‘True Blood’ Recap “Love Is To Die”: The Story of Us

Sookie faces the harsh reality that Bill has chosen death over her, Eric gives a gift of a lifetime, Hoyt and Jessica reconnect and we say goodbye to one of Bon Temps original sons…

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer

The final two hours of ‘True Blood’ are upon us and while many episodes this season have given us little to no push ahead when it comes to the last stories coming to an end, the latest episode titled ‘Love Is To Die’ offered up a few vital pieces of information, set ups for next week’s finale and a reunion that was years in the making.

The problem ‘True Blood’ has had over the last few seasons has been a lack of direction and a fevered pitch towards crazier and crazier story telling. The characters, for the most part, stopped being interesting and the plot got to be quite ludicrous (I understand I’m saying that about a show that features vampires, werewolves, fairies and shape shifters). The final season has been frustrating at moments and fun at other ones and thankfully the penultimate episode was a solid hour of television setting up the last moments we’ll ever see of Bon Temps, Louisiana.

So let’s get right into it….

The Darkness and the Light

Bill shocked everyone last week when he had the cure to Hep-V standing right in front of him as Sarah Newlin was dangling there like a blood-kabob, but instead of nibbling on her medically delicious neck, he opted to turn it down and favor the true death instead of saving his own life. Needless to say Jessica and Sookie were not amused by this decision, and Bill tried to talk his way around it by saying words like ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ but ultimately he had to concede that he was making this choice.

Jessica finally asked for Bill to release her from their maker/progeny relationship, and what started out as a punishment bestowed upon the over one-hundred year old vampire back in season one turned into a loving father/daughter relationship over the course of seven seasons. Bill released her before receiving two hard slaps to the face courtesy of Sookie who was disgusted and saddened at his decision to turn down the cure after everything they’ve been through, not to mention it wasn’t exactly easy to find the one person on Earth who had the antibiotics enough to zap out the Hep-V virus from vampires.

Sookie leaves the bar basement and heads to Bellefleurs where she goes looking for Sam, only to find his trailer empty and a note written to her. In the soliloquy, Sam tells Sookie that he chose to go with Nicole to Chicago to raise their baby instead of sticking around Bon Temps even though that’s where his heart will always be. It wasn’t easy for him to pack up and leave the only people he’s ever known or loved, but this is what was best for his family and so he’s gone. Side note — the teaser for next week’s finale titled ‘Thank You’ says ‘Sam makes a choice’ so it appears a written goodbye with a packing the car to move flashback won’t be the last time we see the former mayor. Oh and about that — the other note that Sam left was to Andy and when the letter is delivered she pulls the sheriff into a quiet room so he can read the heartfelt words in private, far away from the prying eyes of the other folks currently hanging out at Bellefleur’s which includes Arlene and her new beau Keith, Lafayette and James, Holly and her kids as well as Andy’s daughter Adilyn. The letter really pulled at the heartstrings.

“Dear Sheriff Bellefleur — I resign — sincerely, Sam Merlotte”

A rather funny moment in an otherwise serious episode — well except for the sex later in the hour but we’ll get to that in a little bit.

At Bellefleur’s, Arlene offers up Sookie some advice about letting go and moving on as it’s clear she’ll need to do if Bill is going to die. Jessica and James make peace and the whole crew munches down on some dirty rice at a nice family dinner.

Meanwhile back at Bill’s house, Eric pays the former king a visit to see why exactly he’s choosing death over a life with Sookie. Bill dances around the question, but ultimately tells him about his fever dreams where he saw Sookie holding onto a baby, except inside the swaddling clothes was just a pitch black darkness, devoid of any kind of life. As Bill explains, Sookie is pure light because she’s a fairy and on the opposite end of the spectrum, they are vampires, nothing but darkness and death. The light is drawn to the dark and vice versa and that’s why Sookie can’t help but gravitate towards the vampires and why they are so desperately in love with her. Bill’s death will release her from the love they’ve shared and finally allow her to move on.

In many ways, Bill’s speech makes sense because through all of the awful and horrendous things he’s done to Sookie over the years, she always finds her way back to him. While some have seen this and thought it’s true love just overcoming the odds, in reality it’s almost like an abusive relationship where one person just can’t quit the other. Maybe that’s a touch extreme but in this case it’s the only comparison that seems valid. In the end, Bill asks Eric to call on Sookie so she can meet with him one final time before he meets the true death. He agrees and brings Sookie home before Bill knocks on the door as he comes face to face with the woman he loves moments before we assume he’s going to melt into a pile of bones and jello.

