True Blood: Death Is Not the End
July 13, 2014 9:23 PM - Season 7, Episode 4 - Subscribe
In which bad news is delivered, old friends are reunited, factions face-off at Fangtasia, and Ginger's genius is finally revealed.
I'm actually a little shocked that the Jessica-feeds-on-Lafayette scene didn't become a threesome.
posted by olinerd at 5:28 AM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by olinerd at 5:28 AM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
I loved the Ginger stuff. Someone leaving academia to hang with vampires? Totally believable.
posted by provoliminal at 5:29 AM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by provoliminal at 5:29 AM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think this episode lagged until they got to the (yes, redeeming) Ginger backstory. Seriously, the less Sookie the show has now the better.
posted by Catblack at 7:24 AM on July 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Catblack at 7:24 AM on July 14, 2014 [2 favorites]
Here are the keys to your new lives! Catch.
posted by Sayuri. at 7:43 AM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Sayuri. at 7:43 AM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I feel like between Lettie Mae's visions of Tara, now Arlene's visions of Terry, and the episode title "Death is Not the End" - are they setting us up for a final episode where everyone reunites in the Afterlife?
posted by dnash at 7:46 AM on July 14, 2014
posted by dnash at 7:46 AM on July 14, 2014
Someone leaving academia to hang with vampires? Totally believable.
Driving a hearse and bumping Bela Lugosi's Dead. That's beyond full goth. That is like, goth squared.
posted by Hoopo at 11:51 AM on July 14, 2014
Driving a hearse and bumping Bela Lugosi's Dead. That's beyond full goth. That is like, goth squared.
posted by Hoopo at 11:51 AM on July 14, 2014
Seriously Sookie, I know it's dying Eric and all, but your boyfriend died, like this morning.
Also, did I miss something? Because this might have been the first True Blood episode ever with minimal nudity. Almost no naked arse if you don't count Sam getting his rat on.
posted by arha at 2:58 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also, did I miss something? Because this might have been the first True Blood episode ever with minimal nudity. Almost no naked arse if you don't count Sam getting his rat on.
posted by arha at 2:58 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also, Team Pam forever, hashtag #800seasonsandamovie
Pam needs her own spinoff like five seasons ago. I could listen to her read the phone book, as long as she said something mean about every entry.
Seriously, the less Sookie the show has now the better.
I'm starting to warm to over-the-top-vaguely-meta-Sookie. Not because she's a better person: if anything, she's actually worse now. It's more that she's stopped feeling like a proper fictional character at all, and is starting to act like a player character in someone's ill-conceived game of Vampire at this point. It's not fun to watch, but it's interesting in a trainwreck sorta way.
posted by mordax at 3:10 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
Pam needs her own spinoff like five seasons ago. I could listen to her read the phone book, as long as she said something mean about every entry.
Seriously, the less Sookie the show has now the better.
I'm starting to warm to over-the-top-vaguely-meta-Sookie. Not because she's a better person: if anything, she's actually worse now. It's more that she's stopped feeling like a proper fictional character at all, and is starting to act like a player character in someone's ill-conceived game of Vampire at this point. It's not fun to watch, but it's interesting in a trainwreck sorta way.
posted by mordax at 3:10 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
This episode was less bad than the others! I only rolled my eyes once or twice.
I would be 100% behind a prequel starring Eric & Pam. Ginger's speech about Eric on his throne made me want to go back and watch certain parts of Season 1.
posted by desjardins at 5:20 PM on July 14, 2014
I would be 100% behind a prequel starring Eric & Pam. Ginger's speech about Eric on his throne made me want to go back and watch certain parts of Season 1.
posted by desjardins at 5:20 PM on July 14, 2014
are they setting us up for a final episode where everyone reunites in the Afterlife?
I don't think Damen Lindelof was involved in this.
posted by desjardins at 5:21 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
I don't think Damen Lindelof was involved in this.
posted by desjardins at 5:21 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
I know we're meant to be hatewatching at this point, but I really enjoyed this episode. Yes, the Sookie/Bill stuff is still boring (though Sookie's meta-quips are making me LOL) but Eric and Pam's 90s video store and Ginger's backstory as a gothic film studies student were the best things to happen in this show since maybe ever.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 7:25 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 7:25 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I love the Pam/Sookie dynamic. When Sookie and Eric hugged, I couldn't help but think of Carla from Cheers and her look of disgust when she looked at Sam and Diane in love.
