Sunday night saw the finale of HBO’s hit show, True Blood.  The only complaint I have about this show is that there are only 12 episodes a season and that is just not enough.  If you are waiting for the show to air on this side of the pond then look away now as this article will be full of SPOILERS.

I won’t go through the season step by step but lets have a look at the main themes and see what we thought over all.

Season 4 Spoilers

The season kicks off with Sookie coming back from fairy land and we discover that although it only seems like a short time to her, a year has past back in Bon Temp.  This is a handy way for the writers to speed up a new story lines.  Jason is now a fully fledged deputy and baby Mickey is that little bit older too.  All of which becomes important as the episodes go on. Sookie discovers her house has been sold to none other than Eric, you can imagine her disgust.  Eric has even made a cubby in her cellar and we just have to smile at his arrogance.

Enter the witches!  As it turns out Bon Temp has a witches coven, no surprises there I hear you say.  This one is run by none other than our very own out actress Fiona Shaw.  Having been in the Harry Potter films she has obviously picked up a few wiccan tips.  Shaw plays Marnie, a gentle soul who seems to have been pushed about a fair bit in her time.  However, she wishes for more and when the ever gorgeous Lafayette is brought to join her group by his boyfriend Jesus, things really start hotting up.  Lafayette’s obvious power ads to the group to the point they make a dead bird fly momentarily.  So enters the notion of necromancy, the ability to control the dead.  Of course in a world filled with vampires this is one trick that can be very useful indeed.

Marie starts to see visions of a witch who died hundreds of years before, Antonia.  She was tortured by vampires and burned at the streak, but not before she used her power as a necromancer to call all vampires in the area to walk in the sun and burn – cool eh!  The bottom line here is that Antiona kicks some serious ass and Marnie decides to let her take over her body so she can finish what she started.

Within this story we see Eric totally change personality after a memory loss spell is cast on him.  He and Sookie get it on and have the dullest sex scenes ever seen on TV.  I fast forwarded a few of them, not to be recommended, straight fast sex – ick!  Pam is also the victim of a spell, hers makes her flesh rot and leads to some classic one liners from one of the best characters in the show.

Marnie/Anotnia is the main story line of the season and it’s a great one.  Antonia is more than a match for the vamps but will she go through with trying to rid the world of the walking dead or will she relent.  The penultimate episode is worth waiting for.  Jesus becomes a hero and all the characters are brought together for a wonderful ending to the arc.  Well done writers. As for the finale, well in the manner we are now accustomed to people we care about die and about half a dozen little teasers for next season are left for us to mull over.

Now True Blood is not the gayest show on TV (perhaps Glee aside) for nothing.  This season saw yet another of our brethren walk in Bon Temp.  None other than Sookie’s best friend Tara.  I have to admit when it came out (see what I did there) that Tara had a girlfriend I had a very dramatic roll of my eyes.  I had always loved that True Blood had gone against stereotypes.  Vampires are called names like Bill and Pam and the hard girl with the attitude was straight.  Now here she was with a girlfriend, and not only that, but directly after being horribly abused by a man.  Not what I have come to expect from writers of this quality.  However, to the show’s credit, they managed to get some real chemistry between Tara and her girlfriend, who was only in a few episodes.  I am hoping they do better again in seasons to follow, can’t have enough Sapphic love on screen as far as I am concerned.

There is also the story of baby Mickey and the ghost.  Did I forget to mention Lafayette is a medium?  Silly me!  Only in True Blood do these things come out and you just take another sip of your tea and wait to see what happens.  Jason also has to drink Jessica’s blood after an experience that defies description (shudders) and of course that leads to the inevitable lust between the two.  Tut tut, she’s your best friends ex Jason!

Lots more happens, but who among us really cares about the sheriff’s love life or what happens Sam.  For the boys we do see lots of Alcide the werewolf with no shirt on but this isn’t that sort of blog

What I love most about this show is that you just never know what is going to happen next.  Anyone can die at any minute, relationships end as soon as they begin and you really do watch it on the edge of your seat.  This season ends with another cliff hanger, this one is easy enough to see around but with characters dropping like flies who knows where next season will take us?

All in all another great season and I am in the usual position of looking forward to next season already.