EPISODE TWO — KEEP THIS PARTY GOING

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER   ALAN BALL   |   DIRECTED BY   MICHAEL LEHMANN   |   WRITTEN BY   BRIAN BUCKNER

As Eric wipes the blood and gore of Royce off himself, he unchains Lafayette and takes him upstairs to meet Pam in a rather humorous and one of the shortest teaser openings yet.

Sookie seems to enjoy make up sex with Bill, though not the fighting preceding it.  Jessica remains a bone of contention between the couple, which makes Bill's journey back to find his humanity all the more difficult.  Sookie makes fun of Bill's protectiveness, suggesting that Jessica — despite being a new creature of the undead — isn't that different from any other teenager.

And off come Eric's locks now that Royce's blood has spoiled the bleach job, as Lafayette fights for his survival by revealing his vampire source for V and that Jason may well have taken him.  Eric also presses for info on a V trader in the Dallas area, since an associate name Godrick has gone missing in that area.  Lafayette fails to satisfy Eric's interrogation and is chained up in the dungeon again.

Jason rides with the sing-song crowd on a bus to the Texas Leadership Conference for the Fellowship of the Sun, where he meets another college ball player who, impressed by Jason's connection to Reverend Steve Newlin, offers to be roommates at the conference.  Comedy seems to be the theme tonight, as Jason couldn't be more of a (swearing) fish out of water with the Fellowship groupies.

Sookie's night of romance is sobered by the news report on Jessica's disappearance, while Jason rides a spiritual high at the initiation meeting at the Fellowship conference, complete with silver rings as symbols of their devotion to honesty, the anti-Vampire cause (and presumably protection against them).   Hmmm, can we expect Jason's ring to be put to the test anytime soon — the honesty will be a challenge no doubt!

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Maryann returns to bedevil Sam a bit at the diner, while Jason's competitive edge returns as he faces off in a rough-house game of capture the flag against his ex-jock roomie.  Is Newlin's wife Sarah more than a little interested in Jason beyond his vampire-slaying prowess — especially when he strips his shirt off!

Lafayette proves his mettle as survivor when he spies the torn-apart remains of Royce and remembers the redneck's tale about his metal hip replacement.  He breaks apart Royce's dismembered leg and uses the hip stem to break his chain shackle and flee the basement.

Contention brews as Tara introduces Sookie to Maryann, just after Sookie asked Tara to move in with her at Gran's house.  Sookie can hear Maryann thinking — chanting? — in a foreign, perhaps ancient language even while Maryann attempts to flatter Sookie's renowned powers.  Sookie attempts to learn where Maryann is from, but "Cape Cod" clearly isn't the full answer.  Nevertheless, Maryann is displeased at the thought of Tara moving out of the mansion.

Lafayette emerges into the club level of Fangtasia (in daytime), confronted by Ginger armed with a pistol to keep an eye on the prisoners.  She shoots Lafayette in the leg and completely freaks out, helping bind his wound.   Meanwhile Jason and the Fellowship crowd are treated to an oddly risque rendition of a "Jesus Asked Me Out Today" — piety becoming more of a pretense pose than a sign of true faith — until Newlin asks Jason to play act an encounter with pretend vampire rights advocate played by Sarah.

Sookie returns to Bill's to find him gone, having left Jessica alone and miserable, even moreso after seeing her parents lament their daughter on the news.  Jessica suffers from homesickness, and an incomplete education on the ways of a new vampire from Bill.  Sookie expresses sympathy for Jessica's plight, finding similarity between their situations, noting it's the distance between loved ones that hurts, not death.  Jessica persuades Sookie to drive her home to see her family one last time, against Sookie's better judgment and her own insistence that they not keep secrets from each other.  Sookie insists on loaning Jessica different clothes, only to reveal Bill is out shopping for Jessica himself in attempt to care for her.

A mall saleswoman tries to help Bill, then attempts to seduce him with a little changing room rendezvous once she learns he's vampire, but the moment is abruptly ended when Eric butts in — with his new short haircut.   The saleswoman assumes Bill and Eric are gay partners and leaves them alone, yet Eric insists he speak with Bill about the reality of their partnership.

Lost in the moment, Jason stands up in his Fellowship teachings against play-acting Sarah, defending his imaginary daughter until Sarah slips in a cheap set of vamp teeth and threatens him.  Jason flashes back to his and Amy's kidnapping and murder of Eddie and his anti-vampire rage boils over: Jason snaps a flag stand in half and nearly drives it into Sarah's chest before stopping himself.  Reverend Newlin seems quite caught up in Jason's zeal and leads a standing ovation for the pseudo-drama lesson, little suspecting Jason was not at all faking the impulse behind his attack.  Once again, Sarah Newlin is quite impressed with Jason's physicality, and not entirely on faith-based terms.

