IMHO "True Blood" (2.7): Release Me

This week's True Blood gave us another orgy, a not-so-shocking death, Lafayette with a small glint back in his eyes, and our first good glimpse of the much-discussed Godric.

Look below to see the top ten reasons why this episode earns another up arrow.

10. Poor Andy. We first see him running through the woods screaming "pig!" and falling face first into the mud. He then has to endure seeing another backwoods orgy and ends up having his arm broken by an underwear-clad Terry. His humiliation is completed with a visit to Merlotte's, where he calls Tara "devil-worshipper" and Arlene "zombie-woman".

9. Sam manages to escape Maryann's clutches by running away and shifting into an owl, and when he confronts Daphne later she explains that Maryann is a Meanad, etc., and can control (and thrives on) people's emotions. Miss Exposition goes on to explain that Maryann can't control "supernaturals" (like shapeshifters), so they have to give themselves willingly to her.

8. Hey, wait a minute! Does this mean it's possible that Andy is some kind of supernatural? He's never been under Maryann's control, even when seeing her handiwork face-to-face. Hmm ...

7. Hoyt and Jessica continued their sweet courtship, this time finally consummating their relationship in the vampire hotel. As Jessica awakened from her slumber, Hoyt lit blood candles (they "smell like soup") and tossed rose petals around the room. In what was a perfect encapsulation of the Hoyt character, the song he chose during his love preparation was ... Bleeding Love.

6. Lafayette seems to be getting his groove back, slowly. He brought some of the sass we know and love back this week, albeit in a much more muted way. He finally met Eggs, and it definitely brought out the old Lafayette for a moment, calling him "Satan in a Sunday Hat". Perfect.

5. The one false note this week was Tara's reaction to what's been going on. A few episodes ago it seemed as though she was about to put everything together concerning Maryann, but this week she seems to have forgotten how suspicious she was. When Maryann came in the door covered in blood and carrying the carcass of a rabbit, Tara just shook her head and joked "what a weirdo". Is it Maryann's manipulation?

4. We figured that Daphne wouldn't be around long ...and we were right. She's a more-or-less willing sacrifice for Maryann, who has Eggs stab her and cut out her heart.

3. The Lorena/Bill story is quickly becoming tiresome. I know they want to show how close they once were (and how much control a maker has over the make-ee), but it comes off as the Vampire Bickersons (and Lorena is just a shrill, annoying shrew ... it's no wonder Bill wanted to leave her).

2. Jason once again can't catch a break. Reverend Steve finds out that Sookie is his sister and immediately jumps to the wrong conclusion. He orders his goon to kill him, but Jason escapes and runs away, only to be found by a furious Sarah. Again the victim of a misunderstanding, Jason tries to explain, but Sarah raises a gun and shoots him point black in the chest. Hopefully, it was one of those vampire squirt guns filled with holy water.

1. Godric! ... Yowza! When we first saw him he looked like the world's first emo kid, now he looks like Corbin Fisher's next great discovery. The idea of Godric and Eric ... well, that sound you hear is the clickety-clack of keyboards already stroking out the fanfic.

This was another good episode, although I could have done without the vampire road show of Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, and I did question some motivations. But overall, it's a good setup for next week's big church confrontation. Could it be that Godric wants to be killed by the fellowship, in order to become a martyr, thus starting a vampire/human war? I'm usually wrong about these things, but it would explain a lot! What did you think of this week's episode?