True Blood Recap: “Who Are You, Really?”

by Sarabeth Pollock:

True Blood Recap: “Who Are You, Really?”
Original Air Date (HBO): Sunday June 16, 2013
Season 6 Episode 1

Welcome back to Bon Temps, fellow Truebies! The nights are getting warmer, and that can only mean one thing: The return of HBO’s True Blood.  It looks like a storm is a brewing and war is on the horizon.  We’re only in the first episode and things already look exciting!

Billith is coming and boy is he pissed.  We start off right where Season 5 ended.  Bill has tossed back the vial of Lilith’s blood, and after his conversion into a naked bloody mess, he is now seeing red.  And I mean that literally.  Eric tells Sookie to run, and together they race to the elevator shaft.  Billith disables the elevator car and continues on a slow tour of his new kingdom.  Jason, Nora, Jessica, Tara and Pam work their way through the bowels of Authority headquarters.  Jason and Nora exchange pleasantries as to who has killed more vamps/humans, respectively.  When Pam asks who Nora is, Nora suggests that she take that up with her maker.  Sam helps Luna and Emma escape to the surface.  Luna is badly injured and she makes Sam promise that he will keep Emma safe.  After a few moments, Luna dies and Sam flees with Emma.  Billith breaks a gas line inside the building just as GI Jason and company get outside.  The building blows up and Pam and Jason start to go back inside for Eric and Sookie, but Nora holds them back.  Then, conveniently, Eric and Sookie roll up in a black SUV.  As they drive away, Billith walks out of the building and stares at them.  “Is that Bill?” Jessica asks.  “Not anymore,” Sookie replies.  Billith jumps into the air like a bloody Man of Steel.

Holy crap, all of that before the opening credits have even rolled!

The group agrees that Billith let them get away.  On the radio, they listen to Louisiana Governor Morrell make an announcement.  He talks about how Louisiana’s vampire population is so large because the state rolled out the red carpet for vampires.  But now that the Tru Blood shortage has led to the death of hundreds of tax-paying human citizens, well, the red carpet has been pulled back.  He calls for the repeal of executive order 846, which closes down all vampire-run businesses.  He tells citizens to buy as many guns as possible and stock up on wooden bullets.  After a protestor throws blood on him, he continues there will be some bloodshed in order to regain peace.  Jason is thrilled by the governor’s declaration against vampires.  Sookie tells him to shut up.  Pam says she’ll be damned if they touch her businesses. “Will you shut up about your shit when the world’s about to end!?” Nora shouts.

Eric stops the car.  It’s time for a one-on-one with Nora.  Before he can speak with her, Pam demands to know who “Mary Poppins” is and whether or not she can kill her annoying ass.  Eric tells Pam that Nora is his sister, which pisses Pam off even more given that she’s shared her whole life with Eric and all he’s done is kept her in the dark.  But this isn’t the time for any of this, Eric retorts.  The governor of Louisiana has declared war on vampires.  Either Pam has his back or she can leave.  Pam disappears.  “Asshole,” Tara mutters.

Eric asks Nora if there is anything in the Vampire Bible that can help them.  Surely, after all the time she has spent devoting her life to all of that nonsense, there must be some information they can use.  Nora is clearly frustrated and at a loss.  Drinking one drop of Lilith’s blood was enough to make her dedicate her life to the cause.  Bill drank the whole vial.  The only thing they can do now is destroy Billith.  Jessica overhears their conversation; her expression crumbles at the thought of losing Bill.  She runs away, too.  Sookie tells Jason that Jessica needs him, but (after a slight pause) he replies that he just can’t do anything for her.

Pam knocks over a few sandcastles before settling down on the beach.  Tara approaches and sits beside her.  Pam complains that she hates the beach because the fish pee and sand get into your “cooch.”  Tara just thinks that Pam doesn’t want Tara to see her cry.  She puts her arm around her maker and offers what comfort she can.

Jessica wipes the blood from her face and then returns to the sea wall where Sookie is waiting.  She asks if Sookie loves Bill, and Sookie replies that Bill was her first and she’ll always feel like he’s a part of her.  But he’s not the same as he was, and that’s why they need to let him go and face the reality that killing Billith is the only way to survive.

Nora tells Eric that she wants to talk to Jason.  She thinks he might know what is going on, which Eric doubts given that he’s never read a book in his life.  Then how did he know about Warlow? When Eric doesn’t know who Warlow is, Nora smirks and points out that Jason knows more about it than Eric does.  “Who the fuck is Warlow?” he demands.

Jason isn’t in the mood to share information with Nora, so she tries to glamour him.  He tells her that Warlow was the vamp who killed his parents and he appeared in Sookie’s bathroom.  When Eric calls bull shit, Jason regains his senses. “I am sick as fuck of you bloodsuckers brain-raping me against my will!” he shouts.  He aims a gun at Nora’s heart and threatens to kill her unless she talks.  She explains that Warlow was Lilith’s progeny, but she’s never laid eyes on him.  Sookie and Jessica arrive and Sookie orders Jason to drop the gun.  He can’t believe that she continually chooses vampires over humans, especially given what vampires did to their parents.  She points out that Warlow was responsible for their parents’ deaths, not all vampires, and she positions herself in front of Nora so that he’d have to shoot through her.  He stalks off.  Tara tells Sookie that he just needs to get rid of some steam.

