TRUE BLOOD
Season Two, Episode Six
"Hard Hearted Hannah"
Written by Brian Buckner
(Warning: Spoilers abound from this point forwards)
First thoughts? There’s a lot of sex in this episode. Even for an HBO series. Even for this particular HBO series.
And there’s nearly as much terror. Not so much for the audience, but for the characters.
The episode ending manages to combine the two.
Appropriately enough, the episode begins with a fantasy of Sookie being fulfilled. She gets to wake up with her vampire lover still beside her. Before they can have sex, a knock on the door leads to a visit from Isabel, one of the missing Godric’s lieutenants. Myself, I’m not sure what to think of her. On the surface, she seems lots more intelligent than her compatriot Stan – but that is at least damning with faint praise. She introduces Hugo, a human she says is “hers” and whom Sookie confirms loves Isabel very much. She claims to reciprocate. 
What follows in by turns funny and frightening. Hugo wants to make sure Sookie lets him do all the talking, simply because the Fellowship types are more likely to listen to a man. She agrees readily enough. Until they actually get there. Then Sookie runs off at the mouth pretty much nonstop. Snicker. She apologizes quietly to Hugo, noting that this is something that happens when she is nervous.
Then the trap is sprung. Listening to the Reverend Newlin’s thoughts, Sookie realizes he knows who she is and what she can do. Her hints of warning to Hugo go unheeded. Now that struck me as odd. Maybe he’s a bit single-minded and perhaps annoyed at Sookie? Or does he willingly follow Newlin’s instructions because he is the traitor? One can see the logic. With Godric gone, perhaps Isabel will rise to take his place and need someone as devoted as himself to join the undead? Do I believe this? Not completely. But I don’t not believe it either. Bravo to the writers! They keep me guessing!
Sarah Newlin seems genuinely horrified at her husband’s actions. She weeps as Sookie and Hugo are dragged away, the former screaming. Later, she meets up with Jason, who has finished building a scaffold. Seems the “good” (i.e. sadistic and fanatical) Reverend intends to chain a vampire to a cross and let the sun burn them as it rises. Sarah tells Jason her husband doesn’t want to defend people, but to start a war. Makes you almost think she’s okay. At first. Then the craziness starts coming – all about how God speaks to her every day, about her purpose on Earth is be the woman behind some great man, about how God says she isn’t married anymore. Maybe if she weren’t so attractive, and so (deliberately) close to Jason, touching him in so many ways, maybe then he’d realize she’s crazy. Or not. In moments the clothes are coming off.
But where is Bill, you might ask? Doesn’t he sense something is wrong? Methinks that sensation might be eclipsed by other problems. Erik invited someone to Dallas. Lorena, Bill’s maker, who if you recall isn’t exactly the nicest person in the world. A flashback lets us know not only a little more of what she’s like (and how much she still feels for Bill) but what Bill was like when he was with her. Watching that very disturbing scene (I was thinking Charles Manson), one thinks back to Bill’s evident self-loathing, and how justified it well may be. At any rate, he’s anything but pleased to wake and find Lorena pinning him to the bed. We get a bit of trivia about vampire lore as well. Seems no vampire can ever overcome their maker.
Back in Bon Temps, Sam is getting to know Daphne better. This is not as good news as one would like. When they go for a run together in animal forms, we (and Sam) discover her form-of-choice is that of a pig. Uh-oh.
Things are not going at all well for Lafayette as well. He’s clearly in the throws of post-traumatic stress. When Detective Andy (correctly) figures out there is something going on with him, he (wrongly) accuses Lafayette of being the killer they’re looking for. Poor Lafayette has what can only be called an episode, collapsing in the corner and having a full-blown hallucination (the image of Erik dressed like Andy, yelling in Andy’s voice is surreal to say the least). He is rescued by someone who recognizes only too well what is happening – Detective Andy’s cousin Terry. One of the interesting quirks of the series is that two of the gentlest characters are men. You can see this in how he confronts Andy (who, let us be fair, seems to feel some guilt when faced with his actions), and again when he holds Lafayette to comfort him.
Lafayette still gets another nasty surprise when Pam of all people pays him a visit at work. Poor guy nearly jumps out of his skin! More, he is baffled by Pam’s “order” on behalf of Erik. He’s supposed to start selling Vee again! She even gives him a bottle!
WTF?
The other super-nice character in the series is Hoyt. Evidence – he has been quiet and polite to his harpy of a mother. But this isn’t because he lacks a spine. We know that because he storms into Merlotte’s to berate her for cancelling his cellphone. Turns out she doesn’t think any “decent” girl would call Hoyt late at night. But Hoyt tells her off, not once insulting her, and finishes with a proud declaration that his new girlfriend calls at night because she’s a vampire!
Later, when Jessica wakes for the night, she is deeply disappointed (and not a little bit pissed off) to find no text messages. Then, there’s a knock on the door (just as there had been for Sookie and Bill earlier). It is Hoyt, full of apologies for not answering her texts and with a (wilted) bouquet of flowers in hand. Jessica is so excited she actually fails to figure out how to open the door at first! To put it mildly, they end up in an embrace while Jessica slams the door shut.
A lot of sex. Not all of it onscreen. One wonders when and if she’ll ever feed from him? Sookie seems to enjoy it.
Tara, meanwhile, is having a problem with the hot water heater at Sookie’s house. She and Eggs go to get a replacement part (the house has an obsolete model) and a detour into disturbing memories and lack of same begins. Eggs suddenly predicts what will be around the next corner. How? He doesn’t know. But he gets out and walks through the woods for an hour, making a beeline for a clearing where…something…happened. There are torn clothes, the remnant of a bonfire. Worse, on a rock is what looks like a very large bloodstain. Very large. Methinks we’ve found the location of Miss Jeanette’s death. But Eggs doesn’t know what to make of it, save that he’s terrified.
Back at Sookie’s house, they find a mess, along with a trail of clothes into the back yard. There, surrounding a bonfire, are dozens of Bon Temps residents, coupling in a frenzy. Most have solid black eyes such as we’ve seen before around Mary Anne. And there is Mary Anne herself, in the center, smiling and doing a kind of swaying dance – but not in any way a human being could dance. The show still hasn’t told us WHAT Mary Anne is (although I have a good idea), at least not supernaturally. But from the context, we can confidently call her a murderer as well as a rapist.
Later that same night, Daphne leads Sam to the same area. Looking around, he sees Tara and Eggs like the others – grunting, black-eyed, seemingly unaware. Black-eyes thugs grab Sam’s arms to bring him before Mary Anne – while Daphne ritualistically gives the whatever-she-is a bull mask with a familiar silhouette. Remember the creature that attacked Sookie in the woods? The one with horns?
Not good. Not good at all. And neither is the line “End of the path.” Nor the ritual-looking dagger seemingly presented for Mary Anne to use.
TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE SEVEN
