‘True Blood’ recap: Kill Bill Volume 2

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Eric’s memory has returned! In ‘Burning Down the House,’ Sunday’s episode of ‘True Blood,’ the Viking became himself once more, thanks to a powerful blast of Sookie’s fairy magic. But what should have been one of the most climactic events of the season, played, well, a little anticlimactic. Maybe there were just too many other things to sort out what with the Festival of Tolerance degenerating into a Festival of Bloodletting, Jason and Jessica sorting through the ramifications of their pickup truck hook up, Marnie and Antonia reaffirming their spiritual alliance and, of course, Tommy dying at his brother’s side.

Turns out, naturally, that Bill was right. They probably should have canceled the tolerance event. It’s the place where Sookie, desperate to protect Bill from Eric, summons her own mysterious power and aims it squarely at Eric, restoring his memory (which happens to include all the details of their time together this season). Looking to protect herself and her acolytes from the melee, Antonia vanishes, retreating back to the MoonGoddess Emporium with Roy and two of Bill’s vampire sheriffs, both of whom are under her spell.

Bill takes charge, insisting that the vampires go after the necromancer before she can inflict any more damage, while Nan dispatches minions to glamor any humans who might have witnessed the carnage. His plan? Blow up the emporium with Antonia/Marnie and the remainder of her coven (including Tara and Holly) still inside.

Back at Bill’s, Jason tries to deal with his regret over sleeping with Jessica. He tells her that their being together will break Hoyt’s heart, and Jason asks her to glamor him so that he won’t feel guilty. Probably not the best way to make a girl feel loved. Things go from bad to worse later on, though, when a distraught Hoyt shows up at Jason’s place, crying into his beer and counting on his best friend for some solace. Instead, he finds a twitchy Jason who later complains to Sookie about how poorly Hoyt’s handling his grief over losing Jessica, asking if he can maybe stay with his sister that evening in order to avoid his glum buddy.

Sookie, of course, is dealing with complicated feelings of her own. Eric professes his love to her, but grows a little irritable when she tells him that she still cares for Bill too. But Sookie being Sookie, she sets her romantic woes aside and hatches a plan to help free Tara, recruiting Jason and turning to Lafayette and Jesus for even more help.

As Nan, Bill, Jessica, Eric and Pam are all silvered at Bill’s for the day, Sookie and her counterparts turn up outside the Emporium, Sookie listening in to ascertain exactly who might be trapped inside with Tara. Although Antonia has cast a spell to clear the neighborhood and put up strong magical protections to ward off any attacks on her headquarters, Jesus believes that if he can reach Marnie, he might be able to draw out Antonia as he did with Mavis. He does manage to breach the magical defenses, not without some great difficulty and a moment in which he turns into a horned demon.

His perseverance and talent impress Antonia, who allows him inside and grants him an audience with Marnie. He’s surprised to learn, though, that Marnie is thrilled about her ‘union’ with Antonia and the new-found power she wields. As she’s showing him the two vampires under her influence, Holly and Tara are working some magic of their own, casting a spell that enables them to flee the confines of the store and make a break for the safety of the outside world. Sookie and Lafayette run toward them, but Antonia/Marnie appears and they all vanish in a flash of golden light, leaving Jason standing alone and confused out in the open.

Speaking of brothers left alone, let’s have a moment of silence for young Tommy, the shifter with the poorest judgment in Louisiana. Alcide is driving him to the hospital, but he asks the werewolf to take him to Merlotte’s instead. Sam arrives on the scene and tries to comfort him as he dies. There’s no comforting Sam, though, who vows to kill Marcus for taking his brother’s life. Alcide doesn’t seem to object much, helping Sam track down one of the men who beat Tommy.

Alcide might be even more helpful to Sam if he knew that Luna’s ex was at that moment putting the moves on Debbie. She complains to the leader of the pack that Alcide is too much of a loner and doesn’t want a family the way that she does, and he tells her that maybe it’s time she hooked up with another wolf. (Marcus might be the Alpha, but there’s no way Alcide would lose that fight.)

Terry and Andy got in some serious bonding time, too. After Terry and Arlene confront him about his V addiction, Andy heads with Terry to ‘Fort Bellefleur,’ the tree house where they played as children -- and where apparently Terry lived for some time after coming back from the war. Terry takes Andy shooting, telling him that he needs to admit to the fact that he’s an addict. Old wounds come pouring out, the men fight, but in the end, Andy does recognize what his life has become and vows to make the first steps toward recovery. Still, Terry forces Andy to walk home.

The episode concludes with a black combat-clad quartet of Bill, Jessica, Eric and Pam preparing to lay siege to the emporium that night with some serious firepower.

Again, who’s happy Eric’s back? Leave your comments below.

Until next week...

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-- Gina McIntyre