Jo Bromilow | On 14, Jul 2014

This contains minor spoilers.

As becomes common with popular sci-fi shows, paying lip service to the rabid fans is often par for the course. The opening sequence for Episode 2 of True Blood’s final season is one of the finest examples of this – a much longed-for, erotic moment, bordering on hilarious light relief. Which is good, because back in Bon Temps, away from the fantasy – and the light-hearted relief that the loveable but idiotic Jason Stackhouse readily provides, especially when juxtaposed with the deadpan Andy – things are not going nearly as smoothly.

Picking up straight after the final scene of Episode 1, the townsfolk disperse from the church, still thinking their less-than-sweet thoughts about poor Sookie, to pass a day in keeping busy and trying not to think about the coming night. Meanwhile, Sam and the town’s misfit band of defenders rally to search for the missing townsfolk.

Arlene and Holly are among them, alive and languishing in the cells underneath popular vampire nightclub Fangtasia, now being used as a nest and safe feeding zone for the roaming crowd of Hep V vamps. Arlene spots a familiar face amongst them and she and Holly attempt to use the experiences they shared with that character – a kindly school teacher – to win her over. Arlene is the series’ least lucky character, but she is also the most skilled at producing emotional responses from the people she meets. Her encounter with this teacher is no exception. It’s just a question of whether the teacher can stand up to the bully crowd of vamps long enough to set her friends free.

As Bon Temps descends into anarchy to prepare itself for the next attack, Sookie and the others head off to find clues about the Hep V vamps’ movements from a nearby town, which seems to have been borrowed from the set of The Walking Dead. In the aftermath of the massacre, the town is a ghost town; from dusty family photos to deserted dinner tables, the gang explore the village, set against the soundtrack of Sookie reading aloud from the diary of a young girl, now dead, who was unlucky enough to fall for a vampire. Sookie’s reading brings back memories, and flashbacks, of her first date with Bill, and leads her rushing to his home to ask one more favour: to keep her safe. (Given that she voluntarily raced across town to his house in the dead of night without the good sense to bring her hunky bodyguard of a boyfriend, Alcide, we think Bill has his work cut out.

But of all those with a challenge to face as night falls on the second episode, none are set for a harder time than Pam, who finally finds her beloved Maker, Eric, only to discover that bringing him home, and back to himself, will be harder than she thought…

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