'True Blood' recap: Season 4 finale, 'And When I Die'
According to True Blood, Halloween is the day when the wall between the living and the dead is the thinnest, and that's true for the season 4 finale. Many, many dead and former characters return while a whole bunch of current ones get killed. It's a total blood bath full of some very huge cliffhangers.
So we set up Season 5, and boy do we ever. Here were the cliffhangers, from worst to best:
- Sam, um, is set upon by a werewolf, presumably for killing Marcus. The less said about this, the better.
- Rene — Rene! — appears when Holly brings back the dead. But instead of threatening Arlene, he warns her that Terry’s demons are about to put her in danger. I realize they had to do something with Terry and Arlene, but I’m not exactly in favour of Terry, one of the most likable characters on the show, turning heel.
- Jason and Jessica spent most of the episode having sex and talking about sex after Jason told Hoyt he’d previously had sex with Jessica and Hoyt beat the crap out of him. Anyway, after the sex, Jason and Jessica agree to take things slow, then she leaves to glamour a stranger and drink some blood. The door knocks, Jason thinks it’s Jessica returning for, you know, more sex. But nope, it’s Steve Newlin. And he’s a vampire.
- Nan shows up at Bill’s with news that the American Vampire League has turned on all three of them. Then, for reasons I can’t really explain, Bill kills Nan’s entourage, and Nan. And Eric approves. But the other interesting part of this is that Nan alludes to a faction of vampires who oppose the AVL. Coincidentally,
- Alcide discovers that someone has broken Russell out of his concrete prison. Sadly, we never get to see Russell, but I don’t think that will be an issues in Season 5.
- Finally, Sookie returns home where Debbie shows up with a shotgun. A shot is fired, Tara bravely blocks it with the side of her head. Sookie, in retaliation, blows Debbie’s brains out. How many ways did I love this scene? Let me count the ways: 1. Tara is, there is a legit possibility, dead. Finally. Gone. Forever. Except in ghostly moments, which I think we’re in for a lot of next year. 2. Not one thing in this scene was predictable. Not Tara dying, and certainly not Sookie killing Debbie, which was raw and maybe Anna Paquin’s best performance of the season. 3. Did I mention Tara’s dead? Probably? Rejoice!
So where does this leave us? Well, we likely get a slightly leaner core cast next year, which is a plus, because it seems like we’re in for a real vampire war — one that will feature Russell Edgington and Steve Newlin. I probably won’t think about it too much between now and then — it is True Blood, after all — but I’m excited to come back to the show next year.
Great moments from last night!
Pam, officially done with Sookie: "I'm so over Sookie and her precious fairy vagina. And her unbelievably stupid name. F--- Sookie!"
Nicest ghost ever: Jesus appears to Lafayette to tell him he's "cool with" how he died. Um, really?
Most cynical outlook on life: "People don't change. They just find new ways to lie." -- Alcide.
Best line of the night: Eric greets Nan and her oddly dressed guards: "Hi Nan. And gay Stormtroopers."
Best excuse for fang deployment: "Low blood sugar" -- Jessica
Couple I'd like to see happen: Andy and Holly. So she's a witch and he's a recovering V addict...it can work.
Best wink-wink pop culture joke: "Zombies are the new vampires, did you know that?" -- Arlene.
