True Blood Almost Good to the Last Drop

During the first few episodes of the seventh and final season of TRUE BLOOD, it was starting to look as though the question wasn't "How was it going to end?" but rather "Who was gonig to be left?" Death after death of recurring characters drove home the finality to the viewers -- it was really going to be over, these characters really were not going to come back.

And yet, the seventh season was also one of exactly that -- characters coming back. Whether it was as a ghost, the way Tara (Rutina Wesley) returned in the V-fueled dreams of her mother, or as a prodigal son in the return of Hoyt Fortenberry (Jim Parrack) who comes back from Alaska, still having amnesia of why he left Bon Temps.

The overarching storyline of this final season is the disease Hep V -- a poison that attacks the blood of vampires, killing them in a matter of weeks or days. So many humans are infected with it, thanks to the machinations of vampire-hating evangelist Sarah Newlin (Anna Camp) that desperate packs of vampires band together seeking out fresh, untainted blood supplies. This virus also contaminated the human-blood alternative beverage, True Blood, putting the Japanese manufacturer into bankruptcy. This makes for a violent and forced partnership between the manufacturers and our favorite pair of cynical vamps, Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) in order to exact vengeance against Sarah Newlin.

The consistent draw to TRUE BLOOD, however, has always been its lead characters -- Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer). From the very first season, their relationship has been tumultuous, with the weirdness factor increasing exponentially with every passing season. As season seven opens, Sookie is now living with the werewolf, Alcide (Joe Manganiello). However, this relationship reaches a violent end early on, leaving Sookie to wonder about her feelings for Bill -- who is dying of Hepatitis V at an accelerated rate due to the carrier blood being Sookies (and therefore, fairy). And for years, fans have wanted to know if the two were going to end up together. The controversial ending to the series left many fans shaking their head in frustration, as the creators opted for a sort of non-ending ending like THE SOPRANOS. Who was that faceless man with Sookie in that flash forward? We'll never know who, and we'll never know why he was the one.

There were plenty of other subplots in this final season, which I won't be addressing in detail here. The parts I've already gone over should be more than enough to intrigue a prospective viewer. And if you've heard rumors that TRUE BLOOD can be a little graphic, gratuitous, gorey -- and, yes, even genuinely freaky -- well, you probably haven't even come close to how true that is.

The Blu-ray home release of TRUE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON has several bonus features the fans can sink their fangs into. "True Blood: The Final Days on Set" takes viewers behind the scenes to see the filming and listen to the actors share their thoughts. "True Blood Line" is an interactive way to follow the follow the twisting, torturous paths that many of the relationships took over the course of the series. "True Blood: A Farewell to Bon Temps" is the quickest speedrun recap of the previous six series that brings a viewer up to date while also not being afraid to poke fun at itself. And, of course, there are several audio commentaries on episodes from the likes of Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and others.

TRUE BLOOD: If you've had one taste of it, you want to stick with it through the last bite.