Scratches
True Blood | Season 2 | Episode 3

Scratches

TV-MA | 57 MIN

Directed by Scott Winant
Written by Raelle Tucker

Bill, behind the wheel of Sookie's car, speeds back toward Bon Temps with his girlfriend and Jessica. Sookie begs him to slow down, so he skids to a halt at the side of the road, furious at the women for endangering Jessica's family. Sookie apologizes repeatedly, but Bill admonishes her, demanding that she grow up. Hurt and angry, Sookie springs from the car, vowing to walk all night before she spends another moment with him.

Her 20-mile hike back to town is cut short at a few hundred feet, though. After rounding a bend, Sookie becomes aware of something in the darkness. No sooner can she make out its shape - something humanoid with the head of a bull - than the creature is upon her, shredding her back viciously with its talons. Bill bolts from the darkness at superhuman speed, and though he manages to scare off Sookie's attacker, the damage is done. He tries to feed Sookie his blood to heal her, but she chokes after the first swallow, spitting up mouthfuls of white foam.

Daphne walks into Sam's office at Merlotte's to tell the boss that she's short more than $60. Frustrated - not just about the money - Sam tells her she'll have to pay it back; he's running a business, after all. Close to tears, Daphne pushes her night's tips into his hands, adding that she'll have to pay him the rest later. As she takes off, Tara steps into the office, informing Sam that he needs to give Daphne "positive reinforcement." But hearing Maryann's words come out of Tara's mouth just aggravates Sam further.

Jason snaps awake in the middle of the night, disturbed by a dream in which Eddie appears in his bunk at the Light of Day Institute and attacks him. Beside himself with guilt and horror, Jason starts to pray, begging God for a sign that he's on the right path. Luke answers from across the room, winging a pillow at Jason and growling at him to shut up.

Bill brings Sookie to Fangtasia in hopes that Eric can save her. The older vampire summons help - a female dwarf called Dr. Ludwig - who ascertains that Sookie has been contaminated with a potent poison. Fighting against the clock, she pours some liquid into the wounds and digs in with her gloved fingers in an attempt to clean the gashes. As she works, Eric and Bill move to another room, where they try to determine what attacked Sookie. Eric dispatches Pam and Chow to search the forest, but they come up empty-handed. When the doctor is finished with Sookie, Bill returns to her side. With the poison treated, her body is able to accept his blood, which heals the deep wounds on her back. After Sookie fades into relieved unconsciousness, Bill awkwardly thanks Eric for saving her life.

Tara wakes up find Maryann in the kitchen - along with giant platters of food and Karl ready to serve it. Maryann explains that she's having some people over, but Tara is more curious about the tension that's become apparent between her new host and her former lover. Maryann says she barely knows Sam, but instinct tells her that he's jealous of Tara's finding fulfillment elsewhere. Tara's not convinced, but a large joint that Maryann has rolled is enough to end the conversation.

In the parking lot of his bar, Sam packs up his truck with labeled boxes holding all his possessions. When Terry pulls up, Sam asks the cook to look after the bar while he's "away." Terry isn't thrilled with the idea - he can barely handle the stress of flipping burgers - but he supposes he has no choice in the matter. Sam thanks him, but Terry responds by accusing him of running away. Sam gets defensive, and Terry calls him a coward.

Jason sits in a circle of LODI recruits, listening to a former fangbanger describe how she was used up and discarded by the vampire she thought loved her. When Sarah prompts Jason for his thoughts, he says that his sister dates a vampire and admits that he doesn't see things as being so black and white. Convinced he doesn't belong, Jason leaves the room, but Sarah follows him outside. She tells him how at first she supported vampire rights ... until her sister was hooked on V and murdered by vampires. She consoles Jason, saying it's his goodness and humanity that make him vulnerable to these creatures' lies. She asks him to pray with her, and now in tears, he falls to his knees.

