After six seasons of campy, bloody, vampire fun True Blood is finally ending. The successful HBO show’s seventh season premieres June 22nd and for avid fans it will be bittersweet. Despite the show’s ups and downs True Blood has always provided good summer entertainment. So let’s recap the show overall…
The Good
Pam’s One Liners
Pam is definitely one of the fiercest vampires on the show. If there’s one thing tougher than her vampiric savagery though, it’s her attitude and deadpan delivery of True Blood’s finest gems. Kristin Bauer van Straten gets some of the best lines, making Pam one of the most interesting characters in the show.
Lafayette in General
Book readers know that Lafayette is actually killed early on (I know, right), but HBO clearly recognized his potential as one of the most lovable, funniest, and entertaining characters on the show. Lafayette may also be the most down-to-earth character too, believably reacting to the supernatural melee that surrounds him. Nelsan Ellis needs major credit for creating such an endearing character.
Hot Guys
True Blood wouldn’t be the show we know and love without the amazing cast of talented and supremely good looking men. From Sookie’s love interests Eric, Alcide, and Bill, to her brother Jason, and boss Sam, there is so much eye candy on this show that it’s almost impossible not to develop a tiny crush on someone. Even the men who appear briefly are ridiculously good looking.
Hot Girls
Not to be outshone, True Blood has an equally amazing cast of brilliant and gorgeous ladies. Veterans Sookie, Tara, Pam, and Jessica are of course favorites, but newcomers Willa and Nora are also stunning. And though we may have different feelings about Sophie-Anne, Lorena, Maryann, Debbie, Crystal, Salome, Amy, Luna, and Sarah, I think we can all agree how amazing they looked on screen.
The Bad
The Writers’ Absurd Mistreatment of Tara
Many fans seem to dislike Tara. The main issue however is not Rutina Wesley’s acting, but the writer’s clear inability to give her a compelling storyline. Book Tara is practically non-existent so of course the writers have to improvise, but usually that just means tossing Tara miserable storylines, abusing her character, and never allowing her to truly be happy. She deserves far better from the writers.
Getting Off-Track from the Books
Obviously no show is going to follow the books to the letter, and while True Blood has made excellent decisions (like keeping Lafayette and creating Jessica), they’ve also forsaken a lot of amazing plots from the source material. Case in point: in the 7th novel, All Together Dead, Sookie attends a vampire summit with Queen Sophie-Anne and ultimately saves the day by discovering a bomb. Not to mention she shares some amazing chemistry with Eric throughout. I for one, would have loved to see that play out on screen.
Also, you’d never know from the show, but Eric’s character is a lot funnier in the books. Bill is also way more of a Debbie downer.
Not Enough Screen Time
There are so many lovable characters on True Blood, but even for a show without commercials, it’s impossible to give everyone their own screen time and plot. Admittedly, Sookie isn’t always the most interesting character, but that is largely because the writers spend more time giving other characters better plot lines. With too many minor characters the story gets stretched and pulled by so many plots, it’s impossible to sufficiently develop any of them.
Warlow
One moment he was a creepy Blackbeard impersonator, and then he was a good-looking fairy guy. At one point Sookie actually seemed to like him. Then he was violent psycho trying to turn her into a vampire because he was a fairy/vamp hybrid (since that apparently exists). The point being, sometimes True Blood introduces these characters that are hyped up and then fall remarkably short. Did anyone care by the end about him, though?
The “WTF”
Those Sex Scenes
You know the ones I’m talking about. While everyone expects lots of sex in HBO shows, True Blood really pushes the boundaries. From necks being spun around to people being staked during it, in the way Game of Thrones characters should be wary of weddings, True Blood characters should be wary of sex. You just never know what to expect, but at this point, are we really surprised anymore?
Flashbacks
This isn’t necessarily a “WTF” in terms of content, but in execution. While True Blood is good at a lot of things, flashback costumes and sets aren’t necessarily one of them. From prehistoric Warlow to 80s Bill, these scenes come across as more funny than anything else.
Lilith, Bilith, and Anything Else Ending in “ith”
If you actually understood the Lilith plotline, please enlighten me, because no amount of rewinding or follow up articles the next day have helped so far. Lilith’s story was confusing, flawed, and seemingly came out of nowhere. Her eerie appearance naked and soaked in blood was not only weird, but awkwardly executed. Sometimes she appeared with other women, but who knows who they were.
Not to mention Lilith managed to turn Bill into one of the most obnoxious, self-involved, and insufferable characters the show has seen. He was somehow connected to Lilith, but also to Warlow, but still to Jessica and needed to save other vampires. I honestly don’t know, but I sincerely hope the writers move away from this convoluted plot in the final season.
So while we eagerly await our summer True Blood themed parties, let’s remember all the great things about one of our favorite series.