‘True Blood’ Season 4 Episode 2 Recap

Alexander Skarsgard in True Blood Season 4 Episode 2
Alexander Skarsgard in ‘True Blood’ Season 4 Episode 2 (Photo © HBO)

What went down on HBO’s True Blood season four episode two? Here’s a quick recap of what’s happening in Bon Temps:

-The witches are experimenting with the coven’s newfound power.

-Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) continues to want Sookie (Anna Paquin).

-Bill (Stephen Moyer) orders Eric around and we discover why Bill’s now the King of Louisiana.
-Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) can’t resist the urge to bite humans.

-Tara (Rutina Wesley) has turned into a cage-fighting lesbian, but she returns to Bon Temp after Layafette (Nelsan Ellis) lets her know Sookie’s alive and well. She reunites with Layafette and Sookie and then accompanies Layafette and his boyfriend, Jesus (Kevin Alejandro), to a meeting with the coven.

-Sam’s still hanging out with his new shapeshifting friends – including the beautiful Luna (Janina Gavankar) who likes to keep secrets – and finally confronts his brother, Tommy (Marshall Allman), about the fact the brothers really don’t trust each other.

-The episode ends with Eric wandering shirtless down Sookie’s road where, when he’s confronted by the telepath, claims he has no idea who she is.

The Good:

-Lafayette and Jesus’ relationship is firmly in place and feels very genuine.

-Tara looks great and has obviously recovered from almost being a vampire’s bride.

-Nan (Jessica Tuck), the voice of vampires worldwide, continues to prove she’s a tough cookie, forcing Pam into making a public service announcement which, of course, the headstrong, wise-cracking vampire refuses to put any energy into. Eric takes over the announcement and shows he can charm the pants off any living, breathing human.

-Sam’s confrontation with his baby bro helps explain why Tommy’s now living with Hoyt’s mom and eating all his meals at Merlotte’s, instead of living and working with his shapeshifting older brother.

-Jessica continues to be one of the show’s most entertaining characters, leaving Hoyt at home and heading off to secretly feed at Fangtasia.

-Terry Bellefleur (Todd Lowe) is keeping things together in his newly expanded household and handling the role of proud new papa like a pro while Arlene (Carrie Preston) is going crazy with worry over the fact her baby boy might be evil like his biological father.

The Bad:

-The leader of the coven, Marnie Stonebrook (Fiona Shaw), comes off as too fragile when she’s not under the influence of some magical spirit.

-Sam’s new group of shapeshifting friends has yet to prove interesting enough to warrant their own storyline.

-Crystal (Lindsay Pulsipher) returns and is helping to make Jason into a panther because she wants to have a panther/man baby with him. It’s a weird twist on the Jason/Crystal plotline from the book and, so far, doesn’t really work.

-Bill as the King. I’m not sold in the least bit on this drastic departure from Book Bill. Eric is never subservient to Bill in the books, and seeing Eric have to follow Bill’s commands has made it incredibly difficult to enjoy Season 4 thus far. The only redeeming factor is seeing Eric wandering around Bon Temp which gives me hope Alan Ball hasn’t completely abandoned Charlaine Harris’ Dead to the World (the fourth book of the Sookie Stackhouse series).

-And speaking of Eric, who’s dressing Alexander Skarsgard? The black tank top he wore under his jacket looked decidedly feminine.