We're now in the back half of True Blood's seventh and final season. There's already been enough twists and turns in the first few episodes to keep even the most seasoned fan on their toes. However, tonight's episode, "Karma," gave us a game-changing reveal that just might win the fight against Hep-V. Will it be enough to stop the spread of the disease and save some of our favorite characters?
See who's still standing after tonight's trials, AFTER THE JUMP …
Following last week’s “everybody’s dead but us!” party (ugh, aren’t theme parties the worst?), Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) brings his auntie Lettie Mae (Adina Porter) back to his place. Waiting there for them is James (Nathan Parsons), fresh from his tiff with Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and looking for a place to crash. With a convenient source of vampire blood just hanging around, Lafayette decides to test Lettie Mae’s theory and they both trip out on V.
While riding the crimson tiger or whatever the kids are calling it, they encounter the jabbering Tara (Rutina Wesley) on the cross with the snake. She leads them to her childhood home and starts digging up the front lawn. Before La and Lettie can get any more info out of her, the Reverend (Gregg Daniel) shows up, wakes them from their trances and tells Lettie: It’s me or the V. Later, Rev., Lettie has got to help Tara!
That’s not the only ultimatum issued in tonight’s episode. Nicole (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) tells Sam (Sam Trammell) that she will not raise her daughter in this crazy town. So she’s leaving tomorrow. He should come too.
Don’t give up on all love in Bon Temps, though. There’s still the borderline Law and Order: Special Victims Unit-esque romance between Adilyn (Bailey Noble) and her almost-step-brother Wade (Noah Matthews). Andy (Chris Bauer) catches the two teens going at it, which does not sit well with the sheriff at all. He chases Wade out of the house, which, in turn, does not sit well with Holly (Lauren Bowles). Arlene (Carrie Preston) later counsels the couple on working through this complication, but when they get home to talk to the kids, Wade and Addy have run away.
Elsewhere, Violet (Karolina Wydra) and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) are trying to make it work. When Jason gets home from the party, Violet has covered their place in flower petals and candles and put on lingerie and did everything but turn on some Marvin Gaye to complete the romantic cliche package. She tries to win back his favor by taking on a more submissive role. They do their thing, but once they’re asleep, Jason receives a frantic phone call from Jessica. Jason takes off running, not even slowing down to put his clothes back on. Not that we’re complaining.
Violet is not nearly as pleased. She trashes the apartment and leaves Jason a curt break-up note. Then she heads out and finds Addy and Wade messing around in the Fort Bellefleur treehouse. She tells them it’s not safe out here for a faerie like her, and they should just totally come with her. She’s not like a regular vamp, she’s a cool vamp, or whatever. Off they go, back to Violet’s place. What does she have planned?
Meanwhile, Jessica was calling Jason to have her bring Sookie (Anna Paquin) over to Chez Compton. Jess is panicking because she overheard Bill (Stephen Moyer) mention his sickness on the phone. When she tells Sookie she thinks Bill has Hep-V, Sookie remembers getting covered in infected blood the night Alcide (Joe Manganiello) got killed. She goes to get tested, and it turns out she’s a carrier. Bill got it from her. (I should also note, the HIV-parallels crammed into this scene were so ham-fisted, they should have come with pineapple slices and maraschino cherries.)
And he doesn’t just have Hep-V. He’s got SUPER Hep-V. Even though he just started displaying symptoms, his condition is rapidly worsening. (Is it the faerie blood?) He goes to see a lawyer about updating his will, but blah blah vampire estate law blah blah discriminatory laws blah blah. The show's always the most ridiculous when discussing vampire politics, vampire law or vampire taxes. When the lawyer tries to extort money out of him to expedite his chances of exploiting a legal loophole by adopting Jessica (don’t ask), he kills her. He comes home to find Sookie and Jess having a sad moment on the stairs.
All hope is not necessarily lost, though. Sarah Newlin (Anna Camp) predictably turns to her vampire sister Amber (Natalie Hall) for help. She confides in her that after the revolt at the vamp camp, Sarah drank all the Hep-V antidote and now she has the power to heal. Her guru showed her that she has been put on this earth to heal.
That little piece of information might come in handy, since Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) have teamed up with the Yakuza to find, capture and kill Sarah Newlin. (The Yakuza’s stake in all this, we learn, is from the corporation who made Tru Blood. With the drink ruined, so is their business.) When they arrive at Amber’s house, they find her miraculously cured. Interesting!
Can Sarah save them all and rid the world of Hep-V? What do you think Violet has in mind for Wade and Adilyn?
