Last night’s episode of True Blood was a doozy. Seriously, it should have come with a warning label! The most heart-wrenching scene came when Kristin Bauer van Straten’s Pam was released from her maker Eric (Alexander Skarsgård). TV Guide’s Natalie Abrams sat down with the actress to discuss the release, Pam’s turning, and her relationship with Eric.
Both Kristin and Alexander have waited several seasons to learn what Pam’s backstory is how how their characters met. Despite efforts on numerous occasions to find out, the writers of the show remained mum refusing to tell them anything until this year. According to Bauer van Straten, the back story perfectly illustrated why Pam can be so harsh and unsympathetic because she’s had to go through so much. But did she expect the character to slit her wrists in order to become a vampire? Maybe not:
“Yeah. I was surprised, but I thought that was the best. I realized I couldn’t have come up with a better way, because she — even more than Eric almost — loves being a vampire. She is the most committed. It was so economical, that move, to show how ballsy she is, how much she wanted a way out of her old life and would be the most committed to the new life. I thought in that one gesture it explains so much.”
Pam has to deal with a whole new facet of her vampire life now not only because she is now a maker herself to Tara (Rutina Wesley). But also because Eric has freed her as his progeny. This new found freedom is something Pam is still struggling with as the cast prepares to film the season finale. Kristin tells Natalie that while Pam puts on a brave face about it, she’s not prepared to be without Eric because she never thought she would be. So like a divorce or a death, Pam has to figure out how to start over which is something her portrayer feels she’s been working on all season and continues as she gets scripts.
The character will also have to do something that includes her new progeny too. But as we saw last night, as reluctant as Pam is to be a maker, she has embraced motherhood in her own way even if she was forced into it:
“And was sort of forced into it, in a way! And spent all last year trying to kill her! [Laughs]These two chicks hate each other, but Pam does have so much integrity. She has her code of honor and her integrity and never breaks it. She’s one of the most honest characters as well. She’s going to be a bit of a tough-love mother and a bit more animalistic. She’s not going to be über-caring, to say the least. It’s been a really fascinating year to watch that battle between wanting to kill this girl, but now she’s her prodigy. It’s an interesting arc. And I’m waiting to see how they resolve it for the year, I don’t know.”
But just because Pam is a mother now doesn’t mean she’ll care about Eric any less. Kristin says as long as there’s an option she will try to be with Eric and make sure he’s okay because he’s her dad. And also because we’ve really gotten to see how he saved her.
Source: TV Guide.com- “True Blood: Now That Pam is Free, What’s Next?”
Image Credit: Jason Meritt, Getty Images