********SPOILER ALERT********
Normally we would never consider asking you to click away from HNGN to go elsewhere but we really must insist, if you haven't watched this past Sunday's episode of "True Blood" you're not going to want to keep reading. Not only are there scary stories about Vampires and Werewolves but there are even more frightening spoilers ahead. You have been warned.
Since we first saw Bill's vision of all of Bon Temp's favorite vampires preparing to meet the sun "True Blood" viewers have been itching to learn how they would get out of it. On the penultimate episode of the season we found out that it was going to take a remarkable amount of human deaths to save some vampire lives.
The nice thing about "Life Matters" was that all of the central action happened in only two places (I guess three if you count the faerie version of the graveyard as a separate place) so the episode wasn't spread out in a manner that left only 3-5 minutes for each part of the plot; the vampire camp and Terry's funeral.
While Sookie and the bulk of the human characters attended Terry's funeral and reminisced about the gentle friend of theirs that they lost Eric was at the vampire camp ripping every human he could find limb from limb.
More on the carnage in a minute, it was really a nice touch the way they worked in all of the flashbacks of Terry's life during the funeral. The story that Sam told about Terry's regard for the life of the catfish showed just how damaged from the war Terry was and helps give an explanation as to why he made the choices he did to end his life.
Also, I'm sure I'm not the only one who was shocked once Big John started singing. It's possible to count the number of lines he has had in the history of the program on one of the severed hands Eric gladly carried around with him while liberating the camp. Then he belts out some gospel. Impressive job, Big John.
Eric has always had a bit of a sadistic streak to go along with his disdain for mankind but the rampage he goes on at the vampire camp was a bit extreme. Most viewers probably expected the nameless guards to get pulled apart limb from limb with the occasional beheading and disemboweling. What Eric had in store for the doctor was an unpleasantness few expected.
The shot of the doctor bleeding out as he stared at his manhood lying on the floor in front of him was one of those moments that makes watching "True Blood" still worthwhile. As Eric flew away from a dejected Pam at the end of the episode one has to hope that isn't a signal that he will be leaving Bon Temps; it would be a far less fun of a place without Mr. Northman causing trouble.
After Bill used what was left of the magical Warlow blood to save all of the vampires from the son he was once again visited by the creepy women without clothes, or skin, that have been in his visions before. Bill ends up surviving along with the others instead of ending his time on Earth as the gross ladies tell him to do.
With one episode left there are a few loose ends left to tie up. With Sarah Newlin getting away it is a certainty that her anti-vampire crusade is far from over. It also seems unlikely that Alcide's break from the pack will be that clean. I'm sure at some point the pregnancy that Sam smelled on Nicole will need to be dealt with.
The biggest question concerns what is going to happen to Warlow. At one point it seemed like all of the action was going to involve the mysterious new character but for the most part he has been out of sight/out of mind for the last couple of episodes. Well, his blood has been a major plot point, but he's just been chilling in the faerie graveyard waiting for Sookie to marry him for the last 3 or 4 episodes. There has got to be some sort of resolution in that plot line and hopefully a bit more action involving him in the finale.
Next week all of this should be wrapped up. Feel free to discuss what you think might happen to the residents of Louisiana's craziest little town in the comments.
