S07.E09: Love Is To Die

[roctavia]

Am I the only one who doesn't hate Bill? I don't care much for any of the vampires, but of the bunch he's the closest to being a character I do care for. 

 

Maybe it has something to do with remembering his vampire from Ultraviolet? (Do people remember that?)

 

I've always liked Bill... and I hope there is a miracle of some kind that's going to save him at the last second.

 

The whole stolen from his family origin story... the battle between vampire desire and humanity.... I kind of love the tormented soul vampire :)

 

I like Eric too, but Bill has always been my favorite character on TB, even when not such great stuff is happening.

[hardy har]

So, um, Arlene 4evah! She is the one genuinely redeeming thing about this season. Oh, wait. Willa was awesome too.

 

I need to know if I'm I a horrible person? In the middle of Arlene's pep talk to Sookie it occurred to me that Sookie was "mouring" Alcide, like, 2 days ago and now she's all sad because her Twu Wuv is on death's door and I started laughing. That's awful, right?

 

Massive LOLs about the whole Lafayette/Jessica/James plot. It was like you could feel what happened in the writer's room:

 

Writer1: Fuck, guys, what they hell to we do with them!

Writer2: Oh, shit, We only have 2 episode left huh?! Um. Just uh, they can be cool right? Cause we've got to figure out how to wrap up Martyr Bill, Cure Sara and the Yakuza in a sufficiently stupid and mindnubming way..

Writer3: Fuck me I totally forgot about those......

Writer1: Shit, yeah, they can be fine.

Writer2: Sweet. Hey, man, pass the bong.

 

Even though the eventual Jason/Brigette hookup has been obvious as fuck since she and Hoyt showed up I did enjoy her, "Um, I just broke up with my boyfriend you dumbass. Why would I have sex with you?!" comment. Now that I think about it, whole the whole Hoyt/Jessica/Jason/Brigette thing could have been genuinely interesting. Y'know, if Hoyt and Brigette showed up during the beginning of last season and the writers actually gave a shit and tried to develop it like a proper plot. Anyway, whatever. All the acting is pretty awesome from those 4 so yay for them I guess. I half expect the 4 of them to all go back to Alaska and live as besties or something.

 

PAM. The fuck? How do you keep getting captured by the Yakuza? You are a vampire with super-strength and super-speed skills and they have . . . swords. I'm just . . . so confused by her continual damsel in distress bullshit.

 

I'll give the writers credit for wrapping up so far in a way that won't make me miss the show.  I don't understand how it feels like an hour has passed and I pause the show only to note it's merely half-over, and yet nothing is really happening.

 

Right?!?! Slowest.Hour.Ever.

Edited August 20, 2014 by hardy har

[Pixel]

I thought when Eric said he was "immune" he said so very tongue in cheek, meaning he would just go and have a little "Newlin's own cure all elixir".  I don't think it's been established that you have some of the cure and you are fine forever, but I may not be understanding.

 

Well, in the real world you're only affected by a virus once, then you're immune, so I'd assume that's what he means.  When you get the flu every year, it's a different strain of the virus. Same with the common cold. You never catch the same one twice.  In this universe, we've only been told about one strain of Hep V, so I'd assume once you're cured, you're immune.

[watterfires]

I think Sookie is going to die. Bil might become human after all, on account of Sookie's royal blood. Sad the show is ending :(

[Anne Elk]

So, in the second to last episode, the writers can't think of anything to do except have all the characters sitting around talking about stuff we've already seen onscreen. We got voiceover summaries about Sam, Hoyt/Jessica/Jason, and three recaps of Bill's HepV infection. Riveting! Plus a good ten minutes of relationship angst between Bridget, a character we just met, and Hoyt, a character we haven't seen for two seasons. Are the writers having a contest to see how boring they can make this show?

 

And also in that vein, Sookie talks about how nice it is to see Bon Temps from the air. But it's too expensive and/or interesting to show the viewing audience, apparently.

 

If the fate they have planned for Sarah Newlin is to force her into vampire sex slavery, well, that is just gross. As disgusting as Jason and the rapey werepanthers. I don't care what she's done.

 

Was Alexander Skarsgard drunk when they were filming? He sounded awful. At least the sex between him and Ginger was funny, but even there, we got a long speech explaining their history when we just saw it a few episodes ago. Maybe the writers are assuming anyone who is still sticking around for this show must be an idiot. I certainly felt like one sitting through this episode.

