(Season 1, Episode 12 – “You’ll Be the Death of Me” – Season Finale)
Wow, you guys called it! The killer, that is. I won’t say until after the jump, in case anyone hasn’t watched it yet. But overall, this was another fine episode and a great finale to season one. True Blood has been picked up for another season, which I believe debuts in the summer of 2009. It can’t get here fast enough, as far as I’m concerned.
So, you guys are the smartest TV viewers in history, because you fingered Rene as the killer way back. And it was clear in this episode when the camera zeroed in on him as Sookie told a jailed Jason, “You need to shut up, because I’m real close to finding out who the real killer is.” Chilling, because you knew right then where the episode was headed. What I don’t get is why Rene wasn’t broadcasting those thoughts to Sookie at the jail. I guess he had some pretty good mind control going, until the scene towards the end anyway when he revealed his thoughts to her.
We know now that Sam and Mary Ann have a history. Any guesses on what that might be? When Tara woke up in that beautiful home with the servants and gourmet food and handsome black guy playing the guitar … it made me think that it wasn’t real. Like she was in some kind of alternative universe or dream state or something. Maybe Mary Ann IS a witch who can conjure up all of this stuff.
What an intense scene when Bill woke up and ventured out into the sunlight to help Sookie, while Sam was also racing to her aid in his dog form. At that point, I had to wonder which guy was right for her – Bill or Sam. But by the episode’s end, it’s clear that she’s meant to be with Bill. I’m SO glad she invited him back into her house!
And I loved that scene at the end, where Sookie opens the door and exclaims, “You’re alive!” And Bill says, “Well, technically no. But I AM healed.”
Question: When Bill arrived at the fight scene in the cemetery, did it seem like he gave Sookie special powers to wake up and start smashing Rene with the shovel? Wow, those vampires sure get grisly in the sunlight, don’t they?
And that was Lafayette in the back of the sheriff’s car, right? Do you think he’s dead? And who do you think jumped him? And why did Tara and Sookie scream so loud?!
Clacked by Jane Boursaw 
on Nov 25, 2008 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
Hope that Bill wasn’t the one who killed Lafayette… that would suck!!!
I am still rooting for Sam to be the man.
Also Mary Ann and her pigs made me think of Homer’s Odyssey and Circe.
That’s interesting JD. According to Wikipedia, Circe transformed her enemies or people who offended her into animals. Also:
This has some very interesting possibilities especially when you consider that she knows Sam. Also, the description of Circe’s mansion as being a place of ultimate material comforts (food, fawning servants, etc.) is an apt description of Mary Ann’s place.
I don’t think Bill killed Lafayette, but his “daughter” could have.
And I think Mary Ann is bad news for Sam and she’s going to come between him and Tara. :-(
I don’t know, I’m not sure if it was Lafayette in the back of the car. I think they might be psyching us out. I mean we see Lafayette get attacked right? Or do we? All we saw was Lafayette looking scared. We don’t see blood or violence or any attack really. Flash forward two weeks and we see a foot coming out of Det. Andy’s car. Why not just show us the whole body if it really is Lafayette? It could be anybody. The toenails were painted. Yes, that could be Lafayette but it could also be Tara’s mother, or that con artist voodoo woman. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking (I really like Lafayette’s character, despite his bad habit of selling drugs to people), but I just get a feeling that Lafayette being dead is what they want us to think until the show returns.
Just to add to my comment, Sam really broke my heart in this episode. Initially I disliked Sam’s character because I saw him as coming between Sookie and Bill. And I still prefer a Bill/Sookie pairing to a Sam/Sookie one. But when Sam lifted up Bill’s burnt body and said they had to get him out of the light, I realised what a truly selfless person he is. He could have just said to Sookie that there was obviously nothing they could do for Bill, leaving the way clear for himself. I think I heart Sam now. :-)
I think Bill fed on Lafayette in the scene where he appears to get attacked, but didn’t kill him. Bill’s childe probably did. Perhaps Bill had to lock him up so Sookie wouldn’t find out, and the childe (does she even have a name yet?) found him and drained him?
Seems Mary-Ann could be a shapeshifter. Seemed she was using the pig as a model – as Sam had explained a live animal being needed as a model. Also explains why she was randomly in the middle of the road when Tara was driving drunk. Perhaps she collects people to use as models – Sam suggested that wasn’t possible, but he seems somewhat of an amateur – or perhaps she can turn them like a werewolf would?
I’m wondering if the state senator was the one found dead in Andy’s car. Just a guess, could be wrong.
I also liked the homage to Near Dark with Bill’s exposure to sunlight. Very similar and very cool.
The leg that slipped into view from the car appeared to be an African American skin color, so I think it’s unlikely. But anything’s possible with this show!
The dead person is surely Lafayette.
I think Bill and Sam should both ditch Sookie. Her wishy washy tendency to moon over whichever guy is close at hand is annoying.
I read the book after the season finale or meanwhile. The first season matches the first book of the series. I gotta say the tvshow is far more developed character wise. The book is pretty straight fordward and easy to read just in case any wonders.
To shed some light :
Sookie wouldn’t be able to read Rene’s mind because it was pretty well hidden, it was something repulsive for him. When he killed his sister he also had sex with her right after and she was the only one he got a proper burial for because she was his sister (twisted fella).
They added some extra stuff not in the books for tv purposes (Tara doesn’t exist, neither the plot bout V as a drug). Mary Anne doesn’t show up (yet) and it’s Eric, not Bill, who kills the vampire at the club. Bill becomes an Agent for the Vampire Clan in order to prevent Eric from stealing Sookie from him.
Indeed, the first season was close to the first book. The 2nd half of the finale was setting up season 2 which comes from book 2. Tara does exist in the books, but she first appears midway through book 2. Her character in TB thus far is much different than the books.
Mary Ann and Eggs are in book 2, but it looks as if Alan Ball is enhancing their plotline/characters, though I do not believe he will change the essence of what Mary Ann actually is. The church does feature prominently in the 2nd book but Jason has no involvement with it. I suspect they needed something for his character to do in season 2 since I don’t think he has a significant storyline until much later in the book series. As mentioned above, Eric did kill Long Shadow and there was no vampire trial with a magistrate in the book. I will not mention Lafayette’s role in book 2….
I agree that the characters are more fleshed out in TB than the books, but the major reason for that is the book’s are entirely from Sookie’s point of view which isn’t feasible for TB unless they want to work Anna Paquin real hard.
Mary Ann is definitely a Circe-esque character. The direct correlations between her, the idyllic mansion and the pigs are a no brainer. The painting above Tara’s bed when she wakes up in the house would appear to be Circe with the cup she offered to Odysseus, though I can’t seem to find that painting anywhere on the net.