True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten on his Career and Jason’s Progression During Season 5

Ryan Kwanten Talks About True Blood’s Fifth Season Finale:

From finishing filming the fifth season of True Blood in May to flying out to London to the Olympic Games more recently, 35-year-old Ryan Kwanten never seems to stop moving. He recently starred in an indie Australian comedy Not Suitable for Children and up next he’ll be working on Sex and Sunsets, a Canadian comedy and “one of the best scripts” he says he’s read in a long time.

With the season finale of True Blood approaching, he notes how his character, Jason Stackhouse, copes when learning about his family’s death:

“It did affect him very profoundly, to the point that it really begins to shift the very fiber of who he is and everything that he thought that he was.”

Adding that this new information impacts Jason for the rest of the season, he also hints that although Jason has evolved as a person through the preceding seasons, he may revert back to his old self with all he is going through now.

This season, Jason is also getting more involved with other characters’ plots such as those of Hoyt and Sookie and the fae people. Kwanten has been loving this, mentioning:

“I love sort of randomly appearing in someone else’s storyline and maybe causing more chaos and more questions than answers.”

Speaking of creating more questions, he also reveals that this season finale will be a “more classic type of finale,” with a cliff hanger at the end rather than the usual True Blood style of tying things up neatly in the last few episodes.

As seen through Jason’s obvious lovable charms and naivety,  Kwanten’s love for good characters is what drives him to each project. Having his great looks and acting versatility gives him lots of opportunity, but he explains:

“I’ve been blessed with True Blood with the great writing, and that is more an inspiration and more what drives me. If a script doesn’t entice me at all, I’ve got no desire to do it because I’m not going to be fully committed to it. On the other hand, if it does drive me, I’ll do whatever I can in my power to make that film a success.”

It’s refreshing to find that Kwanten is happy to be acting for the love of it rather than being role-driven. Thankfully HBO’s True Blood set him up to be in a position of loving what he’s doing and getting paid well to boot.

Can’t wait to see what he creates in the future!

Source: Hollywoodreporter.com - True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten: Jason is ‘Profoundly’ Affected by Mystery of his Parents’ Death

(Photo Credit: HBO, Inc.)

HBO’s True Blood Season 5 Finale – Gran’s Pecan Pie Recipe

Gran’s Cryin’ Pie

So what is everyone doing for the Season 5 finale for HBO’s True Blood? Are you glad to see the season end, or are you begging for more? And while finale night means a lot of questions are answered, it also means there is a huge gap of time before you get your next new fix of Bon Temps.

Of course, finale night means party night also! This year at my place there will be Tru Blood Plasmapolitans (Tru Blood, Vodka and lime juice) as well as a good dose of crying.  Sookie’s gran’s famous Cryin’ Pie from Season 1, when her gran met an untimely demise and Sookie blubbered her way through the entire thing, is just the comfort food needed for this!

This year, I have attempted to replicate gran’s pie. I think I’ve come pretty darn close. So here is the recipe for you all to enjoy. For a more authentic recipe, omit the maple toffee.

Gran’s Cryin’ Pecan Pie

Ingredients

Pie Crust

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
113grams cold, unsalted butter, chopped
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pie Filling

395gram tin sweetened condensed milk
60grams brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsps Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract)
1/4 cup maple syrup
Pecan halves, to decorate

Maple Toffee

Brown sugar
Maple syrup
Water

• Add all the pastry ingredients to a food processor and whiz until totally combined.
• Grease a pie dish and, using your fingers, press out the pastry dough until smooth.
• Bake in the over at 340 degrees Fahrenheit

Kristin Bauer van Straten And Joe Manangiello Discuss The True Blood Season 5 Finale

The Actors Sat Down at San Diego ComicCon to Discuss HBO’s Vampire Drama:

Just before the ComicCon panel for HBO’s True Blood, Joe Manangiello and Kristin Bauer van Straten sat down together to discuss their characters in the series’ Season 5. Mr. Manangiello plays hunky werewolf Alcide Herveaux and Ms. Bauer van Straten portrays snarky vampire Pamela de Beaufort.

Both actors look forward to and enjoy the fan interaction of their ComicCon appearances. They agreed that the True Blood panel was as close to being a Beatle as either of them will ever get. Ratings numbers and internet chatter does not provide the same pleasure as seeing the enthusiastic faces of fans.

