Another thrilling finale, another frustratingly long wait for our next fix of True Blood! “Evil Is Going On” saw characters seeking vengeance, facing demons, and searching for direction. We got our first tease of the witches to come, the supernatural element that’s going to be thrown into the melting pot in Season 4 to stir up trouble. We also watched our protagonist disappear right before our eyes. As always, executive producer Alan Ball shook things up in typical style and left us wanting more!
The Coup d’Etat of Russell Edgington
Burning in the sun awaiting death, Russell tries to convince Eric how foolish it is to die over a stupid grudge–it’s not like Eric’s father was a great man or king. Godric appears to Eric as a spirit, urging him to find forgiveness, but Eric resists the words of his beloved Maker. Sookie‘s blood loss sends her on a brief run through fairy land while she’s unconscious. She awakens to Bill‘s face hovering over her and is NOT pleased to see him. She slaps him for betraying her again. “No, I only pretended to betray you to save your life, again.” True enough, but unfortunately Sookie has reached the limits of her tolerance for vampire nonsense. She hears that Eric has gone outside to kill himself and Russell, and pushes past Bill to go save him. With the help of Russell’s taunting words, she gets fired up enough to shoot energy from her hands to break the handcuffs and send Russell flying across the parking lot. She then drags Eric inside and, much to Bill’s dismay, gives him her blood to heal him.
Eric drinks from her wrist and then wipes the blood from his mouth in a way that is charmingly arrogant, before changing his mind about Russell. He wants to bring him inside, not out of forgiveness as Godric wanted, but so that Russell wouldn’t be able to find some sense of peace in the true death. Eric has other plans for the once fearsome vampire. Sookie takes a silver chain to get Russell, now blackened and extra crispy but grateful for her assistance. Eric, Pam, and Bill go to sleep for the day while Sookie watches over Russell. At first she protests, “I’m not babysitting this psycho while you guys take a nap.” But she agrees and even seems to enjoy her power over the fallen king. She toys with him about what it would take for her to make a deal–$5 million dollars, his mansion, etc.–but then she takes the jar of Talbot and pours the last remains of Russell’s lover down the garbage disposal. She laughs almost maniacally as he screams in grief.
Alcide arrives, summoned by Eric for the use of his truck to clear his father’s debt once and for all, and he and Sookie catch up over a beer. He admits that he’s been thinking about her, while Russell plays the part of the peanut gallery:
“I can’t help it that I’m a good guy.”
“Yet every full moon he turns into a wolf and eats his prey.”
“Rabbits and squirrels, not human beings!”
“Details…”
When the vampires wake up, Alcide smiles to hear Sookie’s attitude towards them so altered. She rescinds all their invitations as they leave to do whatever it is they’re going to do to Russell.
The Dark Side of Bill
At a construction site, Eric has devised a cruel punishment for Russell–wrapping him in silver and encasing him in concrete. It won’t kill him, and it won’t hold him forever, but he’ll probably be trapped for a hundred years or so to live in agony. Eric envisions Godric once again, who’s disappointed that his progeny is so full of hatred and unable to make peace. Eric snaps back at the empty air, “This is who I am, Godric. This is what you made!” Up until the end, Russell is making threats at Eric and Bill, swearing that they’ll regret this, although they’re both very happy about it in the moment. Once he disappears under the cement, Bill turns to Eric and offers his hand, seemingly in friendship, but then in a flash snaps the silver handcuff back on Eric’s wrist, tosses him in another pit, and pours concrete on him: “When fate presents one with such a grand opportunity, what else is one to do?” His dark turn doesn’t end there, as he immediately calls up a hit man on Eric’s cell phone and orders the murder of Pam.
