Eric and Bill have doubts they will survive the search for Russell.
Sookie opens up to Alcide.
An irate Lafayette unwittingly puts Sookie’s life in danger.
At Authority headquarters, Roman and Salome continue interrogating Nora about the Sanguinistas – and a possible traitor within the Council.
Meanwhile, Pam forces Tara to toe the line.
Andy and Jason go to a burlesque party.
Sam’s shifter friends invite him for a run.
Terry flashes back to a deadly night in Iraq.
All in all, I liked the episode. I don’t see Pam standing down no matter what Erik says; I think she just pretended to in order to make it easier for him. Too bad those crazy kids can never make it work. I’m also confused about the traitor within the council; weren’t ALL of the lower council dissing the idea of mainstreaming while the leader was out of the room? Are they ALL traitors? Surely the leader seems to know, as he made an example of the one while informing the council that he would brook NO more misbehaviour.
I have a question or two about Jason.
He and Sookie are full-blooded siblings, right? Have vampires ever been tempted toward Jason the way they are toward Sookie? We concede his fairy blood gives him some power over women, though just his looks would have got him that far anyway. But I don’t recall any vampires really going after him.
On that note:
Jason seems to not realize he’s fairy. He’s aware of the fairy world, knows Sookie can read minds because she is part fairy, but doesn’t he realize that makes him part fairy too?
Because while at the fairy refugee ball going on at the end of this episode, he seems REALLY surprised at the idea that his parents might have been killed for being fairies, like he didn’t realize it.
Or maybe he doesn’t realize Sookie is fairy, and just thinks she’s a normal human who can read minds?
I know I’m missing a lot somewhere, so I’m hoping someone can fill me in. 
It’s possible that he’s never considered the fact he might be fairy, or that he thinks whatever traits Sookie possesses are passed solely through the female line.
I’m not sure Jason thinks all that much.
Nor do the writers of this season.
I guess all series have up and down seasons. This one so far is a total dud for me. I’m watching to see what happens but not being entertained at all. Last season was bad and I really hoped they’d come back with compelling story lines but so far - nada. And you know what is really pissing me off? I suspect they’re going to drag the Russell thing out until the very end of the season setting this all up for next season.
I can only answer that beginning with, “In the books…” But the HBO series has strayed so far from the books at this point, there’s probably very little point to this explanation.
In the books… 
Jason doesn’t seem to have the same draw for vampires as Sookie does. He has the same amount of fairy blood in him, but I believe it’s described like any other siblings: they didn’t inherit all the exact same qualities, traits, and/or talents from the fairy blood line. It’s the fairy blood that makes him irresistable to women, but the fairy “force” isn’t strong enough in him to attract vampires like Sookie does.
In one of the later books in the series, it’s revealed that Sookie got her powers of mindreading as a very special gift by her demon-godfather. Or from her fairy grandfather, now I can’t remember who bestowed the special skill on her. Either way, Jason was not given that gift for reasons that I’ve either forgotten or were unexplained.
I’m just glad they killed the kid.
But I have to say, The Authority is underwhelming. They seem more like the cops who couldn’t shoot straight than some hugely amazing vampire governing body.
Oh, I guess it was last week, but I loved it when Pam called Sookie Tinker Bell.
The way Pam and Erik ‘split up’ and the Pam (rightfully) took Tara under her wing makes me wonder if they’re setting the show up for Erik to meet the true death soon. Since the beginning we’ve always had Erik and Pam as our Maker/Made couple. We have Bill and Jessica as well, but that relationship was never really explored nor was anywhere near as tight as Pam and Erik. In fact, it kinda fizzled out after a few episodes.
It’s been interesting to watch Pam and Erik. Sort of like a boyfriend/girlfriend…but not quite. Sort of like a father and daughter…but not quite. It’s definitely a strange relationship and I think the writers did a good job with the dynamic. Of course I don’t read a lot of vampire novels (or the SS novels) so maybe this is a common theme and nothing new.
Either way, I’m wondering if creating this new relationship means Erik is going to be leaving soon.
OTOH, I’m usually wrong about this kind of stuff.
Also, has the authority/sanguistas been mentioned before this season and I missed it or is it something totally new?
Sanguinistas? They’re new.
The Authority? No, they’ve been in every season and practically every episode of this series.
Ah, that’s neat. Might explain the cousin mindreading too, if it’s the same person related to them both. Maybe they’ll bring that into the series somehow.
And yeah, if there’s not a shit-ton of Russell in the next episode, I’m not going to bother until the season ends, then just watch them all at once.
Also, if they got rid of Erik, they’d lose a LOT of viewers.
I’d go so far as to say that even if the books have him killed off, I suspect HBO would just change it to keep him in the series. He’s far more interesting than ANYbody else in the entire series. He could easily have a spinoff
The congratulations, you’re a grandpa! line was hilarious.
I can’t wait for Pam to give Tara a total makeover. I think Pam will take the job of maker seriously, and make Tara toe the line personally and professionally.
I can’t figure out who the traitor was. I think first choice is a vampire as Russell would have drained a human.
It doesn’t have to be a traitor. What about one of Russell’s makees? This series has already established the insanely loyal bond they have, and shown that they can effectively go “underground” for centuries at a time. It could be any of the vampires shown or not yet shown, but I’m betting that vampire will have been made by Russell.
Someone spied on them and knew he was there. Maybe Russell’s maker is still out there and could tell that he was in trouble.
I can’t remember, but does the maker-makee bond go both ways as far as knowing who’s in trouble? I’m guessing not, as Pam would probably have worried less, or more, if she’d at least had an idea whether Erik was safe or not.
But if it DOESN’T go both ways, I’m at a loss as to why Erik felt it so necessary to cut Pam off from him by releasing her. Certainly Bill felt no such compunction with his child.
Anyway, if it DOES go both ways, then yeah, it’d be probable that one of Russell’s children sensed he was in trouble and needed help and dug him out. Though just WHEN that might have happened, well…seems like it would have happened right away, not this long after.
I did not think it went both ways. The maker has a connection to the make but not vice-versa.
To back this up - we’ve seen Pam many times in distress over Erik’s absence but she has had no indication of what was wrong, where he was, etc. Same thing when Bill has been in trouble, Jessica did not had any premonition to the fact.
Except it took a year to dig him up.
Yes. That is the strange thing. Maybe he gained enough strength to work his own way out, but it sure looked like he was jack hammered out.
I just had an idea. Maybe we’re in for a twist and it was either Bill or Eric.
Yeah, when they were in the office trying to figure out who knew, and figured that nobody could know, I wondered if it was going to go that direction.
It’d be a twist, for sure, but an unwelcome and unsupportable one, not without radically changing all we thought we knew. Which I hate.
Since Sookie isn’t the only one who can read minds, I wonder if another fairy-cursed type might have been around. Hrm.
Someone who does construction might have noticed the changes in the concrete, or maybe they screwed up the concrete and it developed a sinkhole. Some poor slob tries to clean it up and gets eaten for his efforts, maybe?
I’d prefer any of that to radically altering the tone of the series by making either Bill or Erik a ‘bad guy’. It just wouldn’t make any sense.
Why do you think Jessica is so into him? And it’s not like there are a lot of other female vamps that have spent much time around him. Maybe that’s why the Rev. is so infatuated with him too (not the only reason, but it could be a factor).
It might be interesting to see Tara around him, the way she used to have such a crush on him, added to his fairy blood, she just might not be able to control herself.