I was considering covering the story that True Blood’s Rutina Wesley (Tara) recently filed for divorce from her husband of eight years. Then I realized that what I really wanted to do was talk about True Blood again. I just read an interview in TVLine with the new showrunner, Brian Buckner, who took over from Alan Ball. The article left a bad taste in my mouth and reminded me of all the inconsistencies and plot holes that were in the show’s finale. Buckner sounded arrogant and out of touch with the fans, and I came away with very little hope for the upcoming season. Please be forewarned that there are massive spoilers in this interview, so if you’d like to avoid knowing what happens, stop reading now. Otherwise let’s read together and then parse this out, shall we?
TVLINE | I’m guessing Eric won’t suddenly be alive and well in the Season 7 premiere.
No. That would be a cheat, wouldn’t it? That would be an incredible cheat. Pam has gone off in search of Eric, and maybe she’s going to be the one to find him, y’know?
TVLINE | Let’s talk about Alexander’s nude scene. Full-frontal nudity on a guy is not something you see often on television.
Correct.
TVLINE | What kind of behind-the-scenes conversations took place prior to shooting?
Alex Skarsgard was the coolest camper in the world. There’s no conversation with him. He’s Swedish. They’re naked all the time. As a matter of fact, when I saw what we had on camera, I sent him an email that said, “We’re going to lock picture. Are you OK with this?” He said, “No problemo.” That was the conversation. It couldn’t have been easier.
TVLINE | Did the reaction surprise you — or him? Probably not.
I think sometimes we are impressed by how much people care. But I don’t think that people care was a surprise. He knew the gift he was giving everybody. [Laughs]
TVLINE | Moving on, talk to me about the decision to jump ahead six months.
Look, we’re going into a seventh season. I’m aware that people like the familiar, but we have to change. We have to be able to pivot. There were bits of story in there that I didn’t necessarily, nor did any of the other writers, want to show. The fallout from what Bill had done… Ours is a show that is so constrained by [our narrative structure]. We’re not 24, but we’re damn close – and sometimes it’s really refreshing to be able to shuffle the deck. For me, it’s fun. We will obviously pick up some of the pieces and explain how certain things happened. But what I think some people found jarring, to me was really refreshing. It was that: The world has changed, this virus has mutated, and this is the way the world is going to look now. Meanwhile, life beats on in this small town.
TVLINE | The show has flirted with a Sookie and Alcide romance for years. Why was now the right time to pull the trigger on that?
In a world where almost everybody is a creature of some kind, Alcide is the most human of all of our creatures. Now, that’s not to say that it was his most human season. We all felt the same thing that the audience was feeling, which was that Alcide needed to come back to center. So it was that as much as anything else. And it was also that Sookie’s going to put her money where her mouth is and say “no more vampires.” She got into it with Warlow without knowing he was a vampire, so she was trying. But this shows growth for Sookie. I mean, I suppose he’s a hunk, so at least she’s still getting her piece. [Laughs] He’s the most normal, most human, most down-to-earth of any of her suitors. To me, with Eric gone and off on his own story going forward, I think it’s a pretty obvious triangle we’re setting up between Bill and Sookie and Alcide.
TVLINE | Are you looking at Season 7 as a reset of sorts for Bill?
Absolutely. We don’t want Bill to be an a—hole. Whereas the show that I love watching most right now, Breaking Bad, Walter White is on a downward trajectory with the consequences of his actions. The question we’re going to be asking this coming season is: Can Bill be forgiven? Because he made his intentions clear. One thing that I noticed – and I probably shouldn’t read as much as I’ve been reading, but I have been, in terms of audience reaction – is the idea that characters can’t change. I will put to bed one thing for you: this idea that Lettie Mae is trying to poison Tara? It’s absurd. That is genuine. And I realize that on our show, because it’s been so incredibly plot-driven for the past several years, you insert a Big Bad and then have the characters react in the way we expect them to react. That’s sort of what’s been going on. When we let characters change, when we let the show be character-driven, I think people don’t know what to do with that. So with Lettie Mae and Tara, not to say that everything is going to go great, but the conflict is not going to be she’s poisoning Tara. By the same token, I think Bill doesn’t have a trick up his sleeve this time. I think he’s genuine. The real question is about forgiveness.
TVLINE | What do you see as the theme of Season 7?
The show started out as, “Let’s see if vampires and humans can get along.” We’re returning to that original promise of the show. And because humans and vampires are being forced together, we’re going to be examining that with all of our characters. Everyone’s going to come under the umbrella of that main story. These are complicated relationships now because they’re feeding – it’s not necessarily sex, but things get confused sometimes, especially in vampires’ minds – so you’re going to be looking at a number of complicated three-way, four-way relationships.
I’ve read all but the last two books in the Southern Vampire mysteries, on which True Blood is based. Sookie is supposed to be with Eric, not Bill and for God’s sake not Alcide. I care very little about Sookie on the TV show, but the fans also want to see a Sookie and Eric romance. Those two did get together briefly in the show. Why is that so conveniently forgotten?
On Buckner’s assertion that it’s “absurd” that Tara’s mom would try and infect her with Hep-V, are you kidding me? The last time we saw those characters together, Tara’s mom disowned her. In their earlier story arc, Tara’s mom was an alcoholic who would turn on a dime and beat her. Then she had an exorcism, found religion and conspired to steal the preacher away from his wife. This is not a trustworthy woman, and it’s clear to me that Buckner does not know these characters.
Bill is a total asshole! His whole reason for romancing Sookie was to spy on her. He became a power-hungry creep who back stabbed his best friend, even before he had Lilith’s blood. Sookie distrusts him for a very good reason, we don’t want her to get back with Bill. This whole notion of “forgiveness” and a “character driven” show is based on characters that are inconsistent at best. It’s not going to work, and I get the very strong impression from this interview that the next season of True Blood will be a total train wreck.
There’s more in that interview that I didn’t include here, especially a very big spoiler about Jason and that vamp Violet’s relationship. It’s a doozy. Also, Bruckner insists that they’re not going to do a “Walking Dead” theme in the next season, but it sure looked that way in the finale.
As for Eric’s nude scene, there’s a nice article in EW which lets us know the book he was reading – for those of you who might care about that.
Thanks to I’m Here for Sookie on Tumblr for most of these GIFs
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