Here is where we stand now that the show has returned: Sookie and Alcide are together, Sam is now mayor, Pam is continuing the search for Eric, Jason and Violet are together, and Andy still blames Jessica for what happened to his daughters last season. Bill is back to his old self and doing what he can to protect the town’s residents, human and vampire, while Jessica hangs around Andy’s residence to protect his only remaining half-fairy daughter, Adilyn.
After the battle at Bellefleur’s, several people are taken hostage, including Arlene and Holly, while Tara is apparently dead, as her mother is seen weeping and covered in blood, shouting “They killed by Tara!” Lafayette, on the other hand, has apparently reached his limit with supernatural tragedy and seems unaffected by Tara’s demise.
As we saw at the end of last season, there are no more True Blood factories, which means vampires must rely on humans to feed. However, the Hep-V infected are literally being destroyed from the inside out and are driven crazy by their desire to feed. Though this early in the season it’s hard to tell if they will be the “big bads” of the year, they are definitely the biggest threat at the moment. Humans are only safe during the day, and there are already big rifts forming in the community. The vampire threat has never been more real or more dire, and we’re already starting to see lines drawn in the sand. Small factions of humans are banding together, going against what Sam suggests and taking the law into their own hands.
As I said earlier, this human/vampire conflict is now back at the core of the story, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Yes, we’ve seen everything from “Vamp Camps” to war between The Authority and Russel Edgington, but shifting the focus to a more personal level is an important step the show has taken towards really exploring the effects that the series, and all of its supernatural plotlines, have had on the characters.
One such effect is that people seem to have turned on Sookie and are blaming her for the increased level of vampire activity in the town. They blame her for sleeping with vampires, something she finds out by reading their very loud and very vulgar thoughts. This wasn’t quite used to its full potential in the premiere, but as I said, we’re still early in the season, so anything could happen. And, despite their current hatred for her, they will have to depend on her soon enough, because as she says at the end of the episode, no one understands vampires better than she does.
All in all, “Jesus Gonna Be Here” was a solid and entertaining premiere. Sure, I wish that it could have been a bit more introspective, and it would have been nice if they set the stage for the remaining nine episodes in a more clear manner, but I’m still happy to be back in Bon Temps. The foundation has definitely been built for a fantastic final season of True Blood, which will hopefully live up to its potential and proceed in a bit more of a tightly-constructed way. Endings are a hard thing to pull off, especially with so much baggage to sort through, but it feels like the showrunners have a plan in place. I’m happy to see that the intimate human/vampire relationships are taking center stage, and look forward to the impending war between the humans, the vampires, and the deadly H-vamps that threaten to rip into their jugular veins.
Additional Thoughts:
- So, there’s no way Tara’s actually dead, right? There’s no way they take one of the show’s original and central characters, kill her and bring her back as a vampire against her will, and then kill her off, unceremoniously, off-screen.
- Speaking of Tara, Lettie may be hallucinating while on V, but don’t discount her visions just yet. We’ve seen supernatural powers in their family before, and I suspect there’s more going on here than meets the eye.
- Reminder: Nathan Parsons has replaced Luke Grimes as James, the guy who takes Lafayette back to his place. So, keep that in mind when thinking, “Who the hell is this guy?”
- As upset as Sookie is at the town, it’s incredibly foolish for her to be walking around, at night, with no protection whatsoever. I get it, but come on. There are safety precautions in place for a reason, Sookie!
- What’s the verdict on Eric? Last we saw, he was getting a dangerous sun tan. Shall we start placing our bets about his chances of survival now?