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I am going to begin with a somewhat controversial statement: I personally think that the sixth season of True Blood is the best yet. I know, even I am shocked that I wrote that. After the dire fifth season, I truly thought that the only way for this show was down, but Brian Buckner has turned things around. The storylines are now (finally!) connected, with 90% of the characters milling around in Bon Temps by season’s end, and most of the characters have been developed somewhat. A lot of the fat has been trimmed in terms of the ever-expanding cast list and finally the show has gotten back to its roots. It’s fun again. Contains spoilers.
Whilst this was my personal favourite season, it also boasted my favourite ever episode: Life Matters. The eulogies to Terry were heartfelt and the performances by the central characters were stunning. I wasn’t Terry’s biggest fan but even I teared up as Sookie, after outing herself as a telepath, told Arlene that Terry had always loved her. Sob!
Lafayette, Steve and Holly were massively underused this season which is perhaps its only flaw. Nelson Ellis has stated that LaLa will have a bigger storyline next series (more on what I think that will be later) and Holly has become more of a secondary character as the Witch subplot has all but fizzled out. Steve shared some humorous scenes with Sarah (more on her in a moment) before meeting the true death. I was sad to see him go but it’s understandable why he did. Like Russell last season, Steve’s storyline had reached its natural conclusion.
But now onto the good stuff. The highlight of this season has been Anna Camp’s audacious performance of Sarah Newlin, a woman scorned. She has certainly lived up to her name in her portrayal of the unhinged woman. Her standout scene just has to be her chase and subsequent murder of Ms. Suzuki which showed just how deranged she has become in her quest to kill all of the vampires as she caved the poor woman’s head in with a stiletto. The only scene more gruesome than this has to be Dr. Overlark having his junk torn off and his head crushed beneath Billith’s foot. Ouch! But Sarah (surprisingly!) survived the season so fingers crossed she will return for more outrageous storylines (although perhaps give her a year off writers, just a suggestion….)
The first half of the season dragged slightly due to the werewolf storyline and Sam instantly forgetting Luna to hook up with Nicole, but towards the end of the season Alcide finally (!) left the pack. Here’s hoping that storyline won’t be dragged up again. Another thing which grated on me early on was the Billith storyline as the newly-created god discovered his powers and pissed off just about every character apart from Jessica. But that storyline has finally been resolved too. Bill is normal again and looking to make amends with Sookie. I hope he does. The Sookie/Bill pairing is my favourite in the show and I hope he can redeem himself. There is no way Sookie and Alcide are going to stay happy for long. On the flipside is Warlow’s story. When the season began I loved him but he was locked up in Faery for three weeks with next-to-no storyline at all and he soon began to grate upon me. Thankfully he was (rather easily I have to say) vanquished in the finale, with a little help from Niall, who just has to return next season. Sookie and Jason need more of a family.
Now I am going to get to the big part of the finale, the single scene that has divided the fans. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that Eric Northman (who briefly flashed little Eric, thank you writers!) has met the true death. I said previously that I thought Eric would have a reduced role next season and I still do. Either Pam rescued him or he hid beneath the snow but Eric is alive. There is no way that they would kill him off so quickly like that, secluded from Pam and Sookie. The main characters are in a 7 year contract so I think that Alexander and the powers-that-be may have compromised: Eric will remain, but have a reduced role, with him perhaps being missing for the first few episodes? I don’t really know, but I do know that Eric will be back.
Flashforward six months and the Hep-V virus has spread, turning vampires into savage beasts and wiping them out. I think Mayor Sam’s idea of having the humans feed the vampires in exchange for protection is absurd but on the other hand I love it because it means that the majority of the characters are now connected, and the focus of next season should be totally grounded in Bon Temps. Bill wants Sookie, so naturally Sookie is going to cheat on Alcide. Lettie Mae, a long-time favourite character of mine, has finally made amends with Tara and fed her. A lot of fans are already guessing online that Lettie is a carrier for Hep-V and is hoping to infect and kill her own daughter. I don’t think that Lettie is that evil and if she is it means that her character has totally been ruined and Tara will die. That better not be the case because I don’t think I could cope with losing both Tara and Lettie. I want Tara to reunite with LaLa for more sassy arguments. Surely LaLa will pair up with a gay vampire and get a new boyfriend next season? It’s long overdue.
So all-in-all True Blood is back on top. A few dud storylines occurred this season but they have all been wrapped up now, thankfully, so next season should be stunning. Eric will be back, don’t y’all worry! Only one question remains now: which vampire character will catch Hep-V and nearly die before a cure is found and they end up surviving. You know it’s gonna happen. My money’s on Jessica (it better not be Tara from Lettie Mae!) and it’ll help her on her long road to redemption. Roll on June 2014.
