On tonight’s True Blood, Bill uttered one sentence that created a need for two more episodes.
Our recap of True Blood season 7, episode 8, “Almost Home,” breaks down the events of the third-to-last episode in the series.
Sarah and the cure
The episode kicked off with Sarah hiding from Eric and company, but finally realizing she has to accept her fate. Eric drinks her blood, and sure enough, he’s cured of the Hep-V infection. Finally!
Back at Fangtasia, Gus tells Eric and Pam that it’s going to take time to put Nu Blood on the market. Why “the fuck” (Pam’s words) is that the case when they’ve already synthesized Sarah’s blood? Gus doesn’t want to make Nu Blood a cure. Instead, he wants to make it work just enough so those who are infected have to keep purchasing it for the rest of their lives, thus making his business as much money as possible.
Eric arrives at Sookie’s to reveal that he’s cured, and she immediately tells him that Bill is sick and needs this same remedy. This news shocks Eric, who leaves straightaway without providing Sookie any help.
In a bit of a reckless move, Sookie follows Eric to Fangtasia. Gus is immediately suspicious of Ms. Stackhouse, so Eric acts like she’s a thirsty fangbanger. He pretends to glamor her, but as viewers, we know it’s not happening because that great sound effect isn’t playing.
Sookie leaves but then turns herself back around (she is relentless!) after she remembers what Gus said in his mind about something in the Fangtasia basement. She breaks into the bar the same way they broke in several episodes ago when the H-Vamps had taken over Fangtasia and finds Sarah. Sookie vows that Sarah will never hurt the life of another person she loves and heads home to grab Bill.
With Gus back in Dallas for the night, Eric heads downstairs to get some of Sarah’s blood for Bill when Mr. Compton himself walks in through the secret entrance with Sookie and Jessica. Bill walks weakly up to Sarah and pauses. “Drink the bitch,” Pam tells him. But Bill changes his mind about drinking from her. “No, I don’t want the blood.” Fade to black.
The big question we’ll be wondering this week: Why doesn’t Bill want to drink from Sarah? Does he not want to live any longer because of that flash forward, in which he couldn’t see a child in his and Sookie’s future?
Tara’s story
Lafayette and Lettie Mae are still feeling Tara’s presence. They begin digging in the yard of the old family home that they saw in the vision last week, much to the disappointment of the Reverend and the new owners of the home.
Lettie Mae encourages her husband to take a V-trip with them so they can make contact with Tara once more. The Reverend decides to put his faith in Lettie Mae, and sure enough, he sees Tara too. Dead Tara leads the trio inside their old home.
In a flashback, a birthday party for Tara is being held at the house. Her father comes home – very drunk – and raises a fuss because he didn’t know about the party. He slaps Lettie Mae.
Little Tara pulls a gun out of a drawer and almost shoots her father around a corner as he continues to beat up his wife. She changes her mind and begins burying the gun as her father leaves the home for good. “How am I going to do all this without you?” Lettie Mae cries.
Outside of the flashback, the Reverend digs up the gun that Tara buried all those years ago. Dead Tara then apologizes to Lettie Mae for not pulling the trigger. Tara asks her mother to let her go once and for all so they can move on from this tragic situation.
New relationships
Jason, Hoyt, and Bridget start this episode off at Mrs. Fortenberry’s home. Jason looks nervous – maybe because he’s afraid Bridget will come across evidence of Jason and Hoyt’s old friendship in a photo album?
Hoyt and his woman get in a little riff over the idea of raising a child in the near future. While they’re fighting, Jason receives photos from Violet that depict Jessica and Adilyn tied up.
Bridget doesn’t want to stay a minute longer with Hoyt because of their petty argument, so she goes with Jason to Violet’s. To make matters worse, Jason wants Bridget to stay in the car while he goes inside Violet’s house.
Jason heads in and quickly gets captured by Violet. She brings him into a room where she already has Wade, Adilyn, and Jessica tied up, and then locks him up too. She has some absolutely crazy tools, including a thing to crush Wade’s head and spikes to crush Adilyn’s breasts. If those weren’t scary enough, there’s also a scorching hot dildo that she threatens to penetrate Jessica with.
Violet begins to explain why she’s been so upset, but an unlikely hero enters to save the day: Hoyt shoots her from behind, making her burst into a bloody mess instantly. Bridget arrives and makes amends with Hoyt after this scare.
After Adilyn and Wade reunite with their parents, Jessica thanks Hoyt for saving them. They reintroduce themselves to one another. Meanwhile, Bridget and Jason have a private talk of their own. She wants to know who Jessica is. “Is she your girlfriend?” “Honestly, I don’t know what to call her.”
At the bar the next day, Hoyt asks Jason if he and Jessica are together. He says no, but tells him she’s going through a rough time right now with Bill being so ill. With this in mind, Hoyt goes over to Jessica’s to offer his own clean blood for Bill. Jessica is wowed by this act of kindness and lets him go without a kiss, but clearly Hoyt and Jessica are getting back together now that Jessica and Jason are over.
We suppose Jason will be getting with Bridget, although that would be disappointing because she only just entered the show.
What did you think of ‘True Blood’ season 7, episode 8?
There were so many plot lines tied up this episode that this could’ve been a good chunk of a series finale. The only moment that made it really feel like we needed two more episodes was when Bill refused to drink Sarah’s blood. Sookie was panicking so much this episode, you would’ve thought she’d have a stronger reaction to Bill saying no at the very end.
True Blood returns Sunday, August 17 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific for the penultimate episode.