True Blood Guide, Season One: “The Fourth Man in the Fire” with Commentary from Alan Ball

Sookie agrees to babysit for Arlene.

In tonight’s episode, The Fourth Man in the Fire, Sookie tries to hold herself together in the wake of another possible tragedy. Tara is amazed by Lettie Mae’s turnaround, and considers similar therapy for herself after lashing out at Sookie and Sam. Jason’s new squeeze Amy charms the crowd at Merlotte’s, but shows a darker side to Jason when their V juice well runs dry. Rene (Michael Raymond James) pops the question to Arlene (Carrie Preston) while Sookie is baby-sitting her kids. Later, at Bill’s request, Sookie agrees to use her gifts to help Eric (Alexander Skarsgård), a powerful vampire sheriff, root out a thief at Fangtasia.

Written by Alexander Woo; directed by Michael Lehmann.

Alan Ball: I love the scene with Lafayette and Eddie [a vampire], and I thought that Stephen was so amazing. And then Jason and Amy kidnap Eddie for his blood. That’s also the episode where Bill comes out of the dirt and has sex with Sookie in the graveyard, which is a great scene. You don’t see that on TV every week! But it was a bitch to film, let me tell you. He was in a little box under the ground that was covered by a big, plastic sheet made of garbage bag material and he had to push his hand up through that and the dirt. It was freezing in the middle of the night. But they’re such troopers. So I felt like that was really major lady porn, vampire seduction fantasy. And I love Stephen, and Jason’s thing with Amy. And then Bill requesting Sookie to use her powers at Fangtasia – there will be repercussions to that as well. When Sookie says to Eric, “Promise no one will get hurt and I’ll do this for you whenever you want,” that’s something she will come to regret that. That’s all in Charlaine’s book. I have to give her credit – she laid the groundwork for things to work organically further down the line. (SciFiTVZone.com)

Watch True Blood tonight at 10 p.m. on the UK’s Channel 4.