Recap 5.12 True Blood “Save Yourself”

Pam: “Nice plan.”
Tara: “Sure beats yours.”

And I thought last week’s episode was a bloodbath.

Holy Billith! I honestly thought it was curtains for Bill. I was thinking, Wow! did they actually, really, truly, no take backsies just kill Bill? But then he arose from the puddle, and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. So he isn’t dead? He’s transformed? Is he the bad guy now? Is the old Bill even still in there? Hey, does that mean Eric gets a clear path to Sookie, now?

Eric staking Russell before the opening credits was a shocker. But you know, I think they’d gone as far with Russell as they could have. I wasn’t all that wild about Russell’s role, or non-role, in Authority this season; his comeback could have been better. But it was worth it see him and Steve Newlin as a couple.

And Eric finally got his revenge. It had to be Eric. It feels like Eric was on character vacation all season, and we just got him back. And he has a much bigger family now. By far, the coolest part of this season (surprise!) turned out to be the expansion of the Northman vampire family and Tara falling for Pam. That rescue kiss was just terrific. Who knew? And I loved the rescue, with Eric, Nora and Tara teaming up with Sookie and Jason.

This was a gruesome episode, and Sam exploding out of Rosalyn’s head was the gruesomest scene of all. But I have very much enjoyed Sam as a naked undercover good guy this season. It was a nice comeback after the character assassination he previously endured, and Luna and Emma had a lot to do with it. I like Luna, and I really don’t want her to be dead. And hey, she shifted on national television. Are the shifters out of the closet now? What about the werewolves?

The tiresome werewolf plot was finally resolved when Rikki’s victimization pushed Alcide into taking a stand and taking over the pack, with Martha and his father as backup. Did Martha turn out to be a freaking cool character, or what? Surprisingly, so did Jackson Herveaux. I just thought it took too long to get to this point.

The human stuff was a bit more confusing. Did Jason sustain brain damage? Why are the senior Stackhouses whispering anti-vampire rhetoric in Jason’s hallucinations? I just have no idea where they’re going with this. I’m also wondering where on earth they’re going with Morella giving wildly weird fairy birth in Merlotte’s. “My light broke”? She’s had 73 babies? I guess if you give birth in squads while having an orgasm, that might not be as bad as it sounds. How is Andy going to deal with four daughters? Will Holly stick around to help, or is that relationship over?

So wow. What an outrageous finale. Authority is gone, and Russell is dead. Shapeshifters may be out of the closet, Andy has fairy quadruplets, Alcide is packmaster, Eric is back, and Pam and Tara are an item. And Bill may be our villain next season. Didn’t see that coming.

Bits and pieces:

— “Life sucks” was a common theme in this episode. Nearly all of the characters said something along that line. Even Jason said it was good to expect the worst.

— Eric and Nora did a riff on “Godric always loved you best.” I’m glad Nora survived the season. I rather like her.

— So much for Salome. She was a believer until the end. “Lilith chose wisely.” Hey, Lilith didn’t choose at all; she just tried everyone available until Bill fell for it.

— Lafayette was seriously underutilized the second half of the season. But I did enjoy him, Arlene and Holly drinking alcoholic “candy” and dancing together.

— This episode was written by Alan Ball, who is stepping down as show runner. This was his swan song, then. He certainly went out with a bang.

Quotes:

Eric: (after staking Russell) “Well, that felt even better than I thought it would.”

Nora: “What is she?”
Eric: “She’s a waitress.”

Tara: “You sure this thing is light tight? It looks like Tupperware.”

Eric: “Sweetie, don’t be a fool.”
Jason: “If I want to be a fool, then I will be a fool. That is my God given right as an American.”
Did Eric actually call Jason “sweetie”? I ran that three times, and I think he did.

Pam: (re: religion) “I guess this proves we’re just as fucking retarded as they are.”

Jason: “Before what? Things spin out of control? That train has already sailed.”

Arlene: “Who knew watching an alien give birth would be so comforting?”

Holly: “It’s a girl. With no umbilical cord.”

(Pam and Tara kiss)
Sookie: “Oh, okay.”
Jessica: (gleefully) “I knew it!”

So it wasn’t perfect. I thought last season was much better. But season five was a lot of fun to watch, and things most certainly got shaken up. And I’m looking forward to next season. Waiting sucks!

Billie Doux

(Billie Doux and her contributing writers review science fiction, fantasy and cult television shows at BillieDoux.com.)