Peroxide blonde Spike started out as a malevolent force of nature on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but by the end of its run, he had been whipped into a puppy doggish version of his former sadistic self. No longer was he a leather-jacketed badass who had killed two Slayers, he was just a misunderstood poet who was simply looking to be loved. Blech! And now it seems like Eric Northman might be going down the same primrose path to redemption. Should we panic?
Speaking to PaleyFest, Alexander Skarsgård revealed that his character would be struck with amnesia and lose most of his memory of the last thousand years or so. Quoth the Swede:
This powerful character is just gone--it's not what we've built up over the past three years; it is just gone. And it's a lot of fun for me because it's the polar opposite of who Eric really is...He is lost. He doesn't know how he is, he knows he's a vampire, but he slowly finds out stuff, like, 'Did I do that? I killed those people? Why would I do that? Oh. Really?' It's not easy to hear--and not knowing who he can trust, who's a friend or an enemy. He's very vulnerable. . .he's very innocent . . . Eric needs help.
So, if I can hazard a guess, Eric will have his edges softened by his amnesia and will be become a nice, more relatable character, and because he's nicer, Sookie will feel less guilty falling in love with him. He'll regain his memories eventually, but having gained an appreciation for humanity, won't partake in the wholesale murder, torture and sadism that he had previously so delighted in.
Spike suffered from the de-fanging of his character, and I hope that True Blood ignores those who want Eric to end up with the shrill Sookie, and instead keep him bloody and psychotic, as we've grown to love him.