons in-between then and now.
Just remember, it is not always kind to rewind… it could loose you more then you expect.