That was insane. All of the splintered storylines just keep going and going -- Tara and whatever Eggs remembered from his past, Sookie and Hugo getting captured by those Fellowship people, Maryann and her orgy that seemed to take over Tara and Eggs, the flashbacks with Bill and his maker (awesome!), Hoyt meeting Jessica in Dallas, Jason falling for Sarah, Pam making Lafayette sell V-blood again, and then Sam and Daphne at the end with that sacrifice! It's almost too much for one episode, which by the way end way too quickly. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Grade for "Hard-Hearted Hannah": A-

Overall this was a pretty good episode that moved the story along much better than the previous episode. Even with a minute or two of screentime, Jessica still manages to be one of the more interesting characters on the show. Her and Hoyt have undeniable chemistry together. Also, it almost seems like Sookie has moved into the background with the supporting cast, much like what happened with Ellen Pompeo in Grey's Anatomy. But I'm certainly not complaining. Her acting still bugs me, which is weird because it really didn't bother me in Season 1. The Bill-Lorena flashback was fun albeit lengthy. Another couple that has undeniable chemistry is Jason and Sarah, whose storyline continues to intrigue me. It almost seems like the Fellowship of the Sun has become sort of the leading force of the show now, which is interesting. I can't wait for the inevitable confrontation of the oppressors vs. the oppressed.

And one more thing, I knew what Maryann was, but that last scene still freaked me out. Poor Sam can't catch a break.

New "True Blood": Screaming Sookie, Mad Maryann, Hard-Hearted Hannah, and a peek at the rest of Season Two!
by Ken Tucker

Well, it took me a while to banish from my mind the image of Bill (’scuse me: “Guillaume”) sitting at a piano in 1926 Chicago crooning this week’s episode title-song, “Hard-Hearted Hannah” — surely the least sexy/appealing poses we’ve ever seen Bill in, and yes, I remember those stiff Civil War flashbacks. What finally replaced that image (Bill looked sort of like early Billy Joel crossed with Marvin Hamlisch — shudder) was "True Blood"’s two climactic scenes this week.

I’m talking about Sookie and Hugo (Isabel’s human boyfriend) being dragged down screaming into Rev. Steve’s basement of terror, and Maryann’s wildest whipped-up orgy yet, which included Tara and Eggs going at it like rabbits, but rabbits with dead-ghoul eyes. Eek and eek, respectively. Yes, the danger is becoming more harrowing with each week, so that now one of "True Blood"’s pleasures is its churning suspense, so far kept under an artistic control that’s so confident on the part of Alan Ball and his directors that it hasn’t gone over the top.

What has become a bit of a repetitive drag is the vampirism as metaphor for homosexuality. Or as Luke spelled it out as only Luke can (thick-headedly, in words of mostly one syllable): When a Christian man (and by Luke’s standards therefore a straight dude) “does it to a vampire, or to a dude, or to a vampire-dude, that’s the cream de la cream [sic] of sin!” Okay, okay, we get it: some evangelical Christians are homophobic. And some have hotsy blonde wives who warn muscular guys to whom they gave bathtub-hand-jobs last week that their husbands want to “start a war” against gays — I mean, vampires.

Now back to the more subtle stuff. I liked the clever pairing of Sookie with Hugo to infiltrate the Light of Day camp. Their conversations about the nature of vampire love were sweet and poignant. Loved all the Hoyt-Jessica stuff; I know it’s just there for comic relief, but Hoyt’s squabbling with his mama over cell-phone texting are still funny to me, as was Jessica’s blurted-out, “I’m so happy I could cry but I don’t wanna ’cause it’s really gross when I do!”

And more seriously, I really liked the Lafayette scenes, his mental torture at flashing-back to his real torture; his being forced to once again sell “V,” but this time for the vampires’ profit; and the way Terry gently cradled and comforted him.

But the core dangers were cliffhanger doozies. Sam is at once horrified and trapped in Maryann’s Dionysian freak-out. Sookie is going to need all her telepathic powers to get Bill to come help rescue her. (Will Eric help?)

