True Blood follows the life of Sooky Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a waitress living in Bon Temps, Louisiana, who is anything but a normal southern girl.  Sookie is telepathic and bombarded by people’s thoughts until she meets Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), who she can’t read because he is a vampire.  In the world of True Blood, the vampires have recently “come out of the coffin” and can survive on synthetic blood, called TruBlood (though not all of them mainstream like Bill).  The HBO series is based on The Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris.  True Blood was renewed for a second season last year after only two episodes aired - it was a bonafide success.

In the first season of the show, the main plot of the story followed fairly closely to that of the first book in the series, Dead Until Dark.  Even though many elements were added, such as the ‘v-juice’ (vampire blood) and exorcism plots, the big picture stayed the same.  However, any reader of the Sookie Stackhouse novels would have been shocked after watching the season two premiere of the show last Sunday when everything changed.  The body in Detective Andy Bellefleur’s (Chris Bauer) car turned out not to be Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis), as in the book, but rather that of Miss Jeanette (Aisha Hinds), a character not even in the book.  Whether this pivotal part of the show was changed because the writers have decided to follow their own path and will continue to do so, or whether this was only a deviation, most likely brought on because of Ellis who plays Lafayette brilliantly and is a fan favorite, fans will find out as the season progresses.  If it is the former, and the show is moving in a new direction, it may be just what the show needs – becoming more of a ‘companion piece’ to the books, so readers can enjoy being surprised at the season to come.  This could also mean that Bill Compton is here to stay.  The book series draws away from the Sookie/Bill romance in later books, but on television something like that could possibly cause the show to fall apart – fans may not be ready to give up on their relationship so quickly.  When it comes to television, fans tend to hold on fast and strong to romantic relationships once they are established, and changing such a dynamic in the show could really rattle its fan base.

Another story element added this season is the subplot involving Lafayette.  He, along with others (possibly people who have wronged, or are thought to have wronged the vampires) are being held prisoner, assumingly for at least the two weeks he has been missing.  It is fair to assume that Lafayette is being blamed for Vampire Eddie’s (Stephen Root) death, which was really committed by Amy Burley (Lizzy Caplan) last season.  The other shocker?  They are being held by none other than Vampire Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård).  If the previews of the next episode are any indication, Bon Temps may be getting a new vampire soon!

This season there is also the character of Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll), who only appeared briefly at the end of last season, and is not in the books.  Jessica is a vampire for who Bill was required to be the ‘maker.’  She brings comic relief and soon to be trouble to the town of Bon Temps.  The fact that Bill has neglected to tell Sookie about Jessica does not go over well, but after their fight they confess their love for each other and make up.

This season Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) and Tara Thorton’s (Rutina Wesley) roles continue to expand.  In this episode we begin to learn more about Sam’s past relationship with the mysterious Maryann (Michelle Forbes) and why he doesn’t want her there.  Things may become more complicated soon as it seems a new woman is coming into Sam’s life.  Tara’s path may also change as she gets closer to “Eggs” (Mehcad Brooks).

In this episode we also learn more about The Fellowship of the Sun when Orry Dawson (Michael Bofshever), the representative who visited Jason in jail last season, takes him to meet Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) and his wife, who talk him into going to a leadership conference for the church’s Light of Day Institute.  The church is beginning to sound more and more like a cult the more we see of its members.

Given that the expected death at the beginning of the episode is so far from the book plot, it’s hard to guess who the killer is, or if it is all part of Eric’s new plan for gaining answers.  What’s next for the characters we may not know, but given the nature of the show there are sure to be more deaths on the way.  We may not know what the future of the show holds, but we do know that it will be one crazy, fun, wild ride finding out.