[Avaleigh]

Well, in the real world you're only affected by a virus once, then you're immune, so I'd assume that's what he means.  When you get the flu every year, it's a different strain of the virus. Same with the common cold. You never catch the same one twice.  In this universe, we've only been told about one strain of Hep V, so I'd assume once you're cured, you're immune.

 

 

I thought the whole thing with Bill established that there's more than one strain of Hep-V?

[DollEyes]

 

So, um, Arlene4eva! She is the one redeeming thing about this season.

 

  If it weren't for Hoyt's return and James and Lafayette, I would agree.

 

 

If the fate they have for Sarah Newlin is vampire sex slavery, well, that is just gross. As disgusting as Jason and the rapey werepanthers. I don't care what she's done.

 

  I respectfully disagree. Maybe Sarah should have thought of the consequences before she helped cause a pandemic among vamps which infected her own sister, committed cold-blooded murder of a human to cover it up and tried to make James rape Jess in Vamp Camp, which Sarah was also a part of. If Sarah also played a part in Pam's getting caught by the Yakuza again, I wouldn't be surprised. Jason didn't deserve to captured, tortured and raped; Sarah, otoh, has brought her suffering on herself, as far as I'm concerned.

Edited August 21, 2014 by DollEyes

[sjohnson]

As far as I'm concerned, torturing people is not just punishment. If cruelty is wrong, cruelty to criminals is wrong I think. Imprisonment or possibly capital punishment. Personally I tend to oppose capital punishment because as it regularly kills the innocent. I've never met a pro-capital punishment person who care about, though, so I don't know how much weight that carries. Kings should be executed for tyranny but the primary reason there is that they've claimed to have royal blood. In the nature of things, to refute it you more or less have to pour it out. In a state of chaos, prison is not an option. Note that chaos does not mean that people you think are plainly guilty are getting acquitted!

 

Newlin should be wanted by the legal authorities, not just vampires. The show of course has long forgotten that there could possibly be a wider world outside the TV screen, not even fictionally.

Edited August 21, 2014 by sjohnson

[Pixel]

I thought the whole thing with Bill established that there's more than one strain of Hep-V?

Well, yeah, but there aren't that many fairies running around, and even fewer fae with Hep V. I'd say as long as Eric doesn't drink from Sookie, he's ok. Of course, that's giving the writers credit for actually thinking it through, which I doubt they did.

[annlaw78]

 

As far as I'm concerned, torturing people is not just punishment. If cruelty is wrong, cruelty to criminals is wrong I think. Imprisonment or possibly capital punishment. Personally I tend to oppose capital punishment because as it regularly kills the innocent. I've never met a pro-capital punishment person who care about, though, so I don't know how much weight that carries. Kings should be executed for tyranny but the primary reason there is that they've claimed to have royal blood. In the nature of things, to refute it you more or less have to pour it out. In a state of chaos, prison is not an option. Note that chaos does not mean that people you think are plainly guilty are getting acquitted!

 

Newlin should be wanted by the legal authorities, not just vampires. The show of course has long forgotten that there could possibly be a wider world outside the TV screen, not even fictionally.

Agreed.  Rape/sex slavery is cruel and unusual punishment, and I don't care what Sarah (or any villainous villainy woman has done), it's not funny or clever or "just" that she be fed on against her will for the rest of her life, or raped, etc.  If the show ends that way, just, ugh.  And, frankly, Sookie's leaving Sarah there (and not at least calling Shreveport PD about where fugitive Sarah Newlin is) is super-gross of Sookie.  Not just on behalf of Sarah, but how many Hep-V vamps are going to die before the Yakuza can be bothered to get NuBlood into production?  Shouldn't King Bill (is he still king?) be concerned not just about himself but others?  And Eric, too?

Edited August 22, 2014 by annlaw78

[Amethyst]

I don't know how I feel about the torture aspect, especially by someone like Eric or Pam, because we know they're capable of some serious brutality.  But I won't pretend that I feel bad for Sarah in the slightest.  She's caused so much destruction and turmoil, it's not even funny.  Whole towns have been decimated because of her, and hundreds have died, including mainstreaming vamps who meant no harm to humans.  There's no blood substitute for the vampires now, which leaves humans as the only option.  Her parents died because of their connection to Sarah, and Amber died protecting her.

