'True Blood' recap: 'I Found You'

Starting out with a sexy (and lengthy!) dream that everyone, and I mean everyone has been waiting seven seasons to enjoy, Jason and Eric got it on with some steamy, shirtless action while Jason fell asleep in church. Last season, Eric gave Jason his blood so he could heal, and told him to "dream of nice things," which it appears he certainly did.

Aside from the opening teaser, the second episode of True Blood's final season reinforced why this show still has some power, as it continued to set up for a dark, complicated, and emotionally-heavy season.

Pictured: Anna Paquin and Joe Manganiello
Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

Fist off, the war is now three sided: there's the Hep-V vamps who crave blood more frequently, there's the people of Bon Temps who decide to break away from anything or anyone supernatural, and then there's our beloved core cast of characters who either are supernatural or sympathize with the supernatural.

But no longer is the show just about rooting for the core cast. This episode proved it's not about good guys vs. bad guys anymore. In the first episode, the Hep-V vampires were portrayed as evil, but in the second episode, we see that they are just scared, hungry vampires. First we were introduced to Mrs. Harris, who taught Arlene and Holly's kids in school, and is now with the team of Hep-V vampires keeping humans to feed on in the basement. After recognizing Arlene, Mrs. Harris vowed to help them escape from the dungeon. Her human side came out when she hugged Arlene and voiced her fears. There was further conflict upstairs, as the Hep-V vamps were discussing how to capture more people; though some seemed fearless there were few that seemed afraid of capturing more people. This concluded that no matter human, vampire, or Hep-V vampire, everyone is scared for their own lives.

Pictured: Carrie Preston and Lauren Bowles
Credit: Tony Rivetti/HBO

The humans are growing more powerful as well. At the beginning of the episode, we see how the town obeys mayor Sam Merlotte in completing service duties. But as the episode continues, former mayor candidate Vince, decides to take the lead and tell everybody Sam's secret of "being a dog." After discovering dead bodies in the freezer while on clean up duty at Bellefleur's, people begin to take Vince seriously. They go on a rampage, destroying everything at Bellefleur's to make stakes, and rush to the police station to get guns to protect themselves. Andy's daughter Adilyn who quietly watched the action at Bellefleur's take place, is a few steps ahead of them, after she reads a woman's thoughts of where the guns are in the sherriff station. She rushes with Wade to the police station and convinces Sheriff Kenya to hide the weapons. Kenya, on Adilyn's side, begins to help Adilyn and Wade hide the guns. But when the humans storm in, they are able to pick at Kenya's emotions of being a cop in Bon Temps and always taking orders from Andy. Kenya turns around to handcuff Adilyn, who, out of fear, uses her fairy light to zap Kenya away - and now everyone knows her secret too! This will only make the war stronger as the humans turn on Adilyn. Sensing Adilyn is in trouble, Jessica wakes up in the middle of the afternoon. Panicking she calls Sookie who doesn't pick up because she stupidly left her phone in the woods (nice going, Sook). Later, Andy comes home, and though he is alarmed to see Jessica in the house, the two decide to team up and find Adilyn.

Pictured: Chris Bauer and Bailey Noble
Credit: Tony Rivetti/HBO

Meanwhile, Sam, Sookie, Alcide, Jason, and Andy, investigate the dead girl in the woods, who they find out to be Mary Beth from Saint Alice, two towns away. They take a trip to the town in hopes of helping out the residents and teaming up with them to stop the Hep-V vampires. Instead, when they arrive at the town, there's not a single human to be found. There's spray paint all over with cries for help including prayers and "SOS." Sookie discovers a pit that's full of dead bodies. Not a single human in the town made it out alive.

Pictured: Joe Manganiello, Anna Paquin, Sam Trammell and Ryan Kwanten
Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

The gang heads over to Mary Beth's house, which is also empty and looks like it had been broken into. Jason puts his forensic skills to use by tasting pizza left on the table, stating they must have attacked two and a half days ago (this is why Jason is the best cop in town). Sookie and Alcide uncover Mary Beth's diary, which hits close to home for Sookie, as Mary Beth writes about falling in love with a vampire named Henry.

Pictured: Anna Paquin
Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

As Sookie reads, she remembers her first date with Bill and the excitement that came with it. Alcide notices Sookie's emotional ties to the journal and later tells her in the car that she is nothing like Mary Beth just because they both fell in love with vampires. Vampire or not, Bill was simply Sookie's first love. Alcide suggests that they run away from Bon Temps, but Sookie strongly refuses. When they arrive home, Sookie kisses Alcide in a tender moment. After he gets in the shower, she then sneaks out to see Bill and asks if he could still sense her fear. (Are Sookie's feelings for Bill coming back?)

Back in Bon Temps, Tara's poor mother, Lettie Mae, is still desperately seeking to help Tara. Convinced she's caught between heaven and earth, Lettie Mae begs Lafayette who can communicate with the dead, to help. However, he refuses stating he does not involve himself with magic anymore. She later manipulates Willa to give her some of her blood to heal the hand she purposely burned, and hallucinates seeing Tara on a cross with a serpent wrapped around her. So is Lettie Mae just a crazy V-addict or is Tara truthfully stuck?

Pictured: Adina Porter and Gregg Daniel
Credit: Tony Rivetti/HBO

And let's not forget the big reveal at the end of the episode. It pains me to say it. Now, I knew that when Pam found Eric he wouldn't be 100% fine since he did after all get burned on top of a mountain. But as soon as Pam walked into the room Eric was laying in and the girls walked out saying, "he didn't want my blood," my heart sank because I knew what was coming. And low and behold, there's Eric sprawled across the bed with the visible Hep-V virus spreading up his chest (excuse me while I go cry now).

As much as it will pain me to see my favorite vampire and character slowly die all season, I can't help but think this story line will make the season - and entire series - much stronger. Because now, we can't take sides, it's not something that's black and white. All the characters will be emotionally invested in this, and it will affect them in one way or another. It's not going to be a happy ending because war never is.

Check out the promo for next Sunday's episode, "Fire in the Hole."