Life, death, and the meaning of it all take center stage in this episode.
Last week on True Blood:
- The Fangtasia crew attempted, and failed, an escape with the help of an infected vampire.
- Sookie and company journeyed to Saint Alice and discovered a wasteland where the neighboring town used to be.
- Pam found a Hep-V infected Eric in France.
In this episode, the angry mob takes action and the supernatural townspeople fight back. Pam and Eric flash us back to the 1980’s and Sookie acts out another genius plan, with less than desired results.
You can watch the final season of True Blood Sundays at 9 PM ET on HBO GO.
And now, episode three: Fire in the Hole.
Bon Temps in Shambles
Upon his return from Saint Alice, Sam experiences a crisis of faith. A conversation with Reverend Daniels opens up discussion on the value of life and whether faith really matters. After seeing symbols of faith in the homes of Saint Alice, Sam is convinced that having faith is useless and can’t help anyone in the long run. Rev. Daniels’ advice is that a life living in anticipation of death isn’t really living at all, which ultimately is the most generic advice Sam could have received.
Sam and his vampire escort Matt leave the church only to be stopped by Vince’s angry mob. Poor Matt is killed instantly, leaving Sam alone with a mob full of angry, small-minded Bon Temps residents, all of whom are aware of his shapeshifter abilities and are none too happy about it. He narrowly escapes attack by shifting to an owl and fleeing the scene, leaving the mob to stand their ground.
Meanwhile, Jason and Violet are arguing again. Their relationship is physically exhausting to watch. They are always at each other’s throats and their chemistry, or lack thereof, doesn’t exactly make up for the fact that they’re arguing 90% of the time they’re on screen. In tonight’s argument, Violet belittles Jason by suggesting he is not a true man because he is ruled by his emotions.
Jason’s counter-argument of being a modern man, who can both think and feel, is the only shining moment of their scene. One of Jason’s issues throughout the series has been fully embracing himself. Starting with the stereotypical view of a man, physically strong and emotionally distant, Jason has evolved from the “meathead” persona and now views himself as man with many facets.
The fact that Jason can now own up to being strong, thoughtful, and emotional is a big step and one I’m glad he’s not backing down from, even for Violet. This helps solidify Jason Stackhouse a well-rounded character in a series that has been content to portray its characters more like caricatures.
Jason and Violet are interrupted by Andy and Jessica and recruited to join their Sookie Stackhouse search party while Adiyln and Wade take shelter at Jason’s home. The group makes its way to the angry mob road block, where Maxine Fortenberry makes the big mistake of shooting Jessica in the shoulder. Violet retaliates and soon Mrs. Fortenberry is less a bunch of her internal organs.
The angry mob finally disperses, but Jessica’s injury becomes a glaring loose end. The bullet wound doesn’t instantly heal and although she appears to favor her arm in her later scenes, her injury is never brought up again. For the amount of pain Jessica was in when she received the injury, the bullet should have been identified as vampire-specific at the very least. As it would have taken about five seconds to give some sort of explanation to Jessica’s injury, it feels like Jessica’s pain was cut short so we could instead focus on the rest of the episode, including numerous Bill/Sookie scenes were nothing really happened.
Pam and Eric Travel Back to 1986
Pam and Eric’s scenes in this episode are essentially one extended flashback to France in 1986, with an emphasis on Eric’s lingering humanity. As mainstreaming has yet to pass, Eric and Pam are admonished by Nan Flanagan, acting on behalf of the vampire Authority, about their lack of tact. Their public feedings and negating of their sheriff will no longer fly if they are to change the public perception of vampires. Pam takes the hint and conforms but Eric sends Nan packing, too caught up in his love for his newest human, Sylvie, to care about The Authority’s rules. It’s a mistake he lives with to this day, as both Pam and Sylvie’s fates are soon in Eric’s hands.
Sent by the Yokonomo Corporation (makers of TruBlood) and the vampire Authority, a group of assassins confronts Eric and Pam in France. They quickly drive home the point that while Eric is powerful, he is not immune to the rules, by presenting him with a choice: Pam or Sylvie. Eric was always going to pick Pam so it felt a little like wasted airtime to watch Eric’s internal struggle over Sylvie or his progeny.
However, it’s Eric’s guilt over Sylvie’s death along with the sadness felt from losing Godric and Nora that has the vampire weary of continuing his life. He’s content to let the virus take him until Pam pulls out the last bit of ammunition she has: Sarah Newlin. She informs Eric that Sarah is still alive (thanks, Jason Stackhouse!) and it’s this knowledge that kicks Eric back into badass mode, for now.
