Episode Title: “Life Matters”
Writer: Brian Buckner
Director: Romeo Tirone
Previously on “True Blood”:
“Death, death, death… afternoon tea… death, death, death… quick shower…” – Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill
“Life Matters” doesn’t quite make up for the volatile and spotty season that preceded it, but it’s a damned good thing this episode exists. “Life Matters” is “True Blood” at its very best, embracing a simple dramatic juxtaposition – celebrating the life of a supporting character, intercut with a mass albeit cathartic murder spree – to impressive effect. Thoughtful, satisfactory, ironic and focused… would that all episodes of this show were half this ambitious, and even a third as successful. Or at least boasted as much witty dialogue.
“We made a deal, Sookie,” Billith says as Sookie Stackhouse nurses Warlow’s wounds, after last week’s reveal that Eric has drained the half-fairy/half-vampire within an inch of his life. “I know we did, Bill, but Eric took our deal and fucked it in the ass. You’re the god of all vampires, deal with your vampire.” As Sookie bites a chunk out of her own arm – which people do very cavalierly on “True Blood,” like it ain’t no thing (in real life, it is) – Billith bares his teeth.
“Seriously? I’m gnawing at my own arm and you’re going to drop fang on me?”
From there “Life Matters” segues into Eric’s assault on Camp Vamp, in broad daylight, slaughtering all the guards and telling the inmates, “Gentlemen, you’re free to go.” It is, of course, still lunchtime, so rather than exit the premises they start murdering and torturing their captors. In particular I like the shitty, uncomfortable forced therapy session with Doctor Finn (Pruitt Taylor Vince), in which something very disquieting occurred with a rabbit? Something like that. Gross.
While Eric leads the survivors of the camp in a revolution, engaging in more gore than a typical season of “The Walking Dead” – good detail: Eric brings several severed arms into the camp, not sure which one has clearance – the rest of the cast of “True Blood” comes together for the funeral of Terry Bellefleur, who died earlier this season. While grotesque satisfaction is meted out on dozens if not hundreds of evil assholes, “True Blood” also dedicates half an episode to the little moments that make every single life matter, using hitherto unseen flashbacks with Terry’s acclimation to civilian life to illustrate his impact, vulnerability and strength.
“Life Matters” resists the urge to wrap the episode up in a very specific point about this contrast, leaving the message (or perhaps lack thereof) feeling more universal than it would have with a big speech at the end, putting a finer point on it. Issues of who “deserves” to die are dealt with on different levels. Eric ignores Billith’s pleas to save Steve Newlin’s life, Billith gladly head stomps the doctor who invented Hepatitis V, and Jason struggles with his urge to kill Sarah Newlin, eventually deciding against shooting her in the head. The best line of dialogue, and one of the best dying words in recent (fictional) memory… Steve Newlin screams, with Sarah Newlin looking on from above, “I love you… Jason Stackhooooooouse!”
Billith successfully averts the prophecy at the last minute, allowing all the vampires in the so-called “White Room,” which Sarah Newlin floods with sunlight, to drink his blood. It turns out anyone who drinks Warlow’s blood can now bestow the gift of daywalking, which… Wait, is that permanent? Billith drank it days ago and still enjoys a decent mid-day stroll. That’s a gamechanger for the whole series.
As the vampires exit the facility, dancing euphorically in the sun and heroically destroying the tainted bottles of True Blood, the episode cuts briefly to Honolulu, Hawaii, where vampires hijack and destroy a shipment of Hep V. Strangely, the show never cuts anywhere else to show that the bottles never reached their destinations. Either only Hawaii is immune or someone forgot or ran out of the money necessary to show the world saved from the killer virus. Meh. I assume everything’s fine now.
With a thrilling finale to Camp Vamp, a sensitive interlude with the rest of the cast – including a brief mention of Hoyt, who apparently is doing rather well with an unattractive girlfriend (not sure why we needed that detail, but whatever) – and some stellar acting from Alexander Skarsgård and Ryan Kwanten in particular, “Life Matters” ekes out a series highlight amidst an otherwise unremarkable season of “True Blood.” But the season premiere of “Breaking Bad” was on so nobody probably even noticed. Too bad.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
