True Blood Recap: Tara Says Goodbye, August 10 2014

'True Blood' 's Tara Finally Gets to Say Goodbye

The fan favorite character says a final goodbye on Sunday's episode of the HBO drama

Published on August 11, 2014 09:30AM EDT

Tara’s death was swift and sudden in the True Blood season 7 premiere, but fans finally got to say a proper goodbye to Rutina Wesley’s character on Sunday’s episode of the HBO hit.

While on a final V-induced vision, Tara’s cousin Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), mother Lettie Mae (Adina Porter) and stepfather (Gregg Daniel) take a trip back in time to see Tara almost shoot her father with his own gun because he was being physically violent with her mother.

Ultimately, Tara cannot bring herself to shoot her father and buries the gun in the backyard as he leaves his family for good. Grown-up Tara confides in her mother that she felt guilty for not shooting her father and blamed herself for Lettie Mae turning to alcohol to cope with being a single mom. Lettie Mae and her daughter ask each other for forgiveness and once it is granted, Tara disappears into the ether.

Also ready to accept death: Sarah Newlin (Anna Camp), who has been found by Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), Pam (Kristin Bauer Van Straten) and Mr. Gus (Will Yun Lee) with his mob of hit men. Eric’s first instinct is to kill Sarah for unleashing the Hep-V virus upon the population, but instead he feeds on her and is cured of the disease that had been killing him just moments before.

Eric and Pam are eager to get Sarah’s blood synthesized and sold as a one-time cure for Hep-V, but Mr. Gus informs them that his scientists are working on altering “New Blood” so it will require life-long dependency on the product to remain healthy.

Back in Bon Temps, emotions are running high as Hoyt Fortenberry (newly engaged Jim Parrack) is still grappling with his mother’s death. A fight breaks out between the orphan and his girlfriend Brigette (Ashley Hinshaw) over the prospect of having children. Caught in the crossfire, Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is provided the perfect excuse out of the awkward situation when he receives photos of Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Adilyn (Bailey Noble) kidnapped and tied up at his ex-girlfriend Violet’s.

When Jason tries to leave Hoyt’s, Brigette insists on coming with him. But she stays in the car as the deputy goes off to face his ex, who has not taken their breakup very well.

Violet (Karolina Wydra) quickly captures Jason and is about to enact a series of horrible tortures on her bound victims when Hoyt arrives and kills her with a silver bullet. Although Hoyt had all of the memory of ex-girlfriend Jessica glamoured out of him years before, Brigette can not help but notice her boyfriend shares a special connection with the redheaded vampire.

Meanwhile, Sookie (Anna Paquin) is slowly accepting that her first love Bill (Stephen Moyer) is dying, but the half-fairy is given new hope when Eric shows up and reveals he has been healed. Eric has sworn himself to secrecy regarding New Blood, but Sookie refuses to accept his silence.

She goes to visit him at Fangtasia, where she is held at gunpoint by Mr. Gus’s men. Eric pretends to glamour Sookie and sends her back home, but not before Sookie listens in on Mr. Gus’s thoughts and learns that the cure is in the basement of the former club.

Sookie and Jessica bring the ailing Bill to the basement of Fangtasia through a secret tunnel, but when Bill is given the opportunity to heal himself by feasting upon Sarah, he refuses.