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Well, this is it. The end of our True Blood run. We’ve had a great time and I feel like the series finale was well-deserved and thought out. Let’s get started!

Assisted Suicide

We open this episode with Sookie and Bill inside her home talking through his decision to die. Bill explains that he visited his family in the cemetery and that his memorial is basically a lie. He is not buried there with his family, but it says he is. Sookie slowly begins to understand why Bill is asking her to let him die, telling her about how she won’t be able to live a normal life with him around.

Sookie seems to really get it and Bill asks her if she would kill him with her light. This plan would afford both of them what they want. Bill will be out of her life so that she can move on as per his hopes and Sookie will not be a fairy anymore – something she has been wishing for the entire series. Sookie is really upset by this proposition and asks Bill to leave.

New Blood

Eric and Pam formulate a plan to free Sarah, feeding her Pam’s blood so that they may find her again, and kill Gus. Eric plans to steal the idea for New Blood and get rich off of it himself. It turns out to be pretty easy when Eric and Pam kill Gus’ men and burn Gus alive in a tunnel as he goes after Sarah.

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TrueBloodS7E10 Eric telling Sarah his plan to release her

Pam finds Sarah at an amusement park and Sarah begs Pam to turn her into a vampire. This is laughable. Worst idea ever. Pam declines and feeds off Sarah to “vaccinate” herself.

A Marriage

Jessica goes over to Bill’s with Hoyt and makes amends with the fact that Bill has chosen to die. Bill asks Hoyt if Jessica is the reason he has decided to stay in Bon Temps. When Hoyt confirms, Bill asks if he ever intends to marry Jessica.

This tailspins into the impromptu wedding of Jessica and Hoyt where Bill is able to walk his daughter down the aisle before his death. It’s all very sweet but rushed. I mean, I guess you’re not legally married so there are no repercussions, but that was fast (especially for Hoyt – who has no memory of their past relationship).

TrueBloodS7E10 Jessica and Hoyt kissing at their wedding

Sookie speaks with Jason at his home about Bill’s proposition of her killing him. Jason doesn’t give advice and just listens. Sookie lets Jason know that Bridgette likes him – she listened to her thoughts. Sookie gives her blessing even though Jason says he definitely won’t be a girlfriend fucker again. Sookie brings up the fact that they just left Jessica and Hoyt’s wedding so Bridgette definitely isn’t Hoyt’s girlfriend.

At the wedding, Sookie heard Bill’s thoughts about how he wished a normal life for Sookie because he loves her. He wishes Sookie could experience what Jessica and Hoyt have. Sookie also goes and seeks advice from Reverend Daniels. It’s a nice talk where she comes to the decision to help Bill end his life and end her fairy powers.

TrueBloodS7E10 Sookie and Bill at the wedding

The End

Sookie has made arrangements with the cemetery and she meets Bill there at night. They open his empty coffin that was buried in his place when he didn’t return from war.

TrueBloodS7E10 Bill in the cemetery

Bill climbs inside the coffin and Sookie summons her light, but is unable to do it, realizing that being a fairy makes her who she is. She climbs into the coffin with Bill and uses a broken shovel handle to stake him. This scene is devastating and Sookie is covered in her lover’s guts and his mourning her loss.

TrueBloodS7E10 Sookie staking Bill

A Year Later

The episode flashes to a year later where we see Eric and Pam filming a commercial for New Blood. They prattle on about how they searched for Sarah Newlin after she swallowed the antidote to Hep-V but could never find her. However, they did find a drop of her blood from a broken windowpane as she escaped her sister’s home and they synthesized it into New Blood.

TrueBloodS7E10 Pam and Eric releasing New Blood

Three Years Later

We cut to Eric and Pam making huge money on New Blood on the stock market. This is a great ending to the pair of our favorite vamps.

That Next Thanksgiving

During the following Thanksgiving, we see Jason and Bridgette with their three children as well as a very pregnant Sookie.

At Fangtasia, Eric is on his throne and Pam is selling 60 seconds with Sarah Newlin and her blood for $100,000 a pop.

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TrueBloodS7E10 Pam with a wad of money

Sarah sees a vision of Steve who asks her what she’s thankful for, to which she replies “Nothing.” Everything that Sarah got was coming to her and I don’t feel bad about it.

TrueBloodS7E10 Pam in the foreground with Sarah chained up in the background

Back at the Thanksgiving feast, we get to see a lot of our favorite couples still together, making a toast with beers and New Bloods. Sookie hugs an unknown man who is clearly her husband as the screen fades to black.

