True Blood – Season 5 Episode 2 – Recap and Review – Authority Always Wins

by Joe Tranchina
June 17, 2012 at 11:26 pm

Episode 2 of Season 5 of True Blood offered a long awaited glimpse at the heart of the vampire Authority, and lots of crazy to go around. As usual, True Blood opened this week just as it left off last week, with a newly risen Tara (Rutina Wesley) clawing at Sookie’s (Anna Paquin) face. Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten) got a kick out of it. Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) wonders why Pam isn’t doing anything to help.

Pam: “I am. I’m laughing.”

In truth, Pam warned them that Tara would probably come back twisted and mad, yet they chose to be selfish. Just how crazy is vampire Tara? We’ll have to wait until the episode’s closing scenes to find that out. As for the opening, Tara does a pretty damn good job of being insanely destructive. Pam gets a grip on her and commands Tara not to bite Sookie and Lafayette. Then she quite literally flings Tara into the house. With a final “goodbye, kiddos!” Pam is out of there. She has a bar to run!

New bros Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill (Stephen Moyer) are handcuffed and in the process of being jailed. Nora (Lucy Griffiths) attempts to convince these authority workers that she was playing Eric, but it doesn’t seem like they’re buying it. It’s really her neck that’s on the line, but I don’t see her truly betraying them. They’re all brought down to reception, which looks shockingly like an office lobby, as opposed to a plain, old, dingy human prison. A little later, we meet another jail bird who is apparently a baby eater. He’s pretty scabby looking, and soon we find out why. They’re all tortured with UV lights from above in an attempt to gather information. No one spills.

Next, we flash back to the scene of the wolf pack munching on Marcus. Alcide (Joe Manganiello) really wants no part of the pack, but they seem to have trouble coming to grips with this. There are a lot of hoots and hollers antagonizing Alcide. One wolf is especially vocal in his disdain, and claims he’ll never bow down to Alcide. I found it somewhat comical how little Alcide cared about this pack. The only sympathetic member at the moment is, surprisingly, Marcus’ mother (Dale Dickey), who just expects Alcide to respect her son and their laws. Maybe Alcide just doesn’t want to be a cannibal. Meanwhile, Luna (Janina Gavankar) and Sam (Sam Trammell) get the hell out of dodge while they still can.

At the Bellefleur residence, Arlene (Carrie Preston) is startled awake in the middle of the night by an increasingly unstable Terry (Todd Lowe). He seems like he’s sleepwalking, and we see flashes of his time at war. He’s aggressive with Arlene, and she gives him a really nice slap across the face. He quickly passes out. Terry is tired, everyone! Later in the episode, Terry snaps at Arlene once again, this time at Merlotte’s. He even went as far as to toss her across the kitchen. Arlene has been through enough trauma over of the course of the first four seasons that she knows something’s up. She starts demanding answers.

Poor Gran R.I.P. Your house will never be the same again. Somehow, Tara ends up perched on the kitchen sink, after ripping the rest of the kitchen to shreds. She’s acting like a wild squirrel that’s forced to be a household pet. At this point, she belongs in nature. They need her to eat something. Lafayette pins up the collar of his sweater, like a security blanket, and offers her a True Blood. Will Tara kick back and relax? No.

At Fangtasia, Pam is starting to really worry about Eric’s whereabouts. She ends up dazing into a flashback, and we see a human Pam working in a brothel in San Francisco circa the early 1900′s. She goes looking for one of her girls who’s been “busy” for a while, and ends up finding a body. Then, it’s back to reality. Later we’re treated to another flashback, the one we all saw coming, her first meeting with Eric. She’s assaulted on the street by a demanding customer who doesn’t want to wait. She said the shop was closed, pal! In a flash, Eric uses the scoundrel’s own knife to slit his throat, spraying Pam in the process. She’s pretty unfazed by the murder, but she seems infatuated with Eric. She doesn’t get his name, though.

Back at Luna’s house, Marcus’ mother shows up looking for Emma. She seems genuinely concerned for her well being, and claims to just want a relationship with her granddaughter. She knows she’s a wolf. Luna denies this. Sam tries to see things both ways, and in sympathizing with Marcus’ mom, he alienates Luna.

Sam: “She just lost her son!”

Luna: “She just ate her son!”

She kicks him out, too. She doesn’t want her child mixed up with the white trash wolves. I don’t blame her; however, by the end of the episode, Emma is romping around as a little wolf up. Uh oh, Luna!

Sookie realizes that Tara needs to be underground before sunrise, and she wants Lafayette’s assistance in getting her in Eric’s old cubby. Lafayette cuts himself to distract Tara, and Sookie wraps a silver chain around her neck. Lafayette is shocked, but it’s all in a day’s work for Sookie. Sookie is becoming so desensitized! Later on, Sookie catches Lafayette about to stake Tara. He doesn’t want this life for her, and he feels guilty. Sookie convinces him to stop, and to give it time, citing Jessica as an example. When Jessica turned, she was overly emotional and complained a lot. She didn’t act at all rabid, though.

Next, we see Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and Andy (Chris Bauer) on the lookout for a reported car. Andy tells Jason he recently got laid.

