S07.E06: Karma

[Tara Ariano]

Eric and Pam find a new ally in their search for a common enemy; Sookie makes a startling discovery that forces her to rethink her recent involvement with Bill; Lafayette shares a vision with Lettie Mae; Jason realizes how he really feels about Violet; Sam isn't sure what to do about Nicole.

[bmoore4026]

Sookie, Bill, I could give a fuuuuuuuuck about you two.  But, Bill, you did kill the mean lawyer lady, so kudos.

 

Sarah, you're evil.  And when you're trying to be good, you're even more evil!  I am so going to be happy when the Hep Vamps suck you dry.

 

I said it before, I'm saying it again:  Lettie Mae is going to unleash an evil on everybody.  That's just so her.

 

And Hell hath no fury like a pissed Violet.  Jason, you really need to reconsider your taste in vampires.

[phoenix780]

That was one of the longest episodes of a tv show I've ever sat through.  I wish they'd have just done a 2-hour wrap-up movie because I don't think they really had that much more of a story to tell with these characters. 

 

How did the Yakuza get Pam again?  But not Sarah?  

 

They should have wrapped up Sam and Nicole.  Not that other storylines need the airtime; I just don't get the point of theirs.

 

And the song at the end (and episode title, apparently)...I thought we learned Bill was a champion of the slaves during the Civil War.  So...his karmic payback is to get super-fast Hep-V, and be unable to pass on property he owns (hmm...maybe he should just marry Sookie, that way it'll be hers)?  That seems wrong somehow.

[fliptopbox]

So Sarah Newlin is the cure to Hep V? It so figures.

[Insomnia]

Well. That happened.

[Amethyst]

Sarah, you're evil.  And when you're trying to be good, you're even more evil!  I am so going to be happy when the Hep Vamps suck you dry.

 

Same.  I have no pity for her.  Sarah doesn't care about what her actions have done to others, just herself.  She's had the cure for the past six months and only decided to act on it when the Yakuza came after her.  That means lot of the deaths that occurred from the Hep-V attacks didn't have to happen.  Good on Amber for seeing through her bullshit immediately.

 

Dumb as Nicole is, I can't blame her for wanting to leave Bon Temps.  Sam is the only reason she's staying.  But the place is just insane and they have a child to consider.

 

This episode felt so draggy and middling, but at least it's finally progressing on the inevitable Hep-V cure.  I thought the lawyer's office was going to be a secret vampire health clinic or something.  Are there really no others lawyers that can help vampires?  

 

Way too much focus on Violet.  I don't care what era she's from, the girl's unhinged.  Here's hoping she gets staked, and soon.

 

Something tells me the Tara/Lettie Mae plot isn't going to be resolved until the very end.  Sigh.  

Edited July 28, 2014 by Amethyst

[CofCinci]

"What's buried in the yard?" Asked no one.

[Blakeston]

And the song at the end (and episode title, apparently)...I thought we learned Bill was a champion of the slaves during the Civil War.  So...his karmic payback is to get super-fast Hep-V, and be unable to pass on property he owns (hmm...maybe he should just marry Sookie, that way it'll be hers)?  That seems wrong somehow.

 

I'd say it's more karma for blowing up the True Blood factories, and making all this misery possible.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Blakeston

[snowblossom2]

So stupid re: the scene w the lawyer. Why can bill just gift everything to jessica now or put it in her name now?

[sjohnson]

Well I have to say I thought that they were making an honorable effort to do something we could care about, namely an HIV story. But for me after all those zombie stories from Hep-V, the sudden reversion to a serious storyline was too strenuous a leap for me. 

 

I have no idea why they hadn't moved on the Tara story, or why they're stalling the Violet breakup. 

 

Adilyn and Rocky should have listened to Jason.

[Morrigan2575]

I really hated that they made Pam a DiD again but her speech to Gus, jr and Eric helped me to forgive them.

I liked that Bill killed the lawyer, I didn't like her at all.

Sarah Newlin is a nut job and evil to the core but I'm looking forward to seeing what punishment they come up with now that she's the cure. I expect something quite horrible, turning her into a lab rat with no dignity for one.

Andy/Arlene/Holly + fam are highly entertaining, could watch then the whole hour and not get bored.

Really curious as to what Violet is up to and what's going on with Vision Tara but everything else was boring.

[Lantern7]

What's buried in the backyard? I'm thinking a twin that didn't make it. If Tara's life (and death) were any worse, her initials would be "FML." Or would it be "FMD"?

 

I'm still watching . . . . and I think that I'm alarmed about how happy I get when Bill lets his bitch out. Sure, waiting in a crowded room is probably a lot like the True Death. And it sucks to be thwarted by contacts from Walgreen's. But holy shit, did he have to give the lawyer lady a tracheotomy, then stake the medic vamp? I actually shouted "DAMN!" because I'm apparently easily impressed by the brutality, just like the decapitation of the Governor last season.

 

Jason, you are a slut. Getting your knob polished by Violet after doing it with Jessica? The boy shouldn't get his letter published by Penthouse. The boy should get Penthouse, period. How come nobody slut-shames Jason?

 

Sam, you have to get out of Bon Temps. It is the craziness capital of the bumfuck region of Louisiana, and you being a shape-shifter is, like, one percent of one percent of the problem.