Jason: Do the Right Thing
Jason goes to the police station and finds a team from the DEA preparing to raid Hot Shot. Despite Andy‘s warnings, Jason takes Crystal to help her family. Grumpy ol’ Calvin isn’t glad to see them, but at least he listens when Jason says he’s only trying to help these people who are dirty, hungry, and have “obviously got dental problems.” Calvin is in the process of destroying all the V when Felton drops in, clearly high. He shoots a cousin and his father without even blinking, before turning the gun on Jason. He’s going to take the V and Crystal, and ride off in Jason’s truck. With no other options, Jason kisses Crystal and promises to find her, and to take care of her family.
Andy sits in his office, feeling worthless because of the macho DEA leader and curiously examining the V that’s supposed to be in evidence, but thankfully he’s interrupted by Jason being hauled in for impeding the drug bust. Andy scolds him for this, as well as for spilling the truth to Tara, and says he’s wasted any shot he had at becoming something. On the contrary, Jason might finally be turning into a guy worth knowing. Then again, he might be up to his dumb antics soon enough, or he could surprise us and really grow up now that he’s got people depending on him. At the very least, he wisely tells Andy that this is bigger than the two of them, and that “sometimes the right thing to do is the wrong thing.”
Tara’s Ch-ch-changes
After their night together, Sam (who looks mighty cute in the morning, by the way) cooks breakfast for Tara. Casual conversation turns serious when Sam opens up about the secret he’s been hiding for a long time–he’s a shapeshifter. Tara sees this as just another freaky supernatural thing in a long list of them, and while she doesn’t seem to reject Sam’s true identity, she talks about how much she’d like to start her life over. Speaking as someone who’s done it, Sam says she could do that if she wanted to. There’s so much she wants to forget–Maryann, Eggs, Franklin–and the first person she turns to is her mother. She catches Lettie Mae and Reverend Daniels with their pants down. She doesn’t judge her mom but recognizes how deluded she is into thinking that this affair is a good thing and will make everything better in her life: “I’m finally gonna be happy.” Tara just smiles and says she hopes that’s true. I think the encounter makes her see that other people are messed up, too, and if she wants to change, she’ll have to do it herself. The first step: a haircut. She symbolically cuts away all her burdens (and it’s a very nice look for Rutina Wesley). Sookie arrives home and the two best friends share a quiet scene together before hugging and parting for what will probably be longer than either one expects. Tara says she’s just going to see Lafayette, but when she pulls up to Merlotte’s and takes in the familiar sight, she smiles and keeps on driving. Who knows where she’s going, but it’s clear that she needs a fresh start.
Lafayette: See No Evil
Lafayette’s post-V delusions continue. He sees Sam and imagines him, with hands bloody, saying, “Cross me, you’re a dead man.” Then in the kitchen talking to Arlene, Lafayette pictures Rene holding her throat, saying he’s inside her. He calls Jesus in a panic, who comes to Merlotte’s right away to comfort him. His reassurance turns out to be more shocking than Lafayette anticipated: Jesus recalls the first time magic was unleashed in him and he started seeing things before he could control it. He tells Lafayette that he’s a “brujo”–a witch. “You’re a witch who’s a nurse who’s a dude,” Lafayette says in astonishment. Surprisingly, though, he seems to be fine with the news about his boyfriend. It will be interesting to see what role Lafayette has to play in the story of the witches next season.
Jessica & Hoyt: Happily Ever After?
Hoyt drives to work and finds himself on the receiving end of an intervention. Maxine, Summer, and his high school guidance counselor sit him down to discuss what they perceive as his mistakes. Summer reads a note about how sad she is that he chose darkness over life, and Maxine threatens to kick him out of the house and take away his inheritance. Well, Hoyt has already moved out, and she has no money, so she really has no leverage. He’s in love with Jessica, and he’s finally in control of his own life. That night, he surprises Jessica with a house he bought for them, and a marriage proposal. They are really the brightest part of the entire show right now. Jessica says, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” “Lucky for you,” he replies, “you’ll never have to find out.” As Hoyt picks her up to kiss her, it’s a picture perfect moment of young love, as the camera pans out of the doorway…until it falls on the doll lying in the dark, a reminder of those who would break them apart. I’m not sure what doll-fanatic Summer is capable of, but Maxine showed the lengths to which she would go when she bought a gun with wooden bullets.
