by Sarabeth Pollock:
True Blood Recap: “Authority Always Wins”
Original Air Date (HBO): Sunday June 17, 2012
Season 5 Episode 2
“When I fight authority, authority always wins.” Isn’t that the truth? This week’s episode revolved around the concept of authority, both the literal Authority and the figurative authority, in a clever double entendre that played throughout the episode.
We begin where we left off last week. Vampire Tara has awakened, and boy is she pissed…. Or something. She’s not talking. She’s in a blood thirst-fueled frenzy and she lashes out at the first human she sees, namely Sookie. She even manages to sink her teeth into Sookie’s neck. When Lafayette tries to throw her off, she tosses him aside like a rag doll. Sookie pleads for Pam’s help, and Pam, still dressed in her now famous yellow sweat suit, grabs Tara and throws her inside Sookie’s house, commanding her not to bite Sookie and Lafayette. “I can’t do this all night,” she growls, “I have a job.” Pam heals Sookie’s neck…and then she leaves. You’d think Pam would stick around with her new offspring, but Pam isn’t exactly the maternal type. A bewildered Sookie and Lafayette are left to control Tara, who still hasn’t uttered a word to either of them. (Aside: Sookie’s Gran must be rolling in her grave at the damage her house has sustained over the course of these five seasons. From the Maenad to Tara’s tantrum, the house never gets off easy)
Somewhere in New Orleans, in one of those old parts of town conveniently filled with huge abandoned buildings that are somehow always available for nefarious purposes, an armored truck pulls up and Bill, Eric and Nora are led out. A vampire named Salome, a statuesque woman with creamy skin and curly hair (who kept reminding me of Carla Gugino), greets the trio. She slaps Nora when she tries to apologize for her actions, insisting that she did not betray the Authority. Eric watches this with guarded curiosity. Nora claims she didn’t jeopardize her career for fugitives, but Salome doesn’t want to hear it. She leads the trio to an elevator, and they descend to “Reception.” When the doors open, they enter an elegantly appointed lobby, full of sleek furniture and adorned with art. In the background, a man’s voice mentions “sanguination chambers.” I may not speak fluent Latin, but I know enough to know that anything with the root word “sang” in it refers to blood. Bill, Eric and Nora are thrown into separate cells, left to ponder what’s coming next.
In the forest, Martha and the wolf pack insist that Alcide must eat some of Marcus’s remains. Alcide refuses, which leads some pack members to think that Alcide sees himself as above the laws. Martha acknowledges that her son wasn’t perfect, but even so he deserves respect. Alcide disagrees. However, no matter how Alcide feels about Marcus, the fact remains that he murdered the pack master and that means that he must eat his remains and assume his role as pack master. The werewolf laws require it. Alcide doesn’t want to be pack master. While they argue, Luna hauls Sam away. He’s bloodied and badly injured.
Arlene wakes up to see Terry standing over her. In his mind, he’s having a flashback to the war. “We’re all gonna die. It’s coming for us,” a voice says. There is a lighter, and fire everywhere. Arlene watches as Terry climbs into bed and goes back to sleep.
Back at Sookie’s house, Tara continues her rampage. Sookie tells Lafayette to grab her, using Tru Blood as the bait. Tara attacks Lafayette instead, and then she seems to realize something before she hurts him. She disappears upstairs.
Pam breezes into Fangtasia and is disappointed when Ginger tells her that Eric isn’t there and he hasn’t called. “Why are you all dirty?” Ginger asks. Pam glares at her. “I was in the ground. What’s your excuse?” She goes into Eric’s office and tries calling Eric’s cell phone. She tells him that even if he’s still upset at her, they still have a business to run. Then we transition to a flashback of San Francisco in 1905. Pam is dolled up in an elegant black dress and she orders a drink. A woman walks up and takes a hit of opium from Pam’s ring. I soon realized that Pam isn’t sitting at the bar of an elegant hotel; rather she’s in the middle of a whorehouse. And one of the girls, Claire, has been gone for a long time. She goes upstairs to find Claire’s dead body. Pam curses. It’s clear that this isn’t the first time this has happened. And this isn’t the first dead body she has seen.
