Is it High Time to Stake "True Blood?"

This blog contains spoilers for the finale of Season 6 of “True Blood”. If you have not yet seen that episode THEN DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER! I have seen enough cry babies on social media, stupid people that click on HASHTAGS then cry when they see spoilers because they haven’t yet watched it.

Now, with that said and out of the way...

Jesus Christ! Is it me or has the show-runners for HBO’s “True Blood” run off the tracks? Okay, the show has been a little iffy for a while and after the departure of Alan Ball I was curious to see where the show would go. But with Season 4 sucking major ass and after last season’s (Season 5) debacle of an ending I have to admit I was not really looking forward to this season. However, after the first take it or leave episode I was rather surprised. I liked the dark descent the show took it’s cast; how the show went down roads that if this was a true life event then we would surely see Nazi like encampments where they would experiment on the Vampire population. Then there was the page taken from Apartheid South Africa (the Apartheid Government devised a plan to do the same thing to their Black population) where the secret government group controlled by the Governor and his lackey Sarah Newlin unleashes a tainted True Blood supply into the Vampire population. Although in the end, like most diabolical plans in fiction, a plan that doesn’t quite have the intended consequences.  

Season 6 was by far the strongest and best since season 2, but like all good things that came to an end rather quickly.

Problem 1) Season 6 is the shortest of all seasons. Coming at a 10 episode count rather than the traditional 12.

Problem 2) Lame death scenes of both supposed strong characters and major ones.

Problem 3) A finale that seemed disjointed.

Problem 4) Lame side stories. One that didn’t make much sense.

I’ll tackle problem 4 first.

The whole storyline that centered around Terry Bellefleur (Todd Lowe) and his quest to die. It was boring and really never fit the show. The whole back and forth in episode 9 where the action went from when Eric was freeing the camp to flash to Terry’s funeral that contained flashbacks from his life. In reality both events should been their own episode. The distraction of Eric and the camp took away any emotional value the showrunners were trying to capture. If anything they should killed off Terry at the end of season 5. I know the thought process behind the closed doors at HBO figured that we the viewers would see that was going to happen a mile away and that Terry’s death would've been more shocking this season. But in the end I found it rushed and a distraction.

Then we have the whole Alcide (Joe Manganiello) storyline that didn’t make much of any sense.

The end of last season (5) we saw Alcide take control of the pack and set it on a new direction. Then by the middle of the opener of season 6 Alcide is a super dick and out of control -If the show was trying to make the statement that power corrupts they did it rather poorly- only by the end of the season he is back to the normal Alcide and he is chasing Sookie once again. Alcide’s storyline felt like an attempt to just have that character in the show (Sorta like they did with Terry’s character in earlier seasons), like it was just thrown together at the last moment.

And lets not get into the whole grandpa Faery Niall Brigant (Rutger Hauer) storyline. What a waste.  

When it comes to Problem 2 and the LAME DEATHS we have to think that when Reverend Newlin (Michael McMillian) has the best supernatural death then we have a real problem. Especially when it is pretty clear that the show has killed off it’s most popular character in that of Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsguard). Or that of the all powerful 5500 year old Vampire that is and was Warlow aka Ben Flynn (Robert Kazinsky).  

In a world that is set not only in sex but in blood and gore then one would think that when you kill off characters that are pivotal to the story you would make them somewhat good and dramatic. Despite the supernatural premise, “True Blood” is still a soap opera in a sense.

In the opening episode to season 6 we see the death of Luna (Janina Gavankar) who had been pretty much a main character for the past couple years. Unfortunately her death was like: “Is she dead?”. And when she somehow didn’t make any appearances for the rest of the season we were like: “I guess so.” And when it came to Luna’s death it was pretty much shrugged off by all those who were involved with her. Sam (Sam Trammell), who supposedly loved her, moved on pretty quick with the next  fresh face,  along with the rest of her friends who barely noticed her departure.  

I don’t know what it is when it comes to “True Blood” show-runners killing off “villains”. They haven’t  really gotten it right since season 2.  Take the big baddy for this year and Warlow who was created personally by the vampire god Lilith in the age before man really took the world. A Vampire-Faery hybrid that has stalked the world for over 5500 years. Unfortunately Warlow’s death was about as lame as the other super old baddy in the form Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare). Warlow who was hellbent on marrying Sookie (Anna Paquin) was in the process of taking her when Grandpa Niall -who had been banished to the nether-realm where Warlow had been for decades- somehow forces his way through to grab Warlow so Jason could stake him. “That’s it?” Talk about deflating.

But the high point and probably the most dramatic death would be that of Eric Northman. After the death of Warlow the magical properties that were brought about by his blood (the act of allowing Vamps to walk in sun unfazed) were null and void. Which is a bad thing when you are a vampire who is sunning himself on a mountain top. Eric, probably the most popular Vampire in “True Blood”, was turned into a crispy critter while enjoying the sun and in my opinion is pretty fucking lame. And from the hashtags and message boards I am not alone in that thought process. Although there are those that think that Pam (Kristin Bauer van  Straten) in someway was able to save Eric from his bar-b-cue fate. Problem is that she would have the same problem now from the sun.

In past seasons the next to last episodes usually felt like the final act of the story with finale usually tying up any loose ends and leaving us (the viewers) with cliffhangers that have us chomping at the bit  for the next year for more. This time the finale for 6 felt very disjointed. The two big deaths of the season taking place rather early in the episode, allowing “True Blood” to fast forward 6 months later where we find Bill (Stephen Moyer) is now an author who has written a book about the events that took place in the camps and with him. Alcide and Sookie are now an item; and for some reason Sam is now Mayor of Bon Temps. The finale in ways felt like a series finale with the writers tying up all the loose ends of the story. However this is far from the case when we finally get the to the one and only real cliffhanger.

The government, partly due to Bill’s expose and the fact that the Vamp Camp has come to light has pretty much written off the great state of Louisiana as the population toils away against the rising hordes of infected vampires who drank the Hep V tainted bottles of True Blood. One of the main things the camps were working on. I know that most of social media is now calling them Vampire Zombies but the real fact is that they are infected and dying. And the only way to prolong their inevitable death is fresh blood. So they have taken to the road and hitting every small town ala “30 Days of Night” style. The irony here is that the Louisiana problem is mostly due to Eric freeing the Vampires from the camp. Leaving us with the cliffhanger where Mayor Sam, with aide of Bill, having devised a plan where humans get a vampire guardian in exchange for feeding the Vampires who can’t drink the True Blood or feed off the regular population in fear that some humans are carriers of the virus; where humans and vamps get together at what is now Arlene’s (Carrie Preston) bar. Brought out by the scent of fresh blood the party is about to be crashed by a large and angry horde of infected Vampires.

Is it enough to make want and wait until next June? I don’t know, maybe. But after the disappointing end to an otherwise decent season I am in no hurry to get back to “True Blood” anytime soon.  

Until Next Time...