True Blood Recap: “Don’t You Feel Me?”

by Sarabeth Pollock:

True Blood Recap: “Don’t You Feel Me?”
Original Air Date (HBO): Sunday July 21, 2013
Season 6 Episode 6

Welcome back to Bon Temps, fellow Truebies.  This week starts off right where we left off, and I think it’s best that we just jump right into tonight’s emotional roller coaster.

Lafayette-Corbett is in the middle of drowning Sookie.  Bill realizes that she’s in danger, which piques Warlow’s interest.  Suddenly Sookie stops struggling and Lafayette-Corbett gets thrown into a tree.  Warlow to the rescue!  He makes sure Sookie is safe before seizing Lafayette, but Sookie stops him from hurting her friend and instead encourages him to use a blast of fairy energy to cast her father’s spirit out of Lafayette’s body.  Warlow blasts Lafayette and Corbett spills out in a black cloud.  Sookie tells her father to “get the fuck out” of her life.  And he does.

Meanwhile, back at Vamp Camp, Eric and Pam face off against each other.  Pam’s therapist promises Governor Burrell that there will be action.  Pam asks Eric if it’s true that he made another child.  He confirms that he did.  They jump into the air a la The Matrix and face off with silver tipped stakes aimed at one another.  With unspoken agreement, however, the duo launches at each other but make it to the guard towers before anyone can react.  They kill one guard and pin the other against the observation glass, staking him.  Eric peers into the broken glass and spots Steve Newlin.  Steve tells Eric that they made him do it.  Guards enter the chamber and Eric and Pam raise their hands into the air.  Round One goes to the Vampires.

Lafayette tries to understand that Warlow is a vampire that can come into the daylight.  “There goes the neighborhood,” he mutters.  Before Warlow can respond, a gut wrenching pain takes hold of his body as Lilith summons him to return.  She allowed him to leave in order to save Sookie, but now she wants him back.  Sookie takes his hands and wishes them away to the Faery World, where Lilith is unable to exert her influence.  Bill realizes that Warlow is gone, and he hurries to find Jessica to see how close to death she had been when he called her, thinking that Warlow might be in too much pain.  That’s when he realizes that Jessica is gone, and the events in his vision are starting to come together.

In an effort to make things right and to save Jessica, Jason applies at the LAVTF.  Jason plays up his hatred of vampires, knowing that this is his ticket into their organization.  The recruiter asks how much experience he’s had with vampires.  When Jason tells him, the recruiter is awed.  He wants to know how many vamps Jason has killed.  “This week?” Jason asks.  Looks like the interview is over.  Jason seems to have a job.  “Racist fucks,” he mutters.

Bill demands that Dr. Takahashi puts him into a coma so that he can commune with Lilith.  He wants the scientist to drain almost all of his blood and then put it back after a day so that he can talk with her.  Takahashi is not willing at first, so Bill has to glamour him into compliance.

Sam returns to the motel room with directions.  Nicole confronts him and tells him that Emma is really upset about being away from her grandmother.  She tells him that they can’t keep running, especially not with a little girl.  Her mom and dad are dead, and she doesn’t have anyone.  “She’s got me,” Sam replies.

Warlow tells Sookie that the sun is going down back in their reality, and he can be dangerous to her at night.  Even though she has seen him at night, he insists that there is still a dark side to him.  She ties him up to a statue and uses her light to seal the knot.  Then they sit and wait.  Warlow tells her that he wishes that she never found out about her parents’ true intentions.  She says it’s her fault for having the séance, but he tells her that she is the only one who has no blame at all in all of this.

At the seedy motel, Alcide arrives at Jackson’s room as Jackson finishes up with Jenny, the prostitute wolf he’s with.  She greets Alcide cheerfully, though she ignores his request to put clothes on.  Instead she sits down on the bed with a bucket of chicken between her legs.  Jackson tells Alcide that Sam has Emma in the motel.  He wants Alcide to know that he chose to give him this information so that Alcide knows he’s on his side.  They go to Sam’s room to find that they have already left.  Alcide sniffs the bed to catch the scent, but when Jackson wants to join the chase, Alcide tells his father to “stay.”

Takahashi drains Bill’s blood.  Bill awakens in the same laboratory, but this time he’s surrounded by the Trio of Liliths.  “I thought you’d never come,” he says.  They jump back into his body.

Andy’s sole surviving daughter calls to him as he’s leaving for work.  Andy and Holly go to her side, and she asks her father to give her a name.  “Where do I start?” he asks Holly.  “Start with the As,” she suggests.  Andy recalls a girl from the first grade whose name was Adilyn.  The newly names Adilyn asks for a name that embraces her sisters as well because she doesn’t want to forget them, so he adds a few middle names.  Adilyn-Braelyn-Charlaine-Danica.  “I have a name,” Adilyn says proudly.

