And then there were none.
The season 5 journey with our Viking and Telepath…and those other characters…ended in a literal blood bath in the True Blood season finale entitled “Save Yourself” written by Alan Ball. Not only was this the last episode of the season, it also marked the end of Mr. Ball’s reign as show runner of the TV series. We all know the last episode of a season is supposed to tie up as many loose ends as well as put the hook out for the next season. So with this combination of a finale episode, Alan’s last episode as show runner (no confirmation yet if he will write anything for True Blood in the future), and teases that the body count would be high we knew all bets were off… and worry for my TV grew exponentially. I was already twitchy from the last 2 episodes with the lack of Viking screen time, not to mention the serious drought of Eric and Sookie moments all season.
We got both in spades, within the first 10 minutes.
The “Real” Show:
The episode started off the way we want every single one to start out: Eric and Sookie in the same scene. Sookie and her faerie kin were unsuccessfully blasting Russell with the ‘light’. He laughed and kept getting closer,causing Sookie’s fear to spike even higher and in swoops Eric with a stake in his hand piercing through Russell’s heart and killing him instantly and FINALLY. Thus proving that no matter how old or powerful you are, being drunk or high dulls your senses.
Well. That felt even better than I thought it would.
Our Viking saved our Telepath and avenged his human family after a thousand years!!! SQUEEE!! You could see the relief and peace of the moment on his beautiful face and then Eric looks toward Sookie. I was wondering if he could see her through the veil to the faerie club or maybe sense her through the bond. My thoughts were quickly disrupted with Sookie running out to go take care of Jason, to the alarm of her Faerie Kin. They were worried because a Vampire was right in front of them but they didn’t know what Sookie (and we) know; that Eric would never harm Sookie and that she trusts him. Le sigh. Enter Nora, who gets a whiff of Sookie’s scent and chases after her with Eric hot on her tail. Eric grabs Nora and tells her in no uncertain terms that she is not to eat Sookie and Nora asks the inevitable question: “What is she?”. Eric’s answered with a
“She is a waitress. A waitress, who saved my life more than once. Whose fear vibe very graciously brought me here tonight allowing me to settle an ancient debt. Thank you by the way”
I melted and so did Sookie, by the look she shot at our Viking which I describe as “appreciative for the praise” and “you really get me for me and not my powers”. She turns her back on both vampires so she can focus on Jason.
Nora is like a terrier smelling a bone, so Eric takes her in hand with a firmer grip and makes her swear on Godric
to not eat Sookie. Thus answers our question on how did Sookie know how Nora was Eric’s vampire sister in the sneak peek released leading up to the finale. Sookie heard Eric refer to Godric as “our father” during his discipline of Nora. Nice, neat, clean tie up. It can happen…. Really.
Meanwhile, a whole new dynamic is opening up as Jason comes to… seeing his mama, whom we all know is dead. Sookie takes him back to her house.
Eric and Nora head in to Fangtasia all the while having some friendly back and forth bickering over who Godric loved more. I might be alone in this but I love the dynamic of seeing them like this; without being under the pressure of position and politics and having some fun. The situation quickly turns serious when Tara tells him Pam was arrested and Eric immediately goes into planning mode; to rescue Pam;after moving what I call the 
“bank of Eric” to a safer location than the wall of Fangtasia’s basement. Nora is questioning why they are going to save a former prostitute. Eric reminds her about family, that she is blood and so is Tara. “Oh by the way, she is family too. So be nice to her.” Eric has the best lines.