No More Mr. Nice Sam
Sam goes to apologize to Terry and Tommy for what he said in anger the previous day. Terry cries with happiness because of all the good things in his life, and the fact that he’s got his friend back. Sam seems a little uncomfortable at the display of emotion (Terry is quirky, but I think we could all stand to view life more from his perspective). Tommy’s house has been cleared out, and so has Sam’s safe full of money. He freaks out again, grabs his gun, and hunts his little brother down. When Sam catches up to him, Tommy cries about how Sam changed his whole life and is throwing him away now. When he finds no sympathy, he picks up the bag of money and stalks off, calling his brother’s bluff on the threatening gun. Sam lifts it and fires with a steady hand. Did he kill Tommy? Probably not, but the point is that he’s not taking people’s crap anymore.
Sookie’s Disillusionment
Bill shows up at Sookie’s to talk. He tells her about Russell and Eric, and how he’s going to kill any other vampire that finds out about what she truly is. They pose too great a danger to her–Russell was proof enough of that when he said her blood was heavenly delicious and that others wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from draining her. Bill explains that even if she doesn’t want to be with him anymore, he’ll always protect her, and will always love her. She almost stops him from leaving, but then Eric busts open the door, covered in concrete (Pam came to the rescue, yay!) and spills the dark secrets Bill has been hiding. He was sent to Bon Temps by Queen Sophie-Anne to find out more about her, and he allowed the Rattrays to beat her so that she would need to drink his blood to heal. Sookie is furious and devastated. Bill tries to explain that he loves her for who she is NOT what she is and he was not going to “give her up” to Sophie-Anne. He tries to make her understand that although he was sent there by the Queen he DID fall in love with her. She feels like she was manipulated into loving him, and despite the words he has said and continues to say, so she kicks him out of her house and wants nothing more to do with him. It’s not like she runs into Eric’s arms–she screams at him to leave her alone, as well. “I’m sorry to see you suffer like this. I thought you had a right to know.” Eric return back to Fangtasia where Pam has tried to wash the cement out of her hair as she askes Eric if he killed Bill. Eric simply responds that he created a fate far worst then the true death for him and this punishment will hurt him more.
Back at his own house, Bill opens the door to Sophie-Anne. She can barely contain her excitement about tasting fairy blood and walking in the sun. Bill dashes her hopes, saying he lured her there to kill her. She may be older, “but I have nothing left to lose.” They both rise up into the air, fangs drawn, and fly at each other across the room. Meanwhile, Sookie takes off running into the woods, echoing her first night with Bill, after Gran died. This time, however, she goes to Gran to mourn the loss of Bill. Kneeling in the cemetery by her grandmother’s headstone, she cries over how lost she feels. Claudine appears: “You are not alone. Come with us.” Encircled by faeries, her kind about whom she knows so little, Sookie takes Claudine’s hand, and they all vanish in a burst of light.
It was a well-written episode, to be sure–Alan Ball always delivers great dialogue and a compelling story. The general reaction, however, seems to be somewhat negative, at least from what I’ve seen on Twitter. I think people enjoyed it and got emotional over key moments, but if we’re comparing this finale to the previous 2 years, I think what may have been lacking was the element of excitement and tension to carry us into next year. Especially with the Season 2 finale, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’,” the characters took down Maryann in grand fashion, after which new, surprising storylines began. Exactly as a good finale should, there was resolution to the season-long journey, as well as a cliffhanger to leave us craving answers.
“Evil Is Going On” seemed to have the resolution part down with very little in the way of shocking twists and new doors being opened. We already knew Sookie was a fairy, so her disappearing with Claudine was more like a continuation of her quest for identity. It will lead to more revelations in Season 4, certainly, but it wasn’t quite on par with “Oh my, someone’s been murdered in the back seat of this car/someone’s taken Bill!” Both of those things seemed to come out of nowhere and leave us awe-struck with disbelief, in a good way.
