True Blood Season 6 Episode 5 Recap: Vampires Meet Shawshank Redemption

By Damon Martin – Editor/Lead Writer
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As each week passes by my interest in True Blood seems to die just a little bit more, but as much as my love for this show appears to be on life support, the recaps will always come with as much information and honesty as I can provide you the reader with each week. It seems that the direction of where True Blood is headed is yet to find out which way is up, and the current agenda also seems ready to bludgeon us all with storylines that don’t matter and characters we don’t care much about (Terry Bellefleur rings the biggest bell on this one).

Still there are a couple of interesting points taking place each week so let’s pick up right where we left off with Sookie holding onto Warlow (the artist formerly known as Ben Flynn) with a giant ball of fairy light just over his head, threatening to unleash the true death on age old vampire for killing her family and stalking her over the years.

As it turns out, however, Warlow might just be one of the good guys.

He reveals that the night Sookie’s parents died he was there trying to save her life because good old mommy and daddy Stackhouse were about to sacrifice their mind reading freak of a daughter. Before this goes any further, Billith shows up because he can sense Warlow was wounded during his conversation with Sookie, and because his blood is now interlaced with Lillith (who was Warlow’s maker) he rushes to find him alive and well in Sookie’s living room. Billith quickly commands his progeny to follow him, and he’s forced to follow in tow back to the mansion.

Sookie decides to take it upon herself with a little help from Lafayette to summon her dead parents’ spirits back to this world to find out what exactly happened on the night of their deaths. It’s really disappointing how the writers of this show cannot seem to find a good storyline for Lafayette other than Sam’s babysitter and Sookie’s medium. The character of Lafayette was actually killed during the first book of the series, but because he was so popular on the show they kept him alive.

It’s just unfortunate that outside of a couple of seasons ago when Lafayette was matched up with Jesus, they’ve struggled to get any good parts together for Nelsan Ellis despite his constant status as one of the best actors on the show.

Back to the story, Lafayette summons Sookie’s parents and she soon discovers that Warlow’s story was true—her parents decided to kill her after Warlow revealed that Sookie was promised him years earlier and she would become his wife and his princess. Sookie’s father spikes her juice with NyQuil and carries her off to die, but lucky for her Warlow intervened.

Sookie’s father is none too happy that he failed in his mission, so he takes over Lafayette’s body and immediately kidnaps his daughter to finish what he started more than 20 years ago. Sookie soon finds herself dragged into the water, and forced face down into the lake. Her fate is unknown at this time, but it’s a safe bet she’ll survive.

Warlow’s Origins and Connection with Billith

It turns out Warlow was born a fairy and lived with his tribe in a time long, long ago (3500 B.C. to be exact) and as he was gathering water one night he met a naked Lillith, who had never smelled something so intoxicating before. Like vampire crack, she chowed down on Warlow and turned him into a vampire. Except he wasn’t a full vampire—he was a mix of vampire and fairy. While this anomaly has been brought to life only this season, it’s safe to say that a vampire-fairy mix would be possible if any vampire that tasted fairy blood didn’t suck it down like a freeze pop on a hot day.

Warlow then proceeds to slaughter his entire tribe as his thirst for blood becomes overwhelming, and like all vampires, they love the taste of a good fairy. He does let Naill stay alive, as referenced in last week’s episode. The real kicker, however, is that Warlow is disgusted with his actions and uses his fairy power to open up the sun and he cooks his maker Lillith.

It appears that Billith wanted to bring Warlow back into the fold to use his blood as a guide to help create the formula that would allow all vampires to walk in the daylight. Billith failed using only fairy blood, but what about a hybrid like this instead? He also realizes in his own vision watching Lillith burn that his prophecy about the vampire race is starting to come true.

Jessica, Jason, Sarah and A Whole Lot of Jesus

At the conclusion of last week’s episode, Jessica had a late night snack that involved sucking four fairy teenagers dry of their blood. She’s heartbroken and disgusted with her actions, and after trying to rub up on her maker because fairy blood does dirty things to vampires, she runs away after Andy shows up and finds his daughters dead (more on that later).

Meanwhile, Jason returns home to find Sarah Newlin on his front doorstep. She’s just been rejected by Governor Burrell after he ditches the former preacher’s wife to help integrate his new vampire daughter into his vamp camp. Sarah isn’t a fan of men turning her down (see season 2 with her ex Steve) so she shows up at Jason’s door with a commandment from God that the only way to save him is to spread her legs.

