Recap 5.8 True Blood “Somebody That I Used to Know”

Eric: “What are you doing?”
Bill: “Evolving.”

Am I finally seeing an actual theme for this season? Is it really just supes versus humans? Unfortunately, the vampires and werewolves are all committing crimes that make killing them seem like a pretty good idea. Okay, for that matter, some of the humans are, too.

Our cadre of hilariously stoned Authority vampires have lost all will to mainstream, and even though he showed reluctance to eat the captive, Bill appears to have gotten completely Lilithed, too. Unless that flashback to his dying daughter in 1910 Baton Rouge was supposed to hint that Bill wasn’t really on board? Eric appears to be the only vampire in Authority headquarters who isn’t ready to eat every human in New Orleans, and that was only because of his vision of Godric. It’s sort of sad that he wasn’t able to get through to Nora. Not that I care for Nora or anything.

And now they’re planning to destroy all the factories where True Blood is made, turning the world’s vampires back into killers. Come on, Eric. Stop Authority and save the world, babe.

Poor Sam. How come he’s always the one who gets his body stolen? Sam nursing himself was exceedingly weird and I don’t think the CGI worked all that well, but it did succeed in creeping me out. Dan was going, no, no, don’t kiss yourself, and then he did. And the spell was broken. Okay. (Sam Trammell doing Luna was a hoot. Ttwitching his hips under that hospital gown as he walked away was pretty funny.

Big plot developments in the werewolf department. Alcide and Rikki had hot werewolf sex with body tossing, but she turned against him when it came down to doing the right thing at the challenge. Russell’s influence on J.D. is turning that pack into killers. I knew that Alcide wouldn’t allow them to kill that teenage track star, but I was surprised that Martha looked upset about it and that she ultimately saved Alcide’s life. I’m definitely rethinking my first impression of Martha. Well, there were intestines.

The Sookie and Jason and fairies plot continued to confuse me, and I was disappointed that it actually *was* the band-aid. I wasn’t surprised that Sookie didn’t throw away her powers (and even wound up discovering she had more) and I was pleased that Jason was again such a good brother to her. I’ve always liked it when Sookie and Jason connect.

So Sookie has psychically bonded with the vampire who killed her parents? They were careful not to show us the vamp’s face, which makes me think it’s someone we already know. Except I don’t think we know anyone named Werlo. Or was it Warlo? Any theories? I’m drawing a blank.

Finally, I’m glad that Lafayette got out of that place, and that the spirit of Jesus was there to help him. That final scene in the car was sweet. And I so don’t blame Lafayette for charging Arlene for his services. Apparently, either Terry or Patrick has to die, and even though I’m not enjoying this Ifrit plot thingy, I sure don’t want to lose Terry.

Way too many plot bits, recapped:

— Flashback to 1910 Baton Rouge, with Bill visiting his dying daughter, Sarah. I thought that would be the catalyst for Bill refusing to kill that woman in the bed, but no. Are we going to find out what happened afterward to Sarah?

— The anti-supe haters did indeed capture Jessica for Hoyt as an initiation test or a present, and as I’d hoped, Hoyt wasn’t able to kill Jessica. And then he got picked up by a “friendly face.” I’m actually worried that something could happen to Hoyt, since there isn’t a lot more they can do with him as a character.

— Pam was again cool, making the racist Tracy into Tara’s slave. Pam is good to her progeny.

— Russell was flirting with Steve Newlin. What a bizarre but cute couple they would make.

Other bits and pieces:

— There is still blood in the shrine. I thought with that many vampires that they would have drunk it all. Unless it magically regenerates? Maybe I missed that.

— I think the producers wanted us to see a lot more of Joe Manganiello without pairing him with Sookie.

— Did we need to know that Mike Spencer wants to suck Sookie’s toes?

— And speaking of clothes, Pam apparently has a lot of hot outfits and we got another incredible outfit for Tara. Lafayette’s new look for his first gig as a medium was also spectacular. The two of them should go paint the town red in those outfits.

— Stephen Moyer directed this episode. He did just fine, didn’t he?

Quotes:

Bill: “We were in the presence of God.”
Eric: “We were high as fucking kites.”

Jason: “I’m fine. You got me in the head.”

Sookie: “I want to be normal.”
Jason: “The hell you do.”

Russell: “May I say God has the most beautiful tits I’ve ever seen.”
What exactly did he say about Moses?

Andy: “My taser’s gonna ask your nuts to the big dance.”

Jason: “I don’t give a twirly fuck about your elders.”
Elders? Fairies have elders? Did we know that?

Tracy: “You’re a vampire. That’s crazy. Now you’re a member of two minorities.”

Pam: “You don’t know me that well. My mad face and my happy face are the same.”

Enjoyable, fun. How many incredible black outfits out of four?

Billie Doux

(Billie Doux and her contributing writers review science fiction, fantasy and cult television shows at BillieDoux.com.)