True Blood 7.3 "Fire in the Hole" Vent Post

SPOILERS: If you have not yet seen True Blood episode 7.3, turn away now, but return after watching so we can chat about the details in the comment section below...

There have been a lot of weak storylines in the past three episodes that just feel like fillers, such as the return of Sarah Newlin. At this point in the series finale season, fillers are just unnecessary and are contributing to the rushed feeling of storylines and character development. A sick Eric was once again rude to Pam, while in full out emo mode, and viewers were suddenly supposed to feel some type of emotion over the loss of his past shag buddy, Sylvie. It was really just a way to introduce a new villain-ish entity.

After shooting Jessica in the shoulder during a stand-off in the road, Maxine Fortenberry has her heart ripped out by Violet. All the other filthy humans fled like roaches, but would unfortunately return at the end of the episode for what would send me into table flipping mode. 

Apparently True Blood's final season promo "Goodbyes Suck" was actually a foreshadow for the sucky ways in which major characters, we have grown with for years, would meet their final deaths. The season premiere, 7.1, brought the death of Tara, off screen, leaving nothing but a bloody pool of her remains. Those close to her didn't really mourn her true death, and the reason seemed to be because she had already "died" once before.

Tonight saw the death of fan favorite, Alcide, which viewers paying attention could probably see coming from the start of the episode through a series of events that played out like this:

1. Sookie leaves Alcide behind at the house without a word of her plan to go with Bill and get taken by Zompires to the other hostages.
2. Alcide goes to Compton Manor in search of Sookie and then follows her trail.
3. While sitting in the woods as bait, Sookie proceeds to tell her "gal pal" Bill that she does not love Alcide as much as she knows he loves her and she could live with him loving her less. You know, in order to eliminate some of her guilt.
4. Alcide and Sam come to both Sookie and Bill's rescue as Alcide ganks a Zompire.
5. Alcide immediately shows concern for Sookie's well-being, instructing her not to open her eyes or mouth to Zompire blood without first bathing in the pond.
6. While naked in his human form, Alcide is shot in the head and heart by the filthy humans hiding in the bushes.
7. Sookie doesn't cry over Alcide's body half as hard as she did when Bill came to her rescue against Rene and got fourth degree vampire sunburn. 
8. All in all, in an effort to save Sookie from another one of her misguided attempts to "keep anyone else from dying" Alcide pays the price and gets killed.

Now, due to past seasons' lackluster writing, Alcide and I haven't always seen eye to eye. However, it's apparent that, just as Sookie said, he is a good, grounded man. A whole lot better than the other men she has let into her heart and bed because, let's be honest, Eric was only going to look out for himself, Bill used Sookie for everything but her fine china, and Ben tried to kill her. I don't know what to say about the direction these writers have been going. If anything, this final season was the time to truly utilize Charlene Harris source material to tie up loose ends and significant storylines. Think X-Men: Days of Future Past. Sometimes fans will overlook plot-holes if it means giving them the ending that will make them happy, rights wrongs, and shows respect to the characters and series that started off extremely strong. I can't say I'm excited about these next few episodes, especially considering that it feels as though more characters will die, but after seven years, I am interested in seeing how the show will end.

Fellow fans, what was your reaction to the loss of Alcide (Joe Manganiello) on True Blood? What did you think of this episode? How do you think the show will end?