 

And, of course, Sarah is The Cure. Of course she drank the antidote to Hep V. And, of course, there was an antidote to begin with. Fuck it, I'm just rolling with the punches at this point. How many episodes of punches do I have to anticipate, anyway?

 

Poor Jessica. Poor Sookie.

 

ETA: Could the Yakuza be a bigger bunch of stereotypes? I did dig Gus Junior's cowboy hat, though. Once again . . . I'm easily impressed.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Lantern7

[LadyJaney]

Wow, I have always loved True Blood through thick and thin, but even I was feeling what a slow paced episode this was.  OK, but slow.  That's odd given, that this is the final season and only a few more episodes.  You'd think tons of stuff would be happening and it would pace pretty quick.

 

The part I probably enjoyed the most was the Andy/Holly stuff with Arlene and the the "lovebirds".  To me, Andy still kind of represents the Bontemps people and early True Blood when you saw a good mixture of them.  So seeing him with Arlene and Holly was kind of old home for me, especially since so many characters and plots have become so unrecognizable in recent times.

 

I just cant stand Saran Newlin, and to be honest, there is something about Anna Camp that bugs me.  I'm sure she is a lovely person IRL, but there is a smirky smugness that always comes off in the roles she plays.  It bugged me in Pitch Perfect too.  So seeing Sarah's smirky, smug "I am the cure" declaration made we want to gather up a bunch of HepV vamps to have at it with her.  I do like her sister though, she could have been fun in earlier seasons.  She and Jason would have made a good pair.

 

Gah, Violet...she is another one that needs to go.  And not suck up so much airtime.  Time is precious here people...  Glad we sort of wrapped up Sam/Nicole.  I like Sam, but that plot just needs to be wrapped up already.

 

I'm interested in the Tara stuff with Lettie-Mae and LFayette, but I don't want them to drag it out so and then wrap it up super quick with no real sense of completion.  Because, once again, time is precious here... Only like 5 more episodes left, right?

 

See Sookie bugs me when she is suddenly an inconsolable mess about infecting Bill when she was totally the one who got Alcide killed and din't act that bad.  Sure, she got upset about it, but she hardly blamed herself (he wouldn't have been out there had she not snuck away without letting him know), and she wasn't a blubbering disaster about it after.  Alcide is dead.  Bill, while infected, is still here (and technically dead anyway).  And then she sort of afterthoughts that she might have loved Eric "in her own way" once, like there was no real connection there.  But Bill...  I guess it has to come full circle and be Bill/Sookie again before this all ends...

 

My theory is that Sarah will get hers, and many infected vampires will feed from her and be cured.  But by the time she reaches Eric and Bill there will only be enough of her blood for one.  Which one will it be?...and once we know and the other dies, the series is done.  I could be way off with this one, but that seems to be where it's heading.

 

I will stick this out to the end since I've seen every episode wsince it first aired, but I do hope the pace picks up and some things get wrapped up in a satisfactory way.  Only a few episodes left.  Hope it all works out somehow,

Edited July 28, 2014 by LadyJaney

[Pixel]

My theory is that Sarah will get hers, and many infected vampires will feed from her and be cured.  But by the time she reaches Eric and Bill there will only be enough of her blood for one.  Which one will it be?...and once we know and the other dies, the series is done.  I could be way off with this one, but that seems to be where it's heading.

 

Realistically, they should be able to synthesize a cure from her blood at this point. Or, they can bleed her about twice a week and make sure to keep her iron levels up so she keeps producing. With her being the cure, draining and killing her is the least sensible thing to do.  Keeping her alive and "milking" her is their best option.

[ShadowHunter]

I felt like this episode was never going to end.

 

Tara running in the woods in the long white dress was very old school gothic but for the final season they really have wasted her.

[roctavia]

I liked this episode, though I can see why some felt like it dragged in some places... I do think this was another sort of "set up" episode that is starting some things in motion and getting some new info out there... like the cure. While I wasn't surprised that there is one, it actually being Sarah was an unexpected twist. And does save us from a "we need to go to this top secret lab" adventure.

 

The waiting room was definitely hell... while Bill's move in killing the lawyer was impulsive, I can see his frustration and the fact that she wasted his whole day when he might not have many days left at the rate his infection is moving. It was also nice in the sense of "slimy lawyers" since we can't go around killing the ambulance chasers in real life. The vamp he staked was her security, who somehow were afraid they could get hepV via droplets :P

 

I loved Sookie and Jason having some sibling time... but Jason is going to be in some big trouble when it comes to Violet in the next few episodes!!

 

Definitely some karma coming around for all of our characters... but I did like the timing of the music with the show instead of just playing during the credits. Bill has done some bad stuff, but he's also had shit luck when it comes to life- Lorena, Russell, the queen etc. So we'll see how it all shakes out in the end.

 

The dallas deal was good, though not unexpected... of course they were going to make a deal. But it was some good banter and the sweet look between Pam and Eric when he said "our first sunrise together" was very cute.

[Blakeston]

So stupid re: the scene w the lawyer. Why can bill just gift everything to jessica now or put it in her name now?

 

Legally, he's considered dead. So there's nothing he can do with regards to his property - except adopt Jessica, apparently.

 

Why the law would allow a dead person to adopt someone, I don't know. I think they're just trying to drive home the comparison between vampires and gay people, and their relationships not being legally recognized.

 

One question I have - the lawyer was human, right? There were a number of different indicators in their conversation that she was human. But the way Bill killed her did not seem like the way a human would be killed. Humans don't generally pop like balloons when you stab them in the throat.

