The series finale offers a sweet message for True Blood fans.
Last week on True Blood:
- Eric is healed of Hep-V thanks to Sarah Newlin’s blood but Bill refuses the cure
- Jessica and Hoyt get back together
- Sookie is in danger (again!), this time from Yakonomo Corp.
The end is here, for better or worse. In the series finale, we learn, among other things, you can apparently be a huge jerk when you’re dying and no one will care!
Watch True Blood on HBO GO.
Episode Nine: Thank You.
The episode starts off with Bill and Sookie fighting again about whether Bill should stay alive. Bill waxes on about how being a vampire means you’re not truly living, beyond the literal sense, but the scene quickly shifts to more of Bill’s reasons for death. Bill confesses that he’s choosing to die because he thinks he can’t give Sookie the life she deserves, which includes children. Wait, what?
Now, let’s stop for a second. Does anyone else see how utterly sexist this is? Why can’t Sookie make the decision on what kind of life she wants herself? Why does Bill Compton, or any other man for that matter, get to decide that for her? Apparently not only is Sookie not allowed to choose her own lover, but she’s also not allowed to decide when or how she’ll procreate. I mean, Bill, you’ve been alive for over a century. You do know about adoption, right? There are tons of other ways to become parents other than the traditional sense, but maybe Bill is just too old and set-in-his-ways to realize what an asshole he’s being.
And then comes the cherry on top on Bill’s sexist sundae. Not only does Bill want to die, but he wants Sookie to kill him with her faerie light. By using up every ounce of her light on him, Sookie will naturally be less attractive and attracted to vampires. While Bill may think he’s created the best plan possible to keep Sookie safe, what he’s really done is just continue to exercise an the antiquated notion that he knows best for her, better than she does for himself. By asking her to use her faerie light, he’s stripping her of a fundamental part of herself and effectively taking control over her life even after he’s gone. This whole scene is disgusting, but thankfully it ends with Sookie kicking his ass out of her house, for now at least.
Sookie has a flashback that makes up for some of the overt sexism that just happened. She remembers a simpler time back when her grandmother was alive. After realizing that she may never have a family thanks to those special faerie powers of hers getting in the way, her grandmother nips that quick thinking right in the bud. She promises that Sookie can do anything she sets her mind to and that she has no limits unless she puts them on herself. Thanks, Gran! Finally someone’s got the right thinking! It’s just too bad all the good ones are already dead.
Meanwhile, Hoyt and Jessica head home for Jessica to say her peace to her maker, but Bill just keeps digging that sexist hole deeper. He asks Hoyt point blank if he’s considering marrying Jessica some day, on the grounds that because he never saw his human daughter get married, he figured it was just fine for him to exert his will and make sure his progeny was “spoken for” when he was gone. Jessica falls for this crap hook-line-and-sinker and the two plan up a hasty, guilt-ridden wedding that would not have happened if Bill wasn’t such a jerk.
It doesn’t take long before Sookie and Jason are roped into this wedding madness at the Compton residence along with Andy Bellefleur, Arlene, and Holly. During the wedding, it’s obvious that Jessica and Hoyt are nervous about making this huge life decision, but they go along with it anyway to pacify Bill. Another one bites the dust.
One thing Bill is good for is getting his affairs in order, which includes informing Andy that he’s passed the Compton residence (because of legal reasons) to him instead of Jessica, and asking the sheriff to be a very gracious landlord to Jessica and Hoyt after Bill’s death. Doesn’t make up for him being a misogynistic jerk, but is still a nice gesture.
In the weirdest turn of events, Sookie overhears Bill’s thoughts. That’s right, Bill’s thoughts. You know that whole thing where she couldn’t hear a vampire’s thoughts? Well apparently she can hear Bill’s during the wedding vows of Jessica and Hoyt. Pair that with the fact that Bill mentioned Hep-V was “making him feel more human than he ever felt before” and… oh, you thought this was going to be elaborated on? Sorry. It’s never explained or brought up again.
Sookie calls Bill for their date with death later that night in the cemetery. We get one long look through the murky, hazy Bon Temps cemetery (a favorite setting of mine) before Bill arrives at his newly-dug grave. There’s something really strange, and darkly fascinating, about watching a person deposit themselves in their own coffin. Once Bill is settled, Sookie pumps up her light ball, but just before she unleashes it she has a change of heart (YES!). She instead puts a stake in the ground (heh) over killing him with her fae-powers, as those powers are a part of her that she will not give up to anyone, period.
With the broken-handle of a shovel, Sookie gives Bill the true death and ends his misogynistic nature once and for all. He dies in that same goopy vampire way as they all do and throughout Sookie’s sob-scene, all I can think about is how many gallons of water she’s had to use over the years to clean up herself and her house.
The New Owners of New Blood.
At Fangtasia, Eric crafts a plan to steal New Blood back from Mr. Gus. He releases Sarah Newlin and calls for help from Mr. Gus, whom he in turn murders in a blaze of fire. It’s nice to see Eric back in charge again instead of just playing ‘yes boy’ to some highfalutin human.
Sarah, ever-true to her survivalist nature, pleads with Pam to turn her into a vampire. Her logic goes a little something like this: She realizes she’s a terrible person. Because she’s person, that means she’d make a great vampire. Pam was already not buying it when Sarah made the mistake of likening herself to Tara and I know the only reason Pam didn’t snap her neck on sight was because of Sarah’s value as the antidote. Instead she drinks heavily from Sarah’s blood to ensure she’ll always be immune to Hep-V. Never let anyone say that Pamela Swynford De Beaufort isn’t a genius.
Life Goes On.
Thankfully, life does go on without Bill Compton. Eric and Pam take back New Blood and become the faces of a huge vampire-lifestyle corporation. Flash forward three years and we get a glimpse of the new Bon Temps; a happy place without the fear of infected vampire raids.
At Fangtasia, Sarah Newlin is a star in her new role. A couple episodes back, Pam mentioned her plan for Sarah: to sell her out as a high-priced call-girl for vampires who could afford the full cure, and at $100,000 for a minute with Ms. Newlin, I’d say she’s done just that. Not only is Sarah being punished physically for her misdeeds, she’s actually punishing herself mentally. With a diminishing state of mind, she continually sees her ex-husband Steve Newlin, who plans to haunt her “every day for the rest of her life”. Fitting retribution for all the horrible acts Sarah has done? Maybe. She was one of the only bright spots in this season and I’m glad she made it all the way through without dying, although I can’t say that I’d think staying alive was such a gift, if I were in her shoes.
The very last of scene of True Blood is sweet. All of our remaining favorites from Bon Temps have gathered at Sookie’s house for a beautiful Thanksgiving meal. There’s an extended camera shot that shows each of our favorite couples still going strong three years in. (P.S. Arlene and Keith are still a thing! Finally some stability!) We never do get a good glimpse of Sookie’s baby-daddy, but form the back he looks like a normal, everyday human and that’s really the point. After all this, Sookie would very likely shack up with Mr. All-American and settle down to live a normal-ish life.
This season has had its ups (which have been few and far between), and its downs (which have definitely outweighed those ups), but the moral here is that even when times are tough, life goes on. It’s a simple, sweet sentiment that I actually really like as the farewell to the fans but I won’t lie, though. This season felt like such a different show from what I loved about True Blood that I feel a strong desire to go back and watch the first three seasons just to get my fill of the camp. It’s a few seasons too late, but farewell, True Blood. Thanks for the memories.
