To start off, I thought I might comment on the what Alan Ball's popular HBO vampire drama is based off. A series of pseudo-mystery/romance novels called the Southern Vampire Mysteries or the "Sookie Stackhouse Novels" as fans most likely associate with them. There are currently 11 of these books out at the moment with 2 more set to be in store within the next two years as well as 2 companion series that show the in-between stories of the heroine Sookie Stackhouse.
Like the show, the Southern Vampire Mysteries also revolves around the life of Bon Temps telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, as she shows us a world in which vampires (and as of Book 9) and two-natured creatures publicly live among the humans. Also like the show, we see that all the characters are not what they appear to be. This difference of character gives a fair amount of enjoyment for the reader and viewer since it brings complexity to each character and the situations which they are confronted.This is where the similarities end and the differences are entirely on how the person reads the books or watches the show.
When the show does it famous opening credits, there is a still that says "based off the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charliene Harris" meaning that the show is not going to be word for word from the books yet since the first episode, many of the books readers have complained Alan Ball had destroyed the books by making so many changes to the show...some famous ones include
- Introduction to Bill's progeny in Season 1 Episode 10, Jessica Hamby played by Deborah Ann Woll. Her character does not exist in the books but had had an impact in the show with several major characters ie: Bill, Jason, Hoyt, Sookie, Pam and Eric
- Lafayette surviving: The character of Lafayette Reynolds in Dead Until Dark had about a few lines but was a colorful character from little we saw of him. He dies in the beginning of Living Dead in Dallas by being found in Andy's car at the parking lot in Merlotte's and since Book 8 has had a cameo where in Merlotte's the popular meal there is the "Lafayette" burger (regret your decision Mrs. Harris?). The fact that Lafayette is still alive toward the end of Season 4 only occurred due to Nelsan Ellis' portrayal of this entertaining, flamboyant yet tragic character and the storyline that Alan Ball made with this character back in episode 1.
- Bill killing Londshadow: In Dead Until Dark it was Eric that killed Longshadow not Bill and was given a fine but had consequences from this in Dead as a Doornail. In the show, Bill was punished by creating Jessica which forever alter the course of several main characters perhaps even the start of when the show began to derailed from the books.
- Sam's background: This one annoys me with how many people complain of it. Sam didn't have a story until Book 9 and by then the show was already ready to be aired with Season 1 giving us a hint that Sam was adopted by a well to do family who we later find out in Season 3 adopted him from a white trash family. Cannot see how readers had a problem with this one when Mrs. Harris hadn't written a story for Sam when Alan Ball was coming up with his ideas..
- The "shower" scene: Will not go into much detail about this one here because it will have its own post in the future but basically Bill got a shower scene in Season 3 and Eric got a Narnia mind trip with a bed and sun.
Whenever a book is turned into a film or a television series, there is always a set of high expectation and almost bitter disappointed because the filmed adaption does not meet the standards that the book had. For the case of Southern Vampire Mysteries, it is a mediocre book series at best which got adapted into an acclaimed television program. I began to read the books during the 3rd season where I was not quite sure what direction the books were going but naturally I had assumed that it was almost the same so I never thought anything of it. The first that noticed is that the books are all in the viewpoint of Sookie Stackhouse where in the show it is given in the third party omniscient presence so we see the lives and thoughts of all the characters. Since it is in the view of Sookie Stackhouse, we are not aware of what goes on until Sookie knows and because she tends to take everything at face value, it may not always be true what she is told so we as an audience can also be lied to. One problem that the books have in being in the viewpoint of Sookie which is noticeable in the show is that she has a rather boring life, where the author spends about nearly 3 pages in several books talking about Sookie's daily chores. At some point, you cannot wait until it turns after sunset because then she is able to interact with Eric, Pam and Bill.
