True Blood vs Southern Vampire Mysteries - The Final Throwdown

(This is the LAST POST that'll appear on this blog - I think. Unless I change my mind. Please check out my new and improved website and follow my blog there. Noni wants you to! I want you to! See ya in the new neighborhood, okay?)

So if you've been playing along, you know that Kirstin McFarland and I have done a series of posts comparing True Blood with the books on which is was based, The Southern Vampire Mysteries. We've alternated blogs, so if you're just stumbling over this and want to catch up, the first post was on her blog HERE, #2 was on my blog HERE, and #3 was on her blog HERE. We've talked about differences in tone and humor, compared notes on Sookie, and generally had a blast.

So enough rambling already. Here's the last post, in which we ask...

Who does Sookie end up with?

(Wait, here's a short (arguably unnecessary) disclaimer. I wrote this before reading Deadlocked, the newest Sookie book. I think it's safe to say my answer wouldn't change much if I'd read the book first.)

LR: Okay, so we’ve covered some of our likes and dislikes and the humor thing and some of our ideas about Sookie. Now I gotta ask you, who does she end up with? Ms. Charlaine has said that Sookie will find her HEA (happily ever after) with someone at the end of the series. From your perspective, which guy should that be?

KM: Oh, man, that’s such a tough question.  At different stages of the show, I would have given different answers. At first, it would’ve been Bill because Eric was so cold and, well, inhuman. But after the second season, Eric starts to warm up and Bill loses a lot of his luster.

Right now, I’d say Eric. Bill clearly has issues with who and what he is (hello, super-disturbing sex scene with his Maker!), while Eric is quite comfortable with his life as a vampire. Yes, he has done despicable things, but he is who he is, without lying or faking. Of course his whole memory loss muddied those waters a bit, but the fact remains that Bill has consistently lied and used Sookie to further his own agenda. Eric treats Sookie like a partner, sharing with him in the danger, while Bill treats her like a delicate flower he must protect from danger with lies and manipulation. (Okay, that’s not great parallelism, but you get my drift.)

Look at Sookie’s disappearance into Faerie and the two men’s reactions to it: Eric buys her house and keeps it for her, and Bill tells people Sookie was out on a secret mission for him. Both actions are meant to help Sookie and to make her transition back into this world easier, but one vampire protected the world she knew and the other embroiled her in another set of lies.

On the other hand, can she end up with a vampire? Her blood is basically vampire heroin. Can you really be in a relationship with someone who is addicted to you?

So, I’ll toss this hot potato right back to you: who should book-Sookie end up with?

LR: Ack! That’s THE question, isn’t it. I think the pool of candidates is bigger in the books – Alcide, Quinn, and even Sam are all distinct possibilities. I’m not sure of the answer, either, but I can tell you that I DON’T think she’ll end up with a vampire. She’s already struggling with the fact that she could end up an old woman with a lover who looks like he’s in his twenties.  Alcide is too much the were-version of Eric – a leader who puts his responsibility towards the group ahead of his personal needs. And Quinn’s got family baggage that will always come ahead of Sookie.  He’s cute, but awfully broken.

It may be that after so many years of being friends, she and Sam realize that their values and needs line up and the friendship becomes something more. Yeah, that could happen, though it leaves me feeling kind of meh.  What I hope – and I know I risk being slammed by Team_____ adherents everywhere – is that Ms Charlaine has a new character in the wings, someone who’s a grown-up, someone who has a paranormal background but who gets older like Sookie will. We’re down to the last couple books, so she’d have to work fast, but there’s still time to bring in someone new.

And with that, I think I’ve exhausted what I’ve got to say about The Southern Vampire Mysteries.  I’m looking forward to the May 1 release of Deadlocked and might even check out the next season of True Blood. The biggest burning issue I have that’s still unresolved whether or not they did put Eric in pink & blue Lycra for that scene in True Blood.
~
Alas, they did NOT dress Eric in Lycra, or I would totally have posted a picture for you to see. Thanks, Kristin, for sharing your knowledge and insights. From what I hear, Season 5 of True Blood is tearing up Sunday nights. And for those of you reading along, which is your preference, the books or the TV series? Or are you equal-opportunity Sookie fans?
Peace,
Liv

(I'm posting the True Blood theme song not to show a preference but only because the books don't have a theme song. And as you watch it, ask yourself why vampires can't seem to wipe their mouths after drinking someone's blood. I totally want to run after them with a napkin...)