Mr. Manangiello readily revealed that Alcide will be having a great deal of sex during Season 5.

“I really feel like I’m having the full True Blood experience. I get to have sex with a bunch of people. I get around sexually, I kill people. It’s pretty rad.”

Both actors agreed that True Blood is very much about relationships in Season 5, both the sexual and the emotional. Ms. Bauer Van Straten, however, is disappointed that her character has yet to kill anyone on screen. She says she watches Alex (Skarsgård) ripping bodies apart and wishes she got to do that.

Ms. Bauer van Straten’s character Pam, has become a maker in Season 5, having turned Tara (Rutina Wesley) in order to save her life. At the same time, Pam has been released by her own maker, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård).

“Everything really is at stake for Pam. It expanded this year for me. Pam became totally 3D.”

Kristin and Joe Discuss Sex with Werewolves and the True Blood Season 5 Finale

Mr. Manangiello revealed that there is a rougher version of Alcide’s drunken make-out session with Sookie (Anna Paquin) than the one that finally aired. That footage, however, is on the cutting room floor. He also told about conversations he had with showrunner Alan Ball, before the filming of Season 5 regarding what sex with a werewolf would be like.

“We both agreed that the girl wakes up in the morning and does that ‘Oh’ thing, and then does the cowgirl walk the whole day.”

Ms. Bauer van Straten confessed to being a geek herself over the television show Battlestar Galactica. At a previous ComicCon she met Tricia Helfer (Cylon Number Six), who had never seen True Blood and didn’t realize Ms. Bauer van Straten was also an actress.

 “So I have this really awkward photo with Tricia Helfer somewhere.”

When asked about the True Blood Season 5 finale, neither actor could say much without spoilers. Ms. Bauer van Straten was happy with what Pam got to do during her scenes. Mr. Manganiello was thrilled to have Robert Patrick (Terminator 2) playing his father and said his scenes are sufficiently bloody.

This video is a very entertaining watch. The actors interact with friendship and humor that can’t be described and do it justice.

 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

True Blood Season 5 Episode 11 “Sunset” Recap

So Many Lives Hang in the Balance in this Bloody Episode!

For the second last episode of HBO’s True Blood, this one is surely filled to over-flowing with bloody gore. For starters, we find the typically bloody Lilith appearing to Bill Compton and trying to convince him that he is the chosen one.

Next, we find Nora contemplating her previous vision of Godric being beheaded by Lilith. Is she having second thoughts perhaps? Or is she just missing her maker? Salome appears and cheers her up though. Seriously, Salome has made her way through a large chunk of the vampire cast of True Blood – and she’s only one season old!

Jessica seems to be edgy and wants to keep Jason sheltered from the non-mainstreaming vampires. She tries to convince Bill to let her bring him back to Authority HQ. This backfires though and it looks like she will have to turn him in order to protect him – oops! Will Jason make it out of this episode alive?

It seems all Nora’s contemplating has resulted in her defection from the ways of Lilith and the Sanguinista. We find her making amends (and getting naked) with her brother, viking vampire Eric Northman, in the very next scene. My, isn’t the plot thickening deliciously for the season finale next week!

Sookie and Jason are sitting in fairyland and discussing the fact that Sookie was sold to a vampire over 300 years ago, thanks to the contract between a previous Stackhouse relative and Warlowe. Jason vows to protect her before leaving fairyland – I wonder how long it is before Jessica tracks him down?

The army is now concerned with the way vampires are behaving of late and a military general is sent to Authority headquarters to speak to Roman about it. Since Roman is dead, it gets a bit awkward here. The vampires there try to convince the general that Roman is unavailable. The general is not impressed but announces that the military knows vampires bombed the Tru Blood factories and tries to blackmail the vamps by letting them know that they are aware Russell Edgington is alive. If the general is killed then video footage of Russell and Steve Newlin killing college students en mass will be released to the general public. This probably would have worked too, except Eric goes all renegade and kills the general. What is he playing at? Once everyone calms down, Eric and Nora claim they can clean up the mess by glamouring everyone involved with the dead general. Bill seems suspicious and makes them take a security team with them. At least Eric is finally free of the Authority! And when Eric goes to change the channel in the car and kills the front seat passengers, he is also free of the security detail!

