Talk us through itSookie has had enough of taking a walk on the wild side and breaks it off with Bill, the relationship was a dead end anyways. Bill keeps his promise to Sookie's grandmother Adele Stackhouse and speaks at the monthly meeting of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead, winning over the audience with his memories of the civil war, and how he lost his family. Sam takes Sookie to the meeting on a date, and there are some hard glances between Bill and Sam. Sookie isn't ready to commit to a new relationship and the night out doesn't go well for Sam. Meanwhile Tara demands to know exactly what Lafayette is thinking selling "V juice" and in particular selling it to Jason. Trying to make amends Lafayette drops in on Jason and learns about the medical procedure Jason went through via the visual aid of a sausage and a large needle. The topping there was the Doctor had to drain Jason's penis of blood twice! Naturally there's move "V juice" involved though this time Lafayette shows Jason how to take it in moderation. Jason is soon tripping out and the world is suddenly a better place. Under the influence Jason pledges his undying love to Tara at Sam's bar and asks for just one chance with her. Tara tells him to come back and talk to her when he's sober. Later as she is putting out the rubbish she discovers Jason doing it doggy style with recent divorcee Randi Sue. Sookie arrives home from her less than memorable date with Sam to get a nasty surprise and a shock plot twist for viewers.
Review"Giving vampire blood to Jason Stackhouse is like giving ho-hos to a diabetic. You know he can't control himself!" - TaraSparks Fly Out predominately back stories Bill Crompton and delivers on the speech he had promised to give in the second episode. As stated in previous episode reviews True Blood is pretty tightly scripted and nothing is being presented that will be left hanging in the air. We learn Bill was a Lieutenant in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, and clearly he survived that ordeal. While traveling home, after hostilities ceased, Bill sort shelter and help at an out of the way farmhouse, and showed his true self in not taking advantage of the widow living there. This was either a good or bad thing depending on viewpoint as the merry widow was a vampire who proceeded to "sire" Bill leaving him bereft of home and family. Surprisingly Bill is still emotional about losing his loved ones, showing perhaps he can "mainstream" through not having totally losing his humanity. Three rednecks try to disrupt Bill's talk to the Descendants of the Glorious Dead, but their attempt to sabotage the meeting via a garlic attack doesn't work, Bill doesn't seem fazed by it at all, simply giving the rednecks a glance. We also learn Vampires are not affected by crosses or being on sacred ground and that they are not inherently scions of the devil. This is the first time that True Blood has addressed the religious aspects of the undead, to use the literary term in its correct context*, and wisely the decision has been made to make religion irrelevant to Vampires. Besides finding out all about Bill's turning we also get some coverage for both Lafayette and Jason Stackhouse. Lafayette may be gay and like mincing it up with the best of them but he can also go the biff when required, as the same three rednecks that were at Bill's meeting discover when they send a hamburger back because they didn't order a side dish of AIDS. Surprisingly, considering we're talking a redneck roadhouse here, Lafayette gets the applause for dealing with the misguided food critics. Jason for his part just can't help himself. Only minutes after telling Lafayette he should quite dealing "V", and only a day after having two large needles plunged into his willy, Jason is taking "V" again under Lafayette's supervision. And you really have to feel for Tara when after Jason telling her all about his feelings she discovers him on top of the nearest willing female out behind the bar. Just in case we have lost touch with the season's central mystery one of the fairly major characters is found dead, and either this is due the character's involvement with vampires or the target could have been Sookie. Our mystery serial killer strikes again, though this time he has used a sharp instrument rather than strangled his victim. Bill comes under suspicion for the previous two murders, Maudette and Dawn, but informs local law enforcement that no vampire can resist a recent deceased body full of nutritional blood; a vampire would have drained it dry. Bud and Andy, law officers, really are grasping at straws since they have no suspects, what with Tara lying about where Jason was on the night of Dawn's murder. Bill is being positioned as something more than a blood seeking vampire missile, and heck he can brood with the best of them. I've been somewhat remiss by only briefly touching on the music used thus far in the season one, so let's remedy that some what this review and I promise to do better in future reviews. Nathan Barr handles the original music, i.e. score, duties and helps things along with the soundscape matching the visuals. The distinctive theme song, played over a bunch of Southern images, is "Bad Things" by Jace Everett. The soundtrack listing for Sparks Fly Out features "Kargyurra" by Huun-Huur-Tu, "It's Alright" Phil Phillips, personal favourite Steve Earle's "Feel Alright", a titular track by Paul Brch, some outfit called Cowboy Troy featuring Big & Rich doing "I Play Chicken With The Train", and the wonderfully named Reverend Horton Heat stoking the flames with "Wiggle Stick". You can't complain about the music selection, if you like Southern Rock, and you're getting more tracks than a fistful of Supernatural episodes would likely send your way. 
Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds) is a real find for the season. Ellis hits all bases with the flamboyant yet tough Lafayette, and has more camp appeal going down than a tent fill of drag queens. Ellis plays off well against both Ryan Kwanten and Rutina Wesley and is developing his own online fan club girlfriend. The actor simply steals any scene he is in and I'm not going to be disappointed if he gets more screen time in future episodes.
Summary ExecutionA decent episode that fleshes out three characters, advances the stormy Sookie and Bill relationship, and that kills off a fairly major character unapologetically. I dug the whole thing and was grooving to the beat. I simply can't wait to discover what's gone down in the next installment; things are getting real personal for Sookie. If major characters can be killed off then pretty much no one outside Sookie and Bill are going to be safe. The writers of True Blood are throwing some curve balls here, and they are certainly skimming home plate with them.Further investigation on the web turned up a few more websites featuring a heavy True Blood focus. Unfortunately they seem to be run either by HBO, who back the series, or those television listing places that give bare minimum coverage. I'll keep looking for those requesting full resource sites dedicated to the show; clearly ScaryMinds is going to cover the episodes but not much more. Another episode that requires knowledge of what has happened previously, don't view unless you have been following happenings in Bon Temps and know what the references are during the show. For regular viewers it's another ripper with things are heating up on all fronts. I'm pretty much hooked here and the rest of the season episode guides will be coming at you quick and fast as I try and work out whom our resident Psycho is. You got to love a show where the Vampires aren't the most dangerous thing on the ground; you can take that to the blood bank.
ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ... Was Sookie the intended target?
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