The biggest thing "Lost Cause" has going for it is the fact that it packs True Blood's entire cast in one location. That brilliant move focuses the hour, and allows all of the characters to interact with one another instead of wandering off on their own useless subplots. And as a result, True Blood produced a surprisingly excellent installment for the second episode in a row.




I'm not usually a fan of relationship dramas this close to the end, but the various couplings going on at the Stackhouse residence proved to be immensely amusing. Not only did we get Jessica walking in on Lafayette and James doing the dirty deed, we also witnessed Violet overhear Jessica and Jason getting it on. The former hookup had been brewing under the surface for a while, but the latter is bound to create some explosive fireworks (knowing Violet's highly unstable behavior). I'm not exactly shocked that the writers decided to reunite Jason and Jessica, but perhaps it could have been executed with a bit more finesse? But let's be honest, finesse has never been True Blood's modus operandi.


Speaking of couples, the writers have evidently realized that they want Sookie and Bill to be the show's endgame couple. Honestly I would have preferred Eric, but since it looks like he won't be getting a happy ending (I'd love to be proven otherwise), I guess we'll have to make our peace with Bill and Sookie. Now if only we didn't have to suffer through those horrendous Civil War flashbacks. Can anyone tell me what those were about? Because I'm pretty sure I zoned out. Here's hoping they tie to the last-minute reveal of Bill contracting the virus.




My favorite element of this episode was watching Pam and Eric infiltrate the gala and hunt down Sarah Newlin. It's always great to watch Alexander Skarsgard and Kristen Bauer van Straten play off each other, and this was certainly no exception. Plus, we got some thrilling action with the Yakuza crashing the party and slaughtering everyone in sight (including Sarah's parents), culminating with Eric facing off with Sarah before marvelously (and gruesomely) tearing a guy's face off. Now this is the True Blood I fell in love with.


Sadly, something prevented this episode from being truly great, and that's my completely and utter detachment from Alcide's death. I've rambled on before regarding how pointless his character was, but "Lost Cause" really needed us to care about his loss. Since he was nothing more than a useless pair of abs, Sookie's loss ended up being a terribly unemotional affair for viewers. I know I should have felt sad, but I felt anything but. And that's a egregious failure on the writing team's part.