 

Jason, you are a slut. Getting your knob polished by Violet after doing it with Jessica? The boy shouldn't get his letter published by Penthouse. The boy should get Penthouse, period. How come nobody slut-shames Jason?

 

Jason's definitely a slut. But I don't hold it against him that he let Violet go down on him. He's in an abusive relationship, and I think he knew he had no real choice in the matter.

[roctavia]

Legally, he's considered dead. So there's nothing he can do with regards to his property - except adopt Jessica, apparently.

 

Why the law would allow a dead person to adopt someone, I don't know. I think they're just trying to drive home the comparison between vampires and gay people, and their relationships not being legally recognized.

 

One question I have - the lawyer was human, right? There were a number of different indicators in their conversation that she was human. But the way Bill killed her did not seem like the way a human would be killed. Humans don't generally pop like balloons when you stab them in the throat.

 

 

Jason's definitely a slut. But I don't hold it against him that he let Violet go down on him. He's in an abusive relationship, and I think he knew he had no real choice in the matter.

 

 

She didn't pop, she just had blood shooting out of her where she'd been stabbed. Bill grabbed a pencil from her pencil cup and staked her guard vampire guy that came running in... that's what exploded behind him.

[areca]

So there's nothing he can do with regards to his property - except adopt Jessica, apparently.

Fly to Vegas and marry her quick is the best move.

[kieyra]

That whole weird lawyer scene was so bizarre. Didn't he used to be King of Louisiana? How does he not have access to a lawyer? Eric was able to pull one out of his ass in S3 to will his stuff to Pam when he thought he was going to die. How is a lawyer asking for ten million dollars also running a waiting room with 300 dying vampires when it's going to turn out most of them can't use their legal services anyway? Not one of them knew of their legal disenfranchisement? The setup was so stupid. I get that it was supposed to show us what the post-hep-v world was like for vampires, but the whole thing just killed suspension of disbelief.

The Tara / Lettie Mae thing has been dragging on for five freaking episodes now.

Maybe Eric and/or Pam can end up with Sarah's sister.

Edited July 28, 2014 by kieyra

[roctavia]

That whole weird lawyer scene was so bizarre. Didn't he used to be King of Louisiana? How does he not have access to a lawyer? Eric was able to pull one out of his ass in S3 to will his stuff to Pam when he thought he was going to die. How is a lawyer asking for ten million dollars also running a waiting room with 300 dying vampires when it's going to turn out most of them can't use their legal services anyway? Not one of them knew of their legal disenfranchisement? The setup was so stupid. I get that it was supposed to show us what the post-hep-v world was like for vampires, but the whole thing just killed suspension of disbelief.

The Tara / Lettie Mae thing has been dragging on for five freaking episodes now.

Maybe Eric and/or Pam can end up with Sarah's sister.

 

I suppose they might not all be there for will/estate stuff and have other legal needs that she can do something about?

 

My assumption has been that lawyers who will deal with vampire stuff are hard to find in this post Russell Edgington/ Post hep V world.. which is why this one was having such a busy practice... and maybe she's not asking 10 million of everybody. She recognized Bill as an author, and maybe read the book and figured that he had a lot more money at his disposal than some of her other clients... a sliding scale of extortion, perhaps.

[SourK]

The first time I ever liked Violet was when she kidnapped those dumb kids and took them to her secret eating place. I mean hiding place.

 

I'm pretty sure Sarah Newlin's wig wasn't seated properly during some of her scenes. It looked like I could see her natural hairline. I still think she's hilarious though -- the flashback to her scarfing down all of the cure, and her presentation, like, "See? It's a miracle!"

 

The special effects in the scene were Eric and Pam started to roast were not very good, but it resolves my confusion about whether these other people are vampires, too (they're not).

 

I've always hated it when True Blood tries to use vampirism as a metaphor for being LGBT, because it's such an imperfect comparison (gay people don't want to kill you, for instance). I hate this HIV story, too. I get it, True Blood. Bill's dying of AIDS and he can't leave his shit to his partner because gay people don't have rights. You're coming across loud and clear. Now, be quiet. It's not a good analogy.

[phoenix780]

I've always hated it when True Blood tries to use vampirism as a metaphor for being LGBT, because it's such an imperfect comparison (gay people don't want to kill you, for instance). I hate this HIV story, too. I get it, True Blood. Bill's dying of AIDS and he can't leave his shit to his partner because gay people don't have rights. You're coming across loud and clear. Now, be quiet. It's not a good analogy.

Good point.  It's always weird to me when soaps like this try to mix in some kind of "social issues" element.  Just be the silly little show that you are, y'know?

[jonesingjay]

Don't care that Holly's son is trying to stick it to Andy's daughter. What a waste of a short season.  

[GaT]

Well. That happened.

That pretty much sums it up, back to boring episodes. I must have missed it, but since when do humans get Hep V? I thought it was only vampires?

 

Fly to Vegas and marry her quick is the best move.

Can dead people get married?

[HolmesUltimateQu]

Humans are carriers. It won't affect Sookie, except that now vamps can't feed from her safely.

She was upset that she gave HepV to Bill, not so much that she had it and would kill her or anything.

Edited July 28, 2014 by rachel is awesome

[CletusMusashi]

Why exactly did Sara drink the antidote instead of just running for her life sooner? Never even mind "why was it just sitting out at room temperature right on the shelf with no doctor or guards around?" Just.. what exactly was her motivation supposed to be?

