We get it, series finales are tough work that often leave fans divided. But True Blood has been struggling with its message for a while now and the series finale just proves the show really lost its point.
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We could stand behind this whole “Bill has to die” sentiment if Arlene, Hoyt and Lafayette didn’t all get to live out their happily-ever-afters together as though their love story doesn’t really count in the grand True Blood reality. Sookie (Anna Paquin) has to give up her happiness, as Bill (Stephen Moyer) puts it, because she deserves a normal life with children. And, for a show that was previously so progressive, this sentiment just pushes that glass ceiling down a fair few inches. Aside from the obvious options of adoption or sperm donation, Bill’s idea that children complete life is antiquated. Too many people are having babies these days because they think it will make them happy or somehow solve their issues in life or relationships, and True Blood does not need to be encouraging this idea.
We liked Bill’s comments to Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) about their darkness last week. That was a much more convincing argument the show should have stuck with.
Now, Sookie has always wanted that family dynamic and that “normal” life. But wasn’t the whole point of True Blood was that normal is overrated? That normalcy is the fantasy and the insanity that True Blood presented was closer to the unpredictable nature of this existence? Not to mention, Sookie should be the one to make the choice for herself.
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But the show squashes all those brilliant, pondering thoughts in one fell swoop by giving us an ending that is full of happiness so overdone it feels like the end of a Shakespeare comedy. At least Shakespeare knew how to be ironic.
Now, we do have to give the show credit for ending the Team Bill versus Team Eric debate in a new and unexpected way. In an entertainment world chock-full of love triangles, True Blood did something a show has yet to do: They ended with Sookie choosing to be with an unidentified dark-haired man. We do appreciate that statement because soul mates are overrated and overdone. By ending Sookie with this man, we understand that love is a choice we make, not some omnipotent force we don’t control.
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And we could stand behind the happy, roundtable Thanksgiving ending if only there’d been a few blood bags and quirky terrors peppered in instead of all rainbows and sunshine. Because, up until recently, we were under the impression this show was all about going against authority, finding happiness in imperfection, not putting limits on love and embracing the unexpectedness of life no matter how ridiculous the obstacle.
The show took all these beautiful sentiments and swept them under the rug that framed the lackluster Thanksgiving dinner that gave us nothing but a flat and oxymoronic conclusion to a once brilliant and challenging show.
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