True Blood 7.01 Review: Gesù Gonna Be Here « 

True Blood 7.01 Review: Jesus Gonna Be Here

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The survivors survey the damage. Photo courtesy of HBO.com.

Welcome back to Bon Temps and the very last season of

d.. Season seven promises to bring us back to the core of the show, but all of the previews seem to point to the total destruction of everything we know and hold dear. I’m not sure how both can be true, but I am ready and willing to find out. Like anyone who takes the time to read this, I am #TrueToTheEnd.

What the…? Was it just me, or was it a bit disorienting to be dropped directly back into the action? I feel like

has been off my screen for so long that I needed a gentler reintroduction. Sure, I remember the broad strokes of what happened last season (Sookie met her future vampire/fae husband, Bill became some god-like being, vampires were imprisoned and then were infected with Hep V, Eric burned in the sun like the Human Torch), but a moment to readjust to the world would have been nice. Instead, we get immediate battle scenes between good and bad vamps while vulnerable humans try to stay out of the way. Complete chaos ensues as the rogue vampires do what they will until a shrill whistle from a distance calls them off. The good news? The “One vampire for every human” program seems to be working, as the good vampires are able to protect the humans. For the most part. But there are still far too many casualties that occur within the blink of an eye. Most significantly: Arlene, Holly, a very pregnant Nichole, and Deputy Kevin survive but are spirited away by the rogue vamps, though Sam and Alcide run off in hot pursuit. Their situation is dire, but not irreversible. The loss that will stick is poor Tara. In trying to protect her mother, she is killed by a rogue vamp, and we do not even get the dignity of witnessing her death. Instead all we see is her gooey remnants spread across her mother’s body.

Part of the death of a major character is experiencing your own sorrow over the character’s passing. The other part is experiencing the sorrow of the other characters. Tara’s death was so quick and completely off screen that there was very little room for experiencing it emotionally, which is a shame. But when you look at Jason’s reaction, maybe that’s the point: “Feels like we should stop, don’t it?” This season is pulling no punches, and it looks like it is also averse to hitting the brakes, even to stop and properly mourn an original character. Even Lafayette does not give us the emotional response we would expect because he grieved when Tara died the first time.

And perhaps we will get our emotional closure when Pam returns to Louisiana to find Tara dead. For now, however, Pam is in Marrakesh, Morocco, standing in a bucket, caught in a Russian roulette standoff. In some way, all of her efforts are bent toward finding Eric. Though he does not appear in this first outing, here’s hoping that he is found in the second. There is no

without Eric Northman in my mind. Anyway, back to Pam. Apparently the bucket is to catch the vampire goo that results from the challenge. Looks like number 29 is unlucky for her opponent because he explodes, and she goes on her way. She takes her money to a man who offers her information and food in the form of his daughter. Looks like only the young have untainted blood. Pam takes the info but no food and continues her search, despite claiming that the information has to be false. There is no way Eric would go the Rhône region . I adore Pam and love that she is tracking down Eric despite having been released from her duties to him. Their inevitable reunion should be a highlight of the season.

Left and right, vampires and humans are being paired up but with mixed success. Here’s the lowdown.

With Tara gone, Willa is the one to offer her blood to fix Lettie Mae’s injuries after the attack. With her history of substance abuse, Lettie Mae begins hallucinating on the blood, thinking she can see and hear Tara as she tries to get to the other side. This relationship ends up benefiting Willa most for the moment. With Tara dead and Eric missing, she has lost a roommate and a maker and has nowhere to go. The good Reverend Daniels gives her a nice place to sleep in the church. Lettie Mae is over the top and annoying, and it looks like she may hold a bigger part in the near future. I am glad Reverend Daniels has turned out to be so kind and accommodating. I just assumed when they got married that he would be just as much of a religious zealot. Instead, he seems to show compassion to all, as a man of God should. Here’s hoping that continues.

James gets paired with Lafayette who began drinking as soon as he walked back into the bar. Lafayette speaks of his reaction to Tara’s death being more subdued than expected, and James sympathizes. He understands, having seen the loss of the Vietnam War. Maybe it is because we have not had

for so long, but the actor switch for James is not stressing me out. Luke Grimes who? Hello Nathan Parsons!

