Review: True Blood "Let's Boot and Rally"

Non Spoiler Review:

The search for Russell comes to a head as Eric and Bill enlist Sookie and Alcide to form their own Scooby Doo Mystery Team. Lafayette loses control of his dark side. Terry and Patrick find out the truth about Iraq. Andy and Jason investigate the shifter murders and Sam stumbles onto a greater threat to his kind.

Another strong episode, and again the strength lies in Tara, Pam and Jessica's evolving relationships and the vampire politics goings-on. Jason seems to be embarking on a new quest that will hopefully become a meaningful storyline for him. 

Again, too many characters. But once Russell is back perhaps they'll winnow down the cast. However there has been movement on all of these plots this week, including Lafayette and Iraq, so there's still hope they could grow into something more interesting. The title Let's Boot and Rally rang true, as it did not feel like filler at all.

Spoilers Now!

Alcide and Sookie head upstairs to the bedroom. But when they get into it Sookie throws up, and Bill and Eric appear in the doorway. Lafayette comes home to see his demon face in the mirror. He attempts to pray it away. Andy and Jason both wake up naked in their respective homes. Jason has a vision of himself as a child with Sookie having breakfast with their parents. Bite marks appear on their necks. Jason wakes up to a phone call alerting him of the shifter murders.

Terry and Patrick are tied up and asked if anything followed them there. Evan explains what happened with the others who burned in the fire. After they got back from Iraq he was crashing on their friend's couch and the house caught fire one night. Evan watched the flames move and intercept them, and he saw something looking at him. He ran. It's an ifrit (obviously), a being of smoke and fire that's coming for all of them.

Terry has another flashback immediately following the massacre. Terry had found a woman alive but Patrick ordered him to kill her. She cursed them that the ifrit burns them all and those they love. Terry shot her and they burned all the bodies. Terry saw the ifrit in the fire.

Terry realizes it was waiting to get them all together in one place, so they need to leave. Evan frees them but Patrick punches him out. Terry tells Patrick he isn't lying, but Patrick doesn't believe anything. Terry climbs out of the cellar and has a cigarette outside while Patrick tells him there's no such thing as an ifrit. In the cellar the smoke appears and burns Evan alive.

Debating the Russell situation leads to an argument between Alcide, Bill and Eric. Sookie realizes the madness is never going to end no matter what choice she makes. She agrees to help hunt Russell. They go to one of Alcide's employees involved in the burial and she attempts to get into his mind to see if he's been glamoured. He saw a woman dig Russell up with her hands and she has a necklace with a bat—a female member of the authority. Nora is wearing the same necklace. 

Salome continues to watch her torture. She notifies Eric and Bill they have until dawn to find Russell or be terminated. She then finds Roman in the vault pensive about Drew's betrayal. The chamber contains the supposed actual blood of Lilith which the secular Roman doesn't believe. Salome suggests he throw the religious base a bone and control the message. But later on Roman informs his chancellors about the choice ahead of them. He will not stand by while zealots hijack their cause.

At Fangtasia, Tara makes her appearance. Pam seems proud to see her out and about and wants her to bar tend. She immediately feeds on a willing patron which raises Pam's ire about her feeding in public. If she does anything to mess with Fangtasia she'll silver her and stick her in a coffin.

Jessica witnesses the altercation and orders a drink, then attempts to commiserate about being turned. She offers to hang with Tara if she wants a friend. Tara says she feels crazy in her head. Jessica assures her the feelings aren't bad and succeeds in making Tara feel better. Tara sees Hoyt outside and they share a cigarette. He's a fangbanger now. She tells him to go home when he propositions her. But later in the bathroom Jessica hears Tara feeding on Hoyt and the two get into a fight.

Jason and Andy arrive at the murder scene of the two shifters. Jason wants to know what Andy remembers about the night before, and explains they had a fairy encounter. Andy says they won't talk about it anymore because he doesn't want to mess up his good thing with Holly. Andy then interviews Sam and he admits the victims were shifters like himself.

Lafayette wakes up and sees Jesus' head on his coffee table with his mouth sewn shut. His mother also has the same vision in her hospital bed and seems to have a conversation with Jesus. She says she'll tell Lafayette and starts calling out to him.

Sam informs Luna about the deaths. When he goes to leave there's a truck of masked men calling out shifter and shoot him. He goes down and sees Luna come out. She gets shot too. Emily comes out and runs, changing to a wolf and scampers off. Sam sees the attackers drive off and passes out.

Alcide, Sookie and his employee head toward an old hospital with Bill and Eric, following the trail from his memories. Sookie gets a flash of someone taking Russell inside the hospital. Alcide senses wolves have been there. They come upon a room full of drained victims. Next they find several living people tied up and they arrive in Russell's room finding him nearly healed lying in bed. Eric tells him they've come to finish what they started. Russell tells them to give it their best shot. Alcide abruptly gets pulled out the door.

The Verdict:

Let's Boot and Rally was a stronger episode, with plenty of great vampire scenes, including a touching one between Tara and Jessica, and a nice closing monologue from Roman. Too bad Sookie and Alcide's hook up was derailed.

While Terry's plot has gotten some explanation, do we really need yet another supernatural subplot that's not apparently connected to anything else? At least the shifter crimes might be tied to the vampires or werewolves, but the Bellefleurs seem to be off in their own world for the moment. But on a positive note, all of them got advanced, and the scenes with Jesus' phantasmal head making it's rounds was pretty effective. Most important, it looks as though the Russell teases are finally over and whatever is behind his return will be revealed.