And I’m guessing that, very soon, Jason is going to tumble to the fact that his sister is endangered by an anti-vampire war-in-the-making that will shatter Jason’s faith. The kid’s gonna have to grow up, man-up, fast. Because "True Blood" can only become more baroquely, violently exciting. Remember the days when the biggest problem in Bon Temps was Tara’s mother drinking too much? How far we have come.

That was a new side to Bill, it was like Angel and Darla on Buffy...Bill and Lorena actually liked torturing people. They didn't just kill for food, they liked to play with their food.

Someone played Sookie out, Hugo? or was it Stan?

Pam cracks me up...I actually laughed when Maryann had that mask put on though. That was cheap! LOL

What's wrong with Anna Paquin? Sometimes she acts good and sometimes plain bad. But this season she acts mostly bad... I hope she won't win anything this season because she simply doesn't deserve it. But a series as a series simply rocks! Michelle Forbes needs to be nominated for an Emmy. She's legen - wait for it - dary!

True, the supporting players are what make this show strong, not really the lead or leads if you count Stephen Moyer as well. The GG's should recognize Michelle though, if they still love the show.

I'm obviously in the minority, but I don't find Forbes that remarkable. She's certainly adequate in the role, but I find certain aspects of her delivery and especially how her character is written, a bit budget and over the top in a show that's already over the top in many regards.

She does have a distinctive and impacting voice though. She'd be great in something animated.

I've stated my opinion in the beginning of the series that the two leads in the show are the weakest for me, personally. The supporting cast is absolutely stellar though, with a few exceptions (the drunken cop, the minister).

I actually really enjoyed this episode. It was fun, moved all the plots along a good bit, and also connected quite a few dots. I love the fact that Daphne, at least at this stage, seems to be the "swine pet" of MaryAnn.

And as far as I'm concerned, there could never be enough Pam. I hope they start utilizing her character a lot more. She's right up there with Lafayette and Jessica, two characters who are under utilized but leave lasting impressions no matter how little the screen time per episode.

The leads are really weak. I never got all the love for Paquin. 40% of the time she's just okay, and the other 60% she sucks. And Moyer with that accent. haha. Suukeh!

Although I shouldn't say all the leads are weak. I'm starting to consider Alexander Skarsgård as one and he's better than both Paquin and Moyer combined.

I love the church bits with all the sinful shenanigans going on beneath squeaky clean exterior. MOst funny & satisfying.

What do you guys think of Rutina Wesley? I think she's excellent on this show. A complete natural.

DoubleD, I think she's magnificent! She's a most charismatic actress who shows great range. She does everything well - sometimes riotously funny when cussing out her mother or anyone that wrongs her and other times very touching. I'd love to see her on the big screen.

Rutina Wesley's great on the show and has come into her own this season. She's also another Juilliard graduate on the show (along with Nelsan Ellis).

I love the entire cast...I think they all do a great job with their roles, but I think that this season the standouts so far are Rutina Wesley and Ashley Jones, as well as the actors who play Hoyt and Jessica (I apologize for not remembering their names).
Every week, Wesley shows that Tara's toughness hides a girl just looking for love, and the shades that she lets her guard up and down are amazing. I really hope that she is nominated next year.
Jones has great chemistry with Sam Trammell, and for me, she just slid into the Bon Temps environment with ease. I love the mystery surrounding her (the pig?!?!) and I am dying to know if she is willingly working for Maryann and the ditzy stuff is just an act, or if she is being forced to- remember the claw marks on her back.
I love this show more each week!

Wesley has improved exponentially since the first few episodes of the series. She was so over the top in mannerisms and accent, that it was staggering.

But now, she's as dependably good in delivery as anyone on the show. I actually wish they'd give her a storyline that was vampire or action related.

7/26 - 4 million viewers

Episode Title: "Release Me"

Synopsis: Betrayed by Daphne, Sam finds himself in an unenviable predicament at the hands of Maryann and her zombie minions; imprisoned with Hugo at the Light of Day camp, Sookie uses her telepathic powers to reach out to Bill, who's being detained at the hotel by a stubbornly obsessive Lorena; after crossing a church line, a fearful Jason tries to sever his ties with the Fellowship of the Sun, but gets plenty of resistance from Steve and his lackey, Gabe.

