The opening scene finds Bill, Sookie & Alcide having a confrontation on the road outside of Bellefleur’s (Merlotte’s bar now owned by Arlene Bellefleur), as they talk Alcide and Bill smell trouble (literally). The healthy vamp/human mixer is interrupted by a pack of Hep.V infected vamps, who tear many of the guests to shreds. The chaos stops abruptly when a whistle is heard, and the infected vamps run off in response. Alcide, Bill, Jason and Sookie find Lettie Mae crying in a mess of blood, she says that they killed Tara. Queue opening credits.
In the following scene Jason calls Andy Bellefleur and tells him that the Hep.V Vamps attacked, and took Holly and Arlene. Andy grabs his gun and tells Adilyn to stay inside no matter what, and not to let Jessica in, who has been guarding them from the porch. On the way out the door he tells Jessica that Tara is dead, leaving her devastated in his wake.
At the bar Sookie listens in on the thoughts of those left in the aftermath, hearing many of the townspeople blaming her for the tragedy in one way or another. Bill tells Andy that Alcide and Sam went after the Vamps that took holly and Arlene. Alcide and Sam return, and Sam is seen shifting back into a human by Vince, his opponent in the Mayoral race. Bill, Andy, Sam and Alcide go to check abandoned buildings for the vampire nest. Sookie over hears Alcide thinking that if it weren’t for her “loving the dead” they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in right now. Sookie, unable to take all the angry thoughts toward her, flees.
Jessica calls her boyfriend James, who shows concern over her not having fed while watching the Bellefleurs. She swears that she’s not hungry, and brushes off his concerns.
At the bar Vince tries to confront Sam about being a dog, in front of everyone. Sam pulls him aside, first trying to deny it and then concedes. He tries to keep Vince from causing trouble during a time of crisis, telling him they can talk about it when things calm down. Bill and Sam tell everyone still at the bar that they aren’t safe there, that they should be taken home with their vampire guardians for safety, to meet up again at the Reverend Daniels church in the morning. Jessica’s new boyfriend is charged with protecting Lafayette. Sam is also taken on by one of the protecting vampires.
Alcide tries calling Sookie, who is walking home in a huff. When she sees it’s him calling she throws her phone into the dirt. Distracted by her anger she trips and lands next to the dead body of a blonde woman. Only momentarily startled, she gets up and continues walking.
We are then taken to a pub in Morroco, where there is a competition of Russian Roulette going on between Pam and a devout man. Her opponent tells her that her words are hollow, that he can see the love & pain in her eyes. That this feeling (of tempting fate) makes them feel closer to god, makes you know you’re alive. She responds, “You’re dead.” He says, “No, I’m not. I’m alive.” and pulls the trigger. He loses the game, the bullet making him burst in a pool of blood. The crowd cheers as they collect their winnings. Pam asks the bookie where her maker is, he writes a name down and tells her that this is who she needs to see.
Adilyn checks on Jessica, who is crying on the porch. She tells her that she’s sorry about Tara. Adilyn tells Jessica that she has nightmares about the night that Jessica killed her Sisters. Jessica confesses that she does too. Adilyn says that she should hate Jessica, but she doesn’t, making Jessica cry harder. She then asks Jess if it was her boyfriend on the phone. Jessica says it was, prompting girl talk about boys. As the tension between them starts to ease, a man’s voice calls out asking, “What is she?!” Jessica jumps on guard, calling out, “She’s mine!”
Alcide walks into Sookie’s house, finding her sitting in her bath robe at the kitchen table. He yells at her for walking home alone, and asks why. She says that she read his thoughts, that she couldn’t filter them out. He asks what?! And she replies that he is supposed to love her, she expects those thoughts from the rest of the town, but not from him. He tells her that it’s not his fault, that she shouldn’t judge him for something he thought. He tells her that he’s sorry and that he loves her. She says that she’s sorry, but she needs to be on her own right now.
Jason and the vampire woman Violet, who has claimed him, drive to check out one of the potential nest areas. they find that someone has beaten them there. Vince and a group of townsfolk with rifles meet them outside, they get into a confrontation. Violet clashes with the group, who call Jason a fang banger. The group leaves, but Jason is angry with the way Violet behaved.
Lafayette and Jessica’s boyfriend James chat and share a bong. Lafayette confesses that he feels relieved that Tara is dead. He grieved the first time she died, this time he feels nothing. James says that all of his friends have died, they died in Vietnam. After exchanging war stories, Lafayette offers him his wrist to feed on.
Jason scolds Violet for emasculating him in front of others, that he is a man and deserves respect. She asks him what he’s going to do about it? He says that he is going to F*&k her! And she’s going to F#&k him back! She tells him, well it’s about time. (She having withheld sex until that point, making him service her and giving him nothing in return.) He then takes her from behind on the hood of the cop car, right on the road.
The hillbilly H-vamp that Jessica is protecting Adilyn from tells her that he has nothing to lose, and he wants to know why Adilyn smells so sweet. Adilyn asks Jessica why she should be worried since he can’t come in unless she invites him. Jessica tells her that he can’t get into the house, but that doesn’t mean he can’t hurt her. She then tries to get Adilyn to drink her blood so that she will always know where Adilyn is and will always be able to find and protect her. Adilyn refuses, but Jessica says that she is going to have to trust her, she gives in. The H-vamp starts toward the house, and Jessica rushes him and says to stay back. He tells her, “I’m gonna taste that little girl before I die.”
