Secret dungeons and cults and ripped-out hearts, oh my. Welcome back, “True Blood.”

From The Wall Street Journal ( I am not kidding they look to be doing a weekly recap -amazing!)

Secret dungeons and cults and ripped-out hearts, oh my. Welcome back, “True Blood.”

When the first season of HBO’s Southern Gothic vampire series, created by Alan Ball (”Six Feet Under”) and based on Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, ended last November, Rene Lenier was revealed as the serial killer terrorizing Bon Temps, Louisiana, and telepathic waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin) was so touched that her 173-year-old vampire boyfriend Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) was willing to be burned to a crisp for her, she decided that a reconciliation just might be in their future. Meanwhile, her falsely-accused (and frequently shirtless) brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) found God, short-order cook/dealer/prostitute Lafayette went missing, and a dead leg was discovered sticking out of detective Andy Bellefleur’s car. All caught up? Let’s proceed.

In the second two premiere, the offending appendage is quickly identified as that of Miss Jeanette, a.k.a. the faux voodoo priestess who performed an “exorcism” on both surly-but-sensitive bartender (and BFF to Sookie) Tara (Rutina Wesley) and her alcoholic mother. Not only has Miss Jeanette been murdered, however, but her attacker has also taken the liberty of physically removing her heart as well. Fun! The event pushes a shaken Tara further into the ominous world of the mysterious “social worker” Maryann (Michelle Forbes). We know Maryann is up to no good because she was discovered naked in the middle of the road — with a giant pig, no less — last season. Plus, when her manservant Carl accidentally interrupts a tender moment between Tara and “Eggs,” another lodger staying at Maryann’s mansion, she channels her inner Faye Dunaway and slaps him, screaming, “Nobody needed towels!” Maryann’s connection to Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), Sookie’s boss and erstwhile canine protector (as a shapeshifter, he can transform into a dog at will), is also explained via flashback. Unsurprisingly for this show, rough sex is involved.

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