Tuesday, August 28, 2012

True Blood S5:E12 recap- Season Finale

Season 5 is officially dunzo. And what a wacky, polarizing season it was. The unevenness and odd plot lines caused some once-devoted fans I know to finally quit the show in frustrated exasperation. Hell, I almost stopped watching. Glad I hung in there though, and I'm glad y'all did, too. It's been fun blogging about it, and I'm very grateful to the 3 or 4 of you who have been kind enough to consistently share your thoughts in my comments section. Gracias!

Closing thoughts on the Season 5 Finale... An unforgettable cliffhanger.... Yes, let's talk about the last scene first. Because, wow.

Wow. Beel out-vampired Salome. She didn't smell the silver. You've got to hand it to her for going out with such class: "Lilith chose wisely." As she was retching up blood, inside I was thinking, "Not on that gorgeous rug, Salome!"

Then Eric and Sookie arrive. Is Eric really that loyal to Beel or does he need to see it through in order to make sure Sookie understands he's actually the better vampire for her? Probably a bit of both. It looked like Beel had met the true death, and frankly, I kind of wanted him to after he called Sookie an "abomination," and pulled a shitty "I told you so" by reminding her of what he said when they first met about vampires hurting the ones they love most. Goodbye, Beel! Then something came up out of the puddle of blood... I suspected it would happen but it still shocked me...

BEEL-ITH!!

Now that was some exquisitely scary schizz. Eric looked positively terrified, which we never see. Yikes!! (I'm hooked! When does Season 6 begin again?)

Alcide finally came around, upon hearing Rikki's testimony about what's being perpetrated on even the very young girls in the pack. Alcide used his Dad's extra special stash of V to become the new packmaster. Wonder who the hell's blood that was?? Apparently, some vampire even older than Russell Edgington. Warlow? Hmm... I detect a future plot line there, pitting Warlow/Weres against Sookie, and Alcide conflicted over which side to take. "Pack first" - there's a slogan I can get behind, but I have a feeling it will be much easier said than done for the Herveaux family. Great scene with Alcide and his dad talking about words vs. deeds.

The Tara/Pam storyline finally arrived at a healthy place for their relationship. Tara wasn't going to even wait one more second for Sookie to open those silver prison bars. And Jessica knew it. ;)

The award for the most camp-tastic scenes of the whole season goes to... Fairy Mirella giving orgasmic, salt-induced birth to quadruplets on the pool table at Merlotte's while Lala, Arlene, and barfly Jane Bodehouse look on, with poor Holly acting as midwife. I love that Mirella left the babies with Andy the "dick," and waltzed the eff out.

Jason bonked his head and now he sees dead people - his late parents, who understandably hate vampires and want him to hate them, too. In theory, his newfound abilities should bring him closer in empathy to Sookie. I've enjoyed their sibling relationship this season.

Luna skin walking as Steve Newlin on national TV = awesome. Hands down, the best killing of a vampire ever had to be the way Sam offed Chancellor Roslyn. I could not help but think of There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. And we all know what happened to that lady.

And now the first scene last: Eric staked Russell Edgington while he was distracted by the scent of the fae. Felt good. I was sad to see Russell go, before the opening credits even rolled. Damn.

Your thoughts?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

This will be the world's longest blog comment, but I'm doing it anyway:

My thoughts, from an email I sent before the meeting my coworkers and I held on this topic (yeah, we're totally normal ad agency employees):

- I kinda thought Bill was faking his fanaticism the whole time but I’m actually glad he wasn’t and the love triangle is forever broken. It has easily set him up to be the villain for real next season (with Warlo?) and make Sookie/Eric decide if they can actually kill him. When he shot blood out of his eyes and collapsed I again yelled at the tv and made N snort water up his nose. I think they’ll either kill him early in season 6 or spend weeks trying to restore him/retrieve whoever he captures.
- I love that Salome got out-villained and got to wear so many lovely prom dresses while it happened
- This is a good interview with Russel/Denis O'Hare – I agree with the actor that he had to die, though. I love the character, but Eric needed to kill him and let it wrap up. I will miss him and Steve Newlin together, though. Speaking of, where did Steve run off to?? Mystery! http://www.vulture.com/2012/08/true-blood-denis-ohare-interview.html
- I thought Pam and Tara were going to go mother/daughter and I sort of think the lesbian storyline is unnecessary. In fact, I yelled “Unnecessary, Alan!” at the tv when they kissed. However, good for them and I will happily watch their characters evolve.
- I kinda hope Luna died since she is not my favorite. And Sam exploding out of that lady vampire was awesome/gross. Their storyline was ok, but I wish it had integrated with the others a lot sooner. And what happens to Emma and Sam?!
- I really wish the Fae storyline had been more integrated since it felt like Sookie didn’t do anything until the last episode and that one time in the old hospital. I know it becomes a big deal in the books, so I bet we’ll see it more next season and hopefully she becomes the central player in the series again. Also, notice that her light was sputtering when everyone was zapping Russel – maybe it’s gone for good and she won’t be able to defend herself from Demon Bill?
- The idea of Andy raising 4 little girl fairy babies is hilarious, and I love Jane Boathouse.
- The Alcide scenes with his dad were good and I wasn't expecting him to actually kill JD, but I like that he went there. More sex scenes next year! Ricki can stay.
- I hope the Jessica/Jason relationship continues and he snaps out of his reverie and doesn't try to kill her. They’re cute, and he now knows how to have feelings so it will be nice to see him deal with them. I also liked his sibling relationship with Sookie and that the year when she was gone allowed him to go from a sex addict to something resembling an adult. His name-calling argument with Eric was great, too.
- I think Eric telling the Authority guards that “Sookie is mine” is not insignificant, because in the timing of the season it was technically not long ago she was drinking his blood from his hand and agreed to be his. I think he’s going to claim her again for her safety, and his enjoyment, and it's good that she was there to see her version of Bill die so she can't be in denial. Plus, I didn't think of it until Alan Ball said so in the after-show interview, but Eric came to save Sookie from Russel because of their blood bond. The sister-banging will have to stop, though.
- Speaking of, I was sort of expecting Nora to die. I hope there’s not a Sookie/Eric/Nora triangle in the making since those plotlines are so expected and we’ve had enough triangles on this show.
- It felt like they were contractually obligated to include Nelsan Ellis in this episode, so he made some margaritas and said five lines. I love him, but it felt forced and I hope he gets to be part of the main story somehow next year. I also want him to be my friend in real life.

I like that there are so many possibilities for season 6, and the new showrunner has lots of great options to pick from. Hopefully he/she does them justice!

mom2boy said...

I love your recaps so thank you for continuing to do them! This season was just too busy on top of my too busy RL. (I did graduate!, take the bar! list our house for sale, contract pending! and will be moving 2700 miles away in 11 days! omg. I just watched the final episode, skipped the previous two, and well, it was okay. Maybe next season and my life will settle down together? lol

hush said...

@Haley - I love all comments, especially long, good ones like yours! (Sorry it took my so long to get back over here and actually say that!)

I love that you yelled at the TV when Beel "died" - ;)

Thanks for the link to the Denis O'Hare interview.

I agree that the Fae storyline could have been integrated a lot better, and I, too, wouldn't be super sad if Luna has passed away.

@mom2boy - Congrats on graduating, finishing the bar, selling your house (awesome), and I hope your move went well!! I've so appreciated all of your comments! ;)