True Blood - Season 5 Episode 4 - Recap and Review - We'll Meet Again

True Blood delved into the aftermath and consequences of some questionable and controversial decisions our favorite Bon Temps townsfolk have made, as of lately. "We'll Meet Again" featured a downward spiral for mostly everyone! What happens when the gang hits rock bottom?

The episode opened, once again, with a Tara (Rutina Wesley) scene. Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten) shows up at "Curl Up and Fry" just in time to save Tara from the absolutely humiliating death of tanning bed suicide. Tara's flesh was falling off as Pam commanded her to stop wallowing in the UV rays. Tara can never try that move again because Pam says so.

Back at Merlottes, Sookie (Anna Paquin) is dealing with the consequences of confessing to Alcide (Joe Manganiello). Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) is infuriated that she came out with it. He thinks she's the "Angel of Death."

Lafayette: "You survive, you always do... but you leave a trail of bodies behind."

Sookie runs to Jason (Ryan Kwanten) looking to turn herself in. She's tired of hurting people and ruining others' lives. She tells Jason about killing Debbie and having Tara turned. She assumes Alcide will turn her in to the police the next morning, anyway. Jason is infuriated, as well, but he refuses to lock up Sookie. Hey, there's Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll)! Oh, so now she knows too.

Dropped in the middle of the woods, Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill (Stephen Moyer) brainstorm who could possibly have dug up Russell. Only four people knew where he was buried to begin with, and neither admits to spilling the secret to anyone else. Bill looks so shrimpy standing next to Eric.

Salome (Valentina Cervi) and Roman (Christoper Meloni) are lounging in bed. Roman, we have the same macbook! I heard you adjusting your volume, and I thought I had accidentally hit they key on my board. They want to use Nora (Lucy Griffiths) before they execute her. Salome is still upset that she was betrayed, but she knows Nora well. She wants to attempt to get Nora to list some more traitors.

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Fangtasia is curiously silent as Pam and Tara stroll in. Eric is back! Pam thinks this is Sookie's doing. Meanwhile, Sookie has barely thought of these two all season. Pam informs Eric of how she sired Tara.

Pam: "Congratulations, you're a grandfather."

In reality, Pam knows where Russell was buried, and Eric wants to question her. Tara and Bill leave them to talk. Actually, it was more so Eric roughing Pam up. How uncharacteristic of you, Eric! Pam is offended that he considers her betrayal. Eric is playing "bad cop." Eric says he doesn't trust anyone, insinuating that he doesn't trust Pam, either. Pam tells him that he may as well just "release" her if that it the case. Meanwhile, Bill comforts Tara. He too remembers the impulse to end his own life after he first turned. Tara seems to appreciate his talk. She even offers him some of her own advice. Stay away from Sookie.

Eric was hard on Pam, as he had to be in order to be certain, but he believes her. Bill questions Nora. Did Eric tell Nora? Eric claims that he isn't stupid enough to alert an authority member, even Nora, of Russell's location. Eric questions Jessica, but we all know that it most definitely wasn't Jessica. Bill barely humors him.

Later in the episode, Eric sits Pam down for a real heart to heart, and it goes more so as we've come to expect of their relationship. Eric wants to release Pam. He feels his death is inevitable and he doesn't want her involved or hurt in the process. He needs her to carry on his bloodline and he is proud of her as his true legacy. Even more importantly, he claims to truly trust her. Pam accepts his reasoning, and she is released. What does that feel like?

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Two large side stories unfolded this week. Firstly, Terry (Todd Lowe) and Patrick (Scott Foley) took their road trip down to South Dakota in search of a missing wartime "friend." They assume this private is responsible for the fires. We got an inside glimpse into one of Terry's PTSD night-terrors in the form of a flashback. We see what went down in Iraq. Apparently, Terry, Patrick, and their group were enjoying some down time one night by partying in a seemingly abandoned prayer tower. One man stood watch. After watching planes bomb an area farther away like it were a fireworks show, Terry notices a commotion down below. A civilian is upset that they're disrespecting the prayer tower, so the private on guard shoots him to death rather than dealing with his annoyances! Before they know it, the tower is flooded with civilians, and hostiles open fire. A battle ensues, and in the aftermath, Terry and Patrick find themselves with a street full of civilian corpses to clean up.