Sookie wakes up the morning after her ordeal, not only healed but feeling fantastic from the dose of vampire blood. Ginger, the strung-out daytime caretaker at Fangtasia, strikes up a conversation with her, but Sookie hears in the woman's thoughts that Lafayette is locked in the basement - and there's a gun behind the bar. Racing to the weapon, Sookie trains it on Ginger and demands to see Lafayette. In the dungeon, she's unable to free him from the chains but promises to get him out somehow. That night, once the vampires have awakened, she makes a deal with Eric: She'll travel to Dallas to search for his lost friend if he frees Lafayette - and pays her $10,000.

Back in Bon Temps, Jessica wakes up at Bill's house and heads to Merlotte's, where she sits down and notices Hoyt, alone at another table. Summoning his nerve, he walks over, compliments her smile and offers to buy her a drink. When she asks for Tru Blood, Jessica worries that he'll be scared off, but she's pleasantly surprised. "You're a vampire - that's awesome," he says.

Tara and Eggs talk over their personal struggles as the party at Maryann's house builds around them. The folks of Bon Temps are really letting loose, with unlikely couples like Mike Spencer and Jane Bodehouse forming in the crowds. Andy Bellefleur shows up in his official capacity to ask Maryann to keep the noise down. As he tries to find her, he notices a large pig in a dollhouse in the backyard. At this point, Maryann spots him and convinces him to stick around and have a drink. He agrees, but when he asks Maryann if she has a livestock permit for the pig, the animal has disappeared.

In Dallas, Jason has dinner with the Newlins, who go out of their way to make the recruit feel comfortable in their home. While Sarah prepares dessert, Steve explains to Jason how he believes that vampires murdered his father. In fact, he says, everyone needs to prepare for the war going on out there.

Jessica and Hoyt leave Merlotte's in favor of hanging out at Bill's house. But some making out on the couch turns embarrassing when Jessica's fangs pop out involuntarily. She tries to cover her face, but Hoyt stops her, telling her she's beautiful. Flattered and aroused, Jessica tells Hoyt how long she's waited for this moment ... before diving onto his neck.

Sookie and Bill drop Lafayette off at his house, and though they offer to take him to a hospital to treat his leg, he refuses. Once inside, he collapses on the couch, covering himself with a blanket and weeping, totally overcome by what he's been through. Outside, Sookie and Bill talk in the car. After having witnessed the evil that vampires are capable of, she says she's not as trusting as she used to be. She hates Eric for his brutal torturing of Lafayette, even if he did save her life. And she knows there's darkness in Bill as well, though she chooses to see the good ...

Maryann's party continues to get more and more hedonistic, with drunken men and topless women everywhere. Tara and Eggs lounge in the hot tub, maybe the only two people at the house making an honest connection - until a half-naked sorority girl climbs in between them and starts rubbing Eggs' neck. Tara gets out, put off, and notices for the first time the strange scene unfolding around her. Eggs follows her into another room to talk, and outside both their views, Mike and Jane writhe together on the grass, their pupils blacking out their entire eyes, as if by some supernatural force.

Sookie and Bill arrive at his house, and they open the door to find Jessica, fangs extended inches from Hoyt's throat. Enraged, Bill flings Jessica off of him, and when Hoyt protests, turns on him with his own fangs on display.

His truck packed, Sam prepares to leave. But when Dean the dog whimpers at him in the Merlotte's parking lot, Sam smiles and agrees to go on one last late-night run with his four-legged friend. The two identical dogs dart through the forest until they come to a lake, where one dog leaps off of the dock - and emerges from the water as Sam in human form. "Come on in," he calls to the other dog, but it stares back blankly. A moment later Daphne emerges from the woods, telling him that she'd also been thinking of taking a dip. They make small-talk and smooth over their earlier argument before Daphne slips off her shirt to come in the water, revealing a series of deep, gangly scars on her back, identical to the wounds Sookie just suffered the previous day.

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