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Organized religion also limits the personal freedom of its followers. Jason is expected to be abstinent while Sarah and Steve maintain a public relationship, watching his every move, even in the bathroom where Sarah first seduces him. She challenged herself to sleep with Jason so she could replace one earthly man with another. They sleep together in the church balcony, after which she feels closer to God than ever before. (So does her hair.) Jason attempts to leave the church, literally chased first by Gabe who thinks Jason is working with vampires, then by Sarah who shoots Jason. It’s like he’s trying to turn back the hands of time, like a little boy who closes his eyes against a nightmare.

In a flashback to 1935 Los Angeles, we also learn how Bill came to be free of Lorena, and that he was prepared to kill himself to make it happen. This is where Maryann’s logic, as absurd as it is, makes its point. Sooner or later, we all stop running, and we give in. She, and the Fellowship of the Sun, ask their followers to give themselves and their energies in the name of a greater purpose. Soldiers are expendable.

All season long, we’ve heard the same thing — that if we don’t let ourselves be seen, what’s the point of being? Regardless of the end, stand and be counted. We evolve through sharing. So it’s no wonder that everyone’s so messed up. Sookie defines herself based on her relationship with Bill, yet when they’re separated they’re all but useless to one another. Tara defines herself based on family, yet she’s abandoned hers and allowed another to “squat” in her home. And Jason’s identity is wrapped up in a hypocritical church that doesn’t even fully subscribe to its own faith. Of course, the flip side of this is poor Andy Bellefleur, the one person who has seen everyone as they are, in all their depravity (read birthday suits minus the ribbons and bows), but is ultimately an unreliable narrator because he’s a drunk and stripped of any authority. He can’t even get a witness to his cousin, Terry, snapping his arm like a twig, giving Bill and Sookie a run for their money for the character least likely to catch a break.

While Maryann is a creature who has been around longer than everyone else, her argument is pretty basic: “Feeling sorry for things is just an excuse not to celebrate your own happiness.” We’re driven by shame. As civilization evolved, so too did our ties to humanity. Bill turned against his true nature as a vampire when he stopped hunting. Tara turned against her faith in family when she abandoned her mother. Sam only accepted his true identity when he thought he’d found someone to keep his secret. And Jason has been looking to others his whole life to make his decisions for him.

Which brings us back to Jessica and Hoyt. They turned away from their shame and presented themselves to one another truthfully. No shimmering influence, and no silver ring of honesty. Their belief in themselves is the antithesis of Maryann’s nihilism. Bill and Maxine should be proud; after all, isn’t it every parent’s hope that the next generation will get it right?

The mantel in Gran’s home. (Jodi Ross, courtesy of The Vault www.trueblood-online.com)

Highlight: Sarah: “Just ’cause I broke my vows to my husband doesn’t mean I’m ready to throw all my beliefs out the window.”

Nightcap: Ashley Jones’ expression when Eggs stabbed her was brilliant. Not just the shock and betrayal, but that she looked more doe-like than ever. It was like they’d killed Bambi! There are a few parallels in this episode worth noting. Jason almost got stabbed, but then got shot; Daphne almost got shot, but then got stabbed. Arlene thinks she may have raped Terry; Gabe almost rapes Sookie. The black-and-white movie that Tara and Eggs watch at Sookie’s house is The Screaming Skull (1958), a horror film that claimed it was so shocking it could kill audience members! It tells the story of newlyweds whose home is haunted by skulls and the ghost of the groom’s first wife, Marion. (Marion. Maryann. Coincidence?) It’s revealed that the husband