Monsters of Television

“I have never loved, nor will I ever love, as I have loved you”

With a show as cliffhanger heavy as True Blood it can be hard to obtain the usual shock value of hanging story lines that most season finales contain. This episode proved that. Actually this episode proved a lot of things that have become very apparent in the third season of the show. Some characters obviously don’t matter anymore. Some characters just cannot have good stories. The line between intriguing and absurdity in the supernatural world is very, very thin.

True Blood has changed a lot in three years. But in many ways it’s stayed the same. Both are problematic. Many of the events of the finale are able to be applied to the problems of the characters and the series as wholes. It’s awfully meta. And far more interesting to think about than the episode (and more and more the show) itself.

It’s a point I bring up in about every review of this show: Tara sucks. From playing the race card too often to playing the “you don’t know the shit I’ve gone through” card (which to be fair has been some bad stuff) the point of this character is to whine. She was needed to have an outside perspective on the supernatural. She wasn’t directly tied to as much as Sookie was but through seasons 2 and 3 she became more and more supernaturally involved.

And now she blames it for her issues. Sure a lot has happened to her due to vampires and maenads and the like, but as Sam points out post coitus and mid pancake: a lot of humans have hurt her as well. She wants it to stop. She wants to forget all that’s happened to her. Sam says it’s easy to become a new person (he would know, the thieving, murdering, rageaholic) but it’s hard to keep the old you from catching up.

So she dives into the skipping town playbook: cute her hair, says goodbye to those important to her, and drives off into the sunset. There’s her cliffhanger ending. Who cares? Hopefully when she returns in season 4 she brings some better character development along with her.

Sam’s advice was good. Tara really (really) needs to forget her past self and try to find a way to move on. That really resonated with me as well. My old self, in regards to True Blood, is beginning to catch up with me. I was initially against the show. I didn’t care about a trashy southern romance. But once I actually watched I realized there was more to it. Interesting characters. Great social commentary. All of that seems to have disappeared from the show. The old me is catching up and prodding me, taunting “I told you so!” The old me is a dick. But I can’t help but feel that the allure and the quality that the show had in its first two season has burnt up in the sun.

Need more evidence? I point once again to Jason Stackhouse. Ok, we get it: he is lost and needs direction. Jason is always trying to find himself and save people and chase tail. First it was in drugs and sex, then it was in religion (still with sex), then it was in law enforcement (and sex yet again) and now it’s…leading a group of inbred, hick, drug-dealing were-panthers?

Putting the absurdity of that idea aside, let’s talk about how one dimensional Jason is. He’s eternally trying to find his calling, searching for what he’s meant to do. Understandable and easy to relate to. But it’s become so formulaic. Jason is lost. Add some girl for him to bang. Add some tiny hint at something he can excel in. Watch him inevitably lose both. Let sit and sulk. Find something new. Lather, rinse, fucking repeat.

I understand the character trait of looking for purpose and love and all of that, but when your arcs all look the same it makes you wonder why that character is still around at all. Both Jason and Tara have been suffering from less than desirable development (if you can even call it that) since the beginning. It seems they are products of being members of the main casts. That is to say they’re still around simply because they’re main cast members. It’s easy to kill people off for story or when they suck, but maybe Ryan Kwanten and Rutina Wesley have 17,000 year contracts and can’t be killed off so they are forced to endure sub-par stories. It’s unfortunate for all involved.

Then again, not all main cast members have shitty stories. Some barely have any at all. Where was Jessica this season? She was completely wasted. And Pam as well. A lot of good bumping her up to main cast did. She didn’t have any more screen time than she normally did and it’s not as if they utilized her in any important way. She was there to be an emotional sidekick and banter partner for Eric as always (the latter is always appreciated) and didn’t do much outside of cry and be snarky in the finale.

Jessica and Hoyt are finally back together and it looks like they’re getting married. In the one scene that she had, Hoyt brings her to a house he bought. For them. He wants to marry her. This made me happy for two reasons. One: I love Jessica and love Jessica/Hoyt so I’m glad to see things going well for them after the turbulent season they’ve had.