 

But the absolute worst thing is that this bitch has been sitting on the cure to this pandemic for six months, and remained willfully oblivious about the trauma the outside world was experiencing until the Yakuza tracked her down.  Sarah had no intentions of using the cure on vampires; she was too busy living her own life, and still shows no remorse for her actions.  I don't find her delusional "Messiah complex" amusing, because too many people have died because of her shit.  Fuck her.

 

In a just world, she'd be imprisoned for life with only her hallucinations to keep her company, but I have this bad feeling that she'll just walk away in the end, which is infuriating.  If Eric or Pam die because of her, that would be a huge middle finger to the audience.

[DollEyes]

ITA.  Too many innocent lives, human and vamp, have been destroyed because of Sarah for me to even consider feeling sorry for her. Anyone who's ever cared about Sarah has either ended up hurt, dead or meeting the True Death because of her. Sookie probably didn't call the Shreveport PD on Sarah because they've either too busy, too understaffed or they just don't exist anymore, probably because too many of its members have been killed by H-vamps, a side effect of the pandemic that Sarah helped cause. IIRC, Bill's not King anymore, so he can't force the Yakuza to produce NuBlood. At least Eric and Pam have shown some remorse for some of their actions; Sarah, otoh, has shown none whatsoever.  If Sarah really is the "New Me" that she claims to be, then she would've come forward with the cure months ago instead of letting millions of innocents, including her own parents and sister, suffer.  

[annlaw78]

 

ITA.  Too many innocent lives, human and vamp, have been destroyed because of Sarah for me to even consider feeling sorry for her. Anyone who's ever cared about Sarah has either ended up hurt, dead or meeting the True Death because of her. Sookie probably didn't call the Shreveport PD on Sarah because they've either too busy, too understaffed or they just don't exist anymore, probably because too many of its members have been killed by H-vamps, a side effect of the pandemic that Sarah helped cause. IIRC, Bill's not King anymore, so he can't force the Yakuza to produce NuBlood. At least

I'm not trying to be a goody-two-shoes about Sarah: she's terrible.  But the show hasn't depicted any sort of continuing Hep-V gang threat, nor a breakdown of society or policing, such to suggest that there is no human law enforcement or authority, and Louisiana has descended into a state of absolute chaos and vigilante rule.  If that's the case, then the show needs to be consistent and depict that, rather having the human residents of Bon Temps frolicking around outside at night.   I guess I'm just tired of all the rape torture porn of this show.  First there was the red-hot phallus-poker that Jessica was threatened with, and now we're talking about forced feeding/sex off of Sarah?

Edited August 22, 2014 by annlaw78

[katiepotatey]

I didn't think that Pam meant actually prostituting Sarah out. I took it as having people pay to feed off her (not rape her), which makes sense to me since she not only started the disease but also drank all the cure. Yes, ideally they would just synthesize her blood, but I thought they said they'd be diluting it so much that it wouldn't be a real "cure" once they bring it to market.

 

I also don't expect vampires or Sookie to go to the police about Sarah's kidnapping. The vampires have a history of policing themselves (like when Bill had to turn Jess), and I think Sookie would be afraid that Sarah's release (and then imprisonment because she killed people and started a plague) would get in the way of Bill being cured.

[Amethyst]

I'm not trying to be a goody-two-shoes about Sarah: she's terrible.  But the show hasn't depicted any sort of continuing Hep-V gang threat, nor a breakdown of society or policing, such to suggest that there is no human law enforcement or authority, and Louisiana has descended into a state of absolute chaos and vigilante rule.  If that's the case, then the show needs to be consistent and depict that, rather having the human residents of Bon Temps frolicking around outside at night.   I guess I'm just tired of all the rape torture porn of this show.  First there was the red-hot phallus-poker that Jessica was threatened with, and now we're talking about forced feeding/sex off of Sarah?

 

FWIW, I hate the show constantly using rape as a form of humorous punishment, like Violet's torture dungeon, or Jason with the werepanthers.  It paints the idea of rape in a completely inappropriate light.  

 

I don't think anyone disagrees that Sarah should be punished for her crimes, it's just that there is a balance between letting her go free or using her as a fuck-doll.  That's why I'm all for giving her a life sentence in prison with no chance of parole.  Unfortunately, when has this show ever had a happy medium?  In Bon Temps, people recover from dead exes by having sex with someone else in the same episode.