TrueBloodS7E10 the Thanksgiving dinner scene

The Verdict

What a great ending to a seriously killer show. The love story of Sookie and Bill is finally complete and I enjoyed how Bill received closure for himself, even if he had to die. Sookie found her own way and did end up happily ever after, as did some of our other favorite characters. This show is one of the best vampire sagas to exist and you can’t convince me otherwise. There were only small places in the entire series where I felt bored. I was always throttled by the newest revelation and the story propelled itself. Bravo! 5 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Sarah Moon is a stone-cold sorceress from Tennessee whose interests include serial killers, horror fiction, and the newest dystopian blockbuster. Sarah holds an M.A. in English Literature and an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing. She works as an English professor as well as a cemeterian. Sarah is most likely to cover horror in print including prose, poetry, and graphic forms. You can find her on Instagram @crystalsnovelnook.

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Movies n TV

Smile 2: A Poor Rate Second.

“Break a leg out there.”

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Smile 2, a psychological supernatural horror, released in October 2024 just in time for Halloween, sees director Parker Finn (Smile, Laura Hasn’t Slept) return with a sequel starring Naomi Scott (Aladdin) as pop star and recovering addict Skye Riley. While Smile 2 boasts a talented cast, it ultimately falls short of its predecessor, offering a familiar storyline with minor variations and a predictable finale. The film attempts to introduce a new method to combat the parasitic ‘Smile Entity’, but this addition fails to elevate the sequel beyond a pale imitation of its chilling predecessor.

The Plot.

Smile 2 begins shortly after the end of the original; just six days after Rose Cotter’s death. During a short interlude scene, we watch as the now cursed Joel attempts to pass the Smile Entity on by killing one criminal in front of another. The plan backfires spectacularly, inadvertently passing the curse onto an innocent bystander named Lewis Fregoli.


The film then shifts gears, introducing Skye Riley, a singer and performer making a triumphant return to the spotlight with a comeback tour after a tumultuous past. During a candid interview on the Drew Barrymore Show, Skye opens up about her struggles with addiction and the devastating loss of her boyfriend in a car accident. Her sobriety journey, however, faces a severe setback when she seeks pain relief from her old high school friend, the unwitting Lewis Fregoli. In a chilling turn of events, Lewis takes his own life while Skye watches, passing the Smile Entity onto her.
Unaware of her new cursed existence Skye gets on with rehearsing for her tour, but she begins to notice that strange things are happening. People are smiling at her in an unnatural way and she becomes the target of anonymous attacks and aggressions. When text messages begin to arrive from an unknown number, Skye decides to get some answers.

Highlights.

Let’s not beat about the bush. I found Smile 2 difficult to finish and was struggling at about the hour-and-a-half mark to stay awake. That being said it’s worth watching because everyone needs to see the 3-minute scene of the ‘smilers’ chasing Skye through her apartment. This was possibly the creepiest thing I’ve seen on a screen.  The buildup, the synchronicity of the movement of the actors and their positioning, the camera work, and the lighting. I have rewatched it several times and it doesn’t get old. If you are only interested in watching this, fast forward to the 123-minute mark and get ready to be impressed.

Drawbacks.

Where do I start?

My primary concern with Smile 2 is its striking resemblance to its predecessor. The narrative follows a familiar pattern: an attractive woman fleeing a supernatural force, grappling with hallucinations, experiencing a mental health decline, and culminating in the revelation someone close to Skye was the Smiling Entity after all. This repetitive structure diminishes the film’s impact.

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While the introduction of a new method for shedding the entity initially offered a glimmer of hope this concept wasn’t fully realized. It just served to add names to the line of people that the entity has infected in the past.

Furthermore, the film’s pacing suffers from excessive focus on Skye’s musical career. Scenes showcasing her stage rehearsals and music videos, while intended to establish her identity as a performer, feel unnecessary and detract from the narrative momentum. Yes, we understand she’s a performer, you told us, you don’t need to prove it. These scenes appear to artificially inflate the film’s runtime, suggesting a lack of confidence in the core story.

The Final Take.

Ultimately, Smile 2 fails to expand upon the established lore of the franchise. The film’s conclusion feels contrived, with a blatant setup for a third installment. Hopefully, if a ‘Smile 3’ is inevitable, the creative team will bring fresh ideas and avoid simply retreading familiar ground.

2 out of 5 stars (2 / 5)

Both Cthulhu’s granted for that one scene.

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Movies n TV

Goosebumps, Stay Out Of The Basement Pt 2, could have just been one part

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We’re back again with Goosebumps The Vanishing, episode two. A story too big for one episode, apparently.

Or, maybe this is just a nod to the fact that Stay Out Of The Basement was a two-part episode in the original 1995 show. Either way, after seeing this episode, we could have kept it to one.

The story

We begin this second episode with Anthony investigating the parasitic plant taking over his body. Rather than, I don’t know, going to the hospital, he’s decided to phone a colleague and send her some samples from the bulb he pulls out of his arm with a handheld garden trowel.

