Not a good episode…
So, it’s Terry Bellefleur’s funeral and for some reason I just didn’t think it was all that good, even with the flashbacks that were meant to be touching and funny, they just weren’t happening. Scene after scene was boring when it came to showing how a few of his close friends first met Terry, and gave these supposed touchy feely nuggets where they extol his many virtues. Not one of them was close to life affirming, or displayed hidden greatness. The one with Sam and Andy fishing with Terry was the closest it came to being meaningful, when Terry tells them to return the hooked fish to the lake because “all life matters,” and while I agree with that sentiment, it wasn’t handled well, so ending up being another boring scene. Thankfully Eric had the good sense to slaughter lots of people, to at least make this a watchable episode, and the final quarter, when the vampires were doing their thing, was admittedly good.
Warlow is at death’s door (if that’s even possible for the undead) now that Eric has drained him of almost all the precious faerie blood. For some reason Sookie kept him tied constantly, when he only needed to be bound during proper daylight, but the writers couldn’t be bothered with complications that might have made sense, or give them extra work, so he was nicely prepared for Mr Northman. Sookie and Bill arrive too late for Warlow to be any use to Bill, but Sookie revives him with her special faerie blood. Bill wants to take him but Sookie zaps him away with her very handy glowing hands.
It’s Terry’s funeral and everyone has turned up, like Tara’s mother from way at the beginning, and also the pastor she married, who holds the service. His coffin is flag draped and the marines are ready to give the 21 gun salute. A few of his friends speak of how they met, and how much of a nice guy he was, and each of the speakers get a flashback scene with Terry. Andy learns which beer he likes, Sam gives him a job, and he meets Arlene. While everyone is paying tribute, Eric heads to the vampire facility to rescue his co-vamps but not far behind is Bill. He wants to use Eric’s blood to save the vampires waiting to meet the sun, but when he reaches the facility, all he finds is lots and lots of dismembered bodies. Eric is walking about with a couple of severed arms, which he uses to gain entrance to the inner rooms. He also gets to say hi to the doctor who killed his sister, by ripping off his collective penile objects and splattering them off the wall. Eye-watering stuff!
Sarah manages to sneak past the chaos, with ill will to the vampires on her mind. Eric and Bill must try to rescue their friends and Terry gets to act in one more episode. I just didn’t think much of this one I’m afraid, and I was hoping with it being the second to last episode of the season, it would have been way better than this. I suppose only one bad episode out of the season is pretty good — but the finale better be epic.
Grade: C+
Review by E. Blackadder, special to Influx Magazine