The Story of Us

I’ve made no secret that my favorite part of the final season of ‘True Blood’ thus far has been the reunion of Hoyt and Jessica. They were the one love story on the show that made sense and always seemed to work. Hoyt was full of sweet romance and naivety and Jessica was much the same after being turned into a vampire at the tender age of 17. Now a couple of seasons after Jessica betrayed Hoyt with his best friend Jason before he requested that she glamour every memory of them together out of his head so that he doesn’t have to live with the pain and torment, it’s clear that these two star crossed lovers were just meant to be.

Hoyt tries to explain his connection to Jessica to his new girlfriend Bridget, but it’s clear she’s not buying it. Like clockwork, Jessica shows up to finally reveal the truth to her first love about the history they share and why he always seems drawn to her. Hoyt turns his back on Bridget, which prompts her to call Jason (of course) so she can get the hell out of Dodge.

Hoyt starts to hear Jessica talk about the life they once shared together, the tender moments and the way he helped her live again despite not having a heartbeat at all. Hoyt requests to hear ‘the story of us’ and she unravels the tangled web that they shared together before being broken apart. Towards the end of her revelation, Jason shows up and takes another massive punch from his former best friend because he remembers all over again the way that his friend betrayed him.

Bridget takes Jason home but he lays down the ground rules right away — they are not having sex no matter what. Bridget comes back with one of the most well placed lines in ‘True Blood’ history and a cold dose of reality for Mr. Stackhouse. She explains that she just broke up with her boyfriend, what makes him think he’s getting in her pants tonight? To Jason’s defense, he does seem to get them on the rebound so he’s not wrong in his assumption that something naughty might happen.

At Jason’s, he explains to Bridget the harsh reality that Hoyt exposed in him before leaving for Alaska. There’s just something missing inside Jason that stops him from reacting like a normal person and feeling the way a friend or a lover should feel. Bridget tries her best to make it all turn around before offering to take Jason into his bedroom.

Now before you think the clothes started coming off, instead Bridget offers Jason conversation like asking him about things he’s never told another living soul and sharing a piece of his heart with her instead of the part that comes flying out of his pants whenever he’s within 10 feet of a firm bosom and a round behind.

While this is happening, Hoyt and Jessica continue to reconnect and eventually fall into each other’s arms before going to bed together. No amount of vampire glamouring could keep Hoyt and Jessica apart and while I feel like there won’t be a ton of happy endings when the show comes to an end next week, I’m glad these two were at least part of the final season plan that somebody could find love amidst a truly fucked up town full of supernatural beings and undead blood suckers.

One Last Thing

The other hilarious part from this week’s episode of ‘True Blood’ was Eric finally running into Ginger again back at Fangtasia after his meeting with Sookie and Bill. It’s clear the thousand year old Viking has given up on finding love with Sookie and his frienemy Bill is about to meet the true death. So instead of finding another way to hand out a death sentence tonight, Eric instead offers to give Ginger what she’s always wanted – to fuck him. At first, I was convinced that Eric was going to glamour Ginger into thinking that she had him when in reality he never touched her but he actually offered himself up to the screeching bar maid although this wasn’t the sex anyone was probably envisioning.

Ginger climbed up on top of Eric while sitting upon his wooden throne and for all the years of sexual tension and anguish, she got about 10 seconds of a good time before falling to the floor in ecstasy, passed out from what she’s been dreaming about for decades. Needless to say Eric is unimpressed with her lasting power, but it was certainly a comical moment in an hour wrought with tension.

After giving Ginger her ride on the Viking express, Eric soon finds that his partner Mr. Gus is downstairs with Pam tied to a table with a giant stake looming overhead, tied down by three ropes. Mr. Gus wants answers — he knows Sookie wasn’t just another fang banger and Eric has been lying to him this whole time. He insists that Eric reveal the truth or Pam will meet the true death. Eric attempts to bluff him, but Mr. Gus isn’t playing around so to free his progeny from her near death he admits that Sookie saw Sarah, she knows the former Mrs. Newlin is the cure to Hep-V, and to ensure Pam’s safety he has to give up her address.

It seems the final hour of ‘True Blood’ will be filled with a Yakuza attack on Sookie’s house and Eric attempting to play the white night to save the one woman he seemed to love other than his sister Nora. The stage is set and in less than 60 minutes, ‘True Blood’ will officially come to an end.