True Blood - Episode 1 Recap & Highlights

*WARNING*

This post contains spoilers and offensive language.

If you don’t like either, please cover your eyes now.

To quote a cute toddler I met over Memorial Day weekend, ‘Holy Guacamole’! Season 3 hit the ground running last night and it looks like we’re in for one hell of a ride. I could tell right off the bat that Alan Ball and his team have upped the ante. I didn’t want to do a drawn out dissertation of episode 1 so I’ll give you a quick rundown of the main characters story arcs and then follow it up with some highlights, lowlights and some of my favorite one liners.

Sookie

We start this episode with Sookie running out of the restaurant looking for Bill. Officer Kenia shows up on the scene and, unfortunately for Sookie, she is unable (and very unwilling) to help her. She then heads over to Bill’s house to ask Jessica if she’s seen or heard from Bill. Jessica starts to ask questions about Bill’s proposal but, Sookie cuts her off and demands that she call her if Bill shows up. Next stop - Fangtasia. She runs into Pam and after one of the funniest one liners I’ve heard in weeks, she barges past Pam and runs into a naked and ‘occupied’ Eric. At first she blames him. But after a convincing alibi she then accuses Lorena (Bill’s maker) of kidnapping him. Sookie asks for Eric’s help and Eric explains he’s duty-bound to investigate Bill’s disappearance because he’s Sheriff of the area. She heads home to find a distraught Tara on her couch and Lafayette watching over her. Sookie reveals that she helped Eggs remember what Maryann made him do and Tara flips out and rushes Sookie. Once Lafayette pulls off Tara, Sookie throws her out of her house. She then enlists Jessica to go on a search and rescue mission using the bond Bill and Jessica have.

Bill

Bill is taken hostage by what appears to be a group of psychotic bikers. As they’re headed to their destination they have Bill bound in silver chains and are torturing him while getting high off his blood. This gives him an opportunity to steal a pair of gloves and unleash a vamp style beat down that causes the driver to run off the road and flip the vehicle. After he’s killed his captors he makes his way to the home of an elderly woman who lives out in the woods. He proceeds to give her the vamp glam stare and feeds from her to regain his strength. He also manages to figure out that he's in Mississippi. Upon leaving the woman’s house, he ends up surrounded by a group of werewolves. He gives them a warning, bares his fangs and rushes the nearest wolf thus ending episode 1 on a dramatic cliffhanger.

Jessica

Jessica heads back home after feeding off a trucker and finds roses waiting at the door. She smiles because she knows they're from Hoyt but, all is not well. She immediately drags in the trucker she was feeding on because he’s dying from blood loss. This sets off an epic teenage style meltdown which is interrupted when Sookie comes looking for Bill. Once Sookie leaves she tries to revive the trucker with her blood. When she wakes up the next night she discovers that her attempts to save him have failed. While she’s trying to figure out what to do with his body Sookie comes over again and asks if Bill tried to contact her. She mentions an incident where she felt nauseous but had no idea why. Sookie asks Jessica to go with her to see if they can pinpoint Bill’s location based on the weird feeling she got the night before. They find his overturned car and start to look around for clues. They find one of the bikers cell phones and look for the symbol they see tattooed on his neck. They find out that the symbol stands for ‘Operation Werewolf’.

Sam

After one hell of an erotic dream involving Bill, Sam wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing. He’s in search of his biological parents and the call he receives gives him valuable information that aids his search. The caller also reveals information that leads him to believe that he may have a step brother. He follows the lead to an auto shop where he meets someone he thinks is his step brother. He then follows him home and checks the family’s mailbox and discovers that this is the residence of his biological family.

Tara

Tara runs out of Merlotte’s to discover Egg’s body. Needless to say she is devastated. Sheriff Bud Dearborn rounds up everyone inside to get statements. As he’s wrapping up his interview with Arlene she makes a comment that sets Tara off which leads to a heated argument between the two characters. Lafayette drags Tara out of the bar and heads over to Sookie’s house. Unfortunately, Tara gets into a physical altercation with Sookie after Sookie tells her what she revealed to Eggs before he died. Lafayette ends up taking Tara to his house and calls her mother over. Her mother calls over a preacher to talk to Tara. Her mother (in true Lettie May fashion) then decides to hit on the preacher. Tara, giving the appearance that she’s coming out of her shock, tells her mother she’s going to take a shower. Lafayette walks in and chastises her mother for leaving her alone. He starts to bang on the door and before he kicks it in we see that Tara has decided to down a bunch of medication in an attempt to end her life.

