Compared to the intricate, but focused finale last season, which saw Michelle Forbes at her most evil and twisted, season 3 ended with less of a bang and more of a whimper. It’s a huge surprise given that every other episode in the series ended on a dramatic cliffhanger that the creators decided to leave the finale a little too open without any of the same shock factor. 

Compared to episode 9’s closer, which saw supervillain Russell Edgington rip the spine out of a newscaster on live TV, the closing storylines became lost in the amount of new things learned in the previous episodes. With Were-Panthers, Fairys, and Witches all revealed in the last two episodes, there really wasn’t anywhere for the series to go. With Russell all but defeated, the decision to save him felt like an excuse to keep him for next year, his quips and commentary keeping the finale from being a complete failure. 

Far too many things happened in the wide variety of character stories that focusing on Sookie and Bill became very difficult. Yes it was nice to see a new hairdo for Tara, but Sam telling her he was a shapeshifter seemed random, especially when followed by her sudden decision to skip town and try to find a way to forget everything that had happened. 

The rest of the episode followed suit, and for every classic True Blood moment, such as Bill’s reaction to Alcide’s reappearance, we had a lacklustre conclusion to a already overlong story arc; Jason’s journey this season being nowhere near as interesting as last year’s Bible Camp experience. 

It makes me worried for the future of the show, as with nothing really wrapped up, and so much introduced in the final episode we could be in for a mess of character development and plot holes next season. Season 3 had been fantastic until the last two or three episodes, and while it could never have beaten the perfection that was Season 2, the lack of any noticeable cliffhanger made the finale feel limp and lifeless next to comparable TV shows.