David Schwimmer in Goosebumps The Vanishing.

Meanwhile, Devin is having his own worries. He’s haunted by what he saw in the sewers. So, he gets CJ to go with him to investigate. What they find is more of the tendrils of the plant that dragged him down through the manhole last episode.

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I sure would have liked to see more about that.

Instead, we see Devin pivot to flirting with a newly single Frankie. Because teenage hormones I guess.

Meanwhile, Trey is having a terrible day. First, his girlfriend leaves him. Then, Anthony breaks his car window.

Needing a way to deal with his frustration, Trey decides to break into the Brewers’ basement. There, he starts wrecking up the place. Until he meets the plant creature and has an unfortunate accident.

What worked

The big difference between this episode and the last is the increased gross-out factor. This episode had some straight-up cringy moments. From the tendrils waiving from Anthony’s arm to the whole goat he brings home to feed his new pet, this episode was skin-crawling gross in the best way possible.

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The series is called Goosebumps, after all.

What didn’t work

Unfortunately, that’s where my praise ends. This episode, unlike the last, just wasn’t that great.

To start with, there was a lot of unnecessary drama between characters who are not in danger of being eaten by a plant from the inside out.

 Francesca Noel in Goosebumps The Vanishing.

I especially disliked the focus on the Frankie/Trey/Devin love triangle.

Now, I don’t hate it. This part of the story adds extra emotional depth to the show. We can see why Trey would be especially incensed by his girlfriend falling for the son of the neighbor he’s feuding with. But it would be more enjoyable if it wasn’t so cliche and dramatic.

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I hate the way Trey tried to gaslight Frankie. It makes me dislike him when he should be a sympathetic character. I hate how whiny Devin is every time he talks to Frankie. And I hated the impassioned speech Frankie gives after Devin asks her why she was with Trey.

Listen, I understand what we’re going for here. Devin and Cece are not struggling financially. They’re doing alright, and their new friends here in Gravesend are not. We kind of got that without Frankie claiming that her socioeconomic status is why she’s dating a bully and gaslighter. It felt out of place. It felt like pandering. It certainly didn’t feel like something an eighteen-year-old would say. I hated it.

Finally, there was a moment near the end of the episode that irritated me. I don’t want to give too much detail because I wouldn’t dare ruin an R.L. Stine cliffhanger. But, well, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I get that we’re watching a show about a carnivorous plant that is going to wreak havoc on this family and neighborhood. I understand the suspension of disbelief. Some might even say I am a little too generous with it. So I can buy into a teenager being absorbed by a plant and turned into a monstrous version of himself.

I can’t buy into what happens at the end of this episode. It doesn’t make sense with the rules established. It certainly doesn’t make any sort of scientific or logical sense. It is a lazy moment meant to further the storyline but threatens the structural integrity of the season.

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All in all, this wasn’t the best episode of Goosebumps. But it’s only the second episode. Honestly, the season has plenty of time to go either way.

2.5 out of 5 stars (2.5 / 5)

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Movies n TV

Thriller Nite, Poem by Jennifer Weigel Plus

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So, this is a convoluted post, not going to lie. Because it’s Thriller Nite. And we have to kick it off with a link to Michael Jackson in homage, because he’s the bomb and Vincent Price is the master… (If the following video doesn’t load properly, you can get there from this link.)

The movie monsters always approach so slowly.
Their stiff joints arcing in jerky, erratic movements
While the camera pans to a wide-eyed scream.
It takes forever for them to catch their victims.
 
Their stiff joints arcing in jerky, erratic movements
As they awkwardly shamble towards their quarry –
It takes forever for them to catch their victims.
And yet no one ever seems to get away.
 
As they awkwardly shamble towards their quarry –
Scenes shift, plot thickens, minutes tick by endlessly…
And yet no one ever seems to get away.
Seriously, how long does it take to make a break for it?
 
Scenes shift, plot thickens, minutes tick by endlessly…
While the camera pans to a wide-eyed scream.
Seriously, how long does it take to make a break for it?
The movie monsters always approach so slowly.

Robot Dance found subverted street art altered photography from Jennifer Weigel's Reversals series
Robot Dance from Jennifer Weigel’s Reversals series

So my father used to enjoy telling the story of Thriller Nite and how he’d scare his little sister, my aunt. One time they were watching the old Universal Studios Monsters version of The Mummy, and he pursued her at a snail’s pace down the hallway in Boris Karloff fashion. Both of them had drastically different versions of this tale, but essentially it was a true Thriller Nite moment. And the inspiration for this poem.

For more fun music video mayhem, check out She Wolf here on Haunted MTL. And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.

Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.
Portrait of myself with dark makeup and crow skull headdress, backlit by the sun.

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