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shines again as Tara late in the episode when Jane Bodehouse asks her to “make mama another stinger.” Tara lashes back, asking Jane if she’s ashamed of herself, a clear strike intended against her own mother. It’s a sad, powerful moment. Anna Paquin says she was kicked approximately 80 times during the shooting of the opening scene. The “blood” she drank from Moyer’s (prosthetic) arm was a sugar-free, no carb concoction. The tabloid on Lettie Mae’s coffee table reads “Angelina Adopts Vampire Baby.” Because vampires don’t breathe, Stephen Moyer’s breaths had to be digitally removed from his exterior night shots.

Relationship Crypt Falls: Sookie, Bill is really old. It will surface each time he doesn’t like your taste in music, finds your clothing immodest, or another man wants to be your friend. But he has been through almost seven of your lifetimes thus far. Try to keep that in mind the next time you describe the Descendents of the Glorious Dead as “mostly a bunch of old people who had family in the war.”

Paging Dr. Creepy: Remember the part where Bill bit into his wrist and that flap of skin pulled back, and not in a Six Million Dollar Man kind of way? Shudder.

Encore: We can hear “The First Taste,” performed by Fiona Apple, in the background at Gran’s house when Sookie and Bill leave for their walk. “The First Taste” comes from Fiona Apple’s 1996 debut album Tidal, known best for its Grammy Award–winning single “Criminal.” Its music video gained controversy for its raw sexuality and focus on female body image. Coming from a widely artistic and musical family, Apple’s influences include everything from early jazz and pop to alt-rock. She’s also known for her deeply candid lyrics and intriguing arrangements, pairing such instruments as the French horn and optigan (early electronic keyboard). The video for “The First Taste” was never aired in the U.S., appearing only in France.

In Gran’s house you can see Jason’s graduation picture. Aww, don’t you just want to tussle his tassle? (Jodi Ross, courtesy of The Vault www.trueblood-online.com)

1.03 ~ Mine

Original air date: September 21, 2008; Written by: Alan Ball; Directed by: John Dahl

Malcolm: Honey, if we can’t kill people, what’s the point of being a vampire?

Sookie sees another side of Bill. Sam and Tara reach out to one another in a time of loneliness. Jason turns to Lafayette in a moment of need.

There are two main reasons why we seek community: survival (the family that plays together, stays together) or companionship.

The nest of vampires Sookie meets at Bill’s home (Malcolm, Diane, and Liam) live together, under their own rules, in order to feed as often as they please. Bill warns them that there will be consequences if they flaunt their habits in front of humans. It’s an interesting departure from mortal life in which to remain solitary — the life Bill has chosen for himself — would normally result in the exact opposite of a human semblance; with no community or outside stimulation, we would feed on ourselves, becoming less in tune with customs and social mores. However, in a vampire’s world, confinement is on par with the spiritual ritual of one who abstains from mortal sin.

When Bill tells Sookie he would never feed on her, it rings untrue. He’s already connected to her through blood, and now he’s claimed her as his own so other vampires won’t feed on her. Malcolm argues that there’s no point to being a vampire if they can’t kill people. His measures are sadistic, but there’s something to be said about Bill fighting his true nature. Is it feeding at all that’s at issue for Bill, or that he believes others feed on too many? It feels like a comment on monogamy versus polyamorous partnerships, making Bill’s assertion that he will not feed on Sookie akin to a boyfriend who doesn’t want to rush her first time. In one of the sappier moments of the episode, Bill tries to prove to Sookie that they both run on magic. But he makes his point when he tells her she’ll never be able to be herself with a mortal man. Bill and Sookie are both the outsiders