Last Sunday, True Blood finally reached its end with “Thank You”. I’m still having mixed feelings about this final episode. It wasn’t what I expected, so parts of me were disappointed but I was satisfied with some aspects of the episode, especially regarding Sookie. At least, I got the feeling Brian Buckner finished the story he wanted to tell.
First, let’s sum up what really happened in “Thank You”. It’s quick because not much actually happened during that hour : Bill came to tell Sookie life is for the living, and as he is death, he asked her to kill him with her fairy power magic ball. That way she would be free of vampires in the future and she would live a normal life. She refused of course. Eric and Pam set Sarah Antidote free, so they could kill the Yakuzas and disappeared from the rest of the episode until the end. Bill talked marriage with Hoyt and Jessica, so the next day they actually got married. That was quite weird and wrong, Sookie listened to Bill’s thoughts for the first (and last) time. After many hesitations, Sookie accepted her fairy parts and decided to keep her magic ball. So, she killed Bill with a stake ! That was shocking and so emotional. Then, we jumped time to find Jason is a dad, Sookie is pregnant and everybody is happy and well...
So, let’s start with things I didn’t like in this episode. First : Jessica and Hoyt’s marriage. That was really out of character for both of them. Hoyt knows Jess since two days, he just broke off with Bridget, and just because of what Jess said to him, he is going to marry her.... And Jessica is willing to get married in a hurry to please Bill. If she really had been dreaming of her wedding day since she was a little girl, she would have wanted more time to organize her marriage.
I really wanted Andy and Holly to get married, not Jess and Hoyt. For me, Brian Buckner really screwed Jessica’s character. She is a fucking vampire, she can have a human boyfriend but not a human husband, that’s just silly. They tried to live together and have a human regular relationship and it didn’t work because Jessica isn’t a human.
For the last episode, I really wished they would have given a proper closure to every characters, and also about equivalent screen time. But Sookie, Bill and the wedding were the center of the episode, so Eric and Pam appeared for like 5 minutes in the whole episode. Their last scenes, with the New Blood and in Wall Street were fun but it felt a bit rushed and it was totally different for the rest of the episode. I really didn’t enjoy Eric and Pam being so far from the main storyline.
The worst happened to Lafayette, because he didn’t even get a line in the final episode. It was really disappointing. Lafayette always has been one of my favorite, he always delivers great lines so I expected something for him. But this year, he didn’t have much to do, expect to look for Tara’s ghost.
It really feels like Buckner had no idea what to do with several characters, and so they just stayed in the background (the best example is Willa.). It’s unfortunate because one of the strength of True Blood is its large cast, Buckner exploited it last year in a great way but this year, he focused, maybe too much, on Sookie and Bill and didn’t give much interesting things to do to other characters.
Buckner did a fine job with Bill and Sookie. My favorite part of the episode is actually Bill’s death. I’m glad Buckner actually made Bill died. For a moment, when Sookie was holding her ball, I thought about the theory of Bill turning back into a human, maybe thanks to Sookie’s royal fairy power, and I hoped it wouldn’t happen. So I was happy when Sookie decided to keep her power, if Sookie had lost her power, I would have hugely disappointed. Sookie being part fairy is one the great thing in True Blood, so to have her leave that and become a regular woman would been such a letdown.
For me, True Blood always has been about acceptance. Supernatural beings are a great pretext to tell that story, so I was proud Sookie finally accepted her fairy heritage and her true self; She didn’t waste her power on Bill.
And it was so much more emotional to watch Sookie jumped in the grave with Bill and staked him in his heart. She got Bill’s all over her afterwards. Bill chose his death, he killed himself because his sickness made him realized how much he missed being a human, because it was his true nature.
I know it was a controversial choice Buckner made, and many Trubies aren’t happy about it, specially judging Bill’ suicide but I understood Bill’s choice, and for me it wasn’t weak, or heroic, it was just the choice of a sickness person. And after everything he had lived, I don’t think Bill’ suicide was pointless, and that it destroyed the lives of the people who loved him. The end of the episode showed his death brought some peace to Sookie, she finally moved on, found a nice man (I guess, since we only saw his back) and started her family.
I really enjoyed the last scene, the big dinner with everyone, Arlene and Keith, Willa, Sam and his little girl, Andy and Holly, Lafayette and James, etc. It was nice to watch them happy, laughing all together. It made me a bit nostalgic about True Blood and I realized I will really miss it next summer. True Blood has been a part of my summers since 7 years now, it’s a long time so next year, it’ll be weird not to have Sookie and her friends to watch.
I will miss you, Sookie Stackhouse.
And you, what did you think of “Thank You” ? Will you miss True Blood ? Who will miss the most ? Hit the comments !
Vampires notes :
• I’m still angry at Tara’s death but at least, Buckner gave us a nice flashback of young Sookie and Tara, and Gran too ! I was surprised and touched to see her back. Gran was just a great character, I was so shocked and horrified when she died. And for once, the flashback was quite interesting, Gran always gave the best advice to Sookie.
• I think Sarah Newlin is the character who got the most satisfying end. She didn’t die, she wasn’t turn into a vampire by Pam. I loved how she reacted when that bitch mentioned Tara. So, Sarah ended up being a vampire whore, locked down in Fangtasia’s basement, until the day she died. That is what you get when you create a deadly virus and drink the antidote.
• Eric and Pam quickly killed off the Yakuzas. They were lame enemy. And Eric really has something against them. He burnt Gus to death. That was gruesome, but fun. And he saved Sookie, again. So, even with Bill dead, Sookie will always have one vampire looking out for her.
• Andy inherited Bill’s house and will rent it to Jess. That was interesting to know…
• Actually, I just realized what I missed the most this season : a big villain. The infected vampires were fun for the first part of the season, but I wish Buckner would have come up with a big threat, a powerful supernatural being to fight. (like the maenad, Russel, Marnie, Lilith or Warlow) The last part of the season was quite slow. :(
• Eric, with his bloody face, driving in that bloody car with the music was one of the funniest scene. I will miss Eric Northman and his sexy attitude.
