VOD TV review: True Blood Season 7 Episode 5 (Lost Cause)
Review Overview
Scandalous behavior
9Emotional heart-to-hearts
8Eric in a Stetson
9Jo Bromilow | On 04, Aug 2014
It’s been a busy few episodes for our Bon Temps friends and it seems like they’ve earned a bit of respite from the blood, sweat and tears. So it falls to Lafayette and friends to help Sookie throw off her troubles and instead throw a house party to celebrate the lives of those lost.
This puts True Blood right back into the blood-soaked soap opera territory we know and love. All the house party clichés – the couple getting off in one of the upstairs rooms, the ones who get tired and emotional, the ones who use Dutch courage to inspire grand gestures, the trio doing shots to forget – are all there. And it’ll make for one heck of a good time.
Lafayette is a caring and considerate soul but throwing a party in the home of a recently bereaved woman is an interesting choice, even by the standards of a man who dresses as boldly as he does. Sookie, the most forgiving person in the town, seems a little taken aback by the idea, most likely given that inviting a community who were recently baying for her blood is unlikely to make for an evening of happy thoughts. The claustrophobia could be overwhelming for the telepath, but Alcide’s death seems to have done wonders for the townsfolk’s perception of Sookie (likely helped by the deaths of their odious ringleaders) and sees them put away their pitchforks and pick up pitchers.
But this being True Blood – and the emotional dramas being as messy as the aftermath of last week’s bloodbath at Fangtasia – it can’t all be sweetness and light. This is a house party, after all; it wouldn’t be one without a few illicit hook-ups.
It’s pretty easy to spot the direction that the night’s events will take before they’ve even begun – from who will end the night with whom to who will be in very deep trouble with their girlfriend come the morning… or evening, depending on the species of said girlfriend. There’s also the party-goer who gets melancholy after a few drinks, giving us a little more backstory to help frame the direction of the narrative to come – as well as one final emotional punch (giving new meaning to the episode’s title, Lost Cause, a phrase that is repeated throughout), which has us wishing for next week already.
Best of all, we’ve got the next exciting, deadpan and witty episode of Eric and Pam’s Double Act (can they headline True Detective Season 2 please?) to look forward to. Before you ask, no; Eric and Pam aren’t really the house party types, and they’ve got their own party to attend this celebratory evening. After enlisting the help of an unlikely ally in their hunt for Sarah Newlin, they catch on to their prey’s scent and head to a fundraiser in Dallas. All you need to know about this part of the episode is that Eric wears a Stetson. That alone should be enough for you to tune in.
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