Discuss.

I'm surprised with how fast they seemed to take things. Jason's on the outs with the Light of Day and Sarah, Sookie's saved at the last minute by Godric (!), Bill's locked in with Lorena, Andy tells the whole bar that they were under Maryann's spell, Tara and Eggs get deeper into Maryann's spell, Daphne tells Sam all about what Maryann really is, Hugo turns out to be a snitch, Hoyt and Jessica have their first time together (awww), Lafayette getting his "pizzazz" back, and Maryann sacrificing Daphne using a hypnotized Eggs. That's a lot of ground to cover in a single episode. Something about it felt a bit disjointed, but it was nice to get some answers about Maryann, and things are really starting to heat up with the LOD war with the vampires. Can't wait to see where all of that goes next week.

Grade for "Release Me": B

Jessica and Hoyt are the best thing about this season. Maryann storyline is very stupid and its really a shame to watch wonderful caracthers like Tara and Sam been wasted on this.

It really surprises me to see Godric saving Sookie. And hope poor Barry don't die. Bill and Sookie have been very boring to watch and Lorena is played by terrible actress.

Still, it's almost impossible don't be curious about what's coming next.

Grade for "Release Me": A-

Ps: I wish I could see Lauren Ambrose and Peter Krause guest starring in this show. It would made my life!

New "True Blood": "Lust, anger, excess, and all the fun stuff"
by Ken Tucker

One of the many excellent things about "True Blood" this season is the way it finds new uses for old characters. Last season, for instance, Andy was just another good/bad ol’ boy police officer, but now he’s like the official Bon Temps Voice of Reason. He’s the guy who witnessed last week’s mega-Maryann orgy and lived to tell it straight, albeit with a broken arm courtesy of Terry.

Thus Andy’s restaurant rant about the “bull-mask” Maryann was wearing and the “big black zombie eyes” of the orgy participants was met by the town’s mind-wiped inhabitants with dismay and ridicule, as if to say, “Oh, that Andy: back on the sauce!” You gotta love Andy, from his opening line this week (”Piiiiiig!”) to his trying to speak the truth (”turn this town into an orgy from hell” indeed).

Truth is something Sarah sought to pursue as well. After having sex with Jason (in church, no less), she invoked a “vow of honesty” with hubby Steve and told Jason she’d have to own up to this infidelity. Again, nice touch: Her reaction rattled Jason, but this turned out to be the least of the Stackhouse boy’s troubles by a long shot. Because Steve found out that the captured Sookie is Jason’s sister, so now Steve is after him. Which of course means the creepy-coward minister sent Gabe after him, setting up an excellent fight scene in which Jason, still baffled about why Steve suddenly hates him but incensed at Gabe’s bullying and insults, smacked the tar out of the far bigger Gabe in a completely convincing slap-down.

I’m going to gloss over the Bill-Lorena scenes (those flashbacks, this week to 1935 Los Angeles, are invariably slow and pointless, with lousy make-up/costumes and no plot info we don’t already know). Instead, let’s get to the meat of the episode: Sam’s confrontation with Daphne. She explained what a lot of you Charlaine Harris readers have known and have mentioned in the comments section below: that Maryann is a Maenad, a disciple of Dionysus. She even described Maryann as “God,” but I prefer Tara’s take on Maryann: “She is so f—in’ weird.”

You don’t mess with maenads/gods/weirdos, though: Maryann had Eggs knife and kill Daphne. (Do you think she’s really dead? I haven’t read the books, but Daphne did say that “supernaturals” such as herself and Sam “have a natural resistance” to the powers of Maryann and her followers, so maybe . . .?)

So much was crammed into this excellent episode written by Raelle Tucker (no relation to me). The quick scenes with Lafayette were little gems. Sarah shooting Jason — nice cliffhanger. And Godric saving Sookie from rape by Gabe: yahoo! Can "True Blood" get any more wild, anarchic, and surprising?

I think it can. Did you watch? What did you think?