The 411 True Blood Review: Episode 2 - 'The First Taste'

Posted by Marilyn Yang on 09.15.2008

Sookie and Bill's relationship deepens, Jason can't keep his pants on, and we get some answers.

The second episode of True Blood starts off with Mack and Debbie Rattray brutalizing Sookie. Mack is about to shoot a dog that comes to Sookie's defense. It's the same dog that approached Sookie after she rescued Bill last week. Sookie grabs Mack's leg in an attempt to stop him from shooting the dog. A swift attacker comes to Sookie's aid and throws Mack and Debbie into some trees. I mean, up into some trees. Way up there. Open credits.

Next we find Jason at the police station watching the sex/murder tape with him and Maudette. We see in the video that he realizes he's accidentally killed her, grabs his cothes, and flees. But wait, the video shows Maudette isn't dead! She gets up and says, 'What a moron." Jason is overjoyed. He didn't kill Maudette after all.

Cut to a battered Sookie being carried by Bill in the woods. Back to Jason and the officers. Jason mentions the bite mark on Maudette's leg. They discuss Sookie and vampires. Jason describes the vampire sex tape Maudette showed him. The officers point out that there is no other sex tape other than Jason's. Perhaps Jason's tape was left behind to make him look innocent, and Jason went back later to kill Maudette. Jason says, "Aw, come on Andy. I'm not that smart." The officers look defeated.

Bill saves Sookie by getting her to drink his blood. Bill rips a chunk out of his arm and forces her to drink. Sookie resists, but then gets into it. Slightly gory.

Tara comes home to her passed out mother, and calls Lafayette. She convinces Lafayette to come pick her up and take her to a party. I like Lafyette's ringtone, "Pick up the phone, biotch."

Jason makes a booty call at Dawn's, because he's had a terrible day. He really thought he might have strangled Maudette to death. Bud and Andy (the sheriff and I guess detective, respectively) waited twelve hours before showing the tape that proved Maudette was still alive post coitus. Jason then starts hooking up with Dawn. Dawn does not seem concerned with the fact that Jason had sex with a woman about a day ago, who was later found murdered.

Bill is drinking from Sookie's bleeding forehead. Sookie comes to, and Bill says that Sookie tastes different from most people. Sookie likes being around Bill because she can't hear his thoughts. She doesn't date because she can hear her date's thoughts. (Insert montage of bad dates here.) The people closest to Sookie know about her telepathy, but they don't talk about it. Sookie does her best not to listen to their thoughts. Sometimes she sees images. Sookie is healed. Bill offers to walk her to her car.

Cut to the party with Lafayette and Tara. Tara is sitting on a couch. We learn Lafayette is Tara's cousin. A guy is hitting on Tara. She says she's married, and her husband is a mercenary. She scares away the guy by saying her husband would probably kill them both.

Jason and Dawn are doing it. A lot. There's a mirror on the wall, and Jason points at himself in it. (If I recall correctly, Christian Bale does the exact same thing in American Pyscho , and the scene ends horribly.)

Bill and Sookie are walking. Bill was 30 when he was turned into a vampire in 1865. Sookie asks Bill if he was in the Civil War. He was. Sookie says her grandmother wants him to talk to her club of people who had ancestors in the Civil War, or "descendants of the glorious dead," as they like to call themselves. Bill says there is no such thing as "glorious dead," gives a short lecture about the evils of war. He agrees to talking about the Civil War to make Sookie happy. They arrange to meet just after dark the next night. Tara notices that Sam is still up. Bill's disappeared already. Sookie says, "Well, that's creepy." But Bill drinking her blood is okay, right?

Jason wakes up next to Dawn. She has a distinct bite mark below her shoulder. Jason looks concerned.

Sookie's in the kitchen at home, watching a debate with a reverend who won't talk directly to Nan Flanigan (of the American Vampire League) because it's exactly not what Jesus would do. Sookie and Grandma agree Jesus wouldn't mind vampires. Sookie thinks Grandma's sausage tastes intensely good. Tara chastises Sookie for cavorting with Bill. Grandma says Jason is a good boy and can't believe he was arrested. Jason shows up. Grandma gets a phone call saying Mack and Denise were crushed by a trailer blown by a tornado.

Sookie drives out to the trailer. (Don't worry about the crime scene tape Sookie, just walk right by it.) She's checking out the damage when the sheriff and Mike Spencer, coroner/funeral home director/guy who buried Sookie's parents. Sheriff's niece is a nurse at the hospital where Mack went after Sookie hit him with the big chain last week. Sookie explains she was helping a friend in need. It turns out Bill lives in the old Compton place, near Grandma's house. The sheriff says he doesn't want Sookie going down the wrong path. Sookie basically tells the sheriff and Mike to piss off.