There’s always time to have some fun, even in the middle of the apocalypse. Jason and Violet finally do the deed in spectacular fashion, out in the middle of the road on top of Jason’s car. But that only takes place after Jason stands up for himself after being emasculated in front of a band of humans who want to take matters into their own hands. The sex is not the most spectacular scene ever shown in

, but I am happy that Jason will no longer have blue balls. The former sex stud was certainly feeling the pain of abstinence.

Andy saves Bill, but there is no love lost between them. Photo courtesy of HBO.com.

Speaking of those humans with the right intentions: they run into Andy and Bill in the search for survivors. Led by a man named Vince, this group is dead set on hurting everyone involved with the “Every Human Needs a Vampire” idea, including but not limited to the mayor (Sam) and the sheriff (Andy). Bill stands up for Andy, claiming he did not join the mixer in protest. Andy pretends to have the same agenda so he can get a gun and turn it on the other humans. Despite hating Bill for everything he is worth, he needs the vampire’s help to find Holly and the others.

Of all the citizens of Bon Temps, Andy has come the farthest from the first season. Once a fool, then an addict, now he is a man you can respect. I’m so proud of his development! He has faced his challenges and come out the other side as someone who can handle the responsibilities of fatherhood and leading the sheriff’s office while maintaining a sense of right and wrong. Who would have guessed?

Jess has to resist her urge to drink. Photo courtesy of HBO.com.

While Andy is off with Bill, Jessica continues to keep watch over the fairy Adilyn. Despite the mistrust that still remains, and rightfully so (Jess did kill Adilyn’s sisters in front of her), the two strike up the type of conversations teenagers typically would. They get interrupted by a rogue vampire who smells Adilyn’s fairy blood. Jess makes Adilyn drink some of her blood so she will always be able to find and protect her, but the way she protects her now makes it seem like she won’t be around long enough to keep that promise. Just before the sun truly rises, Adilyn invites Jessica in to protect her from the sun. Outside the rogue vampire erupts in flame, but our favorite vampire is safe! Jess’ control on her hunger is still tenuously thin, so that will remain an issue. I hope Adilyn survives this war, and Jessica finds her redemption. Adilyn is an interesting character I would like to explore more, although that might be because of her proximity to Jessica, one of the smartest editions to the show ever.

“What are you?” Part of circling back to where we began is to look at Sookie and her place in this town. So it is fitting that one of the rogue Hep V vampires echoes the line that has crossed many lips but was first uttered by Bill Compton when Sookie came to his rescue so many years ago. Poor Sookie really took the brunt of everyone’s frustrations tonight. I can’t remember the last time that she was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t block out the thoughts of those around her! It gets a bit harder to feel sorry for her, however, when she does the stupidest thing she could do at that point in time: run away from the thoughts by heading home, in the middle of the night, alone, where she could possibly encounter one of the rogue vampires.

Alcide rips into her when he gets home, but Sookie shocks him by declaring that she read his thoughts. He, like everyone else in town, blames her for this mess in some way. Yes he loves her all the same, but that is a pretty large stumbling block for their relationship to get over. This is why Sookie was attracted to vampires in the first place! She never had to worry about hearing their thoughts. I do like Alcide, but Sookie needs to end up with a vamp by season end if she ends up with anyone. We started there; let’s end there.

Tensions come to a head at church the following morning, when Sookie reaches out to Lettie Mae and gets rejected. She turns to leave as more thoughts bombard her, but at last she turns and makes her stand. She was born here. She loves the town and the people. And she knows the most about vampires out of all of them. She just wants to help, if their hate can be set aside to let her.

I feel for Sookie’s plight and love that her relationship with the town is taking center stage, but her portion of the story fell flat tonight. Perhaps it was the minimal vampire interaction? Once everyone gets back to town where they belong, things should get more interesting for her. And once the team starts to work together instead of separately, the story should thrive. And more Sookie and Eric interaction would not hurt. The stage is set for an epic ending if the writers make it happen.

Is it any surprise that the best quotes of the night are from Pam and Lafayette? I think not

Tell you what, your god and my god can go to a motel and have a circle jerk for all I care. I’ll be in hell, having a three-way with the devil.” “So give me a sec while I get altered; then I’ll give you lunchLafayette after Tara’s death, to James, his vampire protector

By Megan Kathleen on June 23, 2014   /   Reviews   /   Leave a comment

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