The second reason is here is a possible point for more great social commentary in the fourth season. The problems and complications of a human/vampire marriage would be an excellent point to explore. Not just the problems for Hoyt and Jessica themselves, but how they’re looked at and accepted (or not more likely) in the eyes of Bon Temps. I really hope this doesn’t go to waste. Also, what was up with that creepy baby doll on the floor of their house? With the increasingly supernatural direction the show is taking it’s more likely that Jessica and Hoyt will be dealing with some stupid haunted house than with any relatable issues.

Speaking of supernatural I suppose it’s time to talk about Sookie the stupid faery and her vampire boys.

Let’s begin with Eric because he had one of the only redeemable plots of the story. His revenge almost complete, Godric appears to him and asks him to spare Russell. This is not the way, he doesn’t want Eric to be so full of hatred. The two are eventually brought inside. But Eric cannot forgive so easily. He and Bill (with the help of Alcide, more on him later) take Russell to a construction site and bury him in concrete (more on this later as well). Rather and kill Russell, an act that may result in Russell finding peace, Eric would rather imprison him and leave him to be driven mad. Godric appears once again and begs Eric to stop. Eric argues with taller ghost Godric that he has to, it’s the way he is and Godric made him that way.

I like this look into Eric. Godric always brings out interesting things in his character and here we got to see how his hatred and lust for revenge have consumed him so.

So burying Russell. This was one of many signs that True Blood is headed downhill. Burying an immortal person alive is a cool idea, but its use brings to mind another show that took a steep dive after pulling this stunt as well. May I (apologetically) refer you to the season 2 finale of Heroes? To defeat Adam, the Big Bad of season 2, Hiro Nakamura teleports him into a coffin and has him buried alive. True Blood, I hate you for making me talk about Heroes. I feel dirty now.

But to use pop culture indicators, this is an important event to take note of. Season 2 of Heroes was bad. Awful. But season 3 is where it just became unbearable. So the show took an even steeper dive after burying a bad guy alive. Hmm. Something to think about. Just sayin’.

Now Edward and Bella Bill and Sookie seem to really be over now. Eric reveals to her that Bill only met her because the Queen was interested in her. And he allowed her to be beaten up (see episode”Strange Love”) so that she would have to drink his blood and fall in love with him. A little overboard there, Billy boy. You don’t have to make her drink your blood. Everyone knows the key to a girl’s heart is watching Glee with her. Although that can be very painful and draining as well…

Even if Sookie wants nothing to do with him he vows to protect her. How now? (Brown cow.) He is going to kill everyone who has ever tasted her blood, anyone who knows what she really is. He tried to bury Eric in cement when they buried Russell. It didn’t take. He also tried to have Pam killed. 0 for 2. Finally he invites Sophie Anne over to his house so that he can kill her in some terrible Matrix fight scene imitation.

I’m ok with that relationship ending. I never really cared for Bill and Sookie and as much as I like Eric I really want Sookie to end up with Alcide. He showed up in a very “hey remember me?” manner to help dispose of Russell and he and Sookie had an instant connection again. Sure he’s not human, but he’s a nice guy and that’s what she needs right now. His timing couldn’t have been better, she’s on the rebound. Pop in the Glee DVDs.

“Evil is Going On”(the last third of this season for that matter) was very underwhelming. any characters are missing for large periods of time or, when they are on screen, have nothing interesting or relevant to contribute. Will I keep watching? Yeah. For a while anyway, hoping to god there’s a difference between True Blood and Heroes.

For the finale I’m forgoing the Fina Thoughts section and going with a Cliffhanger ending instead. Here’s where all of our characters were left at the end of the season:

Sookie visits her Gran’s grave for direction. Some faeries come to her and transport her to Neverland or wherever the fuck faeries in this universe live.

Bill is in the midst of a terrible looking fight scene with Sophie Anne.

Eric has finally come between Sookie and Bill. Although Sookie wants nothing to do with him anymore either.

Jason is shit out of luck when it comes to becoming a officer now. But now he’s going to lead the were-panthers from Hot Shot after Phil kills Calvin and kidnaps Crystal.

Tara has left Bon Temps behind to forge a new life for herself.

Sam confronts Tommy about stealing his money. We see him raise and fire a gun. Did he shoot him?

Jessica and Hoyt are getting married and moving in together into a possibly haunted house. And Hoyt’s mom bought a rifle, most likely to go all Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Jessica’s (hot) ass.

Lafayette is still hallucinating. Jesús says he’ll be fine. He would know, he’s a witch.