Come next summer, I’m sure we’ll all be hyped up with anticipation as always. This episode hasn’t lessened my feelings for the show, by any means. As someone who loves True Blood but still wants to examine it critically, I’m just facing this hiatus not quite as full of burning questions as usual. Do you agree or disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments and let’s get the 9 month-long discussion started!
(Photo credit: HBO Inc.)
Nia
Hi Truebies,
Sorry I have been to busy to post in any lengthy and coherent manner lately, so much going on and now back in school working on another certification associated with my degree.
Good episode for the finale. Although I did feel it dragged a bit.
I am saddened that I must confess that I do not find all of the storylines very intriguing. But here are my thoughts.
Jason in charge of Hotshot is like giving a kid matches, LOL, only kidding. Perhaps it will be a chance for Jason to mature. I am surprised that the Kitch angle was not looked into further, but perhaps that was also a learning experience and a revelation for Jason in its own way. I think that Jason would make a good cop when he grows up a bit.
I know that although we have seen darkness in Sam and that he has killed in cold blood before, he would not kill his brother, nick him maybe for good measure but never kill. Sam still needs a good woman. Maybe he and Bill should go out now and bar hop for chicks, LOL.
Tara getting a fresh start is a good thing, keep driving honey. And I loved her new softer hair.
Lafayette has now had something awakened in him, not only because of the V but possibly because of his close association with Jesus who is now a self professed witch. Lafayette always had this in him, just like his mother. She ended up in a psych ward though because of this gift of “sight”, perhaps because she could not handle it. I believe Lafayette with Jesus’s help will deal with it better. But is Jesus good or bad? He may have some of his evil grandfathers tendencies (Lafayette may have had a glimpse of this in the demon face that he saw) but he may also be able to bypass them because of his mothers protection. Time will tell.
So sweet of Hoyt and Jess getting a place together. Bill did release her, but she cannot live there until Hoyt fashions a hidey hole for her. The soiled ragged doll left in the room has significance. Perhaps a letting go of innocence? Or a foretelling of danger yet to come? Voodoo?? Vengence of Mama Fortenberry? Who knows.
Anyways, when Jess next goes back to the Compton house, I wonder what she will find?
Terry and Arlene, looks as if this baby will come. I love kids and the idea that a child is born evil does not sit well with me. But this is TB and could Rene have been something more than a crazed serial killer? Just don’t hurt Terry!
Eric willing to die with RE to complete his vendetta. That was a good act and one he was willing to do to honor his family. He caused RE to go all medieval so he took responsibility for it. Good for him. But when the chance to let go of hatred presented itself in the form of spirit Godric, Eric once again proved that he will only think of his own needs and wants and at that point all he wanted was revenge even if it meant dying himself.
He used Sookie, put her in grave danger again, and convinced Bill to help him, thus making Bill look even worse in Sookies eyes. I do believe that Eric has a soft spot for Sookie (we saw this the last two epis) and cares for her in a way that he yet does not even understand. But he still put Sookie in danger. RE was crazed and unpredictable and there was no real way of telling how he would react. Between Eric and Bill they were able to convince him. But it was Bill who had the good sense to remind every one not to drink Sookie dry. Why is it that Bill can do this and other vamps perhaps can not? Another question that I hope will be explored in the future.
I think here we had a chance to see that Eric was again a disappointment to Godric (whether we are to believe it was the true spirit of Godric or Erics subconscious version of Godric we may never know but it can almost be said that they are one in the same and Eric is perhaps warring with himself). He was saddened in Dallas by Erics lack of benevolent vision and now again here.
Godric was hoping that Eric would have evolved by now but alas no. Eric is still behaving as the disrespectful young man we saw a millennia ago.