At the warehouse in New Orleans, Nora realizes that they have been imprisoned with a vampire that she had helped to capture. Nigel, it seems, had been working in the maternity ward of the local hospital, but instead of helping the babies, he was eating them. A voice sounds off from the ceiling, and when Bill lies in an attempt to save Eric and Nora, his lies are rewarded by a blinding UV light that shines down from above. Nigel knows this torture all too well. They scream in pain as their flesh burns.
Sam is lying on Luna’s couch trying to recover. The doorbell rings. It’s Martha, and she wants to see her granddaughter. Emma is her blood, she insists, and she begs Luna not to keep her from seeing her own blood. Martha insists that Emma is a wolf, she can feel it. Martha offers Sam an apology, citing the rules of the pack. Luna dismisses her apology, given the fact that Martha just ate her own son’s body. After Martha leaves, a distressed Luna argues with Sam. Sam knows all too well what it’s like to grow up having to cope with being different, and he suggests that having a pack might be helpful to Emma. This enrages Luna, who wants nothing to do with Marcus’s pack. Sam says the three of them have something special, but Luna argues that if that’s the case, he has to have her back or he has to “get the fuck out.” Sam leaves.
With sunrise less than an hour away, Sookie and Lafayette work to figure out how to het Tara into Eric’s reinforced subterranean cubby hole. Lafayette corners Tara in the upstairs bedroom. He cuts his arm and Tara latches on to him, then Sookie swoops in with silver chains. They get her downstairs in time.
Andy and Jason are on patrol. “Stackhouse, I had sex,” Andy blurts out. I was left wondering if Andy was talking about the mysterious glowing-finger-lady or Holly, but either way, he continues to say that his lady was being distant. Jason plays it off. “You can eat the pie without paying for the cow,” he says. More garbled words of wisdom from Jason Stackhouse. Andy accepts this, but he’d still troubled. They come upon an abandoned car on the side of the road. Upon further investigation, they discover that the car is registered to Debbie Pelt. And it’s full of V. Andy sees the V, and temptation passes across his face, but ultimately her hands the V to Jason. “Good man,” Jason praises.
With the sun up and Tara sleeping safely below the house, Sookie goes to a weapon store that specializes in vampire deterrents. Steve Newlin in on television, saying that you can be Christian and a vampire. There can be good Christian vampires and universal love, he says. Jesus loves vampires. The man working the counter disagrees. He spies Sookie and thinks that she might find him attractive if he stakes a vampire at next week’s vamp staking. She hears his thoughts and reminds him that staking vampires is a federal offense. He is appropriately bewildered that she can hear his thoughts.
At Merlotte’s, Terry is caught up in another war flashback. In a rage, she shoves Arlene, who is both frightened and concerned. When she pushes him too far with her questions, Terry becomes enraged and violent, stalking off.
Lafayette has been reconsidering his idea to turn Tara into a vampire. Sookie intercepts his thoughts and rushes into the cubby hole in time to prevent him from staking his sleeping cousin. He breaks down and admits that he was afraid of losing her after losing Jesus. Without Tara, he’s all alone. Sookie placates him by reminding him of how well Jessica turned out. It might be hard right now, but it will get better. Together, they can build a new life for her. Unfortunately, instead of seeing this as optimism, my mind was flashing to something more ominous.
At the police station, Jason is watching Steve Newlin on television. Steve is no longer a member of the Fellowship of the Sun and he denounces their work, because vampires are God’s creatures, too, and they are not the enemy. When asked if he has someone special, Steve chooses not to reveal his newfound sexual identity and instead tells the reporter that there is a special someone and she knows who she is. Jason breathes a sigh of relief. Andy glides in and tells his deputy to expunge the judge’s son’s speeding ticket, even though the kid was doing 80 in a school zone and he almost killed a child. No big deal. And while Andy deals with the speeding ticket, a kid comes in a cold-cocks Jason. He’s upset that his parents are getting a divorce, and he claims that it’s all Jason’s fault because Jason slept with his mother. At first Jason is confused, but after seeing a picture of the woman, he realizes that he had slept with her. It’s Sharon Singer, “Crazy Sharon.” Andy guides the distraught boy away while asking if Jason has slept with every woman in Bon Temps. Jason isn’t sure. Clearly, Andy and Jason are both working out some issues of conscience and love.
