We’re two episodes into the final season of True Blood, which means we’re two episode closer to last call at Merlotte’s (now Bellefleur’s) and Fangtasia. Yes, we’re running out of chances to drink up all the crazy carnage and carnality in Bon Temps and its environs. It would be nice if we could savor all of this for a spell, but we know narratives will have to come to an end, that characters will die, and that the True Death doesn’t discriminate (R.I.P., Tara). If Sookie’s fairy godmother were still alive, these are the three wishes we’d ask her to grant in the little time we have left so that we’d know that the show was heading toward a fulfilling finish.
Wish 1: Truly explore the ramifications of Sam Merlotte’s Feed-a-Vamp buddy plan.
We’ve already asked for this one, but it bears repeating — even though the Hep-V vampires have already attacked, let’s see how the plan plays out and changes relationships throughout the last season. If every uninfected adult human is involved in a monogamous feeding relationship with a healthy vampire, there should be plenty of new hookups to explore, because as we know and Sam seems to have forgotten, this blood exchange usually goes beyond food and simple protection — if a vampire gives his/her blood to a human to heal them, that human usually has sexual fantasies about that vampire. When Eric heals Jason, he tells him, “You are in for a treat.†So if Lafayette is feeding James (Jessica’s vamp boyfriend), and if Jessica is too busy protecting Adilynn to spend much time with James … Which leads us to the next request …
Wish 2: Give us more same-sex love scenes.
Not just fantasy same-sex love scenes, which always seem to end before anything happens. Jason and Eric is a good start, but still just a dream. What about making sure Lafayette gets some love? It’s been a long time since Jesus, and even then, Lafayette and Jesus didn’t get the same kinds of scenes that are par for the course for other couples on the show, even though Nelsan Ellis has not been shy about showing us his moves. (It’s too late to wish for Pam-Tara scenes, but we only got to see Pam zipping up there — give her a Sapphic moment with a series regular, not a semi-anonymous extra.)
Wish 3: Wrap up the Sookie-Bill love story in a way that doesn’t betray all that came before.
Once upon a time, a naïve girl met a not-so-naïve vampire in a bar, and he opened up her world. She fell in love, believing fate brought them together, not knowing that their meeting was engineered by forces who wished to harm and exploit her as-yet-unrealized powers. As Sookie came into her own, she discovered that Bill had been spying on her — and turned him away. But although he originally inserted himself into her life and even encouraged a threat on her life so that he could get her to drink his blood, all part of a plan to procure her for Queen Sophie-Anne — who was tipped off by Sookie’s own cousin Hadley, Bill too fell in love. He proposed, and he even risked his life many times to protect both Sookie’s life and the truth about her fairy heritage. Sure, these two have had their ups and downs (drainings, stakings, and betrayals on both sides) — but is there any way these two can forgive each other? If only True Blood could find a way to give these crazy kids a way to go home together one last time …
But better than that — could the townspeople of Bon Temps give Sookie some love, too? We understand her blaming herself for all the death and grief in her life — survivor’s guilt — but everyone else heaping it on, after all that’s happened, is a bit much. Was it her fault that vampires existed, came out of the coffin, or got infected with Hep-V? No. She might be a fang magnet because of her fairy blood (again, not her fault), but she’s helped save the town more than put it at risk. Before the lights go out, she deserves a little moment of recognition for her special place in their world. It doesn’t have to be as formal as Buffy’s Class Protector Award, but Sookie’s legacy shouldn’t be as town danger-whore.