Following a romp in bed, Jason wakes up to a knock on his door and finds Jessica standing there in bloody tears asking for his help. She’s shocked at how she could butcher four young girls the way she did so uncontrollably at the mansion. Sarah walks out and just like before turns on Jason and threatens Jessica.

Sarah unleashes a little bible verse from the book of Mark and just as it looks like Jessica is feeling the words penetrate her soul, she quickly lashes out and says she’s never been a fan of the book of Mark. Before she can taste Sarah, her invite is rescinded and awaiting her outside is the vampire hit squad ready to take her to camp.

Jason is angry at Sarah’s betrayal and decides he has to save Jessica himself. So he looks to join up with the Louisiana Vampire Task Force to get a first hand look at what the government is doing to study vampires they’ve captured.

Back at the mansion, Andy finds one of his daughters still alive so he takes her to the police station and feeds her some vampire blood they had in evidence to save her life. As he watches over her while she sleeps, Andy’s emotion overcomes him and he sheds tears realizing just how much he loved his daughters in such a short period of time. Throughout most of the first five seasons of True Blood, Andy was essentially comic relief, but in this year with so many storylines filled with empty characters, he’s become the most interesting one of all. He’s evolved this season and something tells me Andy might just be the weapon that will bring Billith to his knees.

The Wolf Hunt Is Still Going

A quick update here—Alcide is still on the hunt for Sam and Emma when he goes into a wolf bar looking for answers. He runs into his father there and quickly ends up at odds with him instead of getting the help he needed. Alcide quickly banishes his father from his life (this was just random and out of place really) before throwing some money at him so he could travel home.

It turns out Sam and Nicole are hold up at a motel close by, and just as he interrupts her from calling her parents to say she’s alive, Alcide’s father just so happens to be in a room upstairs where he spots the shifter and his new lady. Will Alcide’s father give his son Sam’s location or is he bent out of shape from their falling out and will leave him to hunt a trail that’s gone cold?

True Blood Becomes The Shawshank Redemption

We finally get a good look inside the vampire prison this week as Pam is taken into custody where she sees her own kind get tortured in different ways (fangs pulled out, running in a wheel like a hamster and forced coitus on a table). Instead of being forced to undergo one of those unlikeable situations, Pam is instead put on the couch where she is probed by a human psychiatrist. He promises her a bloody good reward if she’s honest, so Pam opens up like a book.

She reveals the true nature of vampires—how they don’t value much in the way of human life or really each other when it comes down to it. The one relationship that they are bonded to forever is that with their maker unless they are released. She says pain is useless and vampires release theirs as quickly as possible because when they say forever, they mean it. Pam is questioned about her loyalty to her maker after she was released, and she’s quite adamant that there’s nothing left in her heart for Eric Northman.

Upon hearing that Pam has been captured, Eric and Tara decide to enter the camp as well. Eric succeeds in passing the little endurance and mind tests they use on the vampires, and he’s quickly the baddest man on the block when he enters the population with the other male fangers. The only problem is Steve Newlin is still lurking about, and comes in useful with a little information that comes in handy.

Eric is in one of the pits where vampires are tested, and Governor Burrell is seeking some revenge after his own daughter was turned by the ancient Viking. He’s given a stake, and awaits to kill his prey when it’s revealed that he will be facing his progeny Pam in a battle to the death. The psychiatrist challenges Pam to prove she has no emotional attachment left to Eric by killing him.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

This week’s episode didn’t do a ton to move the story along, or in some ways this season is just becoming another bloated version of the last that barely kept my interest. One note that is interesting is how Warlow will be used as a weapon either for or against the vampires depending on how his relationship with Billith plays out. Warlow seems like he’s torn inside with the good and bad parts, but ultimately he’s here to save Sookie and rid the world of vampires.

There was also a major teaser when the season started that a long time cast member would be leaving the show this year in an unexpected death. Given the set up for how this week’s episode ended, it seems that Pam’s life is on borrowed time right now. Unless something major happens, it’s a safe bet that she will be the one sacrificed, which means Kristin Bauer van Stratten would soon be leaving the show.

Are we wrong about this death? Is there somebody else that could soon meet the true death? Leave your comments below about this latest episode of True Blood.