The characters and story settings are creative and there was a lot of thought put in on how the supernaturals have different hierarchies even where certain histories are given about the lives of the vampire politics. One section that comes to mind was in Dead in the Family where Eric explains to Sookie that the different sections in the United States are made up with the different forms of heavens from different ancient religions and that states such as California have three different kingdoms. Charlene Harris does a great job in explaining about how the her universe is run as a feudal system and that every vampire must know their place depending on how their age ranges but are able to contribute if they have some sort of special skill that the older vampires might find useful. We also are told that the shifters have many forms of creatures and according to Sam are in some kind secret society that has a blog online in order to connect with the rest of the world. The fairies with what little we know about are shown in both good and evil connotations that these characters might be the closest that Charline Harris has personally done to actual character development in the Sookie Stackhouse series.
The downside to the explanation of the supernatural is that because the world of these books revolve around Sookie, she is not interested in it. So we are told very little on it because if it does not matter to Sookie then it should not matter to the audience. I don't know whether Charline Harris does this intentionally or she just has a short attention span but I cannot say how many inconsistencies are presented in the series that at times it has been difficult to count. One example is that in the beginning of Dead Until Dark, Sookie explains to the audience that it has been almost two years since the vampires have come public to the world and this book came out in 2001 so naturally we all assume that this book takes place in a pre-September 11 world since there is no hint on it. After All Together Dead, we are told that it has been five years since the vampires are made public to the world which is told with Katerina but in Dead and Gone, Sookie says to the audience that her grandmother has been dead for nearly two years and she died in Dead Until Dark.This type of inconsistency does add a lot of confusion that was due to Katrina being added as a the start of the events in the later books, the timeline of the books are skewed but it doesn't matter in the long run although when reading the first few books, the confusion begins to add up.
The Southern Vampire Mysteries are in itself interesting readings for a weekend of relaxing although each book has many problems that I think just seeing the main problems in the books as a whole are sometimes never shown. The changes of the show are given much more attention simply because they were not in the books but when reading the series, it is usually better explained or shown as to why the changes of the show were done in the books.
To say that the Season 4 Finale of True Blood When I Die was strange would be a gross understatement. When I compared it to last season's finale where everyone seemed to have had an erupted ending to where it feels like you paused your DVR for nine entire months. I think that for this finale, there seems to be a bit of a closure or a foreshadowing for all the characters to where it does feel like a "the end" but more of a like a "the end...for now". I think the question that was going around after Ep.11 was "How can you kill a ghost?". Since the finale title had to with death by using a remake of Laura Nyo's 1967 Classic with the famous line "and when I'm gone, there will be one child born in a world to carry on" the obvious symbolism meant a significant death(s) which will be made up for a new vampire turned into the show.
Death Count: 4 Humans dead? and 3 Vampire Deaths
Right after the events of the previous night, Sookie ponders about the idea that her grandmother could be watching over her then asks Tara if she believes that Gran may be in heaven. Then a strange comment made by Sookie where she states that she hopes to sit on her porch with her grandchildren with Tara right next to her as two sweet old ladies. One resolution with Sookie this season which seems in the long run to be a good or bad depending on the audience is that Sam surprisingly hires her back after he knows she has been gone for more than two weeks!! Although that last week is excusable because he realized Tommy fired her but the time before is no excuse since he was disappointed in Sookie missing for nearly a year. Dressing up as a bunny is lighthearted punishment, that girl has got to be the worst employee to exist but maybe a decrease in drama along with Sam new's best friend Alcide coming into Merlotte's every so often could bring her back into her pre-supernatural drama routine. Sookie in this season has gone to where she can be sympathetic to almost pathetic in the way that she constantly says she is no one's human but yet she needs to be in the middle of the danger for Eric and/or Bill to rescue her. This was something that irritated me from the beginning of Season 4 because her independence should have been the main priority instead it was falling in love with a vampire who she would have never even considered sleeping with had he not acted like a child and realizing despite how much she hated Bill, she still loves him but she is not the main priority of his life. What I was glad about Sookie in this finale is that she finally made the choice that she should had made in the beginning where she declines all suitors and decides to be her own person. She does this after Bil renounces her and Eric states that they have no obstacles in being together. Choosing neither vampire does seem to redeem her character slightly but the moment is somehow ruined at the beginning of the scene where she seems to have an orgasm from Eric and Bill drinking her blood in order to heal themselves, showing that Sookie will continue to tease both Bill and Eric the next season regardless of their supposed changes.