Eric

After being confronted by Sookie about Bill’s kidnapping, an enraged Eric gets off the phone with the people who were suppose to kidnap Bill. Pam then advises him to tell the vampire queen what’s happened with Bill before someone else does. He basically tells her that when he wants her opinion he'll ask for it. A few moments later Sophie-Anne Leclerq walks in with The Magister to discuss the rise in V use in his area. He makes it very clear that he wants it taken care of and that the perpetrator will suffer immensely for their crime. Once he leaves Sophie-Anne directs Eric to sell all the V he has left and suggests that he pack up his bar and get out of town. Eric informs the queen about Bill’s disappearance. She lets him know that she could care less. Eric provokes the queen and is puts in a position where she literally has him by the balls. After her threat she departs and leaves a visibly shaken Eric standing alone in Fangtasia.

Jason

Andy Bellefleur makes Jason run back to his house after the incident involving Eggs. Poor Jason ends up having a meltdown once he gets home. Andy swings by a couple of hours later to let him know what happened with Sheriff Dearborn and the witnesses. In an attempt to protect Jason, he convinces him to stick to their initial story. Andy stresses that he has to act normal. So Jason meets up with Hoyt the next night at Merlotte's and picks up a couple of girls which he takes back to his house. Unfortunately, poor Jason can’t get his equipment to work because of the overwhelming guilt he feels over Eggs’ death.

Highlights

Tara and Arlene’s blowout at Merlotte’s:

Neither one of these characters are my favorite but, I tend to enjoy confrontations that involve an overly aggressive character and an air headed one. What you end up getting is a really heated argument with some comedic moments.

Jessica’s freak out:

My poor baby vamp. She’s in way over her head after she accidentally kills the trucker she was feeding off of. She has a classic teenager freak out when she’s trying to figure out what to do with the body.

The meeting at Fangtasia:
I love when I get to see Eric get thrown into a situation he can’t handle. The meeting with The Magister and the vampire queen for me was fangtastic. He looked terrified and I couldn’t have been happier. It’s nice to see the tables get turned on him every now and again. What about when Sophie-Anne literally has him by the balls? Ah, priceless!

Bill’s showdown with the werewolves:
You all know I’m a fan of dramatic showdowns. So when the episode ends with Bill getting ready to throw down with the werewolves my heart practically skipped a beat. I can’t wait to see how it all goes down.

Lowlights

Tara:

As I’ve mentioned before, Tara is not one of my favorite characters. In fact, she’s my least favorite character on the show and last night she was especially irritating. Her demeanor is so abrasive that it gets on my nerves. Apologies to all Tara fans out there but, she’s just not my cup of tea.

CGI of Bill running through the woods:

The show normally does a decent job with CGI, but I was not feeling the scene where Bill’s running through the woods. It looked cheesy and I thought it could’ve been done better.

No friggin’ Alcide!:

I can’t believe I’ll have to wait another week to see Alcide. What the hell is wrong with the writers?!?! Don’t they know we want us some Alcide. All I’m saying is if there’s no Alcide next episode it could get ugly! Very very ugly!!

Favorite One Liners

‘Conscious off, dick on, and everything’s going to be okay.’

-Andy Bellefleur

‘I’m in no mood for lesbian weirdness tonight Pam.’
-Sookie Stackhouse

‘Holy ass!’
-Sookie Stackhouse

‘Is Bill’s stamina not up to snuff?’
-Eric Northman

‘I actually think I look kind of bad ass.’
-Hoyt Fortenberry

‘Hell hath no fury like a vampire queen broke.’
-Sophie-Anne Leclerq, Vampire Queen

‘I am a freak of fucking nature!’
-Jessica Hamby


What do you have to say fellow Bite Clubbers and True Blooders?? Did you like Episode 1? Did it meet your expectations? What were your favorite and least favorite scenes? What were your favorite lines?


Oh and by the way, here’s a sneak peak of next week’s episode…

Ep. 26: Beautifully Broken - Preview

*Apologies for the delay in getting this recap up. It was one technical difficulty after another but, I was finally able to take care of business. Next week should go way more smoothly. Also, if you have any suggestions or comments about the format, please let me know. I'm open to your suggestions.*