True Blood S3 E12 (Season Finale): About As Useful As Tits On A Turtle

The season finale managed to be simultaneously anticlimactic and too cliffhanger-y. Last year's finale was a total let-down, too -- but at least it tied up the season's major plot lines fairly well. To make things easy, I'm just going to list the things that I didn't like:

Plotline: Sam's family drama
Result: Sam shot at Tommy after Tommy stole all of the money from his safe after Sam got belligerently drunk and kicked him out of his rental.
Why I'm disappointed: This plotline was so boring to begin with, and after it all, Sam just ends up shooting at Tommy? I doubt he hit Tommy, but even if he did, is that the road that Sam's headed down -- heartless killer? It was nice to see the flashback into Sam's grifter past a few episodes ago, but this whole thing seems like a big dead end.

Plotline: Lafayette & Jesus' romance/drug use
Result: Jesus is a witch and so is Lafayette.
Why I'm disappointed: I'm not actually that disappointed with this one. It was really fun seeing L with a love interest this season and witches have lots of future story possibilities.

Plotline: Jason's career and love aspirations
Result: Jason is now the king of inbred meth capital Hotshot
Why I'm disappointed: The whole exploration of Jason's feeling like a has-been was uninteresting from the beginning because we've know that about him -- and he about himself -- since Ep. 1. He's basically a well-intentioned, dim-witted set of abs with blonde hair and always has been. It was interesting seeing him lose his mojo after shooting Eggs, but the whole blackmail-Andy-to-become-a-deputy plot was pretty lazy. And Crystal is so annoying, and her family tree so twisted, that it was hard to watch. I hope that Jason doesn't stay in Hotshot long next season.

Plotline: Tara's torture/rape/continued destruction
Result: She cuts her hair and blows outta town
Why I'm disappointed: I guess I'm not that disappointed about how this one ended up, either. A girl (Tara) has her limits. I hope she's on the upswing. My only complaint is that her hair transformation would have been MUCH more complicated than the scene in front of the mirror implied.

Plotline: Jessica and Hoyt
Result: Together at last!
No disappointment here. I'm not that concerned about Momma Fortenberry because Jessica's an effing vampire.

And finally, the important part:
Plotline: Bill/Sookie/Eric/Pam/werewolves/King/Queen, etc.
Why I'm disappointed: ERIC DIDN'T KILL EDGINGTON. What the hell?! As excited at first as I was to see Godric again, that was so far out of character, and left field, of Eric to weirdly temporarily imprison the king in cement. I'm not really sure how the logistics of that whole scenario even work. And if Eric could get out of the cement, so could Edgington. It was pretty badass of Bill to throw Eric in, though. And it was incredible when Sookie kicked Bill out of her house. So the whole buildup to the big "showdown" was for nothing. We'll have to settle for the showdown between Bill and the queen, which I have a sneaking suspicion that they'll gloss over next season. That last Matrix-y shot of Bill reminds me of that still from Lost of the polar bear that looked more like a Muppet than a scary animal. And now Sookie's off to fairy land. Snore.

Overall, I felt pretty unfulfilled by the finale, like I did last season. C'mon, True Blood! You've been nominated for a Best Drama Emmy -- let's act like it!