10. New World In My View

What they find on their arrival is not the idyllic Deep South backwater they love, but a town ravaged by the hunt for Sam Merlotte. The streets are strewn with trash, residents are beating their heads against walls or throwing themselves in front of cars - it's fun sharing a town with Maryann. Particularly when she's going all out on the décor for Sam's ritual sacrifice, including a no expense spared totem to the devil complete with fresh flowers, feathers and, of course, the flesh of dead animals.

In an effort to avoid said ritual sacrifice, Sam is holed up in an apartment and in cahoots with Det. Andy. Being the helpful sort he is, particularly when it comes to his waitresses, Sam foolishly agrees to go to the bar when Arlene calls in need of rescue. It's obviously an ambush by the black-eyed mob - led by a scarily coherent Terry Bellefleur - and bar owner Sam just can't help but walk into it. When he and Andy arrive, it looks like the whole town has turned out to witness and participate in the capture of their sacrifice - everyone except for Mrs Hoyt.

At the Compton place, lovebirds Jess and Hoyt are busily entertaining the aforementioned Mrs Fortenberry who, rather than chase after Sam, has decided her time and black-eyed energy would be better spent insulting Jess. Her presence has an expected benefit however, as she handily tells Bill, Sookie and Jason everything that's currently occurring in Maryann's grand plan. Her revelations lead Jason to the entirely natural conclusion that ridding his beloved town of Maryann is his true calling.

Having been back in town for exactly three minutes, the Stackhouse siblings separate once more - Jason to save Sam and Sookie and Bill to look for Tara. To her detriment, Mrs Hoyt just can't keep her mouth shut, and Jess decides to shut her up - permanently. Which will make for an awkward conversation with Hoyt, once she's done feeding.

At the Stackhouse home, the couple is confronted by the Maenad. She attacks Sookie, leaving Bill no choice but to feed on her. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the smartest move, as her blood is poisonous to vamps and he's left throwing up what little Maryann he ingested.

Free to attack Sookie once more, Maryann discovers that Sookie is not quite what she seems. In addition to the not very normal mind reading, it appears that she now has some kind of demon fighting power. When Sookie lays hands on Maryann, she releases a white lightning bolt into the god's face, enabling them to escape. Whatever she is, Sookie may just have become Maryann's next sacrificial target, which would be handy for Sam, if he and Rambo Stackhouse hadn't just pulled the mother of all cons on the black-eyed mob.

After bursting into the bar, chainsaw aloft and having little to no effect on the orgy in progress, Jason persuades the mob to leave by threatening Arlene with a nail gun. Unfortunately, they're back within minutes, and in order to save Rambo and Det. Andy, Sam gives himself up. Thinking on his feet, Jason appears to the mob, claiming to be the God that comes. Incredibly, when Sam shifts into a fly they believe that the god has killed him, and go back to their partying ways. The mob may be blood thirsty, but they're also stupid, and that's just the way Jason likes them - job well done.

With Sam safe, it's Tara's turn for rescue. Tied to a chair in Lafayette's apartment, Sookie and Bill break Maryann's hold over her, and bring her back to reality. Having seen some of what Tara and the town have been up to, Bill puts two and two together and comes up with a Maenad - it seems his time spent studying while avoiding Lenora finally paid off. He rushes off to find the only person who might be able to defeat Maryann - the Vampire Queen. But as is always the way in True Blood, when he arrives at the Queen's abode, it seems someone - or something - had the same idea.

Now that the Dallas fun is over, New World In My View finally brought the Stackhouses up to speed with recent events in Bon Temps. The town has completely collapsed without them, which says far more about the town's residents than it does the Stackhouse siblings. Apparently they are the glue that holds the town together, and the coming turf war is certainly going to be interesting - not least thanks to Jason's new found community spirit. His Rambo rescue attempt and god fakery were the hilarious highlights of yet another excellent episode. The man-whore has come a long way from the naked comic relief we were introduced to in season one, and his progression has been a joy to behold.

There is one other thing that will make the fight against Maryann interesting - Sookie's sudden ability to ward off demons with energy from her hands. This turn of events could well be True Blood's first misstep, cheesy and overly convenient as it is, but it's probably too early to worry just yet.

And as predicted, Jess and Hoyt's perfect little love affair may have just come to an abrupt end. How do you get past your girlfriend eating your mother? It's such a shame it had to come to that but, that's Bon Temps, baby.

So, with just two episodes to go, there's still much to be done. Maryann's time is finally up, and a human/vamp Vs Maenad war for the souls of Bon Temps is tantalizingly close. The end is nigh, and it's going to be one hell of a fight... 

Check out our review of episode 9 here.