SPOILER WARNING!!! Do not read ahead if you have not seen the fifth episode of True Blood's Season 7 "Lost Cause".
This episode opens where the last left off: the survivors of the battle at Fangtasia are left to clean up the mess caused by the bloody deaths of the Hep-V vampires and the vigilantes from Bon Temps. Inside, Willa argues with Eric and Pam, telling Eric that he was a terrible maker and Pam that it's her fault that Tara met the true death. Eric agrees with her, and reveals their plan to kill Sarah Newlin: since she was "practically her step mother" they have turned to Willa for any clues to her whereabouts. Willa agrees to help them on one condition: Eric has to release her. Eric does so, and Willa reveals that Sarah had a secret vampire sister, Amber, who lives in Dallas. It was nice to see Willa providing some useful information that helped to drive the plot, as so far this season she has been very much a background character.
Eric and Pam head to Dallas, where they meet Sarah's sister, who has been infected by Hep-V herself. Amber reveals that Sarah did call her looking for help, but that she refused her as the Hep-V virus Sarah released into the vampire population claimed her vampire boyfriend's life. However, Amber rightly believes that Sarah will turn to their Republican parents for aid. Pam and Eric attend a Republican fundraiser in cognito, however, before they can learn anything from Sarah's parents, the Yakuza attacks the function, killing people, including Sarah's parents, indiscriminately. Sarah is in attendance, and flees once she hears the sound of guns, however happens to be intercepted by Eric. Eric nearly manages to kill her before being interrupted by the Yakuza. Although he manages to kill the Yakuza, Sarah manages to escape. I always love any storyline involving Pam, Eric and Sarah, however, I found it a tad unbelievable that a group of men would attack a political gala so indiscriminately, however, I suppose anything is possible in a show that features vampires, werewolves and witches. Again, the small moments that showcase the relationship between Eric and Pam were the most emotionally charged of the episode, and serve as a credit to the acting skills of Alexander Skarsgard and Kristin Bauer van Straten.
Back in Bon Temps, Sookie arrives home to her empty house, ready to grieve for Tara and Alcide. Lafayette and James show up and send her off to bed while they clean the house in preparation for Alcide's fathers arrival the next day. However, when Sookie wakes up she finds the house full of food and ready for a party - Alcide's father, Lafayette and James convince her that the town needs a chance to let loose and have fun after everything that has happened, and that its what Tara and Alcide would have wanted. At the party, Alcide's father raises a toast for his son, who died a hero. Lettie Mae crashes the toast, having drugged her husband into falling asleep in order to attend the party, however, Sookie allows her to stay and say a few words for Tara, who she asserts was a hero as well. During the party, Andy surprises everyone by proposing to Holly, who happily accepts! I saw this coming, however, it was nice to see a light at the end of the tunnel for poor Holly.
Things take a turn, however, when Lettie Mae sneaks up on Willa and stabs her in an attempt to drink her blood in order to see a vision of Tara again. Sam manages to disarm her, however, Nicole begins to rant and rage about how people are dead and the town has a party anyway! Sam tries to calm her down, but she insists that he take her home. Finally, Nicole says something worthwhile! The people of Bon Temps ARE crazy, and a party is definitely not appropriate when so many people lost their lives in the Hep-V vampire attack. Also, I can see Lettie Mae spiralling back into her Season 1-era habits, and she is clearly losing her grip on reality since the death of Tara. I will be very surprised if she survives the season.
During the party, James tries to get some affection from Jessica, but she brushes him off as she has for the last few months of their relationship. He goes outside and talks with Lafayette, where he confirms that he was in a gay relationship with a man who died during the Vietnam War, shortly before he was turned. Lafayette kisses him, and James does nothing to stop him. A few minutes later, Jessica walks out looking for James, however, she finds him in their car having sex with Lafayette! Jessica has Jason rescind James' invitation to the Stackhouse home, who then tells Lafayette he needs to be alone. Jason tries to comfort Jessica, however, Lafayette barges in and accuses her of not knowing anything about James and not caring about other people's happiness. After Lafayette leaves, Jason confesses that he is having serious doubts about his relationship with Violet. The pair proceed to have sex, and are unknowingly heard by Violet, who looks quite menacing as she leaves the party. Although I fully expected James and Lafayette to end up together, and for Jason and Jessica to reunite, I was surprised that this developed so quickly. I hope we are able to continue to watch these two relationships develop in the final half of the season.
And finally, Bill appears distracted the entire episode, and we are constantly treated to unnecessary flashbacks of his human life, where he opposed the American Civil War and attempted to desert. He leaves the party early, after sharing a quiet moment of reflection with Sookie and returns to his home for a bath. When he gets out of the tub and stares in the mirror, he has a shocked expression on his face. The camera then pans onto his chest, where the tell-tale black veins of the Hepatitis V virus have inexplicably appeared. I was actually really shocked by this twist! I have gone on record as saying that I don't find the Hep-V virus threatening since Eric became infected as it seems obvious that a cure will be found. However, with BOTH Eric and Bill being infected, it seems very possible that the writers are setting up for at least one of them to meet the true death before an antidote can be discovered.
Overall rating: ★★★★
We are officially at the halfway point of the final season! I felt that "Lost Cause" was a strong follow up to last weeks action packed episode, and that the loss of two of our favourite characters was finally reflected upon by those that remain. It was nice to see all the regular characters brought together as a group, however, I do feel that this could have been achieved by giving them one final "big bad" to face, which would in turn give the season a clearer direction. On the other hand, although the season so far lacks a clear antagonist, this episode markedly moved up several character-driven storylines (much quicker than I would have anticipated) all of which promise to be interesting!
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