All the vampires in this episode (expect for Jessica) are in a dilemma caused to the events of the last episodes. Pam marches to Fangtasia demanding an explanation to Eric then has her long overdue rant in her hatred towards Sookie in her entertaining quote "I am so sick of Sookie and her stupid fairy vagina!!! I found it rather tragic that the only person who was at Pam's side at the end of this finale was her the pincushion Ginger since she realized that the one person who she could be herself with now considers her expandable over the same humans that they spent years in humiliating. Not all the problems of Pam where completely Sookie's fault because Eric acting like a lovestruck child did not help their situation and it does contradict Eric's behavior towards Pam from the last 3 seasons where he now puts Sookie first before the very progeny whose torture in Fangtasia during Season 3 changed Eric into the Vampire Hamlet. Bil and Eric are first shown in this finale half naked, tied up (prayers have been answered) and ready to be burned at the stake as Marine now uses the powers of both Lafayette and the recently deceased Jesus to take her revenge on the two vampires that lead to her demise. Then are saved by Holly's counteract followed by a series of ghosts from Bon Temps cemetery convincing Marnie she is better off than the vampires because death brings peace whilst the undead seek redemption throughout their "soulless" existence. Afterwards, Bill and Eric are then given a peaceful last moment with Sookie where she states to Bill that she forgives him and continues to love him which does not mean that they will start over instead that there might be hope between them and should there be a relationship with Eric, it would have to be one where they both aware of each others faults and still be willing to give to themselves at the end of the day meaning that Eric can not be "brain-damaged" and Sookie is not in the rebound to realize this. The last sight of Bill and Eric for Season 4 comes in the form where Nan and her "gay storm troopers" appear to issue the true death but a change of events has revealed that not only has Nan quit the AVL but she wants to mutiny against the authority by blackmailing Bill to join her or she will reveal to the authority about Sookie's magical origins. We are finally viewing that Nan Flanagan a character we have all come to either love or hate since episode 1, a complete force to be reckoned with is pretty limitless even with her cruel demeanor. Even if she told the authority that Sookie was fairy, what makes her believe that it can benefit her? Eric's supposed friends in high places may be able to her executed and have the other vampires pardoned or for that matter, she was the one that gave Bill power and if Bill is willing to survive she will be the first one on his death list since there is no longer any control over him. Referring back to in ep. 2 of Season 4 during the second flashback, Bill swears a blood oath to Nan where he remains loyal and truthful as long as he lives in order to remain king. Since Nan was the only who proclaimed him king, the blood oath can no longer be a worry in regards to Bill since there is no proof of treason on his part making him not only powerful towards Nan a deadly force to be reckoned with. After nearly 30 years of humiliation, lies and disastrous disagreements; Bill finally stakes Nan after Eric kills her guards. Two things I learned from that scene: 1)a vampire's head is still intact after being staked through the heart where you can see Nan's hair perfectly coiffed 2) Eric's brash behavior worked to their advantage.
Jessica and Jason's problems are the least concerned with the main story arc that this love triangle between Jason, Jessica and Hoyt probably has been the hardest and most complex this series has done in terms of love triangles. None of them are equally good or bad and these are people that are identifiable as well as looking back since when they were first introduced back in Season 1, all three of them are now in the position that they are due to forces beyond their control. Jason's loss of his best friend and perhaps his family was due to his sexual selfishness; Hoyt's loss of his family and friends was to his immaturity and inability to cope with the decisions those around him made; Jessica's loss over her life back in Season 1 then the loss of Hoyt this season was due to having a restless attitude which can be faulted to her age and experiences but I think that her losses are probably the less tragic because Jessica has not only accepted them but proudly embraced when others question her. Hoyt still has a lot of maturity to catch up on while Jason continue to assess the depths of Jason Stackhouse. A task not easily able to maintain but for Jason and Jessica, they seem to coping with their insecurities together not making entirely friends with benefits but almost seem to have replaced the main counsels in their lives through each other. Although the downside to this is Jessica wants the Jason from Season 1 who can get any girl he wants while Jason continues to feel guilty over what he has lost in order to sleep with Jessica and ponders whether or not it was worth it.
