Crazy Ranking "True Blood": 'And So We End As We Began' Edition

By Sarah Carlson | TV | July 29, 2013 |

For “True Blood’s” Sixth Season, each week we’ll review and rank the various raisin-cake plot developments of this bloody, campy drama. This post could get a bit NSFW, so be warned. Comments also won’t be strictly policed because the series is so far off the source novels, spoilers are practically a moot point.

Unless things take a sudden turn for the worse, it’s safe to call this season of “True Blood” one of the show’s best in years. Episode Seven, “In the Evening,” kept the momentum going, addressing Terry’s death at the end of Episode Six and then letting Nora have her turn to make a moving exit with Eric at her side. “My death shall be my own,” a human Nora told Eric back in 1665 as she died of the plague, a sentiment echoed in their present with both her and Terry. Nora didn’t want to die but had accepted it; Terry decided death was his best option. No matter what their loved ones tried to do, death couldn’t be stopped — human or vampire, it made no difference. Some fans are upset at the string of deaths, but it’s this willingness by the showrunner and writers to play by their own rules to an extent — that you can’t deal in matters of life and death, i.e., vampires, and not suffer any consequences. Not everyone gets a happy ending.

On to the show:

5. Sam has been given very little to do this season. I’m pretty sure he has spent most of it in that hotel room. Because he hasn’t gotten much love here, we’ll let his and Nicole’s love scene hang out at No. 5. Their relationship makes little sense outside of the “Well, we’ve been through something traumatic, and we’re hot, so let’s have sex” scheme of things, but who doesn’t appreciate a good shower hook-up? Besides, now that Nicole and her mother have been captured by the obnoxious werewolves (Ugh, Rikki) and with Sam returning to Bon Temps because of Terry’s death, the two may meet up/rescue each other yet again.

4.5. Characters coming together sexually in the face of impending death/by needing comfort in the midst of emotional strife is a theme of the season, and certainly this episode. In Fairyland, we saw the aftermath of Sookie and Warlow’s fairygasm — a very Garden of Eden scene — and the two already are talking around the idea of what a life together would be like. Considering Warlow’s involvement in Bill’s ultimate plans, a happy ending may not be in the cards. But that’s all Sookie wants: stability. Even if it means promising to stay with a centuries old vampire-fairy hybrid.

4. Jessica wanted to have sex with a vampire to see “what all the fuss is about,” but having sex with James had more to do with her attraction to his apparent goodness and her desire to feel “good” once again — to feel human. Killing Andy’s daughters sent her spiraling, but seeing James (now with a broken fang) leading life not as a monster but as a vampire who has chosen not to forfeit his soul has given her hope.

3. I’m a broken record on the glories of Anna Camp, but I can’t overstate how great it is that Sarah Newlin has returned to unleash her special brand of Bible-thumpin’ crazy. And oh goodness, she kissed the Governor’s severed head.

2. The upside to poor Terry’s demise is Carrie Preston is getting the screen time and emotional scenes she deserves. Arlene is quite a pill in the books, so thankfully here she has more humanity and is someone you’d certainly want to down liquor and PBR with. (Side note: Was that Terry’s grave she was supposed to be crying at in the cemetery? It wasn’t even a new grave, and it has been, like, a day since he died. Oh well.)

1.5 THIS.

1. That wig was present for a touching scene between Eric and Nora when the two met in 1665 London. King Charles II apparently had a thing for Nora, but she had a thing for attending to the plague-ridden. Eric saw her courage and promised her a full and never-ending life, and the flashbacks provided a perfect contrast to the present and Nora’s second, true death.

I wish we had a better idea of what Hepatitis V actually is, but now we know the results aren’t pretty. Creating a new weapon against vampires changes the overall story of the genre (the one specific to this particular world, at least), so it will be interesting to see if the recipe for Hep V survives whatever attack against the facilities Eric surely is planning. Eric has now lost his maker and his only sibling, and Alexander Skarsgård deserves a hand for convincingly crying over the gooey remains of a vampire.

Best lines

Sarah: “I know you know fixers — professionals you keep on retainer to cover up your seedy lifestyles. Call them. Have them move the late, great governor’s body away and dispose of it. And I don’t wanna know how. But I do hear acid is effective.”

Arlene: “Oh hey, yeah, I’m all right. I’m a little better. You know before, it was like someone was scalpin’ my brain away one slice at a time, and pluckin’ out my heart with one of those little crab forks. But now, thanks to this, it just feels like someone is crushin’ my windpipe.”