TV Recap: True Blood - I Will Rise Up

While it seems most True Blood episodes end with a cliffhanger, tonight’s episode ended on a roof with no crazy “what’s going to happen” moment to cap the show off. I’m jumping in midseason with this recap as I only just got caught up on this bloody, addicting series.

Tonight’s episode started up with the aftermath of Luke’s silver-dressed suicide bomb. Following the explosion, we find out that while a few random vampires and some human companions bit the dust in the blast, everyone who matters survived. Eric used himself to shield Sookie from the explosion, resulting in a few chunks of silver being lodged in his chest. While Bill runs off to take care of the other Fellowship people who were with Luke, Eric takes advantage of Sookie’s kindness and naivety by convincing her that he’s going to die if she doesn’t suck the silver out. Seriously, because jamming a finger in the wound and plucking out the shrapnel wouldn’t have sufficed? Sookie goes about sucking Eric’s chest only to have Bill show up too late and tell her that now that she’s ingested some of his blood, they’re connected.

Bill’s pissed at Eric for tricking her like that and later tells Sookie that in addition to Eric now being able to track her emotions, Sookie might also feel some sexual desire for Eric. Gotta love vampires. It’s all sex and blood with the undead. Sookie doesn’t believe this because a hot, broody, powerful vampire just isn’t her type. Bill’s right though, as proven by the naked-scene that follows wherein Sookie dreams she’s in bed with Eric. In the dream, they’re being all snuggly and flirty on satin sheets as they make out and Eric tries to convince her that she’d make a great vampire. They’re interrupted once in a while by a voyeuristic Lorena who’s sitting near the bed watching them and commenting on Bill.

When Sookie can’t sleep, she and Jason hang out and have a heart to heart in his hotel room. Jason’s down on himself for constantly screwing up but Sookie convinces him that he’s not stupid, just a bit on the lazy side. I have to say, she has a point. The guy actually managed to do pretty well with those Fellowship wackos, proving that he does ok when he applies himself and he’s not thinking with his wiener. He and Sookie watched a news interview with the American Vampire League’s Nan Flanagan and Steve and Sarah Newlin. This hilarious bit starts with the Newlin’s firing back and forth with Nan and ends with the Newlin’s bickering with each other. I’m not sure what was funnier, Sarah saying she hated Steve’s hair or the red mark on Steve’s head courtesy of the paintball Jason shot at him.

Later, Nan shows up to talk to Godric about the fiasco with the Fellowship and the explosion. She’s not happy with the ordeal and when Godric admits he surrendered himself to the Fellowship, that makes the situation worse. Godric agrees to relinquish all of his authority but after a sincere apology, Eric knows Godric’s not going to just sign some forms and step down.

After Nan leaves, Godric and Eric go up on the roof. Sunrise is on the way and Godric has two thousand years worth of carnage to feel remorse over. He tells Eric that they (the vampires) aren’t right and shouldn’t be here. Essentially, he loathes himself and his kind and he’s ready to end it all. Eric begs him not to do it but Godric’s mind is made up. Godric commands him to leave him when Eric offers not to let him die alone. Sookie knows what’s going to happen and she tells Eric she’ll stay with Godric until the end. She knows she can’t convince Godric not to let himself die but after they talk about God and Sookie says He forgives, she sheds a few tears for Godric and he’s at peace with his choice. Now, after seeing that vampire get staked last season I wasn’t exactly relishing the thought of seeing Godric explode into a bloody, stringy mess of goo but the writers spared us from that sight. For the sun-death, they went more along the lines of a Buffyesque vampire dusting mixed with flames that seemed to come from inside of him. And then poof, Godric was gone.

Back in Bon Temps, Maryann’s mess has gotten even messier. Half the town is in the clink, including Sam. Meanwhile, Eggs and Tara are trying to figure out why they blacked out, having no memory of the heart-soufflé they gorged on, beating the crap out of each other or ravaging each other on the floor of the foyer. They’re not the only ones trying to figure out what happened when the lights went out. Terry and Arlene admit to each other that they can’t remember what happened the night they went out or whether or not they had sex. I’m pretty sure Arlene had sex with someone at the bonfire orgy but I’m not sure it was Terry.

Maryann wants Sam out of jail but when she shows up to spring him, he’s already flown the coop, literally. He turned himself into a fly and snuck out of the place just before Maryann put her mojo on the old cop whose name I don’t remember and took his keys. Pissed off, Maryann lets the other prisoners out, all of whom are eager for her to throw another indulgence fiesta.

Lafayette may be distraught over being caged, beaten and eaten by Eric and his people but he’s not too down in the dumps to see that something’s majorly screwy in Bon Temps. He’s mostly worried about Tara and when Eggs shows up at the bar, Lafayette goes nuts on him, calling him poison for Tara. Everyone in the bar cheers because chaos is awesome but Lafayette fails to see the humor in the situation. He wants to get Tara out of this mess, so he brings Tara’s mother to Sookie’s house to confront her. Maryann’s there with her and Eggs and she quickly uses her power to cause Tara to attack her mother. Eggs starts to get involved but Lafayette fights him off, grabs Tara and he and her mother take off. The last we see of Sam, he de-flies and finds Andy drinking his sorrows away at some cheap motel. Andy doesn’t seem surprised or all that interested to see Sam standing in the doorway naked and he lets him into his room but I’m sure once he sobers up he’ll be eager to help figure out what’s going on and put a stop to it so he can get his life and his reputation back in order.

Finally, Hoyt and Jessica are trying to get passed the whole virginity issue. Hoyt’s willing to look passed it and tries to cheer Jessica up by offering to build her a tricked-out double-wide because that’s how a guy like him rolls. He’s sweet and sings Jessica to sleep. Later he talks to his mother about meeting Jessica but the woman hates vampires and doesn’t want her baby boy messing with them (or women in red shoes). After Hoyt threatens to move out and never talk to her again, she agrees to meet Jessica. They get together at Merlotte’s and Hoyt’s mother does little to mask her contempt for her son’s new girlfriend. Though she does warm up a little when Jessica tells her she didn’t choose to be a vampire and that she has no family, she makes Jessica cry blood by bringing up the fact that she can’t give her son babies. Hoyt goes after Jessica to console her and tells his mother he's never coming home. It’s clear there are some major issues in the Hoyt/Jessica relationship but I still can’t help but think these two are too adorable for words and I love that Hoyt’s standing up to his mother.

Like I said, there was no cliffhanger in tonight’s episode but that doesn’t mean there isn’t much to speculate over. Will Andy and Sam figure out a way to take down Maryann and save Bon Temps? Will Lafayette be able to keep Tara away from Maryann or is he going to get sucked into that nightmare like everyone else? And how long before Eric drives a huge wedge between Sookie and Bill now that he’s got a hold on her?