Eric does not understand real love, peace and forgiveness. We have seen his deep fondness for Pam and feelings for Sookie (but he still can take his frustrations out on Pam and lock Sookie up in a dungeon if it suits him).
Now some of you don’t get your panties in a bunch, I like Eric and his sneering snarky ways. That is who he is and it gives him the best lines (“Eye F*cking” was brilliant).
Perhaps Sookie will change Eric as she has Bill. Only time will tell.
Now as I discuss my thoughts about Bill, one must remember how many times Eric has abused and betrayed Bill. And it is this as well as Bills guilt and protection of Sookie that I believe has fueled Bills past, current, and future actions.
Now to Bill. All cards are FINALLY out on the table and Bill has lost this hand. His mission was bad enough, we all know it, but the fact that he let the Rats beat Sookie, I would have thrown him out too. I do not condone this at all and am saddened by it.
But lets think about the what and whys of this act. The procurer vampire Bill was sent by SA to investigate this girl WITHOUT ANY information at all.
Bill was saved by her, intrigued by her and may have still been late when the Rats accosted her. He asked her several times what she was, maybe even tried to glamour her, but she did not answer except to tell him that she was a waitress.
Bill did not know what the Rats were going to do, we don’t know how long he waited before he intervened. I don’t like that he waited at all, but he only knew Sookie for a day and I believe he used this opportunity to form a bond to help with his investigation of her.
But then he did not count on falling so deeply in love with her. That changed everything.
I can understand why he could not tell her such a horrible truth, because he would have to tell her the whole truth, and it was to much of an evil deed for even him to bear. I know he has always been haunted by it, thus his actions, always saving her, and sacrificing himself for her. He has much to atone for and he knows it.
Lets take a trip back now. You have to think about Bills life or unlife as a vampire. He had Lorena to mold him and make him in her mirror, trying to erase the good man we all knew him to be, even though he was able to eventually release himself from that, he still had participated willingly in her madness.
When he left her, what other influences was he surrounded by? First of all he still had to feed, there was no Tru Blood then.
We have only seen a few vampires that he has associated with and those have been pure vampire in every sense and that means not human friendly.
He associated with Malcom and gang, He aligns himself with SA and he is under Erics authority. Not one of these vamps hold anything but contempt and disgust for humans. They are food and sport, nothing more. This is what Bill had around him yet he eventually was trying to change, mostly because of Sookie. He still made many mistakes, well again look at how he lived for so long. But he has and will pay heavily for his mistakes.
So this is the vampire that meets Sookie, even when she saves him from the Rats Bill doesn’t trust her and expects her to take his drained blood, drink it or sell it. When she still replies in the negative he asks her “what are you?” He obviously gets no believable answer and is still confused by her. Thus perhaps that is why he allows the Rats to hurt her. He is a vampire on a mission and will do whatever necessary to accomplish that mission.
Ahh, but as his feelings for her grew, I do wish he would have told her the truth sooner though but how many people or vamps has Bill been able to trust?
Bill betraying Eric was a surprise, but he really did not try to kill him did he? He could have but instead he attempted to encase him in cement, not a permanent death. Wow, Bill had a plan!! LOL. But not a surprise, remember Bill had a brilliant plan when dealing the final blow to MA and saving an entire town. Bill is very intelligent and it shows, and he is also a man in love.
Actually I thought it intriguing to see this other layer of him (although we have seen it before, his killing of Uncle Bartlet was a pure cold act, but again he was avenging Sookies defilement by that child molester).
And speaking in Erics voice? Again I was surprised. Bill came up with this plan in a heart beat or lack of, he had no idea what they were going to do with RE until he woke and saw Alcide.
As to Bill trying to get rid of Eric and Pam, he told Sookie the truth about that, it was to protect her. Could it also have been to keep Eric from telling Sookie about the mission and the Rats? Possibly, but how did Eric know about any of this? SA could have told him about the mission but did she know about the Rats? Bill purposely kept all his findings from SA. So there are many unanswered questions here.