Terry shows up at Lafayette’s house while Lafayette is in the middle of getting high.  He gives Lafayette a key to his safe deposit box and tells Lafayette that he wants him to have it.  “What the fuck?” Lafayette asks.  “There’s no ‘the fuck’,” Terry tells him.  He just thinks they’re the kind of friends who can share keys.  Terry gives Lafayette a huge hug and then he disappears into the night.  Lafayette, sensing that something is not right with his friend, calls Arlene.  Holly is still at Andy’s house and so Arlene tells her all about her gut feeling that Terry is going to kill himself. She blames the war, and how it messed him up so much.  Holly proposes that they get a vampire to make Terry forget all about his war memories.  She even knows the guy to do it—her “son’s friend’s dad’s husband.”  At Arlene’s incredulous look, she clarifies: “they’re gay.”

Warlow is fighting his vampire nature, so Sookie asks him about his past.  She can’t understand why he has waited so long for her.  She points out that Warlow has a contract stipulating that she was to become his property.  He promises to tear up the contract.  He tells her that he killed Lilith because he hated what she did to him, but that if Sookie were to agree to become his, then they could live their lives and only have to rely upon each other for blood.  Sookie sees the flaw in this plan.  To do it, she would need to become a vampire.

Eric has been taken to a holding cell and has been chained up for good measure. Burrell and one of the doctors enter the room.  They exchange barbs before Burrell gets down to the nitty gritty: he wants Eric to suffer the way he suffers at the loss of his daughter.  He isn’t going to give Eric the benefit of a quick death, and instead promises to torture him.  That’s when Nora is wheeled in.  Burrell concedes that he wanted Pam for this task, but the therapist has taken a liking to her and so he’s using Eric’s sister instead.  They have created a virus that should be deadly to vampires.  They call it Hepatitis V, and Nora is going to be the first victim.  The doctor explains that it can be administered any number of ways, but he opts for a needle in the neck.  Eric roars as Nora cries out.  Burrell pushes Nora in front of Eric’s cage and leaves the room.  “I love you, brother,” she says tearfully.  “I love you, sister,” he replies.

Lilith’s minions bring Bill to Lilith’s pastoral sanctuary.  All Lilith is prepared to do is to offer riddles.  She is disappointed that Bill is trying to place blame on her for all of this when he was the one who fought to drink her blood.  All of this is on Bill.  She tells him to figure it out.  The time to act is now.

Martha meets up with Sam at a gas station.  She is very thankful to Sam from bringing Emma back to her, but he reminds her that Emma is not to be part of the pack.  Martha agrees, assuring him that she is not a member of that pack anymore anyway.  Emma comes out and is thrilled to see her grandmother.  Sam calls her over and hugs her, telling her to take care of her grandmother.  Emma asks if she’ll ever see Sam again, and he avoids the question by telling them it’s time to leave.  “Bye, Bunny,” he whispers.  Martha watches as he says goodbye, and then Emma bids goodbye to Nicole.  The pain in his expression is evident.

Terry is watching a fishing show when the doorbell rings.  It’s Matt, Holly’s friend.  Matt flies into the television room and he pins Terry with his intense gaze.  With Arlene’s help, Matt wipes Terry’s memory clean of all of bad things in his head.  When he snaps back to reality, he’s like a new man.  He calls Arlene over to sit in his lap.  She’s happy to comply, but there’s something off about Terry’s expression.  And let’s not forget that he asked his military buddy to kill him!!!

Jason is in the heart of Vamp Camp getting inoculated by LAVTF doctors.  He’s regaling the marshal with tales of his raid on the AVL headquarters.  Everyone loves him.  Then Sarah comes into the room.  They lock eyes on each other and he recognizes her as the woman on television.  Sarah has some questions for the new recruit, and when the room has been cleared she demands to know what he’s doing there.  Jason tells her that he’s going to get Jessica out, and if she says anything he’s going to tell everyone what a “whore for Christ” she has been.  She’d better stay out of his way.  He walks out, leaving her stewing.  But something tells me that she isn’t going to let him get away with any of it.

Burrell pays a visit to his daughter, Willa.  She has been asking to see him.  She wants to be in the general population but he insists that she’s safer in her own room.  This makes her laugh.  He cares enough to keep a dead girl safe, but he doesn’t seem to see that the real problem lies in the fact that he put her there in the first place.  She calls him a pussy-whipped motherfucker and tells him that he can’t play God.  Burrell insists that he is doing everything in the name of science, and hopefully they find a way to “fix” her.  He claims that Overlark’s research might one day be used for good.  Willa doesn’t care.  She wants to be with the rest of her kind.  She tells her dad that she had a friend named Tara who might be able to help her understand what’s going on with her new body.  She sits on the floor, but before he leaves, Burrell pats her head.  It reminds me of the other governor we all love to hate, the one from The Walking Dead.  Burrell is leading a crusade against vampires, mostly for his own ulterior motives, but the rules are different when it comes to his own daughter.