We return to 1905. Pam is walking home when she realizes that she is being followed. She turns to see a man there. Human Pam isn’t much different than her vampire counterpart. She tells him she’s off the clock. When she turns to leave, she’s attacked. But her attacker suddenly dies. Eric appears, licking blood from his fingers. He notes that Pam isn’t afraid, to which Pam replies that she’s seen bodies. Eric tells her it’s dangerous for a lady to be out so late, and Pam counters that if she sees a lady, she’ll let her know. Eric is clearly impressed with her. He compliments her dress and tosses a few coins down the front of her dress, and then he disappears. Trembling, Pam gives in to her fear and starts to cry.
In New Orleans, deep under the earth, Bill and Eric are being tortured. Both are connected to an interveneous drip of refined silver. Bill’s torturer holds up a book. But it’s not just any book, it’s a Bible. And it’s not the New Testament or the Old Testament. It’s the Vampire Bible, which predates any known biblical source. This is the story of Lilith, and of the God we all know of, except that God was a vampire. Vampires were made in His image, and in the Vampire Bible the true nature of Adam and Eve’s existence is outlined: they were meant to create food for vampires. The purpose of the human race is to nourish vampires.
Bill is asked if he believes this literal translation of the Vampire Bible. He says no. Bill also denies consorting with vampires who believe this literal translation. Again, he says no. The IV starts dripping and Bill screams in agony.
“Isn’t it wonderful to be a vampire?” Salome asks Eric. Most of the time, Eric agrees cautiously. His trademark derision shines through though. Here’s a vampire about to be tortured (Eric no doubt realizes that they’re going to torture him no matter what he says), and he still manages to remain as sarcastic as ever. Salome tells him that Nora has met the True Death for her betrayal. He doesn’t allow this news to shake him. Noncooperation will not be tolerated, she tells him. They know that Bill and Eric murdered Nan Flanagan. “Nan who?” Eric asks. He screams and starts to burn as silver drips into his bloodstream.
Bill is told that Eric has admitted to being a member of the Sanguinistas, the group of vampires that ascribe to the literal translation of the Vampire Bible. He was granted his freedom because he came clean. Bill refuses to offer up any information. Neither Bill nor Eric give in to the attempts to gain information, in major part due to the fact that neither Bill nor Eric have any affiliation with the Sanguinistas.
While the King of Louisiana is being tortured, his vampire progeny is hosting a kegger at the Compton mansion. Spoken more accurately, Jessica is holding the keg in the air while the girl on the ground drinks up. The doorbell rings and Jessica is greeted by Steve Newlin. He invites himself in and weaves his way through the college students gathered at the party. He’s something of a celebrity, and as he dances awkwardly (just imagine that guy at the party, and you’ll know what I’m talking about) one of the girls tells him that he was a “massive dick” before he became a vampire. Then she asks if she can touch his fangs. Steve tells Jessica that they got off on the wrong foot. He didn’t know she and Jason were an item, and he offers her ten thousand dollars for Jason. Jessica counters for twenty thousand, citing Jason’s rock-hard butt that you can “chip a fang” on. Jessica is much smarter than Steve gives her credit for. She toys with him until he gives in, and when he agrees to twenty thousand dollars she laughs that he has a “fang boner and a real boner.” But Jason isn’t for sale. They might not be dating, but he is her friend. They fight. Steve resorts to hair pulling. “My dad’s the king,” Jessica warns him. “Not anymore,” Steve says before leaving.
Arlene catches Patrick at a roadside motel as he is packing. She pleads with him to tell her what’s going on. Terry is having nightmares, and he won’t talk about them. As it is, he never talks about his tour of duty and she knows they are all related. Terry shows up and Patrick tells him that Arlene is looking for answers. Before she leaves, she reminds both of them that she has too much to lose and tells them to fix whatever is going on. Once she’s gone, Terry admits that one of their war buddies is still alive and is in hiding nearby. He was the fire starter. I have to say, for as interesting as this subplot is/can be, it’s hard to follow when everything takes place in little snippets that seems to be over before they begin. Maybe this narrative device is meant to shadow Terry’s fragmented thought-pattern. We’ll have to wait and see.
