You know, you’d think Halloween in Bon Temps would be kind of lame by comparison to any other day, with people wandering around in silly costumes that don’t come close to the horrors of the day-to-day life in that town, but that turned out not to be the case. Tonight’s finale went out with a bang. Two, in fact. And lots of blood.
Season 4 wrapped up with a substantial body count, not to mention the more-official departure of Marnie. As shocking as the last ten minutes proved to be, we also learned tonight, that the dead can certainly re-appear in this series at any given time. The fact that two Season 1 characters popped in for a visit, and some words of advice, was evidence of that. More on that in a minute. First, let’s eulogize for a moment.
Marnie
We’ll get this out of the way because technically, she died last week. Tonight, she was back and using Lafayette’s body to exact vengeance on Bill and Eric. After stealing Jesus’ powers, she tied Eric and Bill to a pyre (vampire pyre!) and attempted to burn them to death. With the help of Holly, Sookie and Tara joined hands and forces and summoned the dead. Gran’s ghost helped out by removing Marnie from Lafayette’s body, and Antonia managed to convince Marnie to let go and move on to the afterlife. Farewell Marnie.
Jesus
I had a feeling he wouldn’t survive the season, and I was right. Marnie killed Jesus through Lafayette and left him to bleed to death after she took his powers. Seeing as Lafayette can talk to the dead, I expect to see Jesus at some point in the future. Still, Jesus’ death is likely to take its toll on Lafayette. Factor in Tara’s presumed death and I can’t imagine he’ll be smiling come Season 5.
Nan Flanagan
Nan Flanagan learned the hard way not to call a vampire a puppy... or threaten Sookie. She showed up and revealed that she was fired from the authority and given the orders to kill Eric and Bill as her last official duty. Apparently, she thought she’d stand a better chance allying with them, but that was before she brought up Sookie. Eric killed her vampire guards, and then Bill killed her. I suppose fairy-blood gave him a bit of an edge over Nan, who is substantially older than Bill and should have been fast enough to stop him. Rest in a pile of goop, Nan.
Debbie
Maybe she was high on V, or perhaps she was just so distraught over losing Alcide that she thought murdering Sookie would make things better. Either way, showing up at Sookie’s house was a stupid idea. After Tara shielded Sookie from Debbie’s bullet, Sookie used the gun to shoot Debbie. There was some hesitation on Sookie’s part, but it was only a moment. Either because she’s tired of seeing people she loves die on her kitchen floor, or because she was scared, Sookie made the choice and pulled the trigger. I’ll be interested in seeing how Alcide reacts to this and whether it affects his feelings for Sookie.
Tara
I’m doing Tara last, but only because I don’t know that we can confirm 100% that she’s dead. It looked like she took the shotgun blast to the head, in which case, she’s probably dead, but Sookie was last seen crying and screaming for help, which could mean there’s a chance for Tara. Either way, as down as I’ve been on Tara in the past for being a drama-magnet and self-absorbed, she turned it all around tonight when she put herself between a bullet and her best friend. If she’s dead, rest in peace, Tara.
The dead, returned...
Now on to the people who were already dead, but appeared tonight. Gran returned along with the rest of the Bon Temp graveyard, to help with the Marnie situation. She lingered just long enough to tell Sookie it’s ok to be alone. Sookie took the words to heart, and after letting Eric and Bill feed from her, she politely broke up with both of them. She cried afterward, clearly saddened by the decision she made.
Also returned tonight was Rene. It was great to see Michael Raymond James and his fake smoky cajun accent back on the show. Likely brought back by the witches’ spell, Rene used the opportunity to visit Arlene. She panicked when she saw him, but he told her he loved her and then warned her about Terry and his “ghosts from the past.” I’m assuming he means Terry’s friend Patrick. Patrick, played by Scott Foley (Felicity, Grey’s Anatomy) appears to know Terry from his military days. Apparently, he’s bad news. I can’t imagine Rene would warn Arlene otherwise.
Where’s the love?
On the relationship front, things aren’t looking great. Sure, Luna and Sam seem to be in a good, though tentative place. And there could be something to Holly and Andy’s budding relationship (though I’m taking Holly dressing as a fairy as a bad sign for Andy, rather than a good one), but other than that, it seems like more relationships ended than are beginning.
Sookie is broken up with Eric and Bill, Lafayette’s boyfriend is dead, Alcide’s girlfriend is dead, and Jessica and Hoyt are over. As for Jessica and Jason, it seems like Jessica realizes she doesn’t want a serious relationship right now. Learning from what happened with Hoyt, she told Jason she doesn’t want to commit to him, fearing she might hurt him. The conversation was strangely sweet, especially when you factor in Jessica's naughty Red-Ridinghood costume.
Jason told Hoyt about his fling with Jessica, elaborating with the various positions for good measure. Hoyt responded by punching Jason in the face. He had that coming. It’s sad to think their friendship might be over, but hopefully they’ll find some way back to each other at some point.
And speaking of Hoyt, Mrs. Fortenberry mentioned Tommy stealing her clothes and jewelry, but she didn’t say anything about anyone showing up to claim her land, which, if I recall correctly, Tommy sold while posing as Mrs. Fortenberry. Considering Mrs. Fortenberry told Sam to call her Momma, something tells me if she finds herself without a home, she may end up on Sam’s porch, holding a pan of “Pork-rind Casserole” (ew.) in one hand and a suitcase in the other.
Reverend Vampire
Reverend Steve Newlin showed up on Jason's doorstep sporting a new set of fangs. It appears the good (vamp-hating) reverend is now a creature of the night. It's sort of fitting in an ironic kind of way. What he's doing on Jason's doorstep, we don't know. He did the fangy hissy thing, but he's really no threat to Jason unless Jason let's him in, so I'm assuming he's there for some reason other than to kill him.
The return of Russell?
Someone dug up something chained up in a parking garage. Could Russell be making a grand return? And who dug him up? Pam did seem pretty angry over Eric falling for Sookie. Is it possible that she decided to resurrect Russell in an effort to rid the world (and her maker) of Sookie forever? It would be a sneaky way to do it. Killing Sookie herself wouldn’t go over well with Eric, but finding someone else willing to do it might be effective. If not Pam, then who? Any guesses?
That about wraps it up. Tonight’s episode started out as extra-resolution to last week’s episode and ended with a major set-up for Season 5. We certainly have a lot to think about while we wait for the series to return next summer!
Other great lines and tidbits of the night:
“Zombies are the new vampires,” Arlene.
"I'm so over Sookie and her precious fairy vagina, and her unbelievably stupid name! F--k Sookie!" - Pam
Ginger dressed as a Red Cross nurse and covered in bites.