Also how did Bill know that Eric had an assassin? Did Bill find out that said assassin was sent after him earlier as well? So Bill has no allegiance to Eric at all. He may have also felt that Eric would eventually attempt to have him killed again once this was all said and done.
Pam would have killed Bill if she could have and wanted Eric to finish the job. Also in epi 11, Bill could have killed Pam, even blinded, but did anyone notice that during their fight he never hit her, always pushed her away. I thought that was significant.
SA could care less about Bill and would have let him rot remember? She just wants Sookie so she can sail in the daytime on her yacht. Again no allegiance there.
Bill and RE mention that other vamps would not be able to stop when feeding on Sookie, but Bill is the only one who can control himself. I wonder why so much emphasis was put on that? When Bill drained her last, he was tortured, starving, and unconscious. Eric was burned yes but he had just fed on Sookies blood and yet he had to be stopped by Bill from draining Sookie.
There has to be something even more to Bill that we do not know yet.
I think that when RE and Eric drained Sookie she was practically dead but her “faeness”, for want of a better word, kept her going until Bill could feed her, and I thought it very interesting that she was running through darkness and then the chandelier of bright light appeared to her from above and as she was gazing into the chandelier, it only burned brighter as it turned into Bills face. Not darker as before.
A sign, or foreshadowing for the future?
There is still something more that happened between Bill and Claudine. They were together for a very long time, much may have been said.
When Eric comes back to tell Sookie the truth about Bill, Eric says to Sookie that Bill has lied to save himself, but did not Eric do the same? He lied to Sookie about the abduction of Bill when he “thought” Bill had been taken by Rueben. Eric lied to protect himself from repercussions by Sookie and he also lied about the V selling, pinned it on Bill again to protect himself. He also lied about his knowledge of danger in Dallas, as well as contacting Lorena. All this for his own ends.
In reality both men are still vampires and crafty and will do what they need to survive and succeed. Both are flawed and although so far only Bill has and will pay the price for these flaws.
So now Bill has hit rock bottom. He has lost Sookie, he has no friends, he has released his progeny, he has no allegiance to any territory. In essence he is an island. And now, again, he is in a no win battle with a vamp that is older and stronger. But then again he has nothing to lose. If he survives, his mission now will be to continue to always protect Sookie.
I do love that AB has a clean slate to write Bills story, I am also hoping for something less Sookie centric.
We know that Bill is very intelligent and has been interested in furthering human/vamp relations. We saw this as far back as his last encounter with Malcom and gang.
As to Bill being with other women, it may happen, yet I do not believe that Bill would ever love another as he loves Sookie.
I cant wait for his continuing story. His cliffhanger is once again the one I will be waiting for.
Sookie has now gone to faery land. We know she wont stay but perhaps she will get some answers. Who killed her parents and how, what more she is (please not an alien), and what other powers she may possess. Perhaps she will also meet Niall.
She will also have a fling with the handsome werewolf Alcide, good!! But you could already see the forlorn look on her face when Alcide told her that he only came when Eric promised to release his father from all debts. Also we still have Debbie on the loose. Alcide still has deep feelings for Debbie and that may cause problems with any relationship he may have with Sookie in the future.
Lastly I had so much fun with Russells character this season. I am looking forward to him breaking out of his cement prison and joining us again next season to regal us with his manic wit and glory in the drama from his revenge.
Well it has been a wild ride this summer. Now again we have the long hiatus ahead. I look forward to the continuing story of all our characters, but for now I wish the best for all the actors that worked so hard to keep our obsession riding such a high. I wish them luck as they pursue other projects and I also hope they get a chance to rest before we demand their return.
**BTW, congratulations to Stephen for winning the “Battle of the Fang”. But in reality it is both the wonderful charities that have benefited so well from this fun competition. The money raised on both fronts was amazing.