Jason: “Welcome to the club!”

They sympathize with one another over the balance between relationships and casual sex. I’ve enjoyed seeing their friendship grow over the seasons. They find the abandoned car, and it’s Debbie’s! Sookie’s actions are going to catch up to her. Andy finds her V stash, and hands it off to Jason. He’s kicked that bad habit!

Sookie is currently visiting a shop called The Stake House. Get it? Like Stackhouse! As in, Sookie Stackhouse. The cashier is a real creep, and he fantasizes about sex with Sookie. Sookie sasses him after reading his rude thoughts. Sookie’s in the market for vampire protection, and he sells her a silver spray system for her porch. The mechanism kind of looks like that Febreeze machine that sprays a whiff of smell into the air when it’s motion sensor goes off. It works like one too!

At the police station, Jason watches Newlin preach his new ways on TV. Apparently, he’s an open vampire, and wants his followers to change their views. God loves vampires now! Jason is attacked by a kid who claims Jason is causing a divorce between his parents. He slept with his mom, the gem known as “Crazy Sharon.” Also, Andy has the judge’s kid’s speeding ticket expunged. Something is going on with all of this.

In the wildest scene of the episode, we shoot back to Bill and Eric, who are hooked up to some sort of silver I.V. torture device. They’re being interrogated, and neither falls for any tricks. They won’t rat each other out, and they won’t give in to The Authority! We learn of the really old testament, aka the Vampire Bible. The vampire text claims Adam and Eve to have been made as food for Lilith, God’s first creation. In their religion, God is a vampire, and humans are food. Interrelations between vampires and humans is blasphemous. Why are they so keen on integration and mainstreaming?

Another Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) house party! I hope this becomes a weekly occurrence. The college kids seem to love Jessica’s keggers, and seeing her party is a riot. Reverend Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) shows up this week, in place of Jason. Nice sweater, Rev! The humans are fascinated by him. The girls want to touch his fangs. He’s not really there to party, though. He wants to buy Jason from Jessica. He offers $10,000 and Jessica toys with him, bringing him up to $20,000.

Jessica on Jason’s butt: “You could chip a fang on it!”

Once Newlin gets “happy,” Jessica reveals that she was only fooling around with him. A real cat fight ensues, and there is plenty of hair pulling. Jessica kicks him out. Jason is her friend, even if he is not “hers,” and he is not for sale. She kicks out the other partygoers, too, threatening to eat them. Not for nothing, but one of those girls almost puked on the sofa. Does Jessica really want to eat someone with that high of a blood alcohol level?

Next, Arlene decided to visit Patrick (Scott Foley) at his motel. She wants answers, and if Terry won’t give them to her, then she’ll get them from Patrick. He refuses to budge. Terry shows up, and puts an end to the meeting. Privately, he confesses to Patrick that the other private they thought to be missing is actually just off the grid. They think he’s somehow responsible for the fires, and Terry finally is ready to help.

Mrs. Fortenberry (Dale Raoul) makes her season debut! She’s thankful that Jason broke up Jessica and Hoyt (Jim Parrack), but doesn’t want Hoyt to know that. She’s even promised Jason a pie! Hoyt still won’t forgive Jason, who just wants Hoyt to pull himself together. Bubba is dropping a bunch of F-bombs this week! Personally, I’m done with Hoyt. His mom is fun, though!

Tara is up! She seems like she’s slightly less feral. She speaks! She won’t forgive them for what they did to her, and she runs off into the woods; however, not before triggering Sookie’s new sprinkler system! Poor Tara. She just can never catch a break. Her head wound still looks pretty rank, too.

Back in the lair of The Authority, we get our first glimpse of Roman (Christopher Meloni)! He’s a very old vampyr leader who apparently has some ancient Lilith blood in him. Bill and Eric are brought before a council. Hey, there’s a little kid on the council! True Blood is apparently taking notes from Buffy and Interview with the Vampire. Kid vampires always make for good entertainment. Bill and Eric are to be sentenced. Nora is there as well. She isn’t dead as they were told, but she is to be executed. We witness some kind of biblical ritual where the council drinks drops of Roman’s blood. The council is torn. Bill and Eric made some scenes in front of the media, and killed Nan. Also, Bill refused to execute Eric. Still, they’ve done some vampire good, as well. In the end, Bill alerts the council to the return of Russell, who they presumed dead. In exchange for their lives, they promise to bring Russell to them. Roman is more angry than ever because Russell is supposed to be dead!

In summary, the Authority needs vampires to mainstream because they are outnumbered 1000 to 1, at the time being. Even if they follow this vampire bible, fundamentalism won’t win them the war. Truly speaking, they are not in it for the peace of coexistence.

In the end, we catch a glimpse of Russell (Denis O’Hare) recovering with a trail of bloody bodies and parts surrounding his hospital bed. Here comes trouble!

What did you all think of the episode? Did you enjoy Christopher Meloni’s anticipated debut? Is Tara still twisted? What’s up with Sookie’s new attitude? What are you expecting from Terry and Arlene’s plot? Do you want to see Jessica cool down, or continue her wild girl ways? Do you have any idea how hard it is to type out some of those actors’ names?