"I want to give the vampires even more reason to want to drain me?"

"One of the writers told me that I'm supposed to be the final villain of the series, and I am therefore contractually obligated to always have an antidote with me?"

"I want to cure my sister, even though I don't even know she's sick yet?"

"I plan to market the cure, and I am going to do that by ignoring this antidote and screwing some random yoga teacher for as long as possible?"

I give up.

 

The James Bond capture grated at first, but once I saw that it really was just a hardcore negotiation, I was okay with it. Still not sure why most of the Yakuza have to fight with swords though. If they had guns they might have won quickly enough to catch Sara. If they want, they can call their call their guns YakUzis.

 

I was also, briefly, annoyed by the fact that they captured Pam so easily. Again. But obviously she really liked those shoes. Kind of stupid, if you're just talking about combat pragmatism, but I'll give her a pass on wardrobe choices, because holy crap did she look hot this episode!

 

Sam should tell Nicole to move ahead, then get his affairs in order, move out of town with Nicole, and start a new business elsewhere, out of Crazytown.

 

Loving the Andy/Holly dynamic.  I wonder if we're moving toward a final Violet smackdown delivered by the combined mojo of Andy, Holly, and Jessica?

 

The Tara scenes bored me senseless. What a waste.

 

I was sympathizing with Bill for a while, but... sorry. You don't get to publicly kill people just because you think they're overcharging you. Most clients in similar situations don't even get the option of moving to the front of the line, because they aren't super-rich. I can't help thinking the whole problem could have been resolved with a little bit of... oh, I don't know... maybe haggling? Offer like 1.5 or 2 million, and wiggle it from there. I mean, WTF are they gonna do, say "Nope, sorry, the fat mailman vamp offered us $9,999,999.99?"

Edited July 28, 2014 by CletusMusashi

[thuganomics85]

Hey, it's Will Yun Lee as Gus Jr.  Should have expected that: he's usually to go-to guy whenever a show needs someone to play a character who is A) Asian and B) shady as hell.

 

Grading it on the Season 7 curve, this was still better then the first three episodes, but it really did drag in a lot of places, and I'm starting to lose the rush I had for episode 4.  There is just so much going on that I don't care about, and, more importantly, this just doesn't feel like a final season.  I figured there would be some big-ass stakes, but I'm not seeing it.  I guess the Hep-V is suppose to be it, but having both Eric and Bill infected ruined it, because I knew the show wasn't going to kill both of them.  So, sure enough, good old Sarah Newlin is the cure!  And, I'm sure at least one of them will get a hold of her, and everything will be good.

 

The stuff with Bill was just strange, because I would have figured the former King of Louisiana, Former Authority Member, Best-Selling Author, and Former, in Jason's words, "Genuine Vampire God!", would have had someone on retainer, to get his will in order. I just don't see him having to jump through that many hoops.  Whatever, I guess it was all so Burrell can screw him over from the grave, and have him kill the annoying lawyer.

 

Finally, some movement on the Lettie Mae/Tara stuff, with Lafayette seeing with his own eyes, and joining Lettie Mae.  But, I really hope something good comes out this silly story.

 

Surprisingly, my favorite stuff was easily the Andy/Holly bits, with Arlene playing peacemaker.  A lot of it was throwaway fluff, but the three actors sold the hell out of it.  That said, Adilyn and Wade are morons for trusting Violet like that.  I don't want them to die or anything, for Andy and Holly's sake (and Jessica's, for that matter), but man, they are idiots.

 

Speaking of Violet, yeah, of course, she wouldn't handle this well at all.  Since she's an "older vampire", I don't see her going down easily, but I have to think a staking is in her near future.

 

Sookie and Jessica's reactions to Bill getting Hep-V was actually well done, despite the silliness of the rest of it.

 

Wow, do I really, really, really not care about Sam/Nicole.

[Blakeston]

That pretty much sums it up, back to boring episodes. I must have missed it, but since when do humans get Hep V? I thought it was only vampires?

 

Can dead people get married?

 

I'm guessing they can't. Just because the writers, at this particular moment, are trying to make every parallel they can to gay men in the '80s during the AIDS epidemic. And back then, getting legally married wasn't an option, but some gays tried to get around that by applying to legally adopt their significant other, despite both partners being adults.

 

Why exactly did Sara drink the antidote instead of just running for her life sooner? Never even mind "why was it just sitting out at room temperature right on the shelf with no doctor or guards around?" Just.. what exactly was her motivation supposed to be?

"I want to give the vampires even more reason to want to drain me?"

"One of the writers told me that I'm supposed to be the final villain of the series, and I am therefore contractually obligated to always have an antidote with me?"

"I want to cure my sister, even though I don't even know she's sick yet?"

"I plan to market the cure, and I am going to do that by ignoring this antidote and screwing some random yoga teacher for as long as possible?"

I give up.

 

I'm guessing she thought it was insurance - so that if the vampires caught up with her, she could say, "If you kill me, you'll lose any hope of a cure."

[areca]

Can dead people get married?

 

Probably.  It was a Lousiana governor thing, not a Nevada thing.  Maybe not though.  Who knows.

 

Also, who fucking' cares if Andy and Holly's kids are banging.  They aren't related?  Shit happens.  About the worst that could happen is an uncomfortable post-breakup living situation.