Jessica finds Jason. He starts to get suspicious as soon as he sees the security surrounding Jessica. It worsens when Jess starts talking about trust. It seems she is trying to send a message to Jason, but he is his normal thick-skulled self and doesn’t get with the program. Jessica is forced to bite him in an attempt to turn him to placate her security. When Jess’s security team are burying her and Jason, it seems he certainly did understand what she was saying earlier and jumps up and shoots the two shovelling vamps before they even know it – go Jason! He’s still mad a heck at Jess though.

Pam and Tara are cleaning up the remains of Elijah. Tara gets a crash course in what the Authority are and why she has done the wrong thing by killing the new Sheriff. While this is going on, Jessica arrives in a panic and wants to be hidden by them. Pam is against the idea until Jess admits she knows where Eric is.

Sookie is taken to meet a fairy Elder. This fairy is a distracted dancing fairy who seems more interested in finding out Sookie’s music taste rather than discussing Sookie’s ancient contract. Finally, Sookie gets her to concentrate and the Elder admits that hers, Sookie’s and Warlowe’s paths are intertwined. Before she can divulge any further information, Jason arrives and the mere mention of Russell Edgington’s name is enough to put fear into the fae. All the fairies agree to fight the vampires. Sookie and Jason devise a plan to lure Russell Edgington closer so the Elder can get rid of him.

Holly gets her kids to apologise to Andy for putting his butt on Facebook. Andy promises to look after their mom. It seems this may be an impossibility since later on in the episode, Maurella arrives and expects Andy to protect her and their unborn child. Apparently, Andy rejecting her is considered an act of betrayal against the fairies and there is a possibility this may lead to an outright war! I don’t think Holly is going to happy with Maurella and Andy when she finds out about this.

A whole scene occurs while Alcide is shirtless and chopping wood. I’m not sure what was said the first time round (Alcide + no shirt = total lack of attention span), but with the second watching, it turns out that a former member of Jackson Herveaux’s pack arrives to warn them that there is a lot of baby vamp attacks going on in the area. Luckily, Jackson has his trailer surrounded in silver. While it won’t keep older vampires out, it will protect the weres from the younger, dumber ones.

Pam, Jessica and Tara discuss the change in Bill and Pam decides it is a sure case of nest mentality. When she leaves, Tara and Jess seem to sort things out a little. Rosalyn arrives at Fangtasia next, looking for her progeny, Elijah. When Rosalyn threatens Tara, Pam owns up to killing him to protect Tara – go Pam! Rosalyn has Pam arrested though – will Pam survive this season?

More Lilith hallucinations are occurring for Bill.  The problem is, Lilith seems to be messing with all the vampires. When Bill goes to drink her blood, he finds Kibwe there – also professing to be the single vampire chosen by Lilith. Bill decapitates him. Next it is Salome’s turn to think she is the chosen one. Is it vampire blood or peyote in that vial they’ve all been drinking from?

Alcide and his dad are surrounded by baby vamps, luckily the silver fence does it’s job. When they move on and decide to harass another trailer load of food people, Alcide has had enough and manages to take out a few baby vamps before getting overwhelmed. It’s lucky his father steps in and kills the rest. It seems Jackson isn’t a nasty as we first thought.

Jason is patrolling Sookie’s house, waiting for Russell to arrive. Surprise, surprise,  the plan works and Russell arrives with Steve Newlin. It seems to be failing though when Russell glamours Jason and he reveals a lot of information about the fairies. Needless to say, the end result is the same: Russell is led to the fairies.

Sam and Luna are mousing their way around Authority HQ looking for Emma. While nudity is an unfortunate by-product of shifting, it turns out to be their savior when they are caught unaware by Authority security. It seems there is a bunch of naked people being held as vampire beverages and they mistakenly think Luna is one of them. While security are “returning” Luna to the cell filled with the other nudies, Sam volunteers to be vamp refreshments. More than a few main characters lives appear to hang in the balance this season. While this is going on, Pam and Jessica arrive at HQ as well. Jessica and Bill have an argument while Pam recognises Sam. It will be interesting to see how all this pans out in the finale. But once again, Pam and Eric are separated, their roles now reversed: Pam is trapped and Eric is free.