Although Jason's and Jessica's story was not involved with the main storyline they did interact in the main plot whereas Sam's story was so far from the main plot that it could have been a program on its own. This episode he does not seem to have any presence other than being "adopted" by Maxine during Tommy's funeral, rehiring Sookie and having one last scene with Luna where they think to themselves the idea of having a happy ending can be possible. Sam's story line somehow was normal compared to the others but its connect with some other stories that seemed to have been resolved between episodes 2-11 with Marcus that was more focused into Alcide's story and Tommy's skinwalking which was more focused on Tommy struggling to change after killing his parents and being shot by Sam a year earlier.
The semi-humans in this show, I think their story was perhaps the most tragic this season because these were people who did not ask for any of the problems that lead them to make the decisions that they made. Tara had a great new life but only the return of Sookie and the realization that Pam will kill her without a moment's notice causes her to join Marnie's coven watching as both vampire and humans struggling to live due to deeds of creatures who were no longer in this world over 400 years earlier. The reason that Lafayette and Jesus were even in Marnie's coven in the first place was just to teach Lafayette in expanding his power while they were both enjoying their lives together. The outcome of this coven leads to Tara's and Jesus' deaths (not given information about this until next season but I am sure that the old Tara will no longer be alive) and Lafayette discovering that he is a medium. Ever since Season 1, Tara and Lafayette always state that they will do whatever it takes to have better lives yet they constantly have so much heartache that when seeing them from the very first episode on their humor and optimism to now I can't help but cry and wonder what went wrong. Jesus and Lafayette could have had a happy life together yet Jesus states that all that happens in life doesn't matter when death occurs which does comfort Lafayette better than Tara's speech about being unaware. Tara is as always willing to do whatever it takes to save those that she loves and taking out a bullet for Sookie when Debbie appeared on a drug induced rampage for blood which is how Season 4 ends....Sookie screaming for someone to help her while Tara is drowning in pool of her own blood nearby a dead Debbie with the strangest dying moment "please don't kill me" she loses her threatening demeanor from this to where even in the end, Debbie remains to be perhaps the most tragic supernatural side character on True Blood.
The ending may had been more sad than suspenseful because characters that were mostly innocent were the casualties of the main storyline. Tommy dies due to a misunderstanding from Sam and Marcus, Jesus dies because Marnie wanted his power, Tara becomes involved with Marnie only after Pam threatens the death of Naomi. Debbie wanted a baby and a normal life yet Alcide was never going to give her what she wanted and she saw no other alternative than a subconscious suicide to the other person she believed that stole the man she loved from her. Not even dying was the direct result; Pam a character who had to beg to the Bill for help after her face was rotted is given a banishment from her the same maker she risked her pride her and Hoyt is betrayed by his two best friends. For a sadder finale, the characters that seems to have shined the most from this episode where Bill, Jason, Lafayette, Jesus, Pam, Jessica and even in some small way Marnie. Showing that the those that left to the other world found peace while those that stayed may continue to seek the redemption that continues to haunt them.
New Facts for Season 5
- Steven Newlin is a now a vampire and Jason has about a few hours to find out what his purpose is before dawn approaches
- Russel is back and judging by the last time he was seen, he may be out for fairy blood or royal blood
- A werewolf arrives in Merlotte's which has some consequences for Sam and perhaps Alcide
- Rene warns Arlene that Terry not be the sweetheart we have come to known which may have something to do with his old army buddy appearing in the Season 4 finale.