In Jessica’s absence, Hoyt has moved back in with his mother, Maxine. Jason shows up while Hoyt is fixing her sink. Hoyt doesn’t want to reconcile, and he turns down Jason’s offer to let him move into his house again. In his anger, Hoyt starts dropping f-bombs left and right. Maxine scolds him, and Hoyt tells her it’s too back if she doesn’t like him to say “fuck.” Hoyt is done letting people tell him what to do. As Maxine kicks Jason out, telling him never to return again after hurting Hoyt, she thanks him for getting him away from Jessica and tells him that she’s going to make him a pie.
Alone in their house, Luna hears noises coming from Emma’s room. She tells Emma to go to bed, but the noises continue. Luna opens the bedroom door to find a wolf puppy wearing Emma’s pajamas.
Tara wakes up and finds Sookie and Lafayette waiting for her. “I will never forgive either of you,” she tells them, and then she leaves.
In New Orleans, we finally get to meet Roman Zimojik, played by the awesome Christopher Meloni. Bill and Eric are brought into a meeting room where several vampires are seated around a big table. Without knowing anything about them, it’s obvious that they are the movers and shakers of the Authority. They range from a young boy to older men and women. As this meeting begins, Roman cuts his wrist and offers a prayer to the Lord and Lilith, offering “fealty to the blood and the Progenitor.” He ends by offering up one word, spoken with reverence. “Vampyr.”
This is a meeting of the elders. Roman says that it’s a shame to meet Bill and Eric under such circumstances. Nora is there long enough for them to see that she was still alive. She is taken away after Roman makes it clear that her betrayal is a huge matter to the Authority. Roman talks about Nan Flanagan. While she was on her way out of the Authority, she still gave them lots of information about what was going on in Area Five. Nan referred to Bill and Eric and “Fuck-up One and Fuck-up Two” (Did anyone else think of Thing One and Thing Two from The Cat in the Hat?), citing the incident with the rocket launchers (when they attempted to blow up Marnie’s stronghold) and the ill-fated Tolerance Festival, the fallout from which they were still dealing with.
Roman asks Eric if he is a member of the Sanguinistas. “I try to stay away from politics as much as possible,” Eric deadpans. “And religion.” Roman vacillates between sending them to the True Death or not. Coexistence is the goal, he explains. Humans clearly outnumber vampires, and any threat to mainstreaming is a threat to vampires. The council is split on whether or not to save Bill and Eric. Before he issues judgment, and with a stake pressed to Bill’s neck, Bill offers to capture Russell Edgington in return for their lives. He isn’t dead, and, in fact, he has escaped from the cement tomb in which he’d been imprisoned. Russell wants anarchy, Bill says, and he wants nothing more than to see Bill and Eric dead. “He pissed me off,” Eric offers, “I pissed him off.” They both wanted him to suffer, which is why they didn’t kill him outright. He will stop at nothing to get back at Bill and Eric, and Bill points out that with him out of the way, mainstreaming is possible and essential.
As the episode comes to a close, we follow a trail of bodies to a rusty old hospital bed. There, licking his bloody lips, is Russell Edgington. He’s looking more like Freddy Krueger than the debonair former King of Mississippi, but as his fangs pop out, Russell’s eyes sparkle. It’s him. And he’s coming for revenge.
“When I fight authority, authority always wins.” Authority, it would seem, is going to be the guiding theme this season. Tara is currently acting like a newborn vampire without guidance. Andy and Jason are battling their consciences. Pam is trying to get back into her sire’s good graces. Terry is trying to battle his demons while obeying his commanding officer. Alcide is grappling with becoming the pack master. And Bill and Eric are going to follow…well, we don’t know that quite yet.
As always, I’m eager to hear your thoughts. Just when I thought the episode couldn’t get any better, I saw next week’s preview and realized that we’re just getting started. Leave comments below or contact me on Twitter with your thoughts and predictions.
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