Back to Grandma's house. Grandma is vacuuming. Something smells bad. Sookie finds a potato chip on the floor (or something.) Jason and Tara are coming over to meet Bill. Grandma says she can depend on Sookie to be careful about what counts. Apparently she is the only person on this show who hasn't admonished Sookie for hanging out with Bill. Jason accidentally bogarts Tara's beer. Bill shows up, and can't go inside without being invited first. (Is this a common vampire deterrent, like crucifixes and holy water? Or was this just on Angel, and now True Blood?) Also, he has to leave if Sookie tells him to. Grandma offers Bill food, but remember, he doesn't eat food. Oops, a little awkward.

Bill talks about his family history briefly. Jason starts acting like an asshole. Grandma puts him in his place. Bill remembers some of the Stackhouse ancestors. Bill's father owned a few slaves. Tara is displeased, to say the least. Bill wants to go on a walk with Sookie. Jason doesn't want approve. He's the man of the house! Sookie doesn't care. Grandma points out she's the oldest person there. Bill points out he's actually the oldest. Har har. Bill and Sookie leave for their walk. I'm starting to think Grandma is awesome.

Sookie tells Bill she saw the Rattrays trailer. Apparently vampires have gotten really strong over the years. On the walk Bill admits to killing people, some on accident. (Hey, we can see that dog from earlier in the bushes.) He can "glamour" people so he can feed on them for love, and they won't remember. He killed and fed on the Rattrays. He tells Sookie she drank a lot of his blood, so she will have an increased libido and heightened senses. Bill also points out that he can always feel Sookie now, and will be able to find her quickly.

Tara and Jason are having beers on the couch. Tara strokes Jason's ego and doesn't understand why Grandma was so hard on him earlier. Jason doesn't like how people treat him like he doesn't have any sense. (Jason, you don't. You were videotaped choking a naked woman.) Jason and Tara get cozy on the couch. Jason remembers he forgot to pick up Dawn, and ditches Tara. Again.

Bill and Sookie are now walking in a graveyard. He explains "glamouring" someone is similar to hypnotizing. Sookie eggs him on to try, even though he doesn't want to. Bill tries. It doesn't work. There's a flashback to Sookie as a child, and there are various scenes of young Sookie reading minds. Sookie's parents are in the flashback. Her mom is scared of Sookie's ability. Rather than admitting Sookie can read minds, the doctors diagnose her with ADD. Sookie tells Bill she lost her parents in a flash flood when she was eight.

Sookie asks if Bill has any extra vampire abilities like the ability to levitate, become invisible, or (my favorite) turn into a bat. Bill can't do any of those things. Sookie says Bill's not a very good vampire. Bill points out he can bring her back to life. Good one, Bill. They walk to Bill's place. He needs an electrician, but no one will return his calls. Sookie lets her hair down. Bill gets in close to Sookie's neck. He can smell the sunlight on her skin. (What?) They start making out. Bill's extra pointy teeth come out. He rushes off to take Sookie home.

Cut to Jason and Dawn. Jason's tied to the bedposts. Dawn leaves for work, and leaves Jason tied up.

Tara is tending bar. She tells off a drunk patron who is too wasted to notice. Tara talks her way out of having to wear a uniform. Sookie gets her ass grabbed by a customer. Rene, a guy who works at Merlotte's, almost breaks the guy's arm. Sookie accidentally reads Rene's girlfriend's mind. (Her name's Arlene. She's worried she's pregnant.) Sam has Sookie step into his office. They talk about Sookie's telepathy, and how she's purposely doesn't read Sam's mind. He's her boss, and she's had to quit all her previous jobs because she read her bosses' minds. Sam says Sookie will always have a job at Merlotte's. Sookie excuses herself. Lafayette gives Sookie a brief pep talk. Tara asks Dawn about Jason. The TV at the bar shows news coverage of a huge car accident. The anti-vampire reverend that Sookie saw on TV earlier died in the car accident. So did his wife and young daughter. Sookie drives to Bill's place. Bad vampires answer the door. The creepy vampire from the sex tape is there. They look like they want a snack. End credits.

Favorite quotes:
"Bill, you were just licking blood out of my head. I don't think it gets much more personal than that."
"He already shot one guy in the nuts just for buying me a CD."

A few things that piss me off:
-Nothing really, but I am getting awfully tired of seeing Jason have sex. And if you've made it this far into the review, I thank you. In case you haven't noticed, a lot happens in one episode, so I'm going to leave out minor details in the interest of preventing carpal tunnel syndrome.

The 411: I admit I was harsh in my review of the pilot. Most pilot episodes aren't even that memorable. I like the pace of how the intimate details of the characters' lives are revealed. True Blood is off to a much better start than I anticipated. I'm wondering how many episodes are going to end with Sookie in imminent danger, though.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]