Posted by Dustin on 06.27.2011 at 10:58 am

So last night was finally the season 4 premier of “True Blood.” I thought the premier was a tad dull, and it introduced a lot of new storylines (thanks to the time jump) that weren’t all that well explained. Fortunately episode 2, does some of that.

I’ll post my thoughts on episode 1 first. Then episode 2 below . . . so if you don’t have HBO Go to watch it and don’t want to be spoiled, stay away from that section!

At the beginning of Episode 1 we find Sookie’s long lost grandpa trapped in Fairyland with the other half-human’s half faeries. He thought he’d only been gone a few hours, it turns out it’s been 20 years! Of course we learn it’s all a trap, and they’ve been harvesting human’s and planning to seal off their realm from the human one. Sookie and her grandpa escaped, but tragically he ends up dying when they return home. What what what! I can’t believe they cast Gary Cole in a role that lasted but a few minutes. That’s nuts! I’m going to guess though that we’ll hopefully see more of him, and the faeries as well.

When Sookie returned home, we had lost a little over a year, and so much had changed. Eric bought her house secretly, basically so he could get to her anytime he wanted . . . no invitation needed! Tara had left town, become a lesbian cage fighter, and was now calling herself “Tony.” Jesus and Lafayette were getting involved with a witches coven, lead by the mysterious (and apparently dim witted) witch Marnie, who somehow had great powers – like bringing the dead back to life. Tommy was living with Hoyt’s mamma and had found Jesus, while Hoyt and Jessica’s happy life was anything but, they bicker a lot. Sam goes to meetings with other shifters and found himself a new possible girlfriend named Luna. Jason has been taking care of Crystal’s inbred family, while she’s gone missing. At the end of the show they kidnapped him. Andy has become a V addict, and his sister has come to town. Arlene is afraid her baby Mikey is evil. Finally Bill has become King of Louisiana!

I think that sums up just about everything in the premier. My thoughts on all of that? Well first, were is the Wolf! I hope Alcide gets a lot more airtime, he was supposed to be made a full cast member this season from what I recall.

The Tara storyline . . . . eh. I mean given all the issues she’s had with men, I can see why she might turn to the ladies for a bit of comfort. But I hope we get a bit more explanation. Is she bi? Is she really a lesbian who was just in denial? She’s still lying to her new friends and woman, claiming she’s Tony from Atlanta.

They’ve really made Bill become a total jerk. Though I understand this stays true to the books, where he in fact isn’t a nice guy. Episode 2 however . . . . more in a bit!

The storyline with the witches? I started to get the feeling that they, or at least Marnie, needed Lafayette and his powers to really use hers. It was almost like “The Craft” in a way.

I know the premier had a lot to introduce us to, because of the time jump and all, but it just seemed a bit of a let down. Fortunately Episode 2 delivers!

STOP READING NOW IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN SPOILER FREE!

Episode 2 is available via HBOGo. I watched it last night and loved it . . . . though still no Alcide! Anyway, here is some of the highlights and my thoughts.

We learn a bit about Bill’s back ground, how the American Vampire League head woman Nan found him in the U.K. in the 80s, how she admired that he drank humans, but didn’t kill them (we see him glamour one into forgetting him). She recruited him back then to infiltrate and help her take down the royalty. So really SHE seems to be the head vampire, or trying to position herself as one.

Bill, backed by the AVL, challenged Queen Sofie Anne and she was killed by troops armed with wooden and silver bullets. Nan made him the King of Louisiana. Bill, however, lies to her about Sookie . . . claiming Sofie Anne was obsessed with her and just wanted her as her toy . . . he tells her nothing about her Faerie blood. I felt that they were trying, in part, to redeem Bill . . . but who knows, he could just want to keep Sookie to himself!

Jason learned Crystal and her brother kidnapped Jason. He is hooked on V, and has Crystal back on it too. They’ve become junkies who want to have a kid, but the brother is shooting blanks. They turn Jason in order to use him to get a baby. Wonderful! Though again, from my understanding, it’s similar to the books and Crystal does turn out to be a horrid woman in the books.

Sam and Tommy take some steps to get back to being brothers in this episode. I just sat there thinking . . . . why? Why does Tommy have to be on the show? I hated him last season, I don’t like him this season. I think he’s pointless.

Arlene remains convinced that her baby is evil and doing horrible things. It doesn’t help when Sookie calls him an old soul.

The witches storyline was actually my favorite in this episode. Bill sets Eric out to investigate them, saying they are necromancers . . . they brought a dead bird back to life, which means . . . Eric comments he was around during the Inquisition, he knows what it means. Tara returned home to see Sookie, and Jesus and Lafayette took her with them to the witches circle. When Marnie announces they will bring a corpse back to life this week, both Lafayette and Tara freak, as do some of the others in the circle. Unfortunately this is when Eric comes in. Marnie, clearly getting her power from a long dead witch, begins chanting. Eric sees her true form, and is paralyzed. He clearly knows her, and my guess is she is from the inquisition.

The show ends with Sookie driving along and finding Eric walking along side the road, he has no memory! Which I’ve been told is what the forth book deals with . . . .

The second episode was sooooooo much better. Sneak a peak if you can!