Russell can smell the fae when Jason leads them to the fairy field. The Elder arrives and attempts to send Russell into another dimension but hits Jason with her microwave fingers instead – Uh-oh! Just when you think it can’t get any worse, Russell captures the Elder and drains her dry! (Is it wrong to be happy this annoyingly distracted dancing fairy is gone already?) The nasty side-effect of this is that Russell can now see the entrance to fairyland. Does this mean he can also access it? I guess we’ll find out next week in the season finale.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Also, is anyone planning a season finale party for next week? Let us know all about it. I, for one, will be baking Gran’s pecan pie and washing it down with Tru Blood cocktails.

(Photo Credit: HBO Inc.)

True Blood’s Deborah Ann Woll talks on playing vampire Jessica

What Deborah Ann Woll has to say about her character:

Deborah Ann Woll plays vampire Jessica Hamby on HBO’s supernatural hit True Blood. She took some time out of her busy schedule to talk about what it’s like to play a vampire. Woll notes that while Jessica goes through a lot of turmoil, she does get some happiness in between all of the chaos and trouble.

When asked if she ever said; “my character would never say that” to the writers, Woll answered:

“I came up doing classical theater. And when the playwrights are dead, you can’t really argue with them.”

Woll is busy advocating for a cure for choroideremia, a eye disease that causes people to lose their vision slowly until it is completely gone, that her boyfriend, EJ Scott, has. Scott, who Woll met on Match.com, says her boyfriend was legally blind when they met and she loves him desperately.

Woll, who is five feet 10 inches without heels, said she was very lucky to have the role that she has and loves the people she works with.

Want to see the whole interview? Check out the video interview in the link below!

Source Credit: Good Day LA - Deborah Ann Woll Talks Being A Vampire On True Blood

(Photo Credit: HBO Inc.)

Inside True Blood Teases Fans About Season 5 Finale

Blog for HBO’s Series True Blood Reports What Was Overheard On Set

Internet blog, Inside True Blood, posted some possible teasers for the Season 5 finale of the HBO series. On June 10, 2012, the day the first episode of Season 5 aired, the cast and crew of True Blood were preparing to film the season finale. Blogger Gianna Sobel posted about the work being done.

After posting that the finale was going to be ‘crazy’, Ms. Sobel shared some of the things that were overheard during the prep meeting for the finale.

The tamest of the statements was, “It sounds like I’m going to need to get some torsos and some heads”. Fans are probably aware that is typical for an episode of True Blood. However, “We do have latex codpieces, they only take 20 minutes to apply” has some interesting implications. Finally, “I would deluge her completely in blood. She’s exploding! The blood would go everywhere. We should be prepared to throw a couple of body parts at her”. Any guesses on who or what that might be about?

Read the blog for yourself, as well as the comments left by other fans.

 

Source: Inside True Blood

True Blood Renewed For Sixth Season

Our Favorite Show Will Be Back for More!

HBO has just recently announced that they have decided to renew True Blood for a sixth season. This is great news for fans of the show. Although we can surely expect more of what makes the show great, there will be a few changes. Most notably, the show’s creator Alan Ball will be stepping down. Although he will stay on as an executive producer, Nurse Jackie’s Mark Hudis will be taking over the running of the show. We’ve known for a while that Ball was leaving, but it hasn’t always been apparent who would be taking over. Only time will tell if it was the right choice.

Although True Blood is still Sunday night’s highest rated show, it is still experiencing a steady decline in viewers. How this is happening is beyond me, but make sure you and all your friends continue to tune in on Sunday nights to keep our favorite show alive. Or undead, at least.

Source: True Blood and The Newsroom Get Renewed by HBO

Photo Credit: HBO

True Blood Season 5 Episode 6 “Hopeless” Recap

Fairies vs. Vampires?

It seems Russell Edgington still has the support of the werewolves in Episode 6 of HBO’s True Blood. We start this week with Alcide being dragged away by weres and Sookie having to use her microwave fingers on Russell. Eric takes this opportunity to make Russell’s death final. Bill threatens to stake him as a result – he’d rather use Russell as a negotiating tool for their lives rather than get revenge. The Authority arrives just in the nick of time and prevents any further discussion on the matter.