Back at Merlotte's, Terry struggles under the strain of running the kitchen in Lafayette's absence, and Daphne's incompetence at table service only makes matters worse.  Oddly, Daphne is doing great business at table four, which happens to be where Maryann is seated, alone — so why is she ordering meal after meal by herself?  Exactly what appetite is Maryann satiating while lingering around Sam?  Arlene insists that Terry take a break, as their relationship buds a bit more.

Meanwhile Sam tries to cut off Andy in his drinking binge, unaware that Sheriff Dearborne took Andy off Miss Jeanette's murder case.  Meanwhile, Maryann appears to have cast a spell on the crowd at Merlotte's as she gets up to dance, touring the floor and the men while the others suddenly seem entranced by the music.

Back at the mall, Eric forcefully asks for Bill's permission to take Sookie to Texas to find Godrick, reminding Bill that he can take Sookie anytime he wants in reality.  Yet Bill refuses to agree, defying his master yet again — this can only lead a heightening of tensions and danger between the three of them.

Sookie wastes no time creating more trouble herself, as she pulls her car up in front of Jessica's house.  Sookie's sympathy for Jessica's turning gets the best of her as she asks forgiveness.  Jessica insists she doesn't blame Sookie for her turning, then immediately dashes out of the car when she sees her family in the house.  Jessica reunites with her mother and sister, and introduces them to Sookie.  Jessica learns fast, getting her mother to invite them both in (since Jessica either knows or senses she couldn't go in the house without a specific invitation)!  Sookie has only begun to regret her kindness.

Eggs interrupts Tara amid her busy shift to express his feelings for her, catching her off guard.  Meanwhile Maryann drags Andy onto the dance floor with some ulterior motive at work.  Back at the conference, Luke accuses Jason of being a religious fraud and disapproving of his violent, flagpole-snapping grandstanding in front of Newlin.  The two ex-jocks are clearly more interested in a battle for alpha domination and approval in front of the Fellowship than they are obtaining any true faith or knowledge — sounds like a fun recipe for disaster as the conference continues!

Sam confronts Maryann in his back office, she having clearly cast some kind of hedonistic spell on the crowd at Merlotte's.  But a quick display of her otherworldly vibration-trance turns Sam into his dog form, and she vows she will do the same to all his customers if he ever threatens her again.  Maryann may have refused Sam's attempt to repay the money he once stole from her, but she's clearly not disinterested in blackmailing Sam for her unrevealed plans.

Jessica's family reunion is short lived when her father returns home: their brief, genuine embrace of relief and concern turns into a tirade as Mr. Hamby threatens to beat Jessica if she doesn't explain her disappearance.  Jessica reacts as an abused daughter only momentarily until her vampire blood boils, her fangs emerge and she shoves him back against the door, declaring she's now more than ready to take him on.  Mr. Hamby stares aghast at his daughter, the vampire.  Sookie's quite surprised at the display of force herself.

Back at Eric's office, Pam and Chow guard the injured Lafayette, bemoaning how much blood he's lost being shot — Chow clearly has some power issues staying subservient to Eric, but Pam puts a quick stop to such thoughts.   Eric gives Lafayette a choice of how he will die, but Lafayette opts to ask Eric to turn him as a vampire instead, catching Eric off guard.  As Lafayette puts it, "I'm already a person of poor moral character, so I'll hit the ground running.  And I damn near glamour people already.  Not only will I be a badass vampire, I'll be your badass vampire."

Eric briefly consults with Pam and Chow, the fangs are out and their feast on screaming Lafayette begins — but is it to kill him or turn him?

Mr. Hamby remains outraged, blaming Jessica for being turned by a vampire.  She is about to take her vengeance out on her father when Bill blasts open the front door, ordering Jessica to stop as her maker.  Bill glamours little sister Eden to have her invite him in to protect her family, then he orders Sookie to leave the house immediately while he cleans up the mess she's made taking Jessica home.  Bill grimaces at Sookie's departure, though it's hard to tell which dismays him more: what he is about to do or that Sookie disobeyed him.

We won't find out until next week, though the preview looks promising: Sookie undermining Bill's authority over Jessica not only creates huge problems but once again places more obstacles in Bill and Sookie's relationship.  Meanwhile it appears Jessica's newfound sense of power will make her a loose cannon on Bon Temps, as she appears to attract the interest of lonely Hoyt when the two meet up at Merlotte's.  Jason's misguided zeal for the Fellowship appears to attract the interest of Sarah Newlin in quite earthly ways, as he bemoans how lost he has become once again.

SUMMARY: I found Episode Two a bit choppy in its structure and dramatic flow, with a lot of varied character moments scattered through the script while only Lafayette's and Jessica's plot points truly push the story forward.   In these two respects, it was a satisfying development of underdog characters from the season opener taking control of their destinies, refusing to be held hostage by their captors any longer.  While Bill and Sookie seem to repeat a weekly pattern of relationship problem of the week, Lafayette and Jessica have (for now) taken over as the most interesting and compelling plot arcs to follow and their dramatic futures are most promising this season!

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