True Blood, Season 6: Episode 4 – “At Last”
Directed by Anthony Hemingway
Written by Alexander Woo
Airs Sunday nights at 9 on HBO
It would be really great to be able to say something like “At last…a good episode in True Blood‘s sixth season,” but “At Last” chugs along at the sluggish pace the season has been going on. At this point, the reveals aren’t very shocking or interesting. So, when Ben turns out to be Warlow, it doesn’t have the same impact of a revelation of that caliber that might appear in another show which treats its mystery with more care.
Really, though, the Warlow plotline is about the only one worth following at this point, so that is why the poor handling of it kind of taints the otherwise enjoyable experience of it here. That Sookie has finally become one of the more interesting characters in this show (and for a lot of people, that’s a very relative analysis) is actually surprising in its own way. It’s always been easier for characters like Eric or LaFayette to dominate scenes without lifting a finger. The final sequence of “At Last” is pretty good as far as this show goes, and it revolves around this main character who has really stumbled at times in the past. Even if you’re tired of hearing it sung in competition shows, Etta James singing “At Last” is always a welcome experience, and I respect that this episode executed it while the drama was still playing out rather than bringing it in with the credits.
That said, everything else here is a mess. It’s painful watching Sam and Alcide’s scenes, because they’ve both been compelling in the past at one point or another. Now, they define “filler” for this show and are genuine wastes of time as far as the overall concerns of what True Blood is tying to do right now go. Even Billith and Jessica, who should both be capable of providing engaging material this season given their respective situations, stumble. Deborah Ann Woll has proven that she can make bad writing look and sound good, but there’s just no viewer investment when she loses control around Andy’s four fairy daughters.
If you’re still watching True Blood, maybe most of this doesn’t bother you. Maybe the show exposed itself for what it was seasons ago and you take it on those terms. But as these characters continue through these episodes and they feel more and more disparate, it’s hard to remember that first season which wasn’t bogged down with so many different ideas and entities – that season which was focused, bringing all the characters together in ways that were, at the very least, entertaining to watch. That’s probably the most relevant thing to be said against this incarnation of True Blood: nothing is connected, which makes everything feel like one part of a whole that doesn’t exist. Even when you look at fellow HBO show Game of Thrones, whose characters are far removed from one another, you get a sense of actions having repercussions and those reverberating throughout that show. Here, actions hardly matter.