Rating: 
So, it’s all kicking-off! After interminable weeks of piddling-about, waiting and wondering if Bill was ever going to man up and Sookie was ever going to wake up now, finally, we have the show-down between the armies of the night and the most dangerous enemy they’ve ever faced. Yes? Well … Sort of.
In another surprisingly short episode – 50 minutes – we get the showdown we’ve been waiting for but, sadly, whilst well-written with one or two stand-out moments, over-all it is just as lacking in thrills and drama as the rest of the series has been.
Essentially we have a siege situation with Marnie and her hostages inside her magic shop – protected by a force field, while Bill, Eric, Jess, Pam and … that’s it … are ‘massed’ outside. The most serious threat vampire-kind has ever faced … And Bill turns up with a slack-handful of friends and no real plan. Really? Okay then.
Inside, Marnie is getting cocky and sarcastic and, in a fit of pique, kills her first non-vamp. This is a step too far for Antonia who tries to escape from the witch she’s possessed, realising that she’s created a monster – But Marnie is powerful now and binds Antonia to her.
Realising that the secret lies in separating them (something we all realised about three weeks ago) Jesus decides he needs to fire up his Mexican Mojo and intervene. As he tells LaFayette “It’s brujo shit and it’s gonna be ugly” – he decides he needs to ‘crowbar’ Antonia out of Marnie. Their exchange here gives Nelsan Ellis one of the best lines he’s had all year!
Jason stops the vamps attacking with rocket launchers, telling them that Sookie’s inside. Eric and Bill promptly default to limp dick mode and the fight is as good as over, much to Pam’s annoyance.
It’s a very sedate siege, really. With a lot of talking and not much besieging. There is, for no clearly discernible reason, a lot of discussion of “Fucking Sookie” with that phrase used in pretty-much every possible context in quick succession … Much to Jason’s understandable disapproval.
For her own part, Sookie manages to talk Marnie into negotiating with the vamps – but her idea of ‘negotiation’ involves a quite extraordinary sacrificial offering from Eric and Bill: An offering which is, finally, a step too far for Pam. Her response is spectacular and results in her being labelled a traitor and being banned by her Sire. This will break her heart and, I imagine, make her a formidable foe next year.
Inside again – No one stands up to Marnie – despite her having imprisoned and terrorised them. When she decides to torture Sook – they simply stand and watch. Well, thanks for the support, guys.
Marnie uses a pool of blood like an enchanted mirror. She sees her own future – her own death and, right on cue, Jesus’ plan works, the force field falls and Bill’s ‘army’ gets in.
This leads to Eric performing the coolest blood-suck of the series and then, suddenly, it’s all over bar the shouting. Is that it? Well, no, not entirely …
The show has lacked focus all year and this episode is no exception, it keeps cutting from the action of the story we want to see to the stories that, frankly, haven’t been adding much to the mix.
In the completely separate story he’s been following throughout the series, Sam is gathering his own posse to punish Marcus for Tommy’s murder. Unaware, Marcus is still sniffing round Debbie who – showing the discrimination and moral fibre that the show suggests all women in Bon Temps have – is falling for his hairy charms. Marcus – who has, off-screen, kidnapped his own daughter, Emma, off Luna – is trying to create the perfect family for his little pup and his and Debbie’s relationship seems to have escalated to the commitment stage in a matter of minutes.
This, of course, means he’s crossing both Sam and Alcide and while you just know Sam won’t go the whole way and commit deliberate murder (again) the same can’t be said for Alcide who loses his cool in spectacular fashion. So he’s nicely been set up to be a lone wolf next year, with several packs of weres after his hide!
Andy, meanwhile, is talking to himself as he walks home through the woods from his encounter with Terry – as ever, providing that touch of humour. Then he meets a Faerie … Well, we knew they’d be back! Morella. She’s a Lamia, I’d say – since she just wants to jump Andy’s bones. She makes him swear to protect her, waves a glowy ET-like finger at him, then makes a man of him.
After this, when he gets home, still more than a little shell-shocked, Arlene gets her best scene this series – the first when she isn’t being paranoid or hysterical – telling Andy how special he is.
So this and the Alcide story are really just feeds for next series. And next week we’ll presumably have the return of Gary Cole as Grandpa Earl, again in time for next season. Oh, and the Jess/Jason thing will doubtless make an enemy of poor Hoyt.
After such a long, rambling build-up I was really hoping for more energy, more peril … More dead vampires. This episode certainly has a few set-pieces worth remembering, and some cracking dialogue, but they’re really the first standout moments the season has shown us in weeks. It’s just a bit too little a bit too late.
Oh, and there is another pesky cliff-hanger ending. So, y’know, maybe they’ll pull it out of the bag next week and maybe the final episode of True Blood season four will be its first and only five-star episode. We live in hope.
TRUE BLOOD 4.11 – Soul of Fire
Written by: Mark Hudis
Directed by: Michael Lehmann
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3 Comments
I really enjoyed this episode, especially Jason telling the vampires off and the twist at the end. I am going to assume that Bill and Eric were going to use silver bullets and not really commit suicide. If not, then they are both idiots in love. Alcide is free to date Sookie and Debbie is free to go postal on Sookie now that she is back on V full time. I am not sure what to make of Andy and his midnight encounter except that the fairies are trying to increase their ranks. The finale is the Wiccan New Years Eve so the dead came alive for one night. I wonder who all is coming back to haunt Bon Temps?
Russell?
I hope the Harry Potter nonsense is over, especially for the next series as it hasn’t worked and has been inferior especially when compared to the Devil Woman series.
I also hope they introduce more ‘outside’ characters, it would be nice to see more of the government, law enforcement side of things other than just Jason and Andy. They have done so in previous series and I’d like to get back to that as it’s seemed all a bit too incestuous and cliquey this time round.
We also know that Sookie is the most powerful person on the show, she’s seen off werewolves, shape-shifters, warepanthers, vampires, witches, and the devils wife. How much longer can they keep the ‘Wow Sookie what did you do?’ story going when she has seen off every threat that has defeated others.