4.12 And When I Die Despite being vanquished in a fairly mellow way – by the spirit of Grandma Stackhouse, no less – not particularly big bad Marnie kicked off the death-fest that was the finale, with the murder of Jesus for his demon. Shocking as it was to see Jesus go, his death turned out to be the least shocking of the episode. With Marnie, Jesus and Grandma Stackhouse safely back in heaven, the powers at True Blood really started to enjoy themselves, and the reason for the fairly bloodless end to the wiccan storyline became clear – they were saving it for the rest of the town. Shocking character exits aside, surely the most exciting development to come out of the finale is the prospect that next year’s big bad will be a whole hell of a lot more dangerous than a lonely witch. Step forward one Russell Edgington… With the parking lot reveal almost thrown away amid all the death and reborn ministers, it’s easy to overlook just how huge that will be. Yes, the standoff between Debbie, Sookie and Tara was the most shocking development, and the formation of the Bill and Eric double act was without doubt the most entertaining, but the Return of the King makes the wait for season five all the more excruciating. Thank god Eric’s almost himself again – Diet Eric Vs Russell would not go well for our favourite Viking… As a farewell to what has been a superb season of television, And When I Die stands as a fitting testament to the talent and skill of True Blood’s writers. Shocking, relentless, hysterical (“moist”, anyone?) and at times, just plain beautiful, the finale encapsulated everything that was season four. The writing, direction and production have been fantastic from minute one, and the cast, to a man, have easily matched that week after week. The emerging maturity of Ryan Kwanten has already been discussed in these very reviews, but add to that the spectacular performance of Deborah Ann Woll as the confused baby vamp Jess, Alexander Skarsgard’s playful rendering of Diet Eric and Nelsan Ellis’ double whammy of unwanted possessions, to name just a few, and what you have is a show hitting its stride in spectacular fashion, and it’s a pleasure to behold. And, in the tradition of all the best shows, we leave Bon Temps, and season four, with more questions than answers – Is Tara really gone? Who the frick turned Reverend Steve? And why didn’t someone put Horrific Debbie out of her misery months ago? Guess we’ll find out next summer. Y’all take care now. Read our review of episode 11, Soul Of Fire, here. Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
