I wonder why I never gave up on True Blood. It's no secret that the series lost a lot of what made it special over the course of the past six seasons. When the show premiered back in 2008, it stormed onto the airwaves as a groundbreaking blend of thrills, gore and sex. But somewhere along the way (I like to think that was season four although many viewers lost faith by the show's sophomore year), True Blood began piling on the supernatural creatures and began wasting way too much time on utterly useless subplots.



But there's hope; the vampy drama's seventh and final season is upon us, and I'm praying that the show's writers can bring out the big guns and let True Blood go out with a bang and its legacy intact.


Sadly, this premiere didn't do much to restore my faith in the show. Yes, I love spending time in Bon Temps, but this hour was particularly devoid of excitement and thrills. Are the Hep-V vamps supposed to be a tangible threat for the season? A show like True Blood needs an uber Big Bad (think Russell) to really drive the momentum home and ensure some sort of cohesive throughline. Hopefully, a badass villain will take center-stage soon, because this hour felt especially directionless.





It's worth nothing that one of True Blood's biggest flaws is the fact that the show's heroine is such a frustrating and often irritating protagonist. Sookie Stackhouse might have intrigued me during the first season, but the show never really gave her a sense of agency throughout the years. It always felt like she was ping-ponging her way through various love interests without ever truly serving a purpose. Her supposedly climactic speech at the end of the premiere was obviously supposed to be a rousing moment for the character, but it fell flat on its face. What was I supposed to feel as a viewer? That Sookie had been misjudged by the town's population? That she was finally ready to take matters into her own hands? It all felt tremendously messy and forced.



But the episode's biggest question mark is Tara's supposed death. I'd love it if the show actually has the guts to follow through with her off-screen death, but I have a feeling she'll be showing up soon enough. If the character is indeed dead however, then I will surely commend the writers for at least taking some sort of risk as they begin the show's final journey. More deaths, please!