EPISODE ONE — NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER   ALAN BALL   |   DIRECTED BY   DANIEL MINAHAN   |   WRITTEN BY   ALEXANDER WOO

SEASON ONE of TRUEBLOOD ended with the cliffhanger discovery of a body in Andy Bellefleur's car, evidenced by a glimpse of a dark-skinned leg with painted toenails.  Perhaps to fans' surprise, this is the corpse of Miss Jeanette, the fake voodoo exorcist who is found with the heart ripped out of her chest.  This is a surprising twist for viewers who thought the body would be Lafayette's, who has been missing for two weeks and was supposedly the victim fed upon by Bill Compton.  Bill was desperate to regenerate himself after his devastating exposure to sunlight while trying to save Sookie from Rene's attack in the cemetery.

Tara's getting a grilling from Andy and Sheriff Dearborne, who reveals she knew Miss Jeanette (aka Nancy LaVoire) from her mother's backwoods exorcism, and this truth rocks Lettie Mae to the core, though she refuses to believe the exorcism didn't save her.  Maryann confronts Lettie Mae for being such an abusive mother to Tara, who clings tighter and tighter to the idyllic lifestyle Maryann offers — though we can all predict that such a paradise will come with a steep price soon.

Matters of faith continue being tested as Jason studies the religious tenets of the Fellowship of the Sun, which raises his own conflicts as such preaching consider vampires (and presumably V users) children of darkness and Satan — did Amy contribute to Jason's mortal downfall?

Lafayette has been enslaved in the basement of some dank structure, chained to a turnwheel which he and three other captives must keep turning for an unknown reason.   It doesn't take much imagination to suspect that Lafayette is Eric's prisoner in this windowless dungeon.

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Sookie years to spend time alone with Bill, only to be interrupted by Jessica — his annoying first-made vampire — who ignites an argument between the lovers. Sookie suspects Jessica might have killed Miss Jeanette, but Bill doubts it though he cannot rule it out.  Sookie insists that Bill not keep secrets from her, including the dark secrets of  his vampire existence which are driving a wedge between he and Sookie.  She walks out on Bill, insisting she's strong enough to face his darkest truths or she can't be with him.  Expect this theme to permeate the story of SEASON TWO.

Reverend Steve Newlin takes on Vampire rights advocate Nan Flanagan in a live news interview, blaming her and all vampires for the murder of this father Theodore, the former leader of the Fellowship of the Sun movement.  Jason is introduced to Newlin, who quickly encourages Jason to join their next leadership conference — for a $1200 fee, no less — exposing the Fellowship movement as little more than another televangelist-style 'faith' of opportunity preying on the fearful in human society just as much as vampires.

Sam flashes back to the night he first met Maryann Forrester, while robbing her house for food and valuables years ago and using his dog-shape shifting ability to gain access.  She confronts him as he is about to steal a female statuette which may hold some type of supernatural clue to Maryann's true identity.

Meanwhile, Sookie is told that her great Uncle Bartlett was found dead in the water near his home, presumably a falling accident — though Sookie suspects that a vampire killed him: was it Bill, feeding to regenerate himself two weeks ago, or was it Jessica out cutting her teeth as a newborn vampire?

Tara continues befriending Benedict while Maryann relates the tale about the thin veil between humans and the gods, as inspired by a poolside mural at her mansion.  A love relationship is definitely brewing here, but Benedict's blank backstory may well offer complications for Tara sooner than later. 

Jason too is erasing the line between God and himself as his passion for the Fellowship movement grows, as he preaches the party line to Hoyt on the road crew.  Sookie drives out to break the bad news about Uncle Bartlett to Jason and give him their Uncle's inheritance she refuses to keep after his abusive treatment of her.  Jason gladly accepts the inheritance check as another miracle from God proving he's on the right path and on his way to Reverend Newlin's leadership conference in Baton Rouge.

Sam's flashback continues to his younger days when he becomes Maryann's lover, though during their sexual encounter she begins to reveal her true nature, literally vibrating on top of his lap until he's scared out of the moment. Back to the present, Arlene introduces Sam to a new waitress prospect, Daphne. Given Sam's history, can it be long before their relationship becomes more than professional?