I must say, it’s nice to have Russell back. His maniacal rants are a delight! Needless to say, the Authority are not at all impressed with him. Not to mention the fact that the clean up with the humans gets incredibly messy — but did we ever expect them to come out of this alive? At least they agree to Sookie and Alcide being glamoured. Cheeky Eric, though, makes it unbelievably hard for Alcide to pursue Sookie any more. Bet that won’t go down well with Sookie.

After the opening credits, we find the bitch fight from hell – Jessica and Tara in an epic battle at Fangtasia. Luckily Pam is on hand to break things up, but a little praise wouldn’t go astray, that’s for sure. It doesn’t look like Jess and Tara will be the besties that we first thought. Poor Hoyt finds himself thinking that Jessica still has feelings for him as a result and it’s sad to see his downward spiral after they talk; you almost wish Jessica would glamour him happy.

Thankfully, Luna and Sam managed to survive being shot since we find them in the Emergency Room. Luna’s daughter has made her way to her grandma’s house. This scene feels like a weird take on Little Red Riding Hood — I feel like Jessica should be in this scene. It provides a headache for Luna later on though when her daughter is returned to her by the dreaded mother-in-law. They do manage to come to a compromise though. I hope Luna doesn’t regret her decision later on.

While Alcide can’t seem to work out where he is and Sookie is all crying in the car with him, Bill and Eric’s lives still hang in the balance. Bill hedges his bets and publicly states that he is leaving it up to Lilith to decide his fate. Eric, however, is not pandering to the ways of the Guardian and the Authority. By this stage you are wondering how much time Eric has left on the series with blatant displays of defiance like this. Meanwhile, Alcide is still trying to work out what page he’s on. He’s having confusing images of Sookie and him in the throes of passion, but the recoil for her is also apparent. Sookie manages to help him remember his true memories.

So what about Terry and Patrick? We know they escaped last week, but how are they faring? Seems Terry is not about to follow Patrick into what he considers certain death. I’m not so sure how Terry will get out of this mess, but he desperately tries to keep Arlene out of his curse by breaking all ties with her and the children. Poor Arlene, at this point she thinks Terry is off his meds and she’s just been dumped by another loser. I hope she has the chance to realise how good a guy he really is.

Next we find Lafayette with his mother. And she certainly knows more than we first thought. Turns out she’s not so crazy after all. Not only can she understand what Jesus is saying, but she has been able to see spirits for a long time. Somehow I get the feeling that Lafayette’s mother will play a bigger role in this season than ever before.

Jason is now trying to draw Sookie into his anti-vampire sentiment. He admits their parents were killed by vampires and leads her to the field where the fairy party was held. Sookie can hear all the voices of fairyland around her and somehow manages to find the doorway from the real world which leads to the land of fae. Is anyone else finding fairyland a fusion of a Baz Lurmann movie and a red hot Jason Gilkison ballroom routine? Either way, it sure seems like a great place to be.

Claude makes another appearance and introduces Sookie to all his sisters. Hadley is still there and tries desperately to get Sookie to stay. Claude explains that he is no longer affiliated with Queen Mab and this secret place is separated from the rest of fairyland. Can anyone smell a fairy battle coming on?

Hadley also elaborates on how Sookie and Jason’s parents were killed — seems the vampires were sniffing out Sookie’s blood and her parents were just collateral damage. Sookie gets upset and uses her magic microwave hands on Claude — it turns out that a lot of other people seem to have the same magic here!

Sam and Andy strike up an unusual partnership. He offers to help Andy find the shifter-haters by scenting them out. What an awesome spin off show this would make, it would be like MacGyver meets Inspector Rex! They end up at the local camping-come-vampire-hunting store. The owner looks edgy when Sam enters the store — does he know Sam is a shifter? And if he does, how? Before we can find out, Sam has shot him with a crossbow and saved Andy’s life in the process.

Alcide has had enough of the weres sucking up to Russell Edgington and decides to run for the role of pack master — even if there already is a new leader. Were-lore states that he can do this but he must have a second to back him up. Surprisingly he finds one within the pack.

