True Blood season 6 episode 1 review: Who Are You, Really?

This review contains spoilers.

6.1 Who Are You Really?

After a long wait, it was finally time for our annual trip to Louisiana, as True Blood returned for a sixth season on Sunday. With the assault on vamp central in full swing when last we saw Sookie, Eric et al, and Billeth having risen from a pile of goo, Who Are You, Really? picked up exactly where we left off last year. As has become True Blood’s habit over the years, the season premiere episode is actually the second episode of the season, as the show began this year’s threads at the end of season five. Having left us on something of a cliff-hanger last season, tension was high – would this season finally lay Bill and Sookie to rest? Would the ever-not-actually-present Warlow finally be present? And have the faeries left Bon Temps – and therefore True Blood – for good? One can only hope…

While Who Are You, Really? couldn’t really answer any of those questions unequivocally, it did present us with what could very well be the end of Bill and Sookie, or rather the end of Sookie and all vampires. Having banished even Eric from her home, it seems Sookie has indeed severed all ties with the fangers – the male ones at least. Despite having survived the assault on vamp central, as well as an encounter with Billeth thanks in no small part to Eric, Sookie, it turns out, is desperate to once again be the innocent, polka dot-wearing, job-having girl she used to be. Unfortunately for Sookie, having clearly never seen the show, turning her back on her vampire protectors generally heralds her impending doom. And lo and behold, on the very evening Sookie gives voice to her need to be boring again, the series’ latest bad boy blows into town.

Yes, the near-legendary parent-killer Warlow has finally put in an appearance – in the shape of a magnificiently grizzled Rutger Hauer – and it appears that ever Die Harder Jason Stackhouse can save her. Of course, Warlow’s apparently being a major player in the Billeth Bible gives her at least a fighting chance and will most likely mean that Eric’s cold plates of meat will be back under Sookie’s, ahem, table in no time, white dress or no. Warlow’s introductory scenes gave us the first of the season’s classic Jason lines – “My parents have become kinda racist and scary since they went to heaven” – and left us with the comforting knowledge that despite the Bruce Willis impression, Jason remains as dumb as a box of hair. Only he would go stropping off on his own on the night that vamp hell breaks loose, and then breezily and accurately recount his entire life story to a weirdly dressed old man. Apparently, Jason was stropping off on his own when the faeries were handing out anything approaching sense.

Speaking of things that are, as yet, a tad without sense, let’s talk Billeth. From Southern gentleman vampire king to gooey puddle and onto… Possessed vampire demi-god? Is he to be trusted? Of course not – it’s True Blood. No one is to be trusted, and that goes for Andy’s magically growing children. Despite his early protestations that he’s still good ole’ Bill, now that at least three mysterious naked demon types have found themselves a Bill-shaped meat suit, nothing he says can be trusted. And just cos he’s handy for taking care of tough stains, doesn’t make it okay. Aside from all the obvious comedy in the ‘Bill is several women trapped inside a man’s body’ style, it’s already looking like a bloody meeting between Billeth and Warlow is inevitable. Luckily, anyone who’s seen Hobo with a Shotgun will know that he might not look like much, but Warlow can kick some ass.

While the episode spent much of its time on the aftermath of the assault on vampire central, it also found time to add a few new layers of intrigue, most notably the new bent politician storyline. Bent politicians aren’t unusual in True Blood, but rarely are they voluntarily involved with the vamps, while simultaneously all but segregating them. The Governor’s back room deal to get the True Blood flowing again is bound to have repercussions down the line, provided that is, that the revelation that vamps aren’t the only not-quite humans on the planet doesn’t get there first. Luna’s sacrifice gave Sam the chance to get away, but shifting live on television has opened up a whole new can of supernatural worms.

It’s still early days, but so far, it seems that Bon Temps is indeed an almost faerie-free zone – the magical children not withstanding – and Lafayette is yet to don his over the top clairvoyant apparel, so it seems that some of last year’s worse nightmares have hopefully been well and truly laid to rest. And, with Warlow Sookie-bound, Billeth hell-bound and Jason up shit creek, it’s clear that there’s plenty of classic True Blood action on the way, and that’s before we get to find out what’s up with the magical children, or what the hell Alcide has to do with anything anymore. As always, lots of questions, tons of ambiguity and more than a whiff of death in the air, and only one thing is for certain: it’s good to be back in the swamp. See y’all next week!

Read Emma’s review of the season five finale, Save Yourself, here.

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