Lafayette and his fellow captive Royce, the redneck from Merlotte's who burned down the vampire nest, exchange their regrets having found themselves enslaved.  The episode sure is stringing along this story line, revealing next to nothing except to keep Lafayette in the narrative.

Sookie and Jason comfort each other amid the seemingly continuous losses in their family, including Amy whom Jason says he truly loved despite her faults and addiction to V.  Sookie asks Sam to leave her shift early, and he vents his frustrations about her constant apologies and distractions, though it's clearly a cover for his jealousy over her love for Bill.

Andy hounds the customers at Merlotte's about Miss Jeanette's murder case, attempting to clear and prove himself, until Dearborne takes him off the case for his own good.  Naturally this only feeds into Andy's insecurity as a detective and a man.

Sam's flashback resumes to a post-coital moment with Maryann in the shower, as younger Sam steals some clothes, jewelry and a cache of thousand of dollars.  Maryann disturbs his reverie in the present, and Sam offers her a bag of cash he's saved to make restitutions — though she makes it clear it's not money she wants from Sam.

Sookie returns to Bill's house, attempting to make amends with Jessica — who cannot stomach TruBlood, despite Bill's insistence — but Sookie's true agenda is to learn if Bill killed Uncle Bartlett.  He admits to the killing, stating he chose Bartlett because he had hurt Sookie in the past.  This is no comfort to Sookie, but Bill refuses to "apologize for what you have awaken in me."  Bill tells Sookie he loves her, as she admits she loves him and the two retire upstairs to make love, ending with his feeding passionately on her neck and a blood-smeared kiss.

Back to Lafayette in the dungeon as his loudmouth cellmate plans a clumsy escape, quickly ended by Eric — apparently and hilariously interrupted in the middle of bleaching his blond hair when overhearing their plan, foil sheets folded into his hair for highlights.  Eric violently rips apart the escapee, splattering blood over Lafayette who watches in horror.

Appropriately enough, the end credits tune is Nothing But the Blood (of Jesus), an old hymnal which (as usual) takes on double meaning in the context of TRUEBLOOD and the world of vampires.  Update: the vocal artist of this recording was Randy Travis.

SUMMARY: it's always heavy-lifting work to reboot such a dramatically complex story as TRUEBLOOD, and Episode One does a fine job of picking up all the pieces from last season while giving us new plot twists.   Indeed, Alan Ball and the creative team (including novelist Charlaine Harris) revel in these surprises, as Ball blatantly told viewers of the SEASON TWO preview/recap on HBO that the body in Andy Bellefleur's car was Lafayette, a victim of Bill's regenerative hunger — a blatant but well-intentioned lie to keep viewers from getting too far ahead of the story.

The conflict between Sookie and Bill over his making of Jessica and other vampire secrets he holds seemed a bit short-lived and easily resolved within this first episode, especially since we know his vampire history and lore will continue to deepen beyond what Sookie knows. For instance, we know that Bill's maker from the Civil War era, Lorena, should make a return appearance this season and she's bound to offer more surprises about Bill's past.  Then again, as a quite plot-heavy episode to get this second season up and running, it's not surprising Bill and Sookie's relationship is quickly restored since their romantic/sexual energy on-screen is a major attraction to TRUEBLOOD's loyal viewers.

Lafayette's captivity, while a welcome advancement which keeps his character from exiting the series, felt weakly prolonged through the episode. True enough that he's fairly helpless being chained to the turnwheel, but even so the story points in his scenes were mostly told by Royce while Lafayette reluctantly listens. It was obvious they were enslaved by vampires, and Eric was the obvious mastermind once Royce was delivered into the dungeon, since he was redneck who led the firebombing of Malcolm's nest.  Much more encouraging is the Episode Two preview, which apparently shows Lafayette begging Eric to make him a vampire, which puts a dizzying new spin on character dynamics with Tara, Sookie and all of Bon Temps.

SEASON TWO is off to a promising start, and I invite you all to return next Sunday night at 6pm ET as FILMEDGE drinks in more TRUEBLOOD live online right here.

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