Cover Story

By Shona Dustan TV Media

I t looks like Bon Temps is going to war.

The not-so-sleepy small town in Louisiana has seen more than its fair share of death and drama throughout the last six seasons of HBO’s hit supernatural show “True Blood,” and you can be sure there’s plenty more to come as its seventh and final season kicks off Sunday, June 22, on the cabler.

It’s been a long winter for “True Blood” fans — or “Truebies,” as they’ve come to be known over the years. Based on a series of novels by Charlaine Harris, the show has amassed a huge following, many of whom have been engrossed in the fictional town of Bon Temps since 2001, the year the first novel in the series, “Dead Until Dark,” was published. Last May, the 13th and final installment of the Sookie Stackhouse Novels was released, so there’s a sense of grim finality hanging about the final season of the show.

“True Blood” chronicles the exploits of the young, vivacious and telepathic small-town waitress Sookie Stackhouse. Oscar-winner Anna Paquin (“The Piano,” 1993) has earned a handful of Golden Globe nominations — and one win — for her portrayal of the feisty leading lady who finds herself living in a world filled with all manner of supernatural creatures as various social movements help those who have dwelt in the shadows reveal themselves to the masses. Having been able to hear the thoughts of others her whole life, Sookie knows what it is to be different and embraces this brave new world, even falling in and out of love with vampires and werewolves alike.

Season 6 was, as usual, a rollercoaster of action and emotion. While some beloved characters didn’t make it out alive (say it ain’t so, Terry!), most of the central cast is returning this year. The season 6 finale saw the demise of Warlow (Robert Kazinsky, “Pacific Rim,” 2013) and proceeded to jump ahead six months. As the episode closes, we learn that Sookie and hunky werewolf Alcide (Joe Man- the government has abandoned the besieged residents of Bon Temps.

“They’re weaker and driven by a need to eat in a way that the vampires that we’ve come to know are not,” says executive producer Brian Buckner. “They have to drink human blood in larger quantities and more frequently than before ... they’re not going to be zombies. They’re far more organized and haven’t lost their mental capacity.”

Sam proposes a plan to combat these crazed vamps, what he calls a “monogamous living donor” program. In an effort to stop the spread of the virus (which humans can carry in their blood), Hep V negative humans will pair up with healthy vampires and feed them their blood when necessary. The human, in return, gets the protection of the vampire — an increasingly necessary luxury considering how many infected vamps are roaming

The stage for season 7 has been set,