'True Blood' Episode Two: Five Key Moments

From Christopher Meloni's debut to flashbacks of how Pam and Eric first met, we recap Sunday night's episode.
By Kara Warner

Chris Meloni in "True Blood"
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It was just another dramatic and steamy Sunday night on HBO's "True Blood." The second new episode in season five, entitled "Authority Always Wins," definitely involved time spent with the vampire governing body (Hooray for Christopher Meloni's debut!), as well as some nifty flashbacks and the continued bromance between Bill and Eric. For those looking for a quick fix, here are the episode's five key scenes.

Tara's Maladjustment
Unsurprisingly, Tara is not taking well to being a newly turned vampire. Despite the fact that her closest friend and relative had only the best of intentions when they enlisted Pam to "save" Tara's life, the new baby-vampire version of Tara does not want to hear any of Sookie and Lafayette's attempts to explain their motives. She demonstrates this by tearing up Sookie's house, enduring the searing pain of Sook's silver misters and then running off into the woods.

The Story of Pam and Eric
At the moment, the best part of Pam being a maker isn't her bond with her new vamp but rather the memories that have been triggered of her own transition, made possible by her maker Eric. We're finally getting to see how Pam and Eric first met via a series of flashbacks to the early 1900s. Pre-vamp Pam is as strong-willed, fierce and fearless as vampire Pam, and instead of running a nightclub, she's the madam of a brothel. Eric enters the picture by way of saving Pam from a would-be attacker, the blood from whom he enjoys as a snack right in front of Pam. In other words, it's the perfect "meet cute" for these two.

Meloni's Magic Masculinity
At long last, Christopher Meloni has graced our screens as Roman, Guardian of the Authority. Roman is the leader of what seem to be the most powerful members of the Authority, a diverse and unforgiving group who will determine the fate of our beloved Bill and Eric. Through our introduction to Roman and the rest of the group, we learn about the vampire bible and their version of Adam and Eve — the story of the very first vampire Lilith. After a lot of back and forth, stomping, shouting and general bravado, Bill and Eric temporarily avoid the true death by revealing the shocking news of Russell Edgington's continued existence.

Russell Edgington Is Baa-aack. Almost?
Speaking of that smooth talking, vengeance-obsessed killing machine, we finally get a glimpse of Russell Edgington's rehab, so to speak. He's being cared for in some dark, underground place where he is tossed living humans to drain. We don't actually see him doing the draining, we just hear about it. Our first glimpse of the formerly well-groomed man shows us that he needs a lot more work before he can function properly or go out in public. His body looks somewhat deflated and is curled into the fetal position; his skin, if you can call it that, is bubbly and bloody, though rapidly healing from all that feeding he's doing.

"Birth" of a Baby Wolf
As if Luna doesn't already have a lot to deal with, like the unpleasant death of her ex, Marcus; a meddling mother-in-law, whom Luna bans from seeing her granddaughter; and differences of opinion with her current love interest, Sam, whom she kicks out after a heated argument, now she has to come to terms with the fact that her little girl Emma has just shifted into a baby wolf for the first time. A really, really cute baby wolf. Where the heck is that story line going to go? Who's going to teach Emma about being a werewolf or shifter?

Perhaps we'll get closer to the answers to those questions on next Sunday's "True Blood" episode.

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