Director	Scott Winant
Writers	Nancy Oliver	Tweet
Starring	Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Chris Bauer, Mehcad Brooks, Anna Camp, Nelsan Ellis, Michelle Forbes
Genre	Vampire
Tagline	Ready for New Blood?
Country

Review

In the aftermath of the Church's suicide bombing of the Dallas Vampire lair, things are changing for the local Vampire community. The Vampire PTBs have decided someone is going to pay for the fiasco, Godric takes full blame and renounces his power. Bill halts a revenge driven draining of a Church member. And Eric manages to trick Sookie into drinking some of his blood, thus forging a tie between them. Miraculously Jason has come through without a scratch.

Meanwhile back in Bon Temps Maryann has to silence a rebellion from Tara and Eggs, but is thwarted in her attempts to get to Sam in jail, as Sam “changes” in time and goes on the run. Maryann has her minions out searching for him. Lafayette and Mrs Thornton launch a rescue mission to get Tara out from under the influence of the increasingly demonic Maryann, they succeed but Maryann doesn't look worried. And Hoyt takes his relationship with Jessica up a level by having the vampire of his dreams meet Mom. As they say, it's all happening.

If anything I Will Rise Up seems like a bridging episode between the Church story arc and the expected confrontation when Sookie and team arrive back in Bon Temps to face Maryann's antics. While there are some good themes going down and the episode is enjoyable enough in and of itself, there's still that faint hint of treading water while the plotline for the final quarter of the season becomes the single focus.

Godric's decision to take full responsibility for what turned out to be a complete fiasco for the Dallas Vampires was a surprise, as was his decision to greet the sun in a sort of world weary fashion. Clearly Eric didn't understand the motivations yet Sookie seemed to be on the same wave length. Godric's final statements are profound in the context of the overall franchise and pretty much reflect other outings that view vampirism as a disease similar to aids. A very touching conclusion to the episode with the exchange between Godric and Sookie about God and forgiveness. For mine it showed that some Vampires, and we can include Bill here who relents on taking revenge for the suicide bomber attack, have more of a Christian belief than the actual Christians being shown, who prove more bigoted and narrow minded than anything approach actual Christian. So while the episode is clearly “bridging” it still has a lot more to offer than simply escapist television.

Godric shows the true light of Christianity in the darkness of fundamentalist belief systems

To wrap with what we should take from the Dallas excursion. Eric has tricked Sookie into drinking his blood, he now knows what she feels, where she is at, and as a side affect our gal might be getting a little hot and bothered over the Viking. Bill has categorically sent his maker Lorena packing, though I'm expecting that little decision to have some repercussions. And Jessica is for ever a virgin. Whether or not the changing of the guard in Dallas will have any effect on future developments in Bon Temps remains to be seen, though I suspect the story arc might have been self contained to just this season.

Back in Bon Temps Maryann, far from being simply the party girl with mojo, is increasingly shown to be demonic with a belief that her bull god is coming for a visit. She is clearly using the gullible and the weak, Bon Temps must be like Christmas for her, to get her end game happening, namely sacrificing Sam Merlotte. With mass hysteria being the current party drug it doesn't bode well, though Sam, one would expect Sookie, and the Vampire hordes are probably going to swing things back in favour of the home team. I actually think the character of Maryann has been well drawn, and the gradually creep into nasty-ville has been well handled. Remembering way back Maryann seemed to be the savour Tara needed. Lafayette certainly has other ideas currently and I was high fiving my fellow Blooders (True Blood fans), when the dude took on Eggs and then burst into Sookie's place to take on Maryann on her home turf. You go girlfriend!

One of the most anticipated confrontations of the season went down in this here episode. If you haven't seen it yet then hold on tight folks, Jessica gets to meet Hoyt's mother! While Jessica is kind of the sweet girl next door, and a vampire, but hey everyone has faults, Hoyt's mother basically doesn't like Vamps, Methodists, Catholics, Blacks, people with cats, and about everyone else who isn't white trash. Naturally Jessica and Mom got on well, not! Could Hoyt be throwing off the apron strings?

Besides a bit of an insight into Jason and what makes him tick, oh and Steve and Sarah Newlin snipping at each other, I think I've covered the major events of the episode. Once again it rocked on and was heavy on the plotlines but infinitely enjoyable for those into the season.

One of the things I keep forgetting to mention is the score, as opposed to the soundtrack, that is like all moody and Southern Gothic. Nathan Barr nails the requirement and highlights each character with his orchestrial movements. It's enriching stuff and exactly right for the show. If you like your music on the dramatic side of the baton then Barr is your dude, he hits the hight notes here.

ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ...