'TRUE BLOOD' 3.12 - "Evil Is Going On"

That star rating on the left is a generous reward for every part of the finale that touched on Russell Edgington's (Denis O'Hare) fate, because everything else about this finale was horribly disjointed, plain boring, tedious setup, or an assortment of piffling scenes to fill time. "Evil Is Going On" was essentially a microcosm of this ungainly third season.

Season 3: RIP

To recap what happened: Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) started to have more frightening visions, before being comforted by Jesus (Kevin Alejandro) and told that he's tapped into some latent magical powers; Hoyt (Jim Parrack) affirmed his relationship with Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) by buying a house, to the consternation of his mother; Sam (Sam Trammell) revealed he's a shape-shifter to Tara (Rutina Wesley), then chased down his brother Tommy (Marshall Allman) who had stolen cash from his safe; Jason (Ryan Kwanten) helped Crystal's (Lindsay Pulsipher) meth-dealing family avoid a DEA raid; a compassionate Sookie (Anna Paquin) rescued Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and Edgington from dying in the sunlight; before Eric, having seen a vision of his dead maker Godric, found a way to keep the half-incinerated Edgington alive but contained for at least a century...

My issues with "Evil Is Going On" are the same as they've been all season: the majority of storylines hold little interest to me, and it was particularly frustrating to see them all reach no worthwhile conclusion. You invest nearly three months of your TV viewing, only to find you're going to have to wait nearly a year to see some pay-off? Unforgivable.

The burden of Jason, Sam and Lafayette's weak subplots looks set to continue into season 4, denying this episode a strong sense of finality. I wouldn't be surprised if many viewers assume there'll be another episode next week. Edgington's storyline was the only beating heart here, despite the fact season 3 never really capitalized on the character's potential or Denis O'Hare's gleefully deranged performance. I have to question the wisdom of keeping Edgington incapacitated for the entire episode, too -- dragged around by a silver chain and finally buried alive in cement.

It meant there was no real sense of threat to this episode, just an hour where three of the show's leads revealed unpleasant aspects of their personalities: Eric opting to ignore Godric's pleas for forgiveness in order to get callous revenge; Bill turning traitor and burying Eric alive, to protect the truth that he was originally asked to befriend Sookie by queen Sophie-Ann (who always knew she was a faerie); and Sookie pouring the goopy remains of Talbot down a waste disposal unit, yelping with glee in a rather disturbing manner. It all means I spent this episode feeling sympathy for the season's villain, which isn't how it should be.

The one definite success of this finale was in providing a fundamental shift in the Bill/Sookie relationship, with Eric escaping his burial (how exactly?) and exposing Bill's guilty secret to Sookie, who promptly spurned her lover. Not before time, it looks like season 4 won't have to swim in circles with the Bill/Sookie romance, and any reunion will have to be hard won. At any rate, Sookie is likely to start dating werewolf Alcide (Joe Manganiello) for awhile, now he's been made a regular.

As is tradition, the finale ended on a few cliffhangers: Sookie being teleported to faerie-land by Claudine (Laura Pulver) while in the cemetery at her gran's grave, following her breakup with Bill (confirming these "extinct" faeries have a physical presence in reality); and Bill engaging in a duel-to-the-true-death with vampire queen Sophie-Ann (Evan Rachel Wood), the outcome of which doesn't seem to be in question. There's no way they're killing off Bill, so either Wood's being written out of the show, their fight will be interrupted, or a draw declared. The door's also been left open for Edgington to return, which I'm pleased about, but perhaps isn't likely.

Oh, vampires have reflections...

Overall, it's a terrible shame that True Blood's become a show I now roll my eyes at. It's always been silly with a half-improvised attitude to storytelling, but until season 3 there was always a clear focus at the centre and fewer pointless distractions. In thinking back across this third season, it's laughable how many of the storylines went nowhere interesting, weren't resolved, or have yet to really get started by the finale. Is this what happens when Alan Ball knows he can afford to plan into a fourth season, because the future of True Blood is assured? If so, I'm not a fan of the supernatural soap opera the show has become as a result, because every episode has been incredibly messy and reliant on frequent gore, sex and violence to perk interest.

Think back on all the memorable moments of the past dozen episodes -- how many are character-based moments or a well-delivered twist in the tale? Very few, if any. How many unforgettable moments involve decapitated limbs, ripped out spines, head-twisting sex, and naked flesh? Most, if not all. Is that what a season of TV should be remembered for? Kudos to the special effects department this year, but shame on the writers.

Asides

• Tara being told Sam's a shape-shifter was a momentous moment, so why did it fall so awfully flat?
• Considering Godric's appearance, I guess there are ghosts in True Blood's universe now. Seriously, my facetious comment that Bigfoot will be waiting tables at Merlotte's by season 5 isn't so far-fetched
• Wasn't this season supposed to be all about werewolves? Yeah, that went well. Good luck with the significantly less exciting witches next season.

WRITER: Alan Ball
DIRECTOR: Anthony Hemingway
GUEST CAST: Joe Manganiello, Kevin Alejandro, Marshall Allman, Todd Lowe, Denis O'Hare, Jim Parrack, Carrie Preston, Lindsay Pulsipher, Lauren Bowles, Jessica Tuck, James Harvey Ward, Grey Damon, Melissa Rauch, Lil Mikk, Carlson Young & Natasha Alam
TRANSMISSION: 12 September 2010 - HBO, 9PM