True Blood Season 6.9 Review - Life Matters
rating: 4
The latest instalment of True Blood was an outright emotional rollercoaster. The episode mostly had two settings throughout that went back to back, scene by scene from Terrys funeral to Vamp Camp, with both rearing up some pretty strong emotions but in completely different ways. By indication of the black suits and growing dead body count, we knew it was going to be a pretty dark episode. The episode opened with Bill and Sooki standing over Warlows drained body attempting to come to some sort of agreement on how to handle it, Bill staying true to his bad ass Billith self says what little blood he has left, I need it. Thank goodness Bill is now starting to mean business, I am unsure on the purity of his motives though and whether his desire to drain the rest of Warlow was for the sake of Vampire Kind or to clear the thing in his way of getting Sooki back. He was hardly casual, dropping fang at the first smell of her blood. Be cool Bill, be cool. The Warlow narrative is feeling a little stale and redundant at this point. Yes he has been an integral part in some way as he provided his blood which enabled Bill and now Eric to day walk, but he just sits in faerie land tied to a tree acting as a donor. Considering he has waited six thousand years for this moment he has to be a little disappointed at how it is playing out. Sooki left Warlow alone with his tree to attend Terry Bellefleurs funeral, the little black dress suited its purpose as she was prepped and ready to go in appropriate funeral attire. The funeral was undeniably one of the most touching moments in True Blood to date, it is unusual for the show to pay homage to deceased characters in such a way but Terry did deserve an official send off as he was a great character who had touched so many others in the series. The unseen flashbacks of Terrys interactions with each character were really touching, with Lafayettes trip down memory lane proving the most tear jerking. Lafayette spoke about how he could see into Terrys soul and that it was pure and he was a good man, the kindness he showed Terry would have been essential in his rehabilitation and this was such a poignant moment for both characters. Sam Merlottes flashback taught me one thing only, he does not wear a sleeveless shirt well. The presence of Taras mum doing her best impression of a Ministers wife was fantastic, she is an awful, unstable person thus making her a great character. With many other recurring characters attending Terrys funeral that we havent seen for a few episodes or even series, there was a very final undertone to the scenes. I couldnt help but feel we were saying goodbye to more than just Terry, each character had a monologue that depicted their character perfectly which felt like an ending or a rounding off. Absolute anarchy would be the two most appropriate words to describe the action at Vamp Camp, pay back is a b*tch hey humans. For a moment I thought Bill was just going to spend the episode appearing at crime scenes and saying with that mysterious face, Eric?, thankfully I was wrong as he soon fully emerged himself into the action. Eric was out for blood, he wanted cold hard revenge and began by ripping off the private parts of Dr Fantastically Camp, resulting in some warm soft matter being left behind (sorry). Eric continued to spread the joy by giving some bad news to a baby vamp whose maker had drank the infected Tru Blood, rip off that band aid quickly Eric! No need to break the bad news of the slow and very painful death gently now is there. It is safe to say that Bill and Eric worked pretty well together, even though they didnt actually know they were (sshh dont tell them or they will change their mind). Bill completing Erics handy work and ridding the world of the cockroach by stamping on his face was extreme, a dash more of violence please chef perfect! Aside from freeing all vampires and killing all humans, Eric decided to toy with the very creepy psychiatrist for a little while before saving him for Pam, like when a cat toys with a bird for some time before presenting the half dead bird to its owner for a surprise gift. Jason Stackhouse was spared the grim fate of death by hungry vampire by Eric who fed Jason his blood to heal his bite wounds, now I am very casually praying for another Adorn shaving dream scene. The pair were a little late however, for their friends who were seconds away from meeting the sun due to Sarah Newlins rampage in her bloodied power suit. One of the only surviving humans left in the camp would have to be the hugely unstable one wouldnt it, oh and Ginger so yeh same thing really. Billith put his blood where other peoples mouths were so to speak as he sacrificed himself to save his friends, the slow presentation of the sun into the white room to reveal the sacrifice was a brilliantly breathtaking moment. Steve Newlin finally met his end, again but this time for good. Not without some famous last words I love you Jason Stackhouse. If you ask me these could well be the last words of any resident of Bon Temps, its just what Jason does to people and there he is looking all bewildered and surprised at the declaration! Sarah Newlin is still on the loose after Jason decided he wasnt going to shoot her in the face and bloody her white suit any further, which was a good call from Jason as he could have never gone through with it and forgive himself after. The final stand-off between Jason and Sarah was wonderfully accompanied by the dulcet tones of Big John, or Big J if you are going to make the Jesus connection which was right there people! The Vamp Camp story arc finally came to a head, all survived and Bill, with a little help from Eric, saved the day. The survivors did not seem too grateful, running off into the sunshine high on faerie blood and completely forgetting their narrow escape from death. Bill meanwhile is being summoned by naked Lillith and friends to join them and be naked and non-existent forever but he has other ideas. It looks like after all, saving Vampire Kind is not the sacrificial end for him as he has something else to live for.