Edited July 28, 2014 by areca

[ChlcGirl]

That was one amazingly underwhelming episode.

 

Sam/Nicole:  Don't care.  Actually, don't give two shits about Sam and think the Nicole storyline was always ridiculous. (I LOVE LUNA!!!  OH SHE DIED!  I WILL BANG THIS GIRL YOUNG ENOUGH TO BE MY DAUGHTER 2 DAYS LATER!  SHE SMELLS LIKE SHE CARRIES MY SPAWN!  STAY WITH ME DAUGHTER-LOVER!)  I hope they go away.

 

Sookie/Bill:  Jesus, these two.  I have always disliked them as a couple and see no reason to get invested in their bullshit now.

 

Jessica/Jason/Violet:  Normally I have very good feelings for Jessica but she is rapidly wasting all my goodwill.  I can perhaps understand that the sex between her and Jason happened in the heat of the moment.  But when you know the guy you just banged has a super-aggressive and violent girlfriend you DO NOT call him hours later, pull him from their shared bed, and ask him to do shit for you!!!  GET IT TOGETHER, GIRL.  And Jason, I know it is difficult, but stop being so fucking stupid!  Don't piss off said girlfriend!  If you want out, just stake her as she sleeps.  Now you have a completely scary vampire out there causing havoc.  I have never been a Violet fan, but I have to go with her on this.  Idiots.

 

Andy/Holly/Arlene:  These scenes were the only bright spots in the whole show.  I have a bad feeling in my stomach that Andy may die trying to save those idiot kids from Violet's clutches.  And that will highly piss me off.  Let me have just ONE character I like survive this shit show.  Please.

 

Pam/Eric:  Eric killed quite a few Yakuza yet there were still a lot of Yakuza left.  And they came in 3 cars.  How the hell did they all fit in three cars?  I am perturbed that Sarah is the antidote.  I could really do without her for the next 3 episodes, though the idea of her being milked like a cow for her miracle blood does please me :)

 

Lafayette/Lettie Mae:  Yawn.  The scene of Tara squatting and digging like a dog was so dreadful I laughed out loud.  Horrible what they do in this show.

[terrymct]

My theory is that Sarah will get hers, and many infected vampires will feed from her and be cured.  But by the time she reaches Eric and Bill there will only be enough of her blood for one.  Which one will it be?...and once we know and the other dies, the series is done.  I could be way off with this one, but that seems to be where it's heading.

 

 

The Yakuzu and Gus Jr were at the house with Eric.  They know about the cure and Gus Jr.'s family are the makers of Tru Blood.  It's in their best interest to get Sarah's blood, find the curative element in it, mass produce it, then get everyone back drinking Tru Blood.  That's the only reason I can see for having Gus Jr team up with Eric to go find Sarah.

[Pixel]

And they came in 3 cars.  How the hell did they all fit in three cars?

 

They were clown cars. They actually had room for a dozen more in the trunk.

[perseophonedreams]

This is the first episode that I was completely meh on.  To me the problem with the social justice metaphor of gay rights is that vampires are evil and only out for themselves.  They have a moral code that is completely distinct from the humans they sprang from.  There was no reason for Bill to kill the lawyer (despite his frustrations), is extortion worthy of death now?  Yet, he is the sympathetic character.  

 

Sam is an idiot.  It is obvious he doesn't love Nicole (is that her name - I don't even remember Sam's girlfriends names anymore). If he loved her, he'd go with her.  How can Bon Temp be a place that you're willing to lose your significant other for?  Home is where your love/family is - not some stupid place where the majority of the inhabitants want to kill you.

 

Holly, Andy, and Arlene's scenes were the best to me because they made sense.  

 

I don't see Jessica being Jason's true love, but whatever.  I can't be sold on Jessica being with a human as she obviously has no problems glamouring her significant other when things get a little bumpy.  Poor Jason has had enough abuse in his life.  He should marry some simple Louisiana girl and have babies and work in construction and live in his parents' house and be happy.  

 

Sookie would also probably benefit from either a simple life or finding a fairy portal and never returning.

 

I find it funny that Bill has all the super special stuff happen to him like becoming a vampire god and now developing a new strain of HepV.

 

On another note, I don't see anything wrong with Sookie's distress in this episode because everywhere she turns there's bad news.  I wouldn't be surprised if something benign (like burning an apple pie) would push her into having a complete nervous breakdown.  She is being worn down.

 

I don't really understand how Hep V is affecting the entire United States.  It seems like California and Texas are fairly untouched?  It seems uneven and unclear how Hep V is being spread.

[Helena Dax]

The Normal Heart: True Blood edition.

 

 

Why exactly did Sara drink the antidote instead of just running for her life sooner?

Maybe she thought that could protect her from being killed by vampires. Like "you can't kill me because you all need my blood if you want to heal".

 

Sam and Nicole: Boring. 

 

Loved the moment with Eric and Pam when they thought they were going to die,.

[Athena]

I only watched this episode because I mod this forum.

[Primetimer]

On a smart, zippy True Blood, Bill's fading fast, but there's hope yet. Or IS there? (There is.)

Read the story

[roctavia]

Probably.  It was a Lousiana governor thing, not a Nevada thing.  Maybe not though.  Who knows.

 

Also, who fucking' cares if Andy and Holly's kids are banging.  They aren't related?  Shit happens.  About the worst that could happen is an uncomfortable post-breakup living situation.