Finally, we find out Bill and Eric’s fate. Thankfully, the dreaded iStakes are removed and we no longer have to live in fear of a twitchy finger. It gives Eric another chance to speak his true mind about his beliefs. He also announces he wants to see his sister, Nora. Roman agrees, so long as Eric is present for the execution of Russell. This announcement seems to shock Eric. How tight is he with Russell, I wonder? Eric agrees and Roman orders Salome to silver Russell again as well as putting an iStake on him before the execution — apparently he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty.

We return briefly to Hoyt. It seems he is still taking his break up with Jessica pretty harshly. A random vampire is sucking him dry! Before we can lament his possible demise, a truck appears filled with masked vampire-haters. They quickly dispatch with the vampire and drag Hoyt to safety. Are these the same people that are shooting at shifters? I think so.

Eric gets his visit with Nora. He finds her praying to Lilith, she is relieved that Russell is going to be executed. It seems Eric has a revelation of his own in this scene, but we have little time to ponder this thought as we are quickly brought to Russell babbling about how much he loves to drink humans. Roman gets sick of this pretty quickly and his trigger finger hits the iStake button.

If the trigger worked, Russell would be dead right now.

It seems that Russell isn’t as doped out on silver as we were first led to believe. And why didn’t the iStake work? Was he even wearing one? Anyway, Russell leaps at the opportunity and stabs the Guardian. Roman’s face distorts and there is blood spatter — is he really dead? Salome seems to think so, since she is crying tears of blood. Nora also thinks so since the last shot of the episode is of her thanking Lilith.

Is Roman really dead? How come the iStake didn’t work? Any other things that made no sense in this episode that you would like to discuss? Let us know in the comment section below.

(Photo Credit: HBO, Inc.)

 

The Vampires of True Blood Have a Problem with Authority

Facing Threats From All Directions, Will the Vampire Authority Always Win?

The Mellencamp jokes abound in the aftermath of HBO’s broadcast of the third episode of Season 5 of True Blood. Chris Meloni made his long-awaited appearance as Roman Zimojic, and viewers were introduced to the characters who make up the body of the Authority. Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) might be viewed as an external threat to the Authority’s authority, but fans have begun to learn the greatest threat might be an internal one.

Alan Ball has said that Season 5 of True Blood would be a reflection of the current state of America’s political battle between extreme religion and secularism. Episode 3 revealed that the Authority will be the vehicle used to present that battle. Roman, as head of the Authority, is the Guardian of the blood of Lilith, and is the main architect of Mainstreaming. Among the seven Chancellors, there is a faction known as Sanguinistas. These are literal and rigidly dogmatic vampires who believe humans are meant to be cultivated as food.

The Authority: The First. The Last. The Eternal:

For an inside peek at The Authority check out HBO’s Inside True Blood Blog which sports a video titled “The Authority: The First. The Last. The Eternal”. The video is filled with scenes from the episode, as well as interviews with cast and crew. The interviews shed light on events viewers have already seen, and hints at exciting things yet to come. It’s entertaining and well worth the watch.  On the more humorous side is Jessica’s video blog featuring her new BFF, Ginger. The socially awkward baby vamp and the consummate fangbanger discuss cutting edge fashion for the daring vampire. Nothing that leads to Jessica planning to purchase a ‘bandage dress’ on Bill’s credit card can be good. Check out the video below!

Source: Inside True Blood

True Blood Season 5 Episode 4 “We’ll Meet Again” Recap

The Blame Sookie Episode:

Woo-Hoo! It’s nice to finally see that Pam’s makerly instincts kick in with the start of  Episode 4 of HBO’s True Blood. And frankly, it’s a relief to see everything Eric has taught her has sunk in over the years. Pam teaches Tara, in her own special Pam-style way the art of being a vampire.

While things may be looking up for Tara and her torment, it seems that it’s time for Sookie to be down in the dumps. This episode finds her in typical Sookie trouble, only this time she’s in hot water with her friend Lafayette. This leads to not only conflict between the two of them but also the appearance of another nasty bout of Lafayette’s inner demons resurfacing. The inner demon goes a step further this week, and his actions lead to a car wreck for Sookie. Luckily she has the gumption to jump clear and save herself, just in the nick of time! Seems that Lafayette is still oblivious to his darker side when he calls later to check up on Sookie after discovering her smashed car.

