True Blood: Turn! Turn! Turn!

"I'm a gay vampire American."

- Steve Newlin

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" is the first episode of season five of the vampire television series True Blood and the forty-ninth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Daniel Minahan and written by Brian Buckner. The episode first aired on HBO on Sunday, June 10th, 2012. In this episode, Sookie Stackhouse kills Debbie Pelt, but pays a heavy price when her best friend Tara suffers a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Sookie and Lafayette entreat the aid of Pam to give Tara a second chance by turning her into a vampire, but Pam doesn't do anything without getting something in return. Meanwhile, Bill and Eric are now on the run from the Authority. They are briefly captured, but are subsequently rescued by Nora - Eric's "sister", who is also a progeny of Godric. The Reverend Steve Newlin makes a surprising return and is now a vampire. Newlin comes out of both the coffin and the closet when he professes his love to Jason Stackhouse. Sam Merlotte is blamed for the death of Marcus Bozeman and the werewolf's former pack mates want revenge. While Bill Compton is away, Jessica Hamby has the run of the house and throws a college frat party. A more pressing threat lurks on the horizon however, as Russell Edgington rises from his entombment.

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode includes a recap of events from season four. The climax from "And When I Die" is replayed at the beginning of this episode.


 * Lauren Bowles, Valentina Cervi, Michael McMillian and Janina Gavankar are added to the opening credit cast list beginning with this episode.


 * Zenali Turner reprises her role as young Sookie Stackhouse. She appeared last in the season one episode "Burning House of Love".


 * The turning of Tara Thornton is uncharacteristic of other vampire turnings in that she is fully dead before Pam takes her to ground. Generally a human is taken to the point of death, but are still very much alive when a vampire turns them.


 * Debbie Pelt is seen in archival footage from "And When I Die" only.


 * First appearance of Holly Cleary's kids, Wade and Rocky.


 * Although Denis O'Hare is credited in this episode in the role of Russell Edgington, the character actually only makes a behind-the-scenes appearance. He is briefly seen in recap footage from season three as well.


 * Russell Edgington was the primary antagonist from season three of True Blood. He appeared last in "Evil Is Going On".


 * The actor who plays the vampire Hayes (whom Nora destroys) is uncredited in this episode.


 * The bearded werewolf that follows Martha Bozeman is J.D. Carson. He is played by actor Louis Herthum. Coincidentally, this is not the first time that Louis has played a werewolf. He also played Simon Ford, an Alpha pack leader on two episodes of the short-lived ABC television series The Gates.

Allusions

 * Jason Stackhouse makes a reference to the Fellowship of the Sun. This was the vampire-hunting religious organization headed up by Steve Newlin. They were one of the primary antagonists from season two.


 * Lafayette Reynolds includes Maenads as part of the list of "supernatural bullshit" he is sick of dealing with. A Maenad is a mythological being of Greek origin. The character of Maryanne Forrester, who was another primary antagonist from season two was a Maenad.


 * Pam De Beaufort makes an uncomplimentary reference to her Walmart jogging suit. Walmart is an American multinational retailer corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by revenue.


 * The video game that Jessica Hamby and Jason Stackhouse are playing at the Compton residence is Guitar Hero. The song they sing together is "Cherry Bomb", which was first recorded by The Runaways in 1976. The song is also covered in the 2010 biopic of the same name where it was partially sung by Twilight stars Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning.


 * Marcus Bozeman was the former pack leader of the werewolves. He was killed by Alcide Herveaux in "Soul of Fire".

Quotes

 * Pam De Beaufort: I'm wearing a Walmart sweat suit for y'all. If that's not a demonstration of team spirit, I don’t know what is.


 * Eric Northman: Fuck Sookie.


 * Pam De Beaufort: Even if I try, what's to say she wont rise up out of the ground tomorrow night completely and utterly fucktarded?


 * Pam De Beaufort: If you can use your magic hands or super snatch, whatever power it is you have over Eric, to fix what's broken between us, and you still owe me one... you've got yourself a deal.