Back at the house, Sookie is worried about how Jason is acting after being hit in the head earlier. What Sookie doesn’t know is that she has her mama and daddy on either side of her, egging Jason on in his anti-vampire thoughts. Since they are invisible to all but Jason, I will from here forward refer to them as Ghost Daddy and Ghost Mama. I am not sure if Jason manifested a power after the faerie blast (and intense exposure to the faeries as a whole) to see ghosts or if he is just hallucinating. Lafayette would be a great indicator on which theory is correct… if he had a decent story line. Enter the Northman into the house where Eric agrees to sign the house back to Sookie after they go to the Authority headquarters to save Bill, Jessica… and Pam (Alexander’s expression was priceless). Tara reminds Sookie that she “owes Pam” and to Jason’s dismay, Sookie agrees to go… even after Eric tells her it was Bill who ordered the bombing of the True Blood factories, not a random vampire. Jason declares he is going, wanting to keep Sookie safe… and because his Ghost Daddy reminded him that he can take out a TON of fangers while there.
On the other side of the state, its breakfast time at the authority and Chancellor Compton does not like what was served. Sam quickly realizes Bill is not in the “help an old friend out” mood anymore and escapes before he is killed for knowing too much. Sam escapes to Luna on the wings of a fly to try to figure out how to save Luna and Emma since Luna won’t leave her daughter. Bill was not amused that they were breached and ordered the guards to kill all rodents/insects on site. Salome waits till the guards are gone before asking about Kibwe. Bill admits to killing him because Kibwe said he was chosen by Lilith. He then lies to Salome’s face that Lilith told him that she was the prophet and he was there to protect her and she believed him. We could smell a coup brewing… and we don’t even have special powers.
In the silver cell’s, we see that Pam and Jessica are going over what happened. Jessica is highly disturbed by Bill and Eric’s fanaticism (though she never saw Eric while in the compound). Pam maintains that Eric has always mocked religion. Pam puts it best when she said the following:
“One of the worst things about being immortal, is having to watch the same stupid scenario happen over and over. It’s usually humans though. I guess this proves we are as fucking retarded as they are”
It was a quick scene, but the good news is they weren’t killed!
During the daylight, Sookie and Jason make a stop at the Stake House to pick up some supplies to take on the Authority. Sookie is very concerned about Jason’s disregard of their cargo: Eric, Nora, and Tara in their daytime travel coffins. Jason’s hatred of anything with fangs is obvious; his recent experience at their fangs would not create warm fuzzy feelings for them.
If I was Sookie, I would take a peek in to his mind to see what is driving him… like Ghost Daddy and Ghost Mama. On the flip side, would she want to hear Ghost Mama say she is “living in a dream world”? According to Jason, anything with fangs is now fair game… and he now has weapons. Nothing says I’ve got your back then a fanatic with weapons.
With the sun now down, the siblings Stackhouse are in the middle of the trek to NOLA. Sookie is holding on to her belief that it’s not the real Bill that did all thOSE bad things. Jason questions “do we really know anyone?” and how they (Sookie and Jason) keep picking “unavailable” partners. Sookie and Ghost Mama try to provide comfort but Ghost Daddy keeps feeding into his “we need to expect the worst” philosophy. It’s a pretty intense discussion, and you can tell Jason is not in a positive place. In an audience mood lightening moment, Eric pops his head from the roof to ask them to pull over. We needed it, even if Jason didn’t appreciate it.
To keep with the timeline, we see “Steve Newlin” go down to the cells to take Emma out to walk and play and tries to make his way to what I’m calling the “elevator of freedom” when Rosalyn intercepts him to get on damage control because the frat party video was released to the public. “Newlin” is extremely nervous while Rosalyn swats a fly while ranting about work ethics. On air “Steve” is forced to shift back into Luna, exposing shifters and the fact that the Vampires are farming humans for food in the NOLA compound. Rosalyn cuts the transmission and ends up swallowing a fly which then shifts back into Sam, what a unique way to die. Really, very creative. Kudos on this one.
Outside the compound, Eric and Nora pull up to the gate, finding that the compound is on lockdown because of a “shifter”. While waiting to be cleared by a fellow chancellor, Eric is asked about his “tied up cargo”. Tara is a mainstreamer and the humans are “lunch” and the blonde one is his. Jason, once again not amused. They make it past the gate so phase 1 is complete. Phase 2 has them in the compound with Jason playing guard in reception (he realllly likes his Rambo role), Eric and Nora going to the security control room , and Sookie and Tara head to the cells to be ready to get Pam and Jessica. A lot seems to happen at once 1)Salome makes a play for the Blood of Lilith and takes it back to her room at the sound of the alarm. 2) Sookie and Tara successfully get Jessica and Pam out of the silver cells and meet up in the lobby with Jason, Nora, and Eric.
