The seventh episode of True Blood's seventh season wasn't the most exciting in terms of plot development, but that doesn't mean it was a total wash. There were a few good character moments, particularly from Carrie Preston. She'd be foolish not to submit this ep come award season next year.
Still, with only three episodes of the series left, do fans of the show (if there are any still out there) really want to spend this much time with newish characters like Violet, Wade and Adilyn, when we could be getting more Pam, Jessica or Lafayette? I don't think so. Plus, I'm sorry, I know these Bill Compton flashbacks are supposed to enlighten us a bit to his actions/motivations today (like they do in Lost and Orange Is the New Black), but I just always find them so, so boring and ridiculous. Drunk History has better period costumes and wigs.
Get a taste of what was put in motion in tonight's episode (plus another gratuitous shirtless Jason Stackhouse pic), AFTER THE JUMP …
The hunt is on for Adilyn (Bailey Noble) and Wade (Noah Matthews). Holly (Lauren Bowles) and Andy (Chris Bauer) are looking high and low all over Bon Temps. When that fails, they head on up to Holly’s ex-husband’s lake house just north of Oklahoma City. Of course, the kids aren’t there, but the sight of the placid lake is enough to bring ol’ grumpy Andy to tears. Holly, despite all evidence to the contrary, tells him she thinks this is going to all end up super well. So, buck up, Andy!
As we know, Adilyn and Wade are actually hanging out with Violet (Karolina Wydra). Her house is the perfect teenage love shack. It’s got everything! Privacy, snacks, (presumably) wi-fi, and, oh yeah, a sex sling, various ancient lubes and a bunch of dildos. OK, so it’s not the stuff Taylor Swift is usually singing about, but it’s still more romantic than the treehouse, right? Violet leaves them to their business while she sleeps. The next night, after admitting their love and the fact they were both virgins before their first time together, their love nest is disrupted by a rampaging Violet. She throws Wade across the room and handcuffs Adilyn to the bed. Adilyn’s terror signals Jess (Deborah Ann Woll) who heads off directly into Violet’s trap.
Things may be working out according to plan for Violet, but her ex Jason (Ryan Kwanten) isn’t as lucky. His former BFF Hoyt (Jim Parrack) is back in town to claim his mother’s body. He still doesn’t remember Jason at all since being glamoured back when he first left town. He’s returned with a smoking hot new girlfriend (who just happens to be a microbiologist, a skillset that might that be handy to battle a certain virus, no?). Jason can’t keep his eyes off her. Every time he tries to get a little distance between them — excusing himself from breakfast, giving the grieving couple space at the morgue — he gets pulled back closer.
That’s not the only place Jason’s showing up tonight though. A sleep-deprived and delirious Sarah Newlin (Anna Camp) has fled back to the original camp ground for the Fellowship of the Sun. Outside, she has a vision of a shirtless Stackhouse playing football. He warns her that tonight, Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) is coming for her, and she will die.
Inside, it’s all her ghosts of boyfriends and husbands past. There’s the guru from earlier this season, Rev. Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) and even the severed head of Gov. Burrell (Arliss Howard). Plus, Jason’s back, with a shirt this time (boooo). The guru and Steve Newlin each encourage her to make right with her Buddhism or Christian God before it's too late. Sarah doesn't need either. She only believes in herself, the new messiah, now.
Time is running out. Eric, Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) and their Japanese associates are hot on her tail, armed with the knowledge Sarah can cure this disease (thanks to her sister, whom Eric staked after momentarily mistaking for Sarah). Mr. Gus (Will Yun Lee) makes Eric and Pam an offer. They can synthesize the antidote from Sarah's blood, mass market it as New Blood and then Eric will be the spokesvamp. They'll all be rich. There’s no time to establish a proper LLC or whatever, but Eric, Pam and Mr. Gus seem like they are on the same page when they all pull up to campground where Sarah is hiding out.
Back in Bon Temps, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) and Lettie Mae (Adina Porter) are digging up the yard of the old family home they saw in their vision of Tara (Rutina Wesley). I guess they didn’t necessarily ask first, since the little girl inside is a little disturbed to see them out there tearing up the lawn.
It’s crazy nonsense like that which is making Sam (Sam Trammell) question if he should raise a family in Bon Temps at all. He still hasn’t answered his girlfriend’s ultimatum, but Arlene (Carrie Preston) advises him to consider if he feels like he’s running from something or to something. Wise words.
In her dreams, Arlene is running right into the crotch of that vampire that saved her a few weeks ago. She has quite a satisfyingly nasty dream about him, and then he actually shows up one night. She nervously explains that they can’t have sex (because she’s Hep-V positive) while they dance to the jukebox. “Well then,” he says. “Let’s just dance.” Adorable.
Sookie (Anna Paquin) is also trying to stay positive, but with a little less practicality. She’s holding out for a miracle to save Bill (Stephen Moyer) from his rapidly advancing Hep-V. She calls in a tough-as-nails dwarf doctor. Sookie wonders if Bill's condition is so bad because she’s a halfling. The doctor puts that to rest. She’s recently seen a vampire who got Hep-V from a full faerie, and he didn’t look as bad as Bill. The doctor inquires into Sookie’s faerie lineage, but when she drops the name of her faerie grandfather, the doc high-tails out of there. Pronto.
That gives Sookie an idea. She goes out to call for her grandpa Niall (Rutger Hauer), and he materializes in her kitchen. He explains that’s he’s always watching, even when Sookie was giving Bill the virus. He didn’t step in because he didn’t like Bill for her. And he can’t help Bill with magic. Sookie needs to understand there’s a little magic in birth, forgiveness and even death.
That night, Sookie runs across the cemetery in a white dress (not unlike how she did in the first season when she first slept with Bill). She gets to his door and tells him that she’s staying with him until the end. They do it in front of the fire, but he can’t feed on her. This time their intimacy has a whole different dynamic.
Do you think Bill will survive or are he and Sookie soaking up the last lingering moments of their love?
