True Blood recap, Season of the Witch, Tara and Sookie

By April MacIntyre Jun 27, 2011, 20:17 GMT

Tara has always been one of my favorites, as she mourned Eggs (Mehcad Brooks) and then was a prisoner of love with psycho vamp Franklin Mott. But her solid friendship with Sookie and her closeness with cousin Lafayette were my favorite parts of the total tale.

After watching the first three episodes of "True Blood," all I could think was, did showrunner Alan Ball have the classic rock song by Donovan stuck in his brain?

The lyrics to "Season of the Witch"

When I looked out my window
Many sights to see
And when I looded in my window
So many different people to be
That is strange, so strange
You got to pick out every stitch
Must be the season of the witch...

Must BE the season of the witch as "True Blood’s" fourth season premiere gives us a Wiccan curve ball, now that we've covered wolves, Maenads, vamps, fairies and shifters.

The juicy detail is that the vamps are at the mercy of these necromancers, who can control the dead and cast spells.

The gay themes are upped, as fresh off her fated vamp romance (not) with the dearly missed Franklin (James Frain), Tara’s (Rutina Wesley) understandably a bit over the menfolk and has a girlfriend while she is out of town and trying to put all the Bon Temps memories behind her.

Tara has always been one of my favorites, as she mourned Eggs (Mehcad Brooks) and then was a prisoner of love with psycho vamp Franklin Mott.  But her solid friendship with Sookie and her closeness with cousin Lafayette were my favorite parts of the total tale.

Lafayette is a more compelling and stable character this season too, as he flirts with the Wiccans and conjures up a mess of trouble.   Together Tara and Lafayette have taken the reins of their lives more in the story this year.

Suddenly, Sookie (Anna Paquin) is back in town after being feared dead. The shock and welcome back is a mixed bag. Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) picks up the pieces Bill has dropped, and inserts himself into Sookie's world more forcibly. Bill (Stephen Moyer) has changed, and Sookie is trying to sort it all out again after her fairy godmother fall from Fae grace.  And then there is Alcide (Joe Manganiello), still there, big old arms and sweet furry demeanor.

Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) is trying his best to be an adult, but he continues to fill the backwoods bonehead role to perfection, and beautiful Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll)  and her glorious red hair, will she go all Nan (Jessica Tuck) and Pam (Kristin Bauer) on us?

What did you think of the first episode? Are you loving Eric's close proximity to Sookie? Are you worried about Andy? Digging the witches? Talk back.