IMHO "True Blood" (2.6): Hard-Hearted Hannah

Last night's episode of HBO's True Blood was the most intense of the season, with a gripping second half that didn't let up until the cliffhanger ending.

Look below to see the top ten reasons why this episode earns a sweaty-palmed up arrow!

10. Please tell me I'm not the only who saw the title of this episode and immediately flashed to Dorothy singing at the Rusty Anchor on Golden Girls.

9. Hoyt standing up to his harridan mother, who nearly flips her spider-infested wig when he tells her that he's dating a vampire.

8. Hoyt and Jessica's sweet romance continues, but first Jessica shows her teen brat colors by dumping expensive bottles of Tru Blood down the hotel sink to spite Bill (and I love that one of the amenities in the vampire hotel is ... sunblock).

7. The best scene in the episode is a flashback to the early part of the last century, with Bill and his maker Lorena as a sort of Roaring 20's piano player and Flampire™ (flapper + vampire). It gives us a great glimpse of Bill before he was the stalwart, steady, do-gooder boyfriend type (frankly, I think he was hotter back then ... at least his hairstyle was).

6. Another great scene was when former cop Andy stopped by to question Lafayette about where he was when he went missing. Andy threatens to throw him in a "cell", which causes a massive panic-attack in poor Lafayette. He collapses and crawls away, unable to respond, when Terry comes to his defense. He chews Andy out, then kneels down and cradles Lafayette as they have a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder bonding moment.

5. The funniest (and at the same time, creepiest) moment of the episode occurred during Lafayette's mini-breakdown, as he looked up to see Andy morph into Eric. It was startling and hilarious.

4. Tara and Eggs embark on a mission for Maryann (who can be quite testy when she can't take a shower), but Eggs is led by a strange compulsion to a place in the woods that looks suspiciously sacrificial in nature. When Tara asks him what's going on, he just says "I've been here before", which freaks Tara out (And I don't blame her. I, too, hate it when ... eggs repeat on me.)

3. Jason could finally be coming to his senses regarding the "church". He and roommate Luke have been instructed to build a cross on a platform, which will be used during the "meet the sun" ceremony, which involves chaining a vampire to the cross and gathering around as the sun comes up and fries him. This doesn't sit well with Jason, but Luke explains that some sins are bigger than others. For instance, sex outside of marriage is bad, but not as bad as incest or bestiality, but even that isn't as bad as "doing it with a vampire ... or a dude. Or a vampire dude. That's like the cream de la cream of sin."

2. Sookie has been getting on my nerves lately, but her "infiltration" of the church led to the most tense moments of the episode, as she realizes that Reverend Steve knows she's a mind-reader. As the behemoth bodyguard joins Steve to "help" them with the tour, it dawns on her that she's bitten off more then she can chew, and she tries, to no avail, to talk her way out of the situation.

1. Poor Sam just can't catch a break. First he loses the woman he loves to a vampire, then his new love turns out to be a pig. Daphne is not only the porcine vision we've been seeing for months, she's also, unfortunately, a disciple of Maryann. She leads Sam into an ambush (featuring most of the townspeople in yet another orgy), and the last thing we see is Maryann in ceremonial garb brandishing one of those sacrificial knives they have in infomercials ("it slices, it dices, it calls forth demon spirits!").

As I said, I thought this episode was definitely the most intense of the season. We know from the previews that Sam survives, but will we finally learn the backstories of Maryann and Eggs? Will Sookie find Godrick before it's too late? Will Bill find Sookie before it's too late (or will Eric step up and be her rescuer?)

Why do Eric and Pam want Lafayette to start selling V again? Will he be able to function properly, or is his "pizazz" gone for good?

What did you think of this week's outing?