All right, kids, I’m back to blogging, though given the amount of responses Jamey got from his stint as my substitute, maybe he should be the one doing this on a regular basis. Or not. (I’d be quite glad to let him do it, but I know that – like myself – there are never enough hours in the day for him to accomplish the tasks he already has on his plate, so adding one more would just be cruel.) Fortunately, I’ve had time to play catch-up, so I know what I missed last week…which, as it turned out, was quite a lot.

We didn’t see much of Eric this week, but his scene with Lorena at the beginning of the episode was certainly a crucial one, setting up a lengthy flashback to Chicago in 1926, where Bill…oh, sorry, make that Guillaume…is tickling the ivories as Lorena tries to pick up a beautiful blonde who’s hanging on the arm of a complete boor. Fast-forward a bit, and things have gone horribly wrong for the two non-vampires in the equation. Isn’t that always the way? God damn, Bill was a nasty son of a bitch back in the ’20s. I have to say, though, that I’m still not a fan of those blood-laden sex scenes, so I just focused on the importance of the necklace. It’s clear that there’s still a bond between Lorena and Bill, and despite her actions toward him later in the episode, I still think that her feelings for him are going to come back into play and hose up Eric’s plans.

Jason seemed scared to death that maybe his relationship with Sarah might have been discerned by Rev. Steve, but when the Rev copped a ‘tude toward his wife, you could sense that Jason suddenly wasn’t nearly as upset about the previous night’s actions as he might’ve been…and when Steve started talking about the whole “Meet the Sun” procedure, Jason’s disgust at the concept was evident. So there you go: a perfect excuse for him to hook up with Sarah in the church. Not that she didn’t need some sympathy, after what she’d just witnessed…

The dynamic between Sookie and Hugo was pretty funny, and his discussion about his experiences as a human dating a vampire certainly provided Sookie with a few new things to think about. I laughed when she said that, in person, Sarah looks like vanilla pudding, but there was a lot of tension in the scenes with Sookie and Hugo in Steve’s office, with the constant sensation that Jason could bust in at any time and ruin things for them. He didn’t, of course, but then the tension only got ratcheted up further when it became evident that Sookie and Hugo were on a collision course with oblivion, particularly when talk of the lock-in started. I really didn’t think they’d end up being taken down to the basement. That’s what I get for thinking, I guess.

Sam finally asks Daphne outright about the scar on her back, and she says she doesn’t know what happened to her, in that she never saw what was responsible. The description is so similar to what happened to Sookie that there was a temptation to believe her, and, darn it, she just seemed perfect for Sam. Of course, then we slid right into the whole “maybe she’s a little too perfect” mindset, and when he reached a level of comfort where he was sexing her up during work hours, I knew there was no way that a happy ending was in the cards. I did not, however, theorize that A) the pig was Daphne, and B) the episode would end with Sam’s life being threatened with a big-ass ceremonial knife.

I couldn’t believe it last week when Maryann weaseled her way back into Tara’s life. So much for the “I’m the sweetest thing in the whole wide world” facade. The field trip to get the part to fix the water heater was some pretty heavy stuff, watching as Eggs began to put the pieces back together about his past, and I’m sure we’ll get more information about Maryanne’s connection to the tragic event in short order.

Just a couple of other random little bits:

* What was up with Lafayette’s scenes tonight? It was total weirdness with him looking at Detective Andy and seeing Eric, and it was equaled in its weirdness only by the way Terry calmed Lafayette down. (By the way, what’s the relationship between Terry and Detective Andy? Clearly, they go back for quite a few years.) After Pam’s visit to Lafayette in the freezer, I’m interested in seeing how his dealings with her will go.

* I’m hopeful for Jessica and Hoyt, but given how bitchy his mother is, I have a feeling that Jessica’s going to take care of some of his issues with Mama.

* Biggest laugh of the night: when Sarah complained about how awful her husband was, moaning, “He’s vicious and cruel…and he uses the C-word!”