Lettie Mae swears that she can hear Tara talking to her, that she needs her. The preacher and their vampire charge, Willa (the Mayor’s Daughter that Erik turned last season), try to calm her. He says that she’s just high on her vampire blood. Lettie Mae passes out, and the preacher says that she’s not to give Lettie Mae anymore of her blood,Lettie Mae has a history of addictive personality. Willa confesses that she has nowhere to go now that Tara is gone, as well as Pam and Erik. He tells her to come with him, and leads her to the basement of the church. He tells her that it’s light tight and that she can stay as long as she wants.
Pam sees a sign that says clean blood sold here in the bar. she pays the owner, who has his wife lead out their child. They tell her that the only clean blood there is child’s blood. Pam says that though she does look delicious, she’ll pass. He asks her when the last time she fed was, Pam looking sickly and paler than usual. Pam replies that she’ll be fine, just the information please. He hands her a map. She says that there must be some mistake, that he would never…, but he cuts her off, saying that his information is accurate. What she does with it is her choice. She takes the map and leaves.
Sookie watches Alcide sleep for a moment, then drops her robe and climbs into bed naked, wrapping herself in his arms. She says that she’s sorry. He says he loves her and that he’s sorry too. They then make love.
Andy and Bill enter a warehouse, it’s got signs that the H-vamps have been nesting there. As they search Andy smells the decay of rotting flesh. They enter a room, where they find the bodies of several humans have been hung upside down by their feet to bleed out. Andy throws up and scrambles out of the room. Bill hears Andy call for someone to freeze, and runs out to see what’s happening. They are confronted by the same group led by Vince. Vince holds them at gun point and tells Andy that it serves him right that they took Holly. That it’s because of him and Sam Merlotte that the vampires attacked. Bill speaks on Andy’s behalf, saying that Andy wasn’t at the mixer, in protest. That they want him, not Andy. If they let Andy go, they can do whatever they want to him. Vince agrees and tells Andy that he should go, he doesn’t want to see what happens next. Andy protests, saying that’s where Vince is wrong, he does want to see it. He tells Vince that Bill and he have a history, and if someone is going to kill him, he should be the one to do it. Vince says, “Okay Sheriff, do it. We can use you on our side.” Andy holds the gun to Bill, then turns on the group. Aiming at a young boy who has the only other gun, he calls the boy’s bluff saying that when you kill a human you cross a line that he doesn’t want to cross, making the boy back down. The group backs off and leaves, but promise that it’s not over. Andy says no, it is definitely over.
The nest of H-vamps tear a man apart on the floor of Fangtasia, while Arlene, Holly and other captives wait chained in the basement in fear. A vamp comes down and picks one of Andy’s captured officers to feed on next, as the rest of them scream.
Bill thanks Andy for what he did to save him. Andy says that he saved him so he can help him find Holly and Arlene, that they are not good, and will never be good. Nothing Bill can do can make up for what he has done to his family.
Dawn approaches and Jessica and the H-vamp are still facing off on the lawn in front of The Bellefleur house. Adilyn opens the door and tells Jessica that she invites her in, that she has to come in to get away from the sun. Jessica screams no, but Adilyn insists. Jessica runs inside the house, just as dawn breaks.
The morning comes and the town is in the church listening to the preacher. Sookie puts her hand on Lettie Mae’s shoulder to comfort her, but Lettie Mae says, “Don’t you put your hand on me Sookie Stackhouse, it’s your fault my baby’s dead! She always went running to you and you led her down the path to hell, you are not welcome in this house of god.” Sookie upset, listens in on the towns people, who are all thinking hateful thoughts about her. she gets up to run out, but stops before reaching the door. She tells everyone that she can hear them, she can hear all their thoughts. That even though they all hate her, she loves them, she loves the town. She may be responsible, but she can’t save anyone that has been lost, and she can’t change anything that’s happened, but for better or worse no one knows vampires better than her and she wants to help. Please let her help. Fade to black.
So much happened in the opening episode, yet it somehow left me wanting a little more to kick off the season. Hints have been dropped about this final season being action packed, including the possibility that Sookie will be made a vampire in the final episode (teaser posters show Sookie crying blood, which fans of the series know only vampires do). Tara dying (again) didn’t feel like too much of a surprise, and was a bit of a relief. Her as a vampire has always felt somehow forced, her already acerbic attitude in overdrive was exhausting. I like the actress, but the character should have stayed dead when she died the first time. After a schlocky couple of seasons that parted ways completely with the books, I’m truly hoping for a finale that can redeem all the bad choices on the part of the show Writers, who if they had followed the books could have likely kept it going for a little while longer. Seriously, am I the only one that wanted to see the Quinn story line? How could they pass up a cage match fighting weretiger!? So many characters that could have been…sigh. In all honesty, can it be as bad as the series finale of Dexter? I guess only time will tell.