Suddenly, Jessica convulses as Bill compels her to join him.  Her body moves involuntarily away from the beach.  Eric stops her, and he’s rewarded when she vomits blood all over him.  They’ve never seen anything like this before.  Jessica is in agonizing pain, crying that it feels like Bill is squeezing her heart.  Sookie wants to follow her to Billith, but Eric and Nora aren’t ready for that match-up just yet.  Tara rushes to join Sookie but Eric stops her and tells Pam to take her back to Fangtasia.  Pam doesn’t want to obey, but tells her to get out of the ways.  “How many ways do I have to say it?” he asks.

In order to become pack master, Alcide must inherit the flesh.  That means taking a bite from ol’ JD’s arm.  Alcide sinks his teeth and howls.  Martha tells Rikki that the V still in his blood will wear off eventually.  As Alcide and his father look on, Danielle, a member of the pack, presents herself to Alcide should he have any needs.  “Heaven help him,” Martha mutters.  Rikki doesn’t look amused.  Soon the pack shifts into their canine form to go for a little run.

Sheriff Andy has a bit of a problem.  On this Father’s Day, Andy is taking a break while Arlene and Terry take care of his litter of “alien babies.”  Arlene chastises him for shirking his responsibilities.  She has news for him: Life isn’t fair, and “when you stick Mr. Happy into someone’s hoo-ha without a raincoat on, babies come out!”  Poor Andy is having an existential crisis.  It’s not that he doesn’t want to raise his babies; it’s that he hasn’t had time to learn how to be a good father.  He’s afraid he’ll drop them, or they’ll grow up to hate him.  Arlene senses his fears and gives him a pep talk.  Inside, Terry gives Andy advice on diapers and diaper rash, while Arlene talks about the wonders of Purell.  Andy holds one of the baby girls.  “I’m Sheriff Andy Bellefleur,” he tells her, “and I’m going to be your daddy!”

Sam carries a sleeping Emma into Merlotte’s.  He’s still covered in blood and he senses that all may not be right in his darkened bar.  He leaves her in a booth and goes to see who else is at the bar.  He’s almost shot by Lafayette, who insists that he’s there protecting Sam’s investment.  Sam tells Lafayette that he can’t tell anyone that he saw them at all.  Lafayette agrees, and then he asks about Luna.  She’s all over television, he says, turning on the set above the bar.  Sure enough, footage of Luna shifting back from Steve Newlin’s form is the leading story on the news.  Hearing her mother’s voice, Emma wakes up.  She tells Lafayette that her mother is dead and she’s hungry.  Ever the nurturing soul, Lafayette takes her back to the kitchen to make her some food and to do something with her hair.  Sam makes him promise that Lafayette won’t reveal that he saw them.  Emma’s life depends on it.

Jason is on a road hitching a ride.  An old station wagon stops for him and the door opens.  Inside is an old man who asks if he needs help.  Rough night? The man asks.  He was attacked by vampires, Jason explains.  The man starts to ask questions about old establishments in Bon Temps.  At the man’s request, Jason rattles on and on about his family history.  He says that Sookie has “mental problems.”  The man listens, rapt.  I think we all know who the man is.  (Side note, who would have thought Warlow would ride into town in a beat-up old station wagon??)

Jessica and Sookie arrive at Bill’s mansion.  Jessica is still in a lot of pain.  A bloody footprint confirms that Billith is inside.  They follow the footsteps to Bill’s old bedroom.  A pile of red dust is on the floor.  “Is he dead?” Sookie asks.  Jessica collapses again.  They go outside to find Bill, plain old Bill, on the porch.  “I just want to talk,” he says.  Just then, Nora and Eric rush in, but Bill is too fast for them.  He knocks Nora aside and pins Eric to a column.  Sookie drives a stake through Bill’s heart.  They all watch as Bill slowly pulls it out.  “Now can we talk?” he asks.  He explains that he brought them together to show that he’s not a monster.  Prove it, Sookie demands.  Bill says that he’s still the same Bill Compton that he always was, only now he’s something more, something better.  Sookie doubts that.  Bill Compton is dead, she says, and the best thing for Billith to do is to leave Bon Temps for good.  Jessica speaks up, though, saying that Sookie is wrong.  Bill shouldn’t go—everyone else should.  He’s her maker, and she will stand with him.  Despite the tender moment on the beach, Jessica pops her fangs as a warning to Sookie, leading Eric and Nora to do the same.  Jessica tells them all to leave while Bill looks on proudly.  Eric grabs Nora and Sookie, and they leave the mansion.