The Return of Sarah Newlin
She’s back! Sarah Newlin reappears at a yoga institute in an undisclosed location. Answering to the name Noomi, Sarah has crafted a white-lie version of her backstory, which basically leaves out the fact that she’s Sarah freaking Newlin, and has entered into a relationship with the guru of the institute.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t last long. A modern version of the same assassin group that attacked Eric back in 1986 has tracked Sarah to the institute. After casually murdering the guru, they continue with their hunt for Sarah. If anyone is a survivor in True Blood, it’s Sarah Newlin. She’s a character that I love to hate and I am happy to have her back in this season. I’m hopeful her demise will be something worthy of the villain she is, though with the plethora of casual deaths in this season I’m not holding my breath.
Lafayette and James Ride the Wave
It’s been far too long since we’ve gotten to see a Lafayette dance sequence, though thankfully that’s remedied in this episode. Lala breaks it down for a good long while before answering the door to find James. Upon hearing of James’ issues with his relationship with Jessica, Lafayette offers to concoct a prescription pill cocktail and let James feed off of him, allowing both of them to experience the high. Lafayette ends up calling James out on the flirtatious vibes he’s feeling from the vampire and while James confirms he’s into Lafayette, he sticks true to his relationship with Jessica.
Let’s be real, though; that’s not going to last long. Jessica and James haven’t physically been in one scene together this entire season and basically all the screen time Lafayette and James have gotten has been in Lala’s trailer. The two feel like kindred spirits and with a chemistry that palpable, we’re definitely in for some sort of hookup between the two.
Sookie’s Hair-brained Schemes
Along with Bill Compton’s help, Sookie forges a plan to destroy the infected vampires. Acting as bait, Sookie will lure the vampires to her, trusting that they will take her to their human holding pen. Once there, Bill will be able to track her thanks to that handy vampire homing ability that comes from a human drinking a vampire’s blood. Bill and his reinforcements will then save Sookie and any other Bon Temps residences held hostage by the infected vamps.
What’s most interesting about this plan is that Sookie needs to drink Bill’s blood again in order for him to be able to successfully track her. He explains that back at Vamp Camp in season six, the act of feeding each vampire his blood left him completely drained. That plus the fact that he feels he is no longer the same Bill Compton that Sookie drank from originally has somehow made it possible for him not to feel Sookie’s presence any longer. It’s an interesting concept that Bill has a semi-clean slate again. He still has to live with his terrible wrongdoings, but he’s clean enough that he’s unable to track Sookie without her feeding from him again.
Sookie’s plan, like so many of her plans before, backfires. The infected vamps find Sookie and Bill just in time to attack them both. Lucky for her, Andy, Jason, Jessica, Violet, Sam, and Alcide all arrive in the knick of time to wage war with the vampires. Our heroes manage to take out the infected vampires, but the victory comes at a price. Alcide is shot twice, once in the chest and once in the head, and he’s fading fast. This episode ends with Sookie choosing not to recruit any help from Violet, Jessica, or Bill to turn Alcide, but instead to let him die.
As sad as I am to see Alcide go, I think Sookie made the right choice. Not only does Alcide as a vampire just not work, but I can’t believe that a proud ex-alpha wolf would appreciate being turned. The real shame is that I feel like Alcide’s death was really just an excuse for Sookie to run back to Bill, without having to break up with Alcide in the process. There’s no possible way she’s not ending this season in Bill Compton’s arms, but it’s a real shame that Alcide has to go out like that. Alcide’s death feels about as impactful as Tara’s did and while I selfishly found myself hoping for more pomp and circumstance, this unceremonious death is sort of the point.
Death has always played a heavy role in True Blood but this season seems extremely merciless. From Lafayette dealing with Tara’s death to Sookie’s choice to let Alcide pass, one of the major points in this season is how fleeting life is and the effects it has — or doesn’t have — on those left behind. This episode had a particularly heavy hand in the anticlimactic role of death. It’s a sad realization that life just goes on, as it has for everyone in Bon Temps after Tara’s death, and as it will for everyone after Alcide’s. I just feel that these characters deserved stronger outs. But hey, it’s the final season and to borrow from Game of Thrones, all men must die, right?
Episode three had all the makings of a good episode. Extended 80’s flashback, awesome Lafayette dance scene, senseless violence…but collectively, it just didn’t amount to anything. The pacing inched along until the final scene and then sped up to take out Alcide in the last five minutes. All in all, the season has been unimpressive, but I still have hope that with Eric’s return will breathe some much-needed life into this curtain call.
