Previously on… True Blood
Season one of Alan Ball’s gory, sexy, supernatural masterpiece was packed with all sorts of happenings, so it’s a fair bet you’ve forgotten a few of them. I’ll run down some of the important ones here to get you ready for season two.
Vampires live among us. Two years ago, they revealed themselves to mankind and are now part of everyday life. With the invention of synthetic blood (Tru Blood) they no longer feed on humans (officially) and just want equal protection under the law. Acceptance is not widespread, however, and no more is that evident than in the intolerance-happy town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie Stackhouse is a telepathic waitress who lives with her grandmother and works as a waitress at Merlotte’s. Her brother, Jason, lives in town and is something of a man-whore. Her best friend, Tara, is a sassy young black woman with a thing for Jason. Her boss, Sam Merlotte, has a thing for Sookie. Lafayette is a flamboyant cook at Merlottes who also deals in V (Vampire blood, a potent drug for humans).
One day, Sookie meets Bill Compton. Bill is a vampire from the civil war era and Sookie is instantly fascinated by him, in no small part due to the fact that she can’t hear his thoughts like she can everyone else’s. She saves him from some rednecks trying to drain him, and he saves her later in return, creating a blood bond between them.
Meanwhile, someone starts killing women in the town who coincidentally have been sexually involved with vampires (”Fang-bangers”). Jason also slept with them, but then he sleeps with everyone, so he is suspected but not charged.
Sookie’s involvement with Bill begins to turn romantic as the town’s scorn for her grows. She goes to the nearby vampire bar, Fangtasia, and meets Eric the Sheriff of their “Area”.
Sookie’s grandmother is murdered and it brings her closer to Bill in her grief. Jason develops an addiction to V supplied by Lafayette and seeks out Fangtasia after being cut off. He meets Amy, a fellow V addict, and they start a relationship.
Meanwhile, Tara’s mom is an embarrassing drunk who is convinced she has a demon. Tara reluctantly pays a healer for her mother’s exorcism, which ends up curing her. Tara is then convinced she also has a demon, as she feels “fucked up” inside, so she has an exorcism, too. Afterward, she runs into the healer at her retail job and becomes enraged at the deception. However, since her mother appears to be cured by faith, Tara doesn’t tell her.
Amy convinces Jason to kidnap the vampire from which Lafayette gets his V supply. He initially feels uneasy about this, and feels even more so once he develops a friendship with the captive vampire, which causes Amy to feel threatened.
Eric summons Sookie to solve a crime at Fangtasia using her telepathy. As she beings to reveal the name of the offending vampire bartender, he lunges at her from behind the bar, but is staked by Bill before he can hurt her. Bill must face a tribunal for killing another vampire, which means leaving Sookie by herself. A dog comes to sepnd the night with her, but Sookie awakens to find the dog has become Sam Merlotte. It is revealed that Sam is a shape-shifter. This information causes Sookie to be distrustful of Sam.
Arlene, a fellow waitress gets engaged to local Cajun named Renee, and Sam throws a party at Merlotte’s. Sookie still distrusts Sam, but runs to his arms after a near-death experience with the killer. She receives a telepathic image from the killer of a murdered girl.
Meanwhile, Bill is brought before the Tribunal. He is spared the worst potential sentence due to Eric’s testimony. Instead, Bill’s punishment is being forced to turn helpless, captured, young 20-something Jessica into a Vampire while she begs for mercy.
Renee convinces Jason to stand up for himself in his relationship worth Amy, so Jason demands that Amy free his new Vampire friend. Instead, Amy stakes him through the heart. Jason flips out and destroys the rest of the V, telling Amy she can leave if she doesn’t like it.
Tara fights with Sam at the party and, combined with distress over her fake healing, it causes her to drive off drunk but swerves and crashes to miss someone standing on the road. She’s arrested for drunk driving.
Sookie uses the killer’s telepathic flash to track down the murdered girl, Cindy Marshall. She locates the restaurant where the girl worked, and is told about how she was killed shortly after having an affair with a Vampire. Her brother, Drew Marshall, hasn’t been seen since. Sookie contacts the local Sherriff for a photo of Drew to be sent to Bon Temps.
Lafayette finds out one of his clients for sex and drugs is a State Senator who is running for the U.S. House on a platform of anti-Vampire, anti-gay, anti-drug sentiment. He pays the Senator a very public visit and makes an implied threat to reveal his habits if the Senator doesn’t back off.
Newly-made vampire Jessica awakens and Bill must show her the ropes, but she has the attitude of a whiny teenager who just wants to have fun. Bill can’t deal with her and look out for Sookie at the same time, so he leaves her with Eric and heads back to Bon Temps.
Jason goes back to Amy and they make up. They decide on one last V trip before beginning their new life together. While they sleep, the killer comes in and strangles Amy. Jason reports the crime, but is arrested for the murder
A wealthy and mysterious woman named Maryann Forrester, claiming to be a “social worker” bails Tara out of jail after her own mother turns her back. Maryann takes Tara to what she calls a sort of “halfway house” where she can get on her feet again. She convinces Tara to take a fresh start to her life, and Tara meets another refugee at the house named Eggs Talley. It is revealed that Maryann possesses some unknown supernatural powers.
Sam and Sookie bond over their adventures tracking down the killer, culminating in a make-out session violently interrupted by the newly-returned Bill. The men fight and Sookie pushes both of them away.
Jason is put in jail as the fax comes in with Drew Marshall’s picture. It is a picture of Renee, Arlene’s finance. Renee is the killer. He comes to visit Jason and overhears Sookie tell him that she knows about Drew Marshall. Soon after, Jason is visited by a representitive of The Fellowship of the Sun, and anti-Vampire church who wants to help Jason and bring him into the fold.
Renee sabotages Sookie’s car, forcing her to need a ride home from him. Sam finds a vest of Renee’s and recognizes the scent of the killer. He realizes who Sookie is with and goes after them. Back at her house, Renee chases Sookie into the graveyard. Bill, sensing Sookie’s danger due to their blood bond, awakens even though it is midday, and braves the sunlight to come after her. Renee catches Sookie and starts to choke her, but Sam (in dog form) jumps on him but is knocked out and changes back to a human. Renee, distracted and enraged by this, beats up on Sam until Sookie hits him with a shovel and decapitates him. Bill, charred to a crisp by the sun, falls down just short of the graveyard and appears dead. However, Sam uses quick thinking and buries him, saving him from the sunlight.
In the final scenes of the finale, Sookie wakes up surrounded by friends (including a remorseful Arlene). Jason is released from jail with all charges dropped. Sam is terrified when he sees Maryann, who somehow knows him and knows that he is a shape-shifter. Lafayette is stalked and attacked by something in the bushes. Bill returns to Sookie’s waiting arms.
Two weeks later, Vampire marriage is legalized, Lafayette is still missing, Jason is worshiping at the Fellowship of the Sun, Eric dumps Jessica back in Bill’s lap as his charge, Sam packs a bag full of money, and the girls discover the body of an African American with painted toenails.
Who’s body was in the car. It seems pretty clear that the foot belongs to Lafayette, but you never know with this show. Maybe he’ll come back as a vampire? Maybe he’s just asleep?
Find out what the hell is going on this Sunday, June 14th at 9pm on HBO.
Hey, I view all your articles, keep them coming.
True blood is 10 times better than Twilight.