posted by Revort at 8:08 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Revort at 8:08 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
This was a good episode! I liked this episode! If the show just wants to become flashbacks to Eric And Pam having increasingly ridiculous hair I WOULD BE FINE WITH THAT.
posted by The Whelk at 8:18 PM on July 14, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:18 PM on July 14, 2014 [5 favorites]
So Arlene has hep v now, right? Does that mean the vampire who fed her some of his blood to bring her back from the brink of death would contract it? Vampires can get it from feeding on infected blood. And vampires can give it to people by feeding on them. But can vampires contract the disease from an infected/carrier human feeding from the vampire?
posted by fancyoats at 8:20 PM on July 14, 2014
posted by fancyoats at 8:20 PM on July 14, 2014
the dice say *rolls d20* That it's up to the whims of the writers!
posted by The Whelk at 8:23 PM on July 14, 2014
posted by The Whelk at 8:23 PM on July 14, 2014
Didn't the healthy vampire just drip his blood into Arlene's mouth rather than have her suck directly from him?
And on a related matter: what an arsehole Eric is, seriously. Like he couldn't have had that flight attendant just bleed into a champagne glass or something.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 8:46 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
And on a related matter: what an arsehole Eric is, seriously. Like he couldn't have had that flight attendant just bleed into a champagne glass or something.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 8:46 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
Eric has to have ALL OF THE HIV METAPHORS. ALL OF THEM. So now it's his turn to do a version of the "Hope you enjoy AIDS" written in lipstick on the mirror urban legend.
posted by The Whelk at 8:52 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:52 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
The Ginger thing wasn't of nowhere. It was well-established that she wasn't always a ditz. She's just been glamoured so many times, she's practically senile even in middle age.
More importantly, if Hep-V is deadly to vampires and harmless to humans, why don't the humans who want to defeat all vamps just inject it into themselves intentionally, like a vaccine? Seems more efficient than fighting the super-powered undead.
And finally, why did that one older school teacher lady explode when she drank Arlene's blood? Did they ever explain that? Was it just because she was at the end of her fight with Hep V?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:30 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
More importantly, if Hep-V is deadly to vampires and harmless to humans, why don't the humans who want to defeat all vamps just inject it into themselves intentionally, like a vaccine? Seems more efficient than fighting the super-powered undead.
And finally, why did that one older school teacher lady explode when she drank Arlene's blood? Did they ever explain that? Was it just because she was at the end of her fight with Hep V?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:30 PM on July 14, 2014 [3 favorites]
Yeah they mention a few times how they feel a begrudging responsibility for Ginger cause they basically gave her repeated brain damage when she was their BIGGEST FAN and they feel kinda almost guilty about it. Nice ret-con that.
I think Teacher lady just exploded cause she was about to pop from Hep V, not that any of the Hep V stuff makes sense or is consistent but whatever.
posted by The Whelk at 9:42 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think Teacher lady just exploded cause she was about to pop from Hep V, not that any of the Hep V stuff makes sense or is consistent but whatever.
posted by The Whelk at 9:42 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I realize that Lafayette's seeming bad grammar is actually an affectation, part of his schtick, but does anyone else feel like this season it's been layered on super thick? It makes him just one of a growing list of characters this season's writing staff has a tenuous grip on how to write for. They don't seem to have any idea what to do with Sam. He was once defined by his seemingly mercurial nature, always doing things for his own mysterious reasons. But this new Sam the mayor guy is a hollow shell.
I will say that it's cool that they've finally acknowledged that after years of working with the sheriff's department and after having killed literally hundreds of vampires, Jason can rightfully speak with a sort of earned badass authority when it comes to kicking evil vamp ass.
Also... what kind of authorities decide that they don't have proof or a body, but a faerie helped a witch see that Kevin was dead, so they may as well officially inform his wife?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:49 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
I will say that it's cool that they've finally acknowledged that after years of working with the sheriff's department and after having killed literally hundreds of vampires, Jason can rightfully speak with a sort of earned badass authority when it comes to kicking evil vamp ass.
Also... what kind of authorities decide that they don't have proof or a body, but a faerie helped a witch see that Kevin was dead, so they may as well officially inform his wife?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:49 PM on July 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
Laff's been so affected for the last three seasons ( seriously, watch him in Season one, he's so toned down.) that I wonder if it's a conscious choice ( say emotional armor) for if they just have no idea how to write him.
Sookie's "I am completely and utterly done with making other people comfortable or being likable because everyone I know keeps dying" is kind of a delight. She is So. Done.
posted by The Whelk at 7:50 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Sookie's "I am completely and utterly done with making other people comfortable or being likable because everyone I know keeps dying" is kind of a delight. She is So. Done.
posted by The Whelk at 7:50 AM on July 15, 2014 [1 favorite]
Sam is so much of an empty shell now that they could disappear him and I wouldn't even notice.
what kind of authorities decide that they don't have proof or a body, but a faerie helped a witch see that Kevin was dead, so they may as well officially inform his wife?
That isn't even in the top 5000 of "most implausible things" on this show.
posted by desjardins at 9:58 AM on July 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
what kind of authorities decide that they don't have proof or a body, but a faerie helped a witch see that Kevin was dead, so they may as well officially inform his wife?
That isn't even in the top 5000 of "most implausible things" on this show.
posted by desjardins at 9:58 AM on July 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also... what kind of authorities decide that they don't have proof or a body, but a faerie helped a witch see that Kevin was dead, so they may as well officially inform his wife?
Man, those same authorities left the town in the hands of a single overworked and underpaid officer and told them to clean up a bar instead of getting defenses ready for the coming vampire attacks.
Holly had the virtue of being a witness, and everybody knows Sookie reads minds. I'm only bothered by it because it smacked of being the reasonable and decent thing to do.
Upon preview, this:
That isn't even in the top 5000 of "most implausible things" on this show.
posted by mordax at 10:02 AM on July 15, 2014
Man, those same authorities left the town in the hands of a single overworked and underpaid officer and told them to clean up a bar instead of getting defenses ready for the coming vampire attacks.
Holly had the virtue of being a witness, and everybody knows Sookie reads minds. I'm only bothered by it because it smacked of being the reasonable and decent thing to do.
Upon preview, this:
That isn't even in the top 5000 of "most implausible things" on this show.
posted by mordax at 10:02 AM on July 15, 2014
Jason can rightfully speak with a sort of earned badass authority when it comes to kicking evil vamp ass.
Well, this is more Violet's influence. I'm finding it and mega-aggressive Jason pretty annoying. I prefer lovably dumb as a bag of hammers Jason.
I realize that Lafayette's seeming bad grammar is actually an affectation, part of his schtick, but does anyone else feel like this season it's been layered on super thick?
I agree it's kind of a gimmick now, but he's also been either high or drunk most of this season, so I'd expect a little extra... I don't even know what... lackadaisical sass.
posted by Sayuri. at 5:53 PM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
Well, this is more Violet's influence. I'm finding it and mega-aggressive Jason pretty annoying. I prefer lovably dumb as a bag of hammers Jason.
I realize that Lafayette's seeming bad grammar is actually an affectation, part of his schtick, but does anyone else feel like this season it's been layered on super thick?
I agree it's kind of a gimmick now, but he's also been either high or drunk most of this season, so I'd expect a little extra... I don't even know what... lackadaisical sass.
posted by Sayuri. at 5:53 PM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
More importantly, if Hep-V is deadly to vampires and harmless to humans, why don't the humans who want to defeat all vamps just inject it into themselves intentionally, like a vaccine? Seems more efficient than fighting the super-powered undead.
That was the point of Hep V in the first place; biowarfare. But easier to distribute the virus via the TruBlood than convincing all the humans to vaccinate themselves.
But that vaccination strategy doesn't work now against Hep V infected vampires; once they're infected, it doesn't matter whom they drink from. And they need to feed constantly to slow the progress of the disease.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:21 PM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
That was the point of Hep V in the first place; biowarfare. But easier to distribute the virus via the TruBlood than convincing all the humans to vaccinate themselves.
But that vaccination strategy doesn't work now against Hep V infected vampires; once they're infected, it doesn't matter whom they drink from. And they need to feed constantly to slow the progress of the disease.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 7:21 PM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hoyt! Ginger! Pam's outfits!
With all these flashback sequences, might we get a Russell Edgington cameo?
posted by porpoise at 9:41 AM on July 20, 2014
With all these flashback sequences, might we get a Russell Edgington cameo?
posted by porpoise at 9:41 AM on July 20, 2014
If they change the show to all Pam all the time, I would not complain. Just kill off all the other characters. Take like 5 minutes, tops.
posted by signal at 9:22 PM on July 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by signal at 9:22 PM on July 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
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Also, Team Pam forever, hashtag #800seasonsandamovie
posted by bitter-girl.com at 9:40 PM on July 13, 2014 [1 favorite]