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Back to reality, and Terry and Patrick find the property they're looking for. They also find their missing private in some kind of underground bunker. The bunker is freakishly littered with drawings and pictures of fires and burnings. Before they know it, they're trapped an gunpoint. Did this man start the fires? Was it something supernatural?

The other large side story this week came courtesy of Jason and Andy (Chris Bauer), both of whom were invited to "party" with the judge Andy helped out a few weeks ago by nullifying his son's speeding ticket. They hopped in a limo with some chicks, all of whom looked like rejects from a show like Tough Love on VH1 to me, but they seemed pleased. Then, the girls put black hoods over their heads and promised to take them to a secret club. This is Bon Temps, everybody. Clue in!

In fact, the club was actually a fairy safe-house! At first it seemed more like a really bizarre music video, like something *NSync would have filmed for one of their least popular singles. Then Jason bumped into Hadley, his cousin and another relative with fairy blood, waitressing! She filled him in, and warned him to stay far away from vampires. According to her, vampires killed Sookie's parents, not a flood! I knew that flash flood story was farfetched! In the chaos that ensues from this knowledge being leaked, Jason and Andy end up in a fairy bar brawl. They get thrown out of the club, and are zapped by some male bouncer fairies! Oh, needless to say, really, but Andy bumped into that fairy he had sex in the woods with last season, and they kissed. Watch out, Holly!

We only got a little bit of Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) this week, and an even smaller bit of Arlene (Carrie Preston).

Arlene: "Barack and Hilary over there are asking for you."

In fact, she was referring to Sam's shifter buddies, who have been absent lately. They miss Sam, and want him to come for a run with them. Sam has been avoiding them since he and Luna hit the rocks, but he agrees. When he shows up all ready to shift into a horse and gallop away, he finds them both with bullet holes in their heads. Poor, Sam.

Sookie looks like she's about to have a breakdown over all of the shameful thoughts people are having towards her at work. Everyone knows about Tara, now. Meanwhile, Lafayette, angry with Sookie, wigs out into his demon form accidentally, and curses her car. On the way home, Sookie nearly crashes as her car loses control, but she manages to vacate in time. She need to get drunk, and that is what she does. She heads home and empties her liquor cabinet. It looked like she whipped up the worst concoction you could dream up, but she sure enjoyed quite a few servings. Oh, well. Booze is booze!

Alcide thought fast and cleaned up Sookie's mess this week. He went to the Pelts and told them Debbie was, indeed, dead, but that Marcus killed her. I was impressed with this clever thinking! They seemed more angry with Alcide for not protecting her, than at Marcus for actually murdering her, especially after Alcide confessed to killing Marcus out of revenge. Sookie Stackhouse dodges another bullet!

Alcide ventures to Sookie's house to fill her in, and he finds her wasted. Yes, I like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Apparently, so does Alcide because the Buffet song playing in the background is enough to sway him to stay and party with Sookie. That, and that he is in love with her. Amidst their drunkenness, Sookie confidently calls him out on this, and they kiss. This seems about right for season 5.

Pam ties up her arc this week by teaching Tara how to feed. She showed up with a glamoured hottie for Tara.

Tara: "What the hell happened to you? And who's that?"

Pam: "Nothing and Melanie."

Tara drank her under Pam's orders, but she did seem to really enjoy it.

Time to check in with the vampire authority! Roman and Salome convince Nora to give up some names of traitors by dangling the lives of Eric and Bill in front of her. At first she refuses, but eventually she breaks. She does care about Eric. Apparently, there is another traitor on the council! Roman does his research and figures out that it's none other than that obnoxious little boy. He even has a video of him killing a woman with an encryption that incriminates him. Seriously, how stupid do you have to be to send that video around to rebels. That's like posting a sex tape on Facebook and tagging people in it!

After enlisting Jessica's help in searching his home for bugs, Bill gets an earful from her on checking-in on Sookie. Jessica thinks Sookie and Bill are a special couple, and Bill gives in. He shows up at Sookie's house just in time to witness her hook-up with Alcide. Bill looks pissed!

Eric: "Awkward time for a drop-in, Bill."

Bill decides to use Sookie, whether she likes it or not, to capture Russell. Uh oh, Sookie!

What did you all think of the episode? Are you happy that Sookie/ Alcide finally happened? What happened when Andy and Jason got zapped? Were you happy to see that vampire brat popped like a water balloon by Christopher Meloni, a.k.a. the Guardian? Who is the fire starter? Did you miss Arlene? What do you think being "released" feels like?

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