Way back in S1 they made a big deal about vampire/human marriage being legal in Vermont... but not anywhere else. I think other states were trying to get it passed along with the VRA, but then Russell happened. So the VRA didn't pass leaving vampires with a lot less rights across the board. I think the governor just actively put even more restrictions and things on them- siezing propery and such.

 

So it's possible that marriage isn't legal anywhere for vampires... or just still in Vermont.

[shrewd.buddha]

At this point I'm just rolling with it ... 

Bill openly kills a human? Sure. Okay. I'm sure that won't stick. 

I've been wanting to see more Tara, but they are really dragging it out to the point of not really caring. 

Vampires can't marry but they can adopt? Sure.

 

I think Anna Camp captures the right amount of camp in her scenes. That's what True Blood is to me - high camp. It's all so over the top. (Which is fine by me.) 

It is sort of hilarious how Sookie goes to work at the restaurant about once every three months.

 

We are sticking around to see who lives and who dies before the series ends. But some of the story lines are tedious.. 

Edited July 28, 2014 by shrewd.buddha

[ChlcGirl]

I don't really understand how Hep V is affecting the entire United States.  It seems like California and Texas are fairly untouched?  It seems uneven and unclear how Hep V is being spread.

 

Well, I can only think the CA/TX part is because the writers are just making shit up as they go along.  The second though - they originally spread the disease by infecting the vampires at vamp camp with tainted TruBlood.  Then Sarah dumped the Hep V virus into the supply being bottled and sent out.  If you remember, when Bill ordered the TruBlood factories blown up that caused a shortage for the main streaming vamps.  Burrell offered up his plant for production so that was the only TruBlood being sent out.  So that was how the next group got infected.  I would imagine that those vamps then unsuspectingly passed the virus along to humans, who then passed it along to other vamps that feed off them.  My guess is that the virus would have spread pretty fast :)

[Latverian Diplomat]

Way too much focus on Violet.  I don't care what era she's from, the girl's unhinged.  Here's hoping she gets staked, and soon.

 

It's one thing to think that living for centuries might make you crazy, but TB doesn't really do that. Crazy vamps like Violet are characterized as having been crazy from the beginning. So how do they survive so long?

 

I liked that Bill killed the lawyer, I didn't like her at all.

I didn't like that at all. I realize that it was intended as wish fulfillment for the audience, but it was basically Bill throwing a tantrum because he got bad news and then murdering somebody. We'll see if the show bothers to follow up with any real consequences.

I've always hated it when True Blood tries to use vampirism as a metaphor for being LGBT, because it's such an imperfect comparison (gay people don't want to kill you, for instance). I hate this HIV story, too. I get it, True Blood. Bill's dying of AIDS and he can't leave his shit to his partner because gay people don't have rights. You're coming across loud and clear. Now, be quiet. It's not a good analogy.

I'm OK with some parallels, and they've been there from the beginning ("God Hates Fangs" is in the opening credits), but appropriating the "Silence = Death" logo seemed to go too far. Has there been any previous use of pink triangles for vamps? If not, why would that logo look like that?

Edited July 29, 2014 by Latverian Diplomat

[roctavia]

I'm OK with some parallels, and they've been there from the beginning ("God Hates Fangs" is in the opening credits), but appropriating the "Silence = Death" logo seemed to go too far. Has their been any previous use of pink triangles for vamps. If not, why would that logo look like that?

 

 

I do think it's a fine line for TB to walk with the "other" in society, but thinking about how we react to things and how we as a nation/world deal with these new things... we do kind of repeat ourselves. The are a lot of parallels in the LGTB fight for rights to what black people went through in fighting for their rights, down to fighting for the right to get married etc. So if this were real, and vampires suddenly existed, I could see falling back on how we always do things. Acceptance is slow to come, legal rights are slow to come, people trying to take advantage are always there...

 

People who have lived through the aids epidemic, coming across a new epidemic that kills a certain group of people- it doesn't seem all that far fetched that they would use the same sort of imagery and slogans that have been used before. So I honestly think it's sort of a good guess as to what people would really do in the real world. Not so much to parallel the aids/HIV epidemic, but just that people would react in a similar fashion, so similar things would be happening.  I don't know if I'm explaining myself correctly... but hopefully that makes some sense :P

[Athena]

It's one thing to think that living for centuries might make you crazy, but TB doesn't really do that. Crazy vamps like Violet are characterized as having been crazy from the beginning. So how do they survive so long?

 

I think most of the old vamps probably do become crazier over time: Russell, Lorena, Violet, Franklin, all the Authority vamps. I think the Godric line is the exception relatively. Vampire life seems ideal if you're crazy and violent. It's how you survive. Humans have not been an issue for them until recently. The older vamps also survived really dark periods of history which probably didn't help their psyche. Vamps worried mostly about other vamps, and the older you are, the stronger you are. Not a lot of vamps want to mess with the crazy ones.

[NurseGiGi]

I understand perfectly the parallels that TB is making, and has always made.  But TB is also high camp and in the beginning those parallels were underlined with a faded pencil and we weren't being hammered over the head with it.  It sort of reminds me of The Cosby Show, which was funny and cute in the first few seasons but in the last few all they did was preach and sermonize.  I understand the issues but don't want them shouted in my face when I'm in fact escaping from those very real life issues by watching a campy, over the top show.

