True Blood Guide, Season 1: “Plaisir d’Amour”, with Commentary by Alan Ball

In episode 1.09, Bill (Stephen Moyer) breaks a vampire taboo in protecting Sookie (Anna Paquin) – and must pay a steep price as a result. Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and Amy (Lizzy Kaplan) break their own taboo by kidnapping a vampire named Eddie (Stephen Root) in order to harvest his blood. With Lettie Mae (Adina Porter) apparently cured, a skeptical Tara (Rutina Wesley) consults with Miss Jeanette (Aisha Hinds) about exorcising her own inner demon. Sookie returns home to yet another horrific tragedy, prompting Bill to enlist an unlikely bodyguard – Sam (Sam Trammell) – to protect her while he’s away.

Written by Brian Buckner; directed by Anthony Hemingway.

Bill says good-bye to Sookie. / Photo: HBO

Alan Ball: That’s a big deal, to kill a vampire to protect a human if you’re a vampire. But we don’t really see that trial until the next episode. Jason and Amy are holding Eddie – that’s when they have their crazy LSD trippie sex montage, which was really weird. Tara discovers the truth about the witchy lady performing exorcisms to make money. The woman’s a con artist, and yet Tara’s mother seems cured. You know, there’s an actual line in season two where we meet the vampire queen of Louisiana, and she says to Bill, “Never underestimate the power of blind faith. (SciFiTVZone.com)

Watch True Blood every Wednesday night at 10 p.m., on Channel 4 in the UK.