Eric and Sookie send everyone out and they set off to find Bill who was busy killing Salome by way of silver poison and staking. He had previously switched the Lilith blood with fake and appealed to her not to drink and she chides him for “not believing”. She fully sees behind Bill’s mask, that he was waiting to make his move that he should not have been a trusted ally. It was a move worthy of Machiavelli. Eric and Sookie find him moments after, and about ready to drink the real Lilith blood. Bill accuses Eric of wanting the blood and Eric counters with “she is a mad god”. Bill verbally cuts Sookie, completely disavowing EVERYTHING and calling her an abomination and then he drinks the blood and dies. After so many emotional blows, she turns to Eric for comfort. Hell breaks loose as “Billith” rises from a pool of blood. Eric yells at Sookie to run before following her out.
Those other story lines:
I have been very honest in my other 2 reviews that the non Vampire related story lines bore me to tears. They can also be summed up in a few lines. Alcide becomes pack master, and vows to detox the pack. The human related scenes were blah and a waste of screen time. I actually felt sorry for Carrie and Nelsan this episode for their scenes. The Andy/Maurella and Holly situation was completely not needed. The only thing useful I got was that faeries seem to gestate for a week, “whelp” any number of babies, and labor is orgasmic. I am disturbed by Maurella’s lack of interest in the children (4 girls). She gave birth and ran. Makes you wonder how many other of her 73 pregnancies she abandoned. I will give kudos to the show for not even pretending that these babies were born with an umbilical cord, going as far as to comment about it. It was a refreshing moment on TV.
The Season 6 Tease:
It was enough to make you want more. The scene gave you a hint of what was happening on the inside of the elevator doors when Sookie and Eric broke off to find Bill. They teased the budding relationship of Tara and Pam. You can see that Jessica is picking up on Jason’s feelings, if not what is causing the reaction. What takes the prize in this bonus scene is when Nora asked Jason “What do you know of Warlow?” when he said he was gunning for him. Thus, it started to lay the ground work for season 6.
My Summation:
This was a jam packed episode, so much that it drove home how lackluster some of the prior episodes were this season. I didn’t want it to end. I loved that Eric and Sookie were together in almost all of their scenes. The fact that the blood 
bond is what allowed Eric to find Sookie and save her from Russell. The fact that Sookie knew he would not hurt her after killing Russell. The fact that she turned to Eric for comfort and he kisses her on the head while holding her close. Pam and Eric just sharing a look and 3 words, and you feel the strength of their relationship. I absolutely loved that Eric was the last face we saw for the season.
While I enjoyed the episode, it doesn’t mean I still don’t have questions and a few disappointments. My main disappointment this episode was the body count. Yes it was high, but they were the usual suspects and no real surprises. The first question that came to my mind was “Where is Steve Newlin?” The last time we say the Fanged Reverend he was running away as Russell was killed. Will he be back? Will Lafayette have a decent story line next year? Luna belongs in which column: Dead or Alive? Jason; is he a ghost whisperer or depressed? I want to say depressed because of the way Ghost Mama and Daddy are responding back, but we will see.
Now that Bill drank the blood… will they be crying “Praise Billith”?
It baffles my mind that these last 12 weeks flew by. Thank goodness for you guys.
A huge thank you to the cast, writers, and crew. To the writers, we may differ way too often upon occasion but we would have nothing to argue about if you did not “put pen to paper”. To the crew, you are the unsung hero’s on every production, thank you for all that you do. To the cast, thank you for being the face and putting yourselves out there for your fans. Denis O’Hare, your talent will be missed.
Most importantly, thank you to the fans. We have been through a lot together, like 9 month hiatus and waiting sucks once again.
