“Jesus Gonna Be Here”
It’s that time again boys and girls, time to venture back to the supernatural melting pot of Bon Temps once again as we kick off season 7; the final season of HBO’s bloody, sexy, campy guilty pleasure True Blood.
Sometimes it seems like there is just no time to breathe for our cast of characters, but then most of the cast is incapable of drawing breath anyhow. Several moments in this episode served as a reminder of simpler times. When Bill Compton was a charming southern vampire who minded his manners and courted young Miss Stackhouse over a number of episodes before she gave up the goods. I was taken back to a time when only the vamps were supernatural and the inhabitants of this quaint southern community weren’t constantly dealing with one apocalyptic scenario after another. Though True Blood remains a guilty pleasure and a fun watch, any glimpse of high-end storytelling, satire and social commentary found in the earlier seasons almost completely ceases to exist in these later seasons. But that’s not really why we watch, is it?
Tonight’s episode starts right where season 6 left off, as a roving group of Hep V vampires approach the peaceful vamp/human mixer, which looks to pretty much end any chance of peace that the humans and vamps had together. The confrontation is fast and bloody, and takes out one major character almost immediately. Yes, once again we have lost Tara. Lafayette is the voice of the audience on this one, “I grieved the first time she died. The second time I don’t feel nothin’.” I’m right there with you Lafayette.
I appreciate the throwbacks to the first season. Bill Compton’s flashback to the family man full of love and humanity, the vampire we initially fell in love with right alongside Sookie. I also really enjoyed revisiting Sookie’s burden of mind reading, something that was presented in a very similar way in season 1. Only this time, a much more experienced battle-worn Sookie calls everyone out on it right in church, challenging them to say these things to her face. Explaining that she is the resident vamp expert, and whether or not the townspeople love her she loves each and everyone, she really just wants to help. That’s how the episode ends, though I suspect we will see the community take her up on her offer to any extent. It would be nice to see the folks of Bon Temps rally behind Sookie and the other do-gooders in a battle against the evil Hep V vamps. Could there be peace at the end of it all?
Providing plenty of action, sex and gore this was a very busy episode, offering up flashbacks to a less complicated time. It wasn’t that long ago that we were rooting for a Billith, death so reminding us of his humanity and history as a family man creates distance from the man we love and the one we hate. I hope that trend continues as the season progresses. It would be neat to see True Blood remember its roots, breathe a little, and give us a strong concluding season with likable characters to root for and some meaning beyond the usual gratuitous fare.
Aurora Snow Says
Episode Rating:
[Rating:3.5/5]