 

Lettie Mae, I've never liked you and have always cringed whenever you're on my screen and now, in this final season, all you do is stink up my TV.  This story has dragged on long past it's expiration date.  And poor Tara simply cannot escape being dehumanized, even after meeting the true death.

 

For a show that seems to want to be portrayed as being about openness they certainly do fall shamelessly on stereotypes.  Sookie slut shamed for sleeping with 3 different men?  Check.  Jason sleeping with half the town, sometimes in a 24 hour period but it's okay because he's a guy?  Check.

 

So, Sarah Newlin is the cure.  I guess it's confirmed now that the big mystery is who gets to survive.  Eric or Bill.  I don't think I care anymore.  At least I still look forward to the opening sequence every week.  That theme song is the best.

[wrestlesflamingos]

The opening sequence is wonderful. One of the best. Reminds me of how thoughtful Oz was about the intro.

[vibeology]

Jason, you are a slut. Getting your knob polished by Violet after doing it with Jessica? The boy shouldn't get his letter published by Penthouse. The boy should get Penthouse, period. How come nobody slut-shames Jason?

 

 

 

Because, as Holly said, we shouldn’t be slut shaming anyone. Jason went along with Violet’s sexy times because as he said later, she scares him. He’s never stood up for himself in that relationship because he knows that Violet is stronger and a little out there. I have a hard time even saying that he and Violet were in a relationship since Violet never gave him a choice in the matter.

The part I probably enjoyed the most was the Andy/Holly stuff with Arlene and the the "lovebirds".  To me, Andy still kind of represents the Bontemps people and early True Blood when you saw a good mixture of them.  So seeing him with Arlene and Holly was kind of old home for me, especially since so many characters and plots have become so unrecognizable in recent times.

 

 

 

Bellefleur family drama was my favourite part of the episode. I like these people; Andy, Holly and Arlene are just real people trying to have their family in a very screwed up world. Everyone in that plot has a keen sense of humour so its a nice, real way to bring something funny to what would be a really dark season otherwise.

The first time I ever liked Violet was when she kidnapped those dumb kids and took them to her secret eating place. I mean hiding place.

 

 

 

I still don’t like her but god, those stupid kids. It was like two or three nights ago that Jess was outside the Bellefleur home defending Adilyn and somehow Adilyn doesn’t even think that its a bad idea to be outside in the open at night with just one human to protect her? She’s too dumb to live and if not for the fact that Andy and Jessica would be sad, I’d happily see Violet drain her dry.

I find it funny that Bill has all the super special stuff happen to him like becoming a vampire god and now developing a new strain of HepV.

 

 

I’m guessing its because it’s Fairy Hep-V that its extra powerful.

 

I didn't mind this episode. I think things happened. Everyone knows that Bill has Hep-V, Violet and Jason broke up and we're seeing the consequences. Laf is on-board with the Tara situation, we know and Eric/Pam know that Sarah is the cure for Hep-V and Adilyn is in danger. Not bad for an hour.

[Happytobehere]

It is so sad that I am so totally not going to miss this show when it is gone. Will not even get the DVD (well maybe, when it is inevitably dirt cheap, jst for the sake of commpletion). What a waste.

If possiblly, my dislike or Suckie continues to grow exponentially. She truly is vapid and self-absorbed. I doubt she knows the true meaning of the word love. At the very least, I don't think she is truly capable of loving anyone but herself. While I hate Suckie and Beeel as a couple and as indiividuals, I actually hope they end up together, as no othe being living or otherwise should have to suffer through this pair.

Lettlie Mae still rambling and ruining every scene, now one of the last of the truly awesome characters (Pam would be the other), Lafayette has been sucked intothe abyss with her. I long thought the character of Sam needed to be written out of the show. The writers ruined him with increasingly mind-numbingly pointless storylines. Sarah remains among theliving and is the cure for Hep-V. How trite. I still call Eric being the vamp to die because Suckie and Beeel need to be able to nauseate post show demise.

Well, truth be told, the show started derailing the minute they allowed that Michelle Forbes storyline, which should have eneded after a few episodes, to drag out the entire season. They never really got their mojo back after that. It has been a series of moments propped up by certain characters: Pam, Lafayette, Eric, Russell, Nan, the guy from the authority who is in eveything and whose name I can not remember, but he is the one who had Pam silvered, even the vamp who wanted to make Tara his when she was still human (the irony of her winding up a vamp only to be tken out so soon) were the engines that kept the True Blood machine running. Now that the showrunners have to wrap things uppp, their deficiencies,, whch have long been visible, are on full display.

Said it before and I'll say it again. If they are going to kill Eric off, I wih they would do it sooner rather than laterso, I can stop subjecting myself to this mess.

[quori]

So. I know its a plot contrivance and all...but could someone explain to the writers that you are legally allowed to name ANYONE as the benefactor of your estate. The recipient does not have to be a relative or offspring. You just need to name the person expressly and ensure you have closed off any other avenues for a blood relative.

[Blakeston]

Bellefleur family drama was my favourite part of the episode. I like these people; Andy, Holly and Arlene are just real people trying to have their family in a very screwed up world. Everyone in that plot has a keen sense of humour so its a nice, real way to bring something funny to what would be a really dark season otherwise.

 

I usually find Andy pretty funny, but I didn't find him funny or relatable at all in this episode. He was just a big cliche of an angry, sexist father, conveniently forgetting that his daughter consented to getting it on just as much as Wade did.

