Kicking off the final season of True Blood, the show's writers pulled out all the stops. To start, they killed off Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley) in the premiere episode—which many view as a poor sendoff for such an instrumental character in the series. Then, to make matters worse, Tara's exit never hits home since it happens off-camera. Audiences see Tara engage one of the Hep-V vamps attacking the night festival, and then when the camera pans back, she's a pile of goo in Lettie Mae's arms. It's unclear what happens, but perhaps the berserk vampire isn't wholly responsible.
While it's believed the infected vamp somehow brought the true death down on Tara, there's more plausibility in Lettie Mae (Adina Porter) killing her daughter. Tara was positioned with her back to her mom while fighting the Hep-V vamp, open to an attack from behind. She wouldn't see it coming after Lettie Mae supposedly apologized—seeking reconciliation—either. Such a betrayal sounds believable after Tara's mother repeatedly denied her daughter any contact following the girl's vampiric transformation. Plus, her apology seemed conveniently timed with the looming threat of Hep-V packs feeding on humans. If not for the dangers presented, perhaps Lettie Mae would've stuck to her convictions about vampires.
There's also the other vampire to consider. He was rife with Hep-V, wasn't brandishing a stake at the time, and was likely hungry given the situation. Tara, on the other hand, had the advantage. She was in a much better state and possibly more experienced than her opponent. Altogether, it didn't make sense that she'd fall so quickly unless another factor played into the scuffle—her mother perhaps.
The blood splatter on Lettie Mae seemed excessive, too. She was literally sitting in a pile of entrails, almost as if Tara imploded directly in front of her. Lettie Mae wouldn't be covered head to toe, kneeling in the aftermath, unless the kill happened right on top of her. True Blood's set designers and visual effects geniuses have created a variety of blood sprays over the years, with the one consistent sequence having a vampire's guts fall directly to the floor after receiving the true death. Seeing Lettie Mae in the implosion radius reinforces the theory that she had something to do with Tara's death.
What Really Happened
In all likelihood, Tara managed to fend off the attacking Hep-V vampire only to get staked as she checked on Lettie Mae. It's believable since wood is lethal to vampires in all forms. The show emphasized that fact by having a vampire die from something as silly as a pencil. In turn, Lettie Mae could've killed Tara without anyone noticing. The chaos at the time would've worked as the perfect cover, too.
While said conclusion may be difficult to believe since the pair are mother and daughter, Lettie Mae showed a complete and utter face of prejudice upon learning that Tara became a vampire. It wasn't until much later that Lettie Mae attempted to reach out to her daughter. Mind you, she remained adamant that all vampires were evil, only changing her stance again in Season 7 for survival's sake. Lettie Mae wouldn't've done so had her life not been at stake. With that said, there's even more reason to believe that she used the veiled guise of apologizing to get close enough to Tara that she could bring the true death to her.
The downside to this reality is Season 7 was a farce for Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) and Willa (Amelia Rose Blaire). Because assuming Lettie Mae was responsible, the whole vision quest that she brought Lafayette along for her was merely a manipulated drug trip. True Blood's writers went down the path of having their characters use vampire blood to ascend multiple times, proving that the most minute variables could influence the direction of the trip.
For Lafayette and Jesus—the first time around—they danced and partied in imagined realities. Later on, their trips turned to images of witchcraft when Jesus' heritage cropped up. In another instance, Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) landed in a drunken stupor, half-conscious of his meandering about town while hallucinating. The trips varied from person to person, generally influenced by one central theme. Moreover, there's good reason to believe Lettie Mae used the power of suggestion to influence Lafayette while on vampire blood. All she had to do was convince him that Tara's spirit was speaking to them, and with Lafayette already serving as a medium, he'd be prone to believe her.
Who knows if Tara actually sent a message to her loved ones from the other side? Either way, the evidence suggests that Lettie Mae was responsible for Tara's death and not the Hep-V vampire, as originally believed. And if that is the case, True Blood's final season had one more tragic demise than initially thought.
All seasons of True Blood are currently streaming on HBO Max.
About the Creator
Allie Z.
I cover most entertainment related topics and am venturing into journalism.
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Comments (1)
Interesting. True Blood is my favorite show too.