It’s nice to find Bill and Eric ‘free’ for the first time in Season 5. But their release comes with a price – find Russell Edgington… or else. They also need to find out who ratted on them to the Authority. After a scary interrogation of Pam by Eric, Pam is able to convince Eric that his mistrust is misplaced.  The realization that Eric’s involvement with the Authority could lead to the true death of his progeny forces Eric to make a very difficult decision, whereby he releases Pam’s allegiance and fealty to him, as her maker.  It is a heart-wrenching scene which demonstrates the depth of the love that is shared between Maker and child. We know he is doing it to save her, but it sure hurts to see what appears to be the end of their journey together.

Even with Pam released, Bill and Eric still need to find their weakest link, or at least find the bug that provided the information to the Authority. While Jessica helps Bill search their house for bugs, her partying ways are discovered when Bill comes across a joint. While he may not have been the best of Makers at the start, it is clear to see that his role as Maker has developed into one where he provides guidance rather than dictates over Jessica.

Roman and Salome decide that Nora must either ‘fess up or be made an example of to the Sanguinistas. In the process of Salome trying to find out Nora’s true motives, Bill and Eric almost get the iStake. The threat of the lives of Bill and Eric forces Nora to finally fess up and provide the name of another internal traitor! Unfortunately for the traitor, he isn’t so lucky…

Things get interesting when Sookie confesses to her brother, Jason Stackhouse, that she killed Debbie. Luckily Jason doesn’t have to arrest his own sister when Jessica overhears and saves the day by glamouring Sheriff Andy Bellefleur.

Pam, after prohibiting Tara from killing herself, takes her back to Fangtasia. Here Tara and Bill have a fascinating conversation about being a new vampire. I must admit, I am preferring the character of Tara as a strung out vampire rather than a strung out human! Once again, the idea that people die (or nearly die) trying to keep Sookie safe is brought up. Seems more than one person is peeved at our fave little blonde waitress.

While Eric and Bill are discussing the implications of a leak within their inner circle, the Authority are discussing whether they have been duped by the pair. More hints at cracks from within the Authority are also suggested in this scene. Who is really, truly on Roman’s side?

We are then introduced to an interesting developing story line that first was introduced when Andy was seduced by a faerie last season. Turns out they have a secret burlesque-type club and Andy and Jason are invited to go. Looks like a fun place to be, especially for Jason.

Sam gets a daytime visit from his shifter friends. They convince Sam he should run with them. Of course, things turn out differently to what he expects when he turns up later on at their house and finds them both dead — what is going on there?

This scene segues into Sookie reading the minds of everyone around her at Merlotte’s. Turns out that absolutely everyone is mad at her in this episode! Add this to Lafayette’s ‘encouraged’ car malfunction, we find a very drunk Sookie at home when Alcide drops in for a visit. A hilarious drunken scene occurs, culminating in a kiss which is witnessed by Bill and Eric!

Speaking of Alcide, he confesses to the Pelts that their daughter, Debbie, is dead. He mostly manages to make the story fit without laying a finger of blame on Sookie.

We also find Terry and his marine friend, Patrick, on the road and searching for another member of their squad — the one who may possibly be responsible for all the fires that are occurring. An ugly flashback occurs here where we find the squad guilty of killing innocent civilians — is this their deep dark secret? Or is there more to the story still? The pair of them being held at gun point by the possible fire-bug in their squadron thickens the plot somewhat also.

Next, we find out who the rat in the Authority is. Many people cheered at home, I’m sure, when they found out that the annoying little vampire is the traitor. Not only did he take a video of himself draining a human, but he sent it, along with an encrypted sympathy message, to known opposition of the Authority. Needless to say he meets the final death and it is a magnificent bloodbath!

We end this episode with Jason, still in the faerie bar, where he finds his cousin, Hadley, serving drinks. Seems this club is more of a safe haven for faeries and part-faeries who want to keep their intoxicating blood safe from vampires. Hadley tries to convince Jason that he needs to bring Sookie here and lets it slip that Jason and Sookie’s parents were, in fact, killed by vampires. After a heated incident, Jason and Andy find themselves ejected from the club and left stranded in a field out in the middle of nowhere.

The last image we see is of Andy and Jason being light-zapped by faeries. Can’t wait to see where they end up next week. If you have any suggestions, let us know in the comments below.

(Photo Credit: HBO, Inc.)

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