 

Also, TB has done a terrible job of portraying the Hep-V crisis.  If the vampires wiped out a whole town a few days, then it's not crazy to think that it's a nationwide crisis, if not a global one.  The whole TrueBlood supply was tainted.  It's fine if they just want to focus on Bon Temps, but there haven't been any news bulletins about the rest of the country.  What's happening to the vamps outside of the state?  Are they still attacking people?  Dying off?  We have no idea, because the show wants to focus on stupid shit like Lettie Mae getting redeemed, or Bill's flashbacks, or Jason and Brigette having pillow talk.  Once that group of Hep-vamps were finished off a few weeks ago, it's like the whole crisis was over.  It was a stupid plot to begin with, but they didn't even have the balls to finish it properly.

 

 

I didn't think that Pam meant actually prostituting Sarah out. I took it as having people pay to feed off her (not rape her), which makes sense to me since she not only started the disease but also drank all the cure. Yes, ideally they would just synthesize her blood, but I thought they said they'd be diluting it so much that it wouldn't be a real "cure" once they bring it to market.

 

ITA.  There's more than one way to pimp someone, and I think Pam is doing just that.  Instead of selling NuBlood for ten bucks and getting traces of the cure, you can drink directly from the source and get completely healed for ten grand.  She and Eric can pocket that money instead of just getting pennies on the dollar from the Yakuza.

[Avaleigh]

Well, yeah, but there aren't that many fairies running around, and even fewer fae with Hep V. I'd say as long as Eric doesn't drink from Sookie, he's ok. Of course, that's giving the writers credit for actually thinking it through, which I doubt they did.

 

 

I suppose, but we know there are half breeds running around. Sookie met one in Texas one time and of course there was her cousin. I'm sure there are others. I doubt Adilyn is the only half faerie running around the country. Plus, if Hep-V has a different reaction with faeries, who is to say that there wouldn't be different strains for other supes like werewolves and shifters?

 

I'm just skeptical of the idea that Eric wouldn't have to worry about getting Hep-V again.

[roctavia]

Also, TB has done a terrible job of portraying the Hep-V crisis.  If the vampires wiped out a whole town a few days, then it's not crazy to think that it's a nationwide crisis, if not a global one.  The whole TrueBlood supply was tainted.  It's fine if they just want to focus on Bon Temps, but there haven't been any news bulletins about the rest of the country.  What's happening to the vamps outside of the state?  Are they still attacking people?  Dying off?  We have no idea, because the show wants to focus on stupid shit like Lettie Mae getting redeemed, or Bill's flashbacks, or Jason and Brigette having pillow talk.  Once that group of Hep-vamps were finished off a few weeks ago, it's like the whole crisis was over.  It was a stupid plot to begin with, but they didn't even have the balls to finish it properly.

 

 

 

I think they've been clear that this is a world wide problem... sure, it's not been in your face, since the focus has been on the characters we know and that we care about (mostly, Lettie Mae aside)

 

You just have to catch the little mentions.. In the beginning they talked about how the government wasn't going to come help them (it was even mentioned in the season finale last year) that they were tied up protecting the big cities and not going to help out a small town.

 

When Pam was on her adventure to find Eric, they pointed out in Morocco that only the children weren't infected.....

 

When Bill was in the Lawyers office, someone was reading and commenting on a newspaper article about "another band of hep V vamps attacked a town" and whined about how "I'm infected, you don't see me going around attacking people"

 

Bon Temps is still doing it's vampire human plan, and while they aren't making a big production about it, we see all the time that humans aren't going outside after dark without a vampire with them... unless it's Sookie... but she was wandering around alone at night the same night the H-vamps attacked...

 

I guess for me, it's enough. I get that this is a world wide crisis, but also that the H-vamps aren't crazed zombies, so it's not a complete apocalypse... Some of the infected are reasonable and acting rationally, and some are acting like vampires, with an extra reason to kill.

 

I also get that this season is about the characters... it's not supposed to be about some huge big bad with a giant battle, it's about the people in this town that have been with us forever and setting up resolutions to their stories. Obviously not everyone sees it that way or likes it... but this season is one of my favorites.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Jjrmt

[Amethyst]

I think they've been clear that this is a world wide problem... sure, it's not been in your face, since the focus has been on the characters we know and that we care about (mostly, Lettie Mae aside)

 

You just have to catch the little mentions.. In the beginning they talked about how the government wasn't going to come help them (it was even mentioned in the season finale last year) that they were tied up protecting the big cities and not going to help out a small town.

