RECAP: True Blood 202 “Keep This Party Going”

True Blood episode recap for “Keep This Party Going“. Originally aired June 21, 2009.

Sookie: “I don’t normally cuss, but you have completely fucked me here.”

I just got the biggest charge out of this episode; I watched the whole thing with a big smile on my face. I did not have this reaction to any episode in season one. Have they hit their stride? Are they going further, taking more chances? I can’t put my finger on what has changed; I just know that I’m loving it.

Now we know why new vampires can’t just go home and tell the family. Sookie shouldn’t have taken Jessica home, but you know, she was just trying to be kind. That cliffhanger was intriguing; Bill actually yelled at Sookie. Is he going to kill Jessica’s family? No. I refuse to believe it until I see it. And you know, if he does, he’ll lose Sookie forever. She’ll never accept it.

Maryann gets weirder and more intriguing every episode. This time, she started an impromptu orgy at Merlotte’s. Or was it a bacchanal? Maryann has a talent for telling people exactly what they want to hear, but Sookie isn’t going to fall for it; Sookie heard some of Maryann’s thoughts in a foreign language that I think was Greek. We still don’t know what Maryann wants from Sam, but she can control Sam’s metamorphosis. Potentially embarrassing.

I’m starting to like Jason, and I never thought that would happen. (It’s a True Blood miracle.) His adventures at the Death to All Vampires Leadership Conference were quite amusing; I particularly enjoyed the anti-vampire songs (were they sun carols?) and the role-playing. And I think that was the creepiest depiction of Jesus I’ve ever seen. Jason is completely screwed up now; he needs to believe that vampires are evil and inhuman and must be killed, or he’ll have to face that what he and Amy did to Eddie was kidnapping and murder.

Nearly every scene in this episode was amusing. But I think my favorite was Bill and Eric having a quiet argument about Sookie while shopping for Jessica’s clothes. The thing with the saleswoman realizing Bill was a vampire, coming on to him, and then deciding Bill and Eric were a couple was just too funny. My other favorite scene was Eric, covered with blood, having his hair done by Pam while debating life and death with Lafayette. I’m trying to picture Lafayette as a vampire. He could probably sell his own blood, then. Victimless crime.

There’s so much going on right now that isn’t in Living Dead in Dallas. Like Godric, who was in LDID but most certainly was not the missing sheriff of area 9. Like the possibility that Eric is taking Sookie to Dallas, not Bill. (And may I say, if it actually happens — yes! yes! yes!) Like everything that’s going on with Jessica and Maryann. The Fellowship of the Sun was a big part of book two, but Jason was never involved with them. I am not complaining about the differences, though. I’m completely hooked.

Bits and pieces:

— Jessica mimicking Bill was dead on, so to speak. Very funny.

— Daphne is a hopeless klutz. Maybe she lied about her extensive experience at Cracker Barrel.

— Eggs with no shirt. His chest was so tight that I swear it almost looked fake. Eggs has a violent and colorful past. Run hard in the other direction, Tara. You just got rid of your toxic mother; the last thing you need is a toxic boyfriend. And Tara, if you’re smart, you’ll move in with Sookie immediately and get yourself out of Maryann’s orbit.

— In this week’s hair report, of course, there was Eric’s new blood-free do. Sookie’s do was pretty, but looked like supercurl overkill. It was probably intended to cover the bite marks on her neck, though.

Quotes:

Eric: “If you have any silver on you, now would be the time to reveal it.”
Lafayette: “No way. I’m not that stupid.”
Eric: “Yes, you are. Is there blood in my hair?”

Sookie: “We’ve never had makeup sex before.”
Bill: “How does it compare to ‘you thought I was dead’ sex?”

Sookie: “How is that any different from being a teenage girl? No humanity, check. In the grips of overwhelming transformations, check. Cannot control impulses, check. All right, how is that different?”

Lafayette: “I’m a survivor first, a capitalist second, and a whole bunch of other shit after that, but a hooker dead last. So if I’ve got even a Jew at an al-Qaeda pep rally shot at getting my black ass out of this motherfucker, I’m taking it.”

Luke: “Luke McDonald. No relation to the restaurant.”
Jason: “Any relation to the farm?”
Luke: “What farm?”

Tara: “When it comes to men, I’ve got a long history of putting the cart so far out in front that the horse can’t see it.”

Lafayette: “You’re human, right?”
Ginger: “Kind of.”

Steve Newlin: “That was ‘Jesus asked me out today’ and it’s on her new album, which drops next Tuesday.”

Andy: “I hate to dance. One time I was in a club in Shreveport and I actually had a woman tell me I looked like an epileptic on meth.”

Luke: “You think you walk on water, don’t you?”
Jason: (wisely) “I’m pretty sure that was Moses.”
Luke: “No, it was Jesus. Moses parted the Red Sea. And what the hell was it with you snapping the American flag in half like you’re some Muslim Buffy with a dick?”
I must have laughed for five minutes at this one.

I think this was a four-star episode,

Billie Doux

Billie Doux writes episode reviews and articles about sci-fi, fantasy and cult television shows. All her reviews can be found at BillieDoux.com.