Governor Morrell is one sneaky politician.  He asks Ms. Suzuki to meet him at a bottling plant in the middle of the night.  Ms. Suzuki is a representative from the Tru Blood company.  He explains that he has a proposition for her.  He offers the use of this perfectly good bottling plant that she can use to immediately start making Tru Blood.  His hope is that the vampires will return to the synthetic sustenance and continue about their peaceful ways.  She thinks his deal is too good to be true.  He continues that he’s up for reelection, and he needs the tax revenues to help his campaign.  She smiles at him.  They have a deal.

Alcide shifts back into human form, and so does Danielle.  They are in each other’s naked arms in an instant.  Then Rikki shows up, and Alcide immediately apologizes to her.  Danielle also apologizes.  Rikki approaches and stares at Alcide before summoning Danielle.  She grabs Danielle’s neck and bites her, then she kisses her while Alcide watches.  Then she sends Danielle down to take care of Little Alcide.  Rikki locks eyes with her man.  “I’m your number one bitch.  Don’t you forget it,” she warns him.

Tara can’t understand why Pam continues to chase after Eric even after he released her.  Tara thinks she’s wasting her time chasing after Eric when clearly he doesn’t want her.  “Fuck Eric,” she says.  She didn’t sign up to be Eric’s punching bag for the rest of eternity.  Pam threatens to slap her fangs out, telling her progeny that she has been with Eric for over a hundred years and Tara can’t understand that.  She will never replace Eric Northman.  Theirs will not be an epic love story.  There’s a knock on the door.  It’s the police.  They are enforcing Rule 846, rescinding the business license for Pam to run Fangtasia.  Their guns are aimed at Pam’s chest, so Tara tells them to back off.  They shoot her with something that causes her incredible pain.  Pam cries out—evidently Tara means more to her than she’s willing to admit.

Sookie and Eric walk back to her house.  He tells her he has enough money for her to go anywhere she wants, but she reminds him that she’d had too much of Bill’s blood.  He’s amazed that she was willing to stake Bill to save him.  She concedes that everyone has changed a lot over the past few years.  When they reach her house he tells her that she’s still the girl in the white dress that came into his bar.  They go inside and he asks for a pen and paper.  He dips the pen in his blood and gifts her house back to her.  He promises to send the deed in the mail.  She thanks him, and then she tells him that she wants to be that girl in the white dress again, which is why she must rescind his invitation to her home.  As much as it seems to hurt him, it also looks like he fully understands why she does this.  Outside, Nora comments that she now sees that Eric is in love with Sookie.  She is his weakness.  Eric warns her not to stir that pot.  Something tells me that Nora is more than willing to stir the pot.

Andy is sleeping on the couch.  He is awakened by several boisterous little girls.  “Daddy!” the cry.  Arlene and Terry wake up and scream in astonishment.  It seems that Andy’s little girls are growing up right before his eyes!

Jessica is about to go to sleep when Bill knocks at the door, offering some Tru Blood that he found in the cupboard.  She invites him in, but clearly she’s apprehensive.  After she takes a sip of the drink, she sets it down but it starts to fall from the night stand.  It stops in midair.  Jessica asks if Bill knew he had such powers.  Bill looks scared as he admits that he doesn’t know what he’s capable of anymore.  He tells her a story about a soldier he fought with in the war.  He became too powerful and didn’t know what he was doing anymore.  Bill hopes that Jessica can be his anchor; after all, surviving being staked is some “heady fucking shit.”  Jessica agrees to keep him tethered, warning him that he might not like it when she does.  He hugs her and then he tucks her into bed.

Jason is still talking to the stranger driving the station wagon.  He’s ranting in true Jason style.  He tells him that he feels like the kid who sees ghosts, only he can’t see ghosts, except for his dead parents.  And his dead parents tell him to do things.  And they’re kind of racist.  Maybe Sookie isn’t the crazy one, he reasons.  Maybe she’d send him to the “bunny ranch” in a straitjacket if she knew what was going on with him.  His parents appear in the back seat briefly.  All Jason knows is that he has to protect Sookie from Warlow.  The man chuckles.  Jason can’t keep Warlow away from Sookie, the man laughs.  Jason pauses reflectively.  He never mentioned Sookie’s name.  “Who do you think I am?” the man laughs.  Jason fires his gun, but the man disappears and Jason has to react fast to keep the car from crashing.

Sookie is in bed and the fairy scroll is beside her.  Suddenly, the mysterious characters light up and float above the page.

Back at the mansion, Bill starts to have visions.  He hears someone calling his name and he follows the disembodied voice to his study.  Lilith is standing there, all bloody and naked.  Suddenly she is all around him, shooshing him.  And then she rushes into Bill’s body.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of the first episode of the season.

First off, I think major kudos need to go to Stephen Moyer, who did a fantastic job starring in and directing this episode.  I don’t know about you, but I feel better about this season than I did before I saw the episode.  I was worried that a war between vampires and humans would be too heavy, but this episode was fun.  Jason delivered more of his trademark one-liners, and I think Terry’s adventures in fatherhood will prove to be entertaining all season long. His little girls will be dating before we know it.

What did you think? Was tonight’s episode what you hoped it would be?  Please be sure to post your questions and comments below.

Sarabeth Pollock is a contributor for Dark Media. 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