Recap of True Blood 502 The Authority Always Wins

The episode begins where the last left off, with Tara attacking Sookie. Pam at first just looks on and laughs but then orders Tara (as her maker) to not bite Lafayette or Sookie and to stay in Sookie’s house. A very frustrated Tara takes to destroying her house. It frustrated me immensely to see that after Eric got her house all fixed up for her last season. Grrr!

Meanwhile Nora, Eric, and Bill are taken to Authority headquarters and thrown into individual holding cells. It is here that we meet Salome, Roman, and other Authority leaders. They want to know what kind of agenda the three have and what happened to Nan. Salome also seems interested in getting flirty with Eric. Who can blame her?

Pam is completely in the dark about what is going on and no doubt thinks Eric is still angry with her and ignoring her. Her upset over this causes her to start remembering their history and we are treated to several flashbacks. During her human life she was a madam running a brothel. She seemed to treat her ladies with lots of care and respect but she is much harder when it comes to men, who frequently beat on or kill the girls in her employ. She is attacked in an alley one evening by a potential customer and a dashing Eric Northman comes to her rescue.

He kills her would-be attacker and licks the blood from his fingers. Pam is not even shaken up due to her previous experiences with violence and death, which seems to impress the tall Viking. Eric attempts to give her some friendly advice about ladies being out late at night but Pam makes a snide remark about not being a lady, which makes Eric smile.

Eric comes closer and admires her dress…and the stunning and fearless lady in front of him. She asks his name but he gives her one more sly smile and quickly makes his exit. I sooooo want to know where it goes from here. Does she pursue this amazing and mysterious man until he makes her like him? Is he unable to quit thinking of her and returns at a later date to make her immortal? I have to know!!

Back in more modern times we visit the cells of Eric, Nora, and Bill. The torture first begins with UV light being used in their cells. Then they are moved to different holding cells where they are hooked up to IV machines with silver. They are questioned about their loyalty to the Authority agenda and whether or not they are fundamentalists. Apparently there is a Bible that pre-dates the Old and New Testament in which God is mentioned as being vampire and his first creation being made in his own image, a woman named Lillith. Humans were created (according to this Bible) for vampire nourishment and nothing more. The Authority is dedicated (or so they say) to mainstreaming and peaceful coexistence with humans. They want to know if Nora, Eric, and Bill are associated with a faction who believe that mainstreaming is beneath them and want to farm humans for food as they see fit.

Eric and Bill are tortured with silver whenever their answers are not to the liking of their interrogators. Salome interrogates Eric and in his usual style he is evasive and sarcastic with his answers.

He is not smiling though when Salome falsely tells him that Nora has met the true death.

I am not sure what they gain by keeping mum about their relationship at this point. It seems to me that their paternity would make them seem less guilty of the charges levied against them. Hopefully it will make sense later.

Finally they are dragged out to meet Roman and other Authority council members for their punishment, which was to be a stake through the heart. Bill bargains for their lives by telling them that Russell Edgington is alive and now on the loose again. This infuriates Roman and he is ready to stake Bill for this incompetance. Eric bravely tries to intervene by telling Roman that it was he who made the call to let Russell live (intimating that he should be the one to die). The more we learn of Eric, the more we see that the Viking is full of honor and integrity. He continues to amaze me!

Roman is unswayed though since Bill is King and this is ultimately his responsibility. This is very true. Bill had a year as King to rectify this Russell situation if he had wanted to. Yet both of their hides are saved for now because despite Roman’s desire to kill them both he knows that if Russell is out there and about to wreak havoc…Bill and Eric can serve as bait AND they brought him down once already and can do it again.

Sookie spent the length of the episode dealing with collateral damage from the Tara situation and talking Laffayette out of staking her. I am quite bored with it frankly and cannot wait until she rejoins Eric and Bill. At any rate Laffy thinks something is seriously messed up with Tara but Sookie thinks she is in there somewhere. Sookie’s belief is somewhat confirmed when Tara rises for her second evening and she tells them both that she will never forgive them for turning her into a vampire. Then she takes off  (which I thought she couldn’t do) but gets sprayed first with a silver device that Sookie had installed on her porch to keep in her in the house (I think). It will be funny to see if either Eric or Bill get sprayed when they come to enlist Sookie’s help, which we know from season teasers that they will.

Another solid episode even if I thought Sookie’s story line was a total snoozefest. Loved the Eric/Pam flashbacks, the interrogations, and the insight into vampire history.