Alcide finds Sam and Nicole at the gas station.  He wants to know where Emma is, and Sam tells him that she’s with Martha.  Alcide says that Sam had no right to return her to Martha because Emma is part of the pack.  Sam wants to know what has changed with Alcide.  They used to be friends.  Alcide says that Sam was responsible for leading Nicole and her friends to their camp.  Nicole insists that she isn’t going to expose them.  Suddenly Jackson appears.  Alcide stands down from his attack and tells Sam to leave.  He tells him that he’s dead if he so much as sets foot in Shreveport or Bon Temps again.  “Understood,” Sam replies.  Jackson tells his son he had no choice but to follow him.  If Alcide was about to make the best or worst decision of his life, he wanted to be there.  And now he’s proud.  “Whatever,” Alcide mutters.

Takahashi wakes Bill up from his slumber.  As Bill awakens, the news reports that Governor Burrell has struck a deal with the Tru Blood manufactures to start production again in hopes of returning things to normal.  Bill knows that Burrell has Jessica.  He drinks Warlow’s blood against Takahashi’s advice and takes off in search of her.

At the Vamp Camp, Sarah and Dr. Overlark summon Jason to the observation chamber.  She tells Jason that she wants to help soothe any first day on the job jitters (which is innuendo for “I know what you’re up to and I’m going to make this very difficult for you”) by making him an official part of the team.  She invites him to watch the copulation study. (She has to explain that “it’s fucking”) A male vampire is in the observation room (which has a new window).  Jessica is ushered inside the room and the vampire introduces himself as James. He explains that the scientists want them to fuck.  Jessica points out that they don’t even know each other.  James realizes that this is wrong, so he refuses to complete the study.  Sarah orders him to be blasted with a ray of sunlight.  Jessica, seeing James in pain, agrees to do the study, pointing out that she’s not even a real person.  She undresses, and James continues to refuse.  He is again blasted with light.  Jason squirms but doesn’t look away, while Sarah and Overlark watch Jason’s reaction.  Sarah suddenly orders Jessica to be taken away now that she’s shown Jason that she still has the upper hand.

Terry is at work.  He offers to take out the trash.  (My stomach sank as I started to see what was about to happen)  Arlene tells Lafayette how happy she is and how good things are.  Then a gunshot rings out.  They rush outside to find Terry on the ground, with a gaping wound in his neck.  Arlene grabs a towel and staunches the bleeding, knowing all too well that Terry is about to die.  She tells him to focus on all of the happy things, and she sings the mockingbird song to him.  Then he dies.  It’s heartbreaking.  Absolutely heartbreaking.

The Governor is sitting out on his lawn reading from the Bible under heavy security.  Bill strolls in, clearly without an appointment.  He pops his fangs in broad daylight, taking the guards by surprise.  Their bullets do nothing to him.  Bill is able to compel the guards to stop shooting and instead aim their guns at each other.  They are positioned in a circle around him, and when he says “fire” they shoot each other.  Bill asks about the white room and his daughter.  Burrell tells Bill his own daughter has been lost.  The Governor decides not to fight back, and Bill doesn’t hold back.  He bites the Governor and rips his head off, setting it at the base of a statue in the garden.

Eric tries to keep Nora from giving up.  She tells him that she looks forward to seeing Godric again.  He tells her to hang on.  In the female general population room, Willa tells Tara that she feels funny.  Tara realizes that Eric is summoning her, and she advises Willa to tear everyone up and not look back.  Willa seduces the guard and then takes out the doctor tending to Nora.  Eric praises his baby vamp.  Eric takes the guard’s clothes while Nora wears the doctor’s coat.  They slip inside a room and Eric follows a doctor to a bottling plant.  He sees that they are producing Tru Blood once again, but they’re putting Hepatitis V into the bottles, which will kill the vampires who drink it.  “Fuck me,” he mutters.

Back in Faery, Sookie tells Warlow that the whole town calls her a “Danger Whore.”  She has feelings for Warlow.  She makes a decision.  She loosens Warlow’s restraints, and then she offers her neck to him.  He bites her, and then she bites him.  Then they get naked and enjoy a Faery fuck, where their private parts get all glowy.  Then the episode ends.

Dear friends, I wish I could tell you that I gleaned some magical information about the rest of the season from my time at San Diego Comic Con, but alas, I learned nothing.  However, in keeping with SDCC tradition, this is the second year in a row that a major character has died during SDCC weekend.  It’s no wonder, then, that the True Blood hash tag for the weekend was #SavetheVamps.

Rest in peace, Terry.  You will be missed.

Until next week, Truebies.

Sarabeth Pollock is a contributor for DarkMedia. She covers The Walking Dead, True Blood, Doctor Who, Fringe and American Horror Story, as well as the True Blood comics and whatever movies and books happen to catch her fancy. Watch for her coverage of San Diego Comic Con 2013.  She’s an avid writer, reader, and pop culture fan, with interest in everything from Star Trek to Anne Rice to Deborah Harkness.  She’s also a nerd who loves the color pink.  Follow her on Twitter at @SarabethPollock and check out her blog at http://sarabethpollock.wordpress.com