The season finale is looming, but a whole lot of nothing is (still) happening in Bon Temps.
Last week on True Blood:
- Violet was killed (thanks, Hoty!)
- Lettie Mae and Lafayette discovered Tara’s mystical message and received closure from beyond the grave.
- Bill refused a chance to consume Sarah Newlin’s blood, a.k.a. the antidote for Hep-V.
And now Bill faces his mortality, Hoyt and Jessica grow closer, and Sookie’s in danger. Again.
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Episode Nine: Love Is to Die.
Life and Death in Bon Temps
Bill’s refusal of the antidote has left everyone in a state of shock. He and Sookie argue (as that’s about 50% of their relationship) over Bill’s stubborn determination not to consume Sarah’s blood. He considers dying of Hep-V to be his fate, but Sookie instead believes he’s making a choice to die. Jessica, thoroughly pissed at Bill for what seems like an asinine decision to meet the true death, demands he release her as his progeny. It’s interesting to watch this scene from Jessica’s perspective, as it that she’s banking on a release of her emotional ties to Bill along with the release from his bloodline. It’s not long before she realizes that it just doesn’t work that way. The fact that she still obviously cares for Bill after she’s released is a real testament to the humanity she holds so dear. Reclaiming her emotions and connecting with her humanity has been a strong driver for Jessica this season, considering she pledged herself as Adilyn’s protector after murdering the faerie’s sisters for their blood.
After the epic fail at Fangtasia, Sookie and Jessica head to Sam’s apartment and find a goodbye letter from the ex-mayor to his favorite faerie. Sam has decided to start a new life with Nicole in Chicago, away from all the insanity that Bon Temps attracts. It’s supposed to feel sad, but Sam’s been basically an oversight this season in the wake of both Bill and Eric’s sickness so the scene doesn’t really invoke a strong emotion at all. The only truly sad part of Sam’s departure scene is the glance he gives Bellefleur’s as he leaves town.
Not to worry, though. Arlene’s taken it upon herself to breathe life back into Bon Temps starting with Bellefleur’s Bar and Grill, where she’s organized a big dinner for her extended family. There, Jessica and James have their awkward post-break up conversation where Jessica rightfully apologizes for treating James so poorly when they were together. It doesn’t take long for Jessica to realize her heart is still with Hoyt, leading the redhead right to his house in the midst of another argument between Hoyt and Brigette.
Hoyt wins the world’s worst boyfriend award when he drops Brigette to go after Jessica in order to discover why he feels so attracted to her. Jessica fills him in on their past, including Jason and the glamouring Hoyt had requested. Meanwhile, Brigette calls Jason for help after her fight with Hoyt but when Jason shows up, he’s immediately knocked out by Hoyt in the wake of learning about his past (real mature, Hoyt).
Meanwhile, Brigette and Jason head to his apartment where we spend way too long watching the new girl try to lighten the load of Deputy Stackhouse’s emotional baggage. Adding Brigette to the series is an obvious, desperate attempt to give Jason a love interest for the final season. Any girl he’s ever been interested in is currently taken (or dead) so it was apparently necessary to ship in another one of Hoyt’s girlfriends to fill that void. I believe a stronger play would have been to let Jason utilize the maturity he’s gained this season to realize that Hoyt and Jessica’s initial breakout several seasons ago wasn’t entirely his fault. He and Jessica chose to be together mutually and she is as much at fault as Jason is. Jessica has already realized this on her own, but apparently Jason needed some girl he’s never met before to tell him in simple terms that he’s not a bad guy before he could fully understand that. It’s a real shame as it feels like a huge disservice to Jason’s character and any strides toward maturity he’s made on his own this season.
The Tables Turn
Eric shows up at Bill’s manor to try and talk Bill down off the true death ledge. In doing so, he finds that Bill’s decision to die is based on Sookie, which shouldn’t really be a surprise. Bill is resigned to die in order to set Sookie free of the ties that bind them together. He’s convinced he can only bring her sadness and darkness, and the only real way to give Sookie the life she deserves is for Bill to accept the true death and let Sookie move on without him. It’s egotistical of Bill to think that Sookie’s entire life revolves around Bill, but he’s not entirely wrong. Sookie has kept every other lover at arm’s length throughout the series and always winds up back with Bill, so it makes sense that Bill would realize he needs to take himself out of the picture if Sookie is to ever fully love someone else.
Per Bill’s request, Eric seeks out Sookie and convinces her to see Bill one last time. During this conversation, Eric informs Sookie that she’s one of the few people he cares about, which only ups their on-screen chemistry. If Bill does end up perishing, Sookie and Eric are obviously the next “sure thing”, but it looks like this realization is hitting a little too close to home for Mr. Northman. He heads back to Fangtastia and decides to lose himself in Ginger instead. This is the first (and only) sex scene between Eric and Ginger, but instead of traditional True Blood sex scenes, this one features the comedic gold of Ginger’s quick and extreme orgasm.
Meanwhile, Pam begins stripping down Sarah Newlin’s new identity Noomi, starting with her hair color. As she works on returning Sarah to the platinum blonde she was known for, Pam lets Sarah in their future plans for the messiah. To coincide with New Blood becoming a way of life for infected vampires and not an end-all cure, Yakonomo Corp. and associates intend to set Sarah up as a very, very high-priced call girl. Essentially they’ll sell her blood to infected vampires who can afford to pay for the full cure, but there’s definitely a sense that her new life includes the more traditional role of a call girl as well. As a human, Pam was originally the Madame of her own brothel so it’s very fitting that this is the kind of punishment she would dream up for Sarah, who would certainly view this new role as both immoral and beneath her.
Pam seems to thrive when she’s able to take charge of a situation, however it’s not long before the tables have turned on her as well. Mr. Gus has found out that Eric’s been sharing word of Sarah Newlin’s miracle blood and, as a punishment for Eric, has Pam trapped under a heavy stake dangling over her heart. To save Pam’s life, Eric admits that Sookie is aware of the cure and their scene ends with Mr. Gus demanding Sookie’s address. From the looks of it, we should be gearing up for a final boss showdown between the Yakuza and the remaining Bon Temps vampires at the Stackhouse residence next episode.
The majority of episode nine was spent watching Jason and Brigette, a couple that I just don’t understand. Brigette is obviously trying to heal some of Jason’s emotional wounds by convincing him that he isn’t the “huge fuck-up” he claims to be, but their scenes were just unnecessary. It’s been an issue I’ve had with the season from the start, but these episodes feel like they’re stuffed full of fluff simply to make sure they clock in at an hour each. They could easily be chopped down to an exciting 30 minutes packed with plot twists and action. Instead, they’re continually dragged out with useless scenes only to ramp back up again for the last five minutes. Since next week’s finale episode is our last glimpse into Bon Temps, I’m hoping that it won’t be wasted with these unnecessary scenes, but after the season we’ve had I’m not holding my breath.