 

So. I know its a plot contrivance and all...but could someone explain to the writers that you are legally allowed to name ANYONE as the benefactor of your estate. The recipient does not have to be a relative or offspring. You just need to name the person expressly and ensure you have closed off any other avenues for a blood relative.

 

What the writers are going for, though, is that vampires aren't allowed to have contracts, what with them being legally dead. Although they're allowed to sign adoption papers, for some reason.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Blakeston

[DollEyes]

  After two back-to-back great episodes, the show's back to being a disappointment, for the most part. The HepV/HIV metaphor couldn't be any clunkier then it was this week-at least, not yet, I'm guessing. "Silence=True Death?" Really? AFAIK, most HIV-positive people aren't monsters nor cold-blooded killers. Bill's subplot about his visiting a lawyer to get his affairs in order was about as boring as the waiting room. If only it was as fast-paced as the veins that spread on Bill in record time. And what was up with Bill's squeamishness about paying Ms. Kapchek (the lawyer) $10 million dollars so that he could adopt Jessica? I thought that Bill loved Jess and would do anything for her. As for Bill's calling Ms. Kapchek "a vulture" and comparing her to the soldiers who robbed corpses during the Civil War, like he hasn't done way worse shit for nothing just to survive. As for Bill's killing her after she put him on blast and True Death-ing her assistant, so much for his being a "changed" man. If that were true, then Bill would have just left, not gone on a mini-killing spree just because he got his "widdle feewings" hurt. Worse, Bill didn't give a second thought to the other H-vamps in the waiting room. Thanks to Bill, they're probably gonna waste most if not all of the little time they have left stuck there. My advice to Bill: So the human lawyer lady was mean to you? Get over it. You mean to tell me that in all the time since you've been turned that you haven't heard way worse from way better than her and/or you, human and vamp alike? Hell, Eric disses you virtually every chance he gets and I don't see you trying to True Death him, not that you'd last long against him in a fight anyway-at least, not without Lilith blood. The only thing better than your facing the True Death is that it's because of Sookie. As far as I'm concerned, the episode's title describes perfectly what's happening to you: "Karma."

 

  Re Sookie, her stupidity has not only gotten Alcide killed, it's endangered Bill as well. When it comes to relationships, Sookie is, figuratively and literally, toxic. Every man whom Sookie has been involved with has either ended up dead (Alcide, Benlow), dying (Bill, Eric) or in the "Friend Zone" (Sam). IMO, Sookie's better off alone, for her sake and the sake of the whole male population in Louisiana. Speaking of Sam, I don't blame Nicole for wanting to leave town and taking the baby with her. At least Nicole's actually thinking about the child, unlike Sam. If Sam can start fresh in one town, he can do it in another one much safer than Bon Temps, if not for Nicole's sake, then for the sake of their child.  Re Eric and Pam, while Eric's kicking Yakuza ass while he's sick was impressive, since he and Pam were captured anyway, it was a waste of time. However, Pam was right when she told Eric and Gus Jr. aka the President of the now-bankrupt Yokonomo Corporation, that they have a common enemy-Sarah Newlin-and that they should go after her, not each other. I'm so over Sarah. I'm so sick and tired of her destroying virtually everything and everyone in her path and getting away with it while swearing that she's a "good person." A truly good person wouldn't have started a pandemic that infected their own kin, nor would they have murdered an innocent person just to save their own ass, pissing off the mob and getting their parents killed in the process. Since Sarah is the cure for HepV, I think that if/when Eric and Gus Jr. catch up with her, instead of killing her, Gus Jr. should offer Sarah a job as a Hostess in one of Tokyo's finest nightclubs,-emphasis on "ho," so that she can spend the rest of her natural life working off her debt to him, with some of the most repulsive clientele he knows. Sure, it's not very nice, but since Sarah's alternatives are prison or death, I think it's the lesser of evils.

 

 

I usually find Andy pretty funny, but I didn't find him funny or relatable at all in this episode. He was just a big cliché of an angry, sexist father, conveniently forgetting that his daughter consented to getting it on just as much as Wade did.

 

  True, but while Adalin may not look like a baby, she still is one, so while she did consent to having sex with Wade, In Andy's mind she's not even old enough to even  think about sex, much less have it, especially with her future stepbrother. As for Wade, given that Andy had just caught him fucking his daughter in his house, Wade and Holly should be thankful that Andy didn't castrate Wade-or kill him.

 

 

The first time I ever liked Violet was when she kidnapped those dumb kids and took them to her secret eating place. I mean hiding place.

 

    That only made me despise Violet even more. Adalin and Wade were wrong to run away, but they should be punished by their parents, not some psycho vamp bitch who's got a grudge against her cheating, now ex-boyfriend and his side chick. I have way more sympathy for Adalin and Wade than I do for Jason and Jessica, whose booty call started this shit in the first place. Adalin and Wade don't know how crazy Violet is nor what she's capable of; otoh, Jason and Jessica not only do know, they poked the crazy-and each other-anyway. Whatever evil happens to Adalin and Wade because of it will be just as much Jason and Jessica's fault as it is Violet's, the way I see it. Adalin and Wade are stupid, but their stupidity shouldn't be punishable by death, especially by Violet's hands-or fangs.

 

 Re Lettie Mae/Lafayette and Tara, yawn. Whatever. Wake me when it's over-or better yet, don't.

Edited July 28, 2014 by DollEyes