 

The little mentions they've been making aren't enough.  These aren't isolated incidents, these are masses of starving vampires attacking helpless citizens nationwide.  Hundreds of people were slaughtered in a few short months.  It's a huge deal and they're trying to pretend that it isn't.  There's no way that these attacks would still be happening in such large numbers at this point.  And yes, they did say that they were only taking care of the major cities, but I don't buy that six months later, they're still ignoring places like Bon Temps.  Otherwise, every small town in America would be wiped out by now, and the major cities wouldn't be far behind.  And because humans can be carriers, (since this is such a poor HIV/AIDS metaphor) the virus is still spreading to other parts of the world.  Another point they conveniently ignore. 

 

I wouldn't put it past them to try to sweep the whole thing under the rug, but there is the possibility that the show was canceled when they were still in the planning stages for this.  Meaning the Hep V thing was meant to be the main plot for this season, and if the show ended next year, then they would focus on tying up the loose ends. 

 

If that really was the case, they should have installed a failsafe of sorts.  A way to get rid of the Hep-vamps without additional interaction, and a way to end the plotline.  For one, humans couldn't be carriers, so Hep-V couldn't spread as far.  And the H-vamps died after a certain period of time, regardless of what stage they were in, then it wouldn't be weird if they started dying in large numbers.

 

They acted like that small group of Hep-Vamps represented the whole of the problem.  Now that that small group is gone?  No worries, problem solved!  Because it's not like there were other vampires in Louisiana, right?  It's not like vampires can move really fast from place to place or even fly...

[annlaw78]

 

If that really was the case, they should have installed a failsafe of sorts.  A way to get rid of the Hep-vamps without additional interaction, and a way to end the plotline.  For one, humans couldn't be carriers, so Hep-V couldn't spread as far.  And the H-vamps died after a certain period of time, regardless of what stage they were in, then it wouldn't be weird if they started dying in large numbers.

Yeah, how about a fail-safe that doesn't involve introducing the super-lame Yakuza, Gus Jr., and the sudden love of Eric's life Sylvie, as well as a bunch of assorted relatives of Sarah Newlin.

[Avaleigh]

Replying in the all episodes thread.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Avaleigh

[NurseGiGi]

I'm okay with their occasional mentions of Hep V vamp attacks in the rest of the world.  If there was more mention of it I'm sure I would complain about that taking too much time away from favorite character resolutions.  I don't like the lack of continuity with regards to some of the people carelessly going outside at night (I'm looking at you, Sookie and Adilyn).  Maybe fae blood lowers your IQ, which would certainly explain a lot.

 

I see the Hep V as a weak ass plot point to resolve and bring back characters.  It was poorly constructed and executed, though.  The writers have been consistent about one thing.....kill off one character and introduce 5 new ones.  Even in the final season.

[Insomnia]

Also, am I right in thinking that Ginger and Eric did not actually have any sex? Because he clearly did not even undo his pants...

 

It's been shown many, many times that vampires don't actually have to disrobe to have sex. Sex with them is just that awesome.

Big John has always worked at the restaurant.

Not only that, but since he was introduced, he's supposed to have been in every episode that's been shown since then, somehow.

[ogbrewer]

Everyone agrees that the writers have thrown logic to the wind.  

 

I'd say biggest flaw in season 7 was calling the hep v outbreak an apocalypse.

They say in season 5 that humans outnumber vampires a thousand to one. And about 1/8 of vampires are infected with hep v.  And only some of the infected have turned feral(and even they are weakened and dying off.)  That makes one bad vampire for every 16,000 or so humans.  How on earth is that anywhere close to an apocalypse?  We've seen throughout the show that vampires, while strong, are far from invincible and are virtually helpless 12 hours of the day.  Why haven't the feral vampires simply been exterminated?  I can see how small towns might be afraid (it's also true that Bon Temps might be especially endangered seeing as the U.S. has one of the highest vampire populations of any country due to immigration and Louisiana has the highest vampire population in the U.S.), but this would not come anywhere close to the end of the world.  In addition, we see no evidence of society crumbling apart from what we see in the first few episodes.  Everything like infrastructure, government and businesses seem to be functioning.

 

Also, how could that hep v vamp from episode 1 hurt adilyn without coming inside.  She can't be glamoured.  What is he going to do, throw a rock at her?  These are some of the reasons that True Blood has stopped making sense.  

Edited February 24, 2016 by ogbrewer

[galaxychaser]

Ginger got to have sex with Eric. That is all I care about lol.

i miss Alcide he was hot.