"You Smell Like Dinner" | |
Season 4, Episode 2 | |
Air date | July 3, 2011 |
Written by | Brian Buckner |
Directed by | Scott Winant |
Episode Guide | |
previous "She's Not There" |
next "If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'?" |
"You Smell Like Dinner" is the second episode of Season 4 of the HBO original series True Blood, and the series' thirty-eighth episode overall.
Summary[]
Sookie adjusts to Bon Temps' new realities, Bill reveals pieces of his past, Eric crashes a witches' meeting, Jason gets his wounds licked, Andy struggles with his addiction, Sam learns of Luna's special talents, Jessica satisfies her blood cravings, and Arlene witnesses strange behavior from her family.
Synopsis[]
in my house!"
― Sookie Stackhouse, to Tara Thornton
Jason regains consciousness to find himself on a dirty mattress, with his hands and feet bound to the bedposts. Timbo, one of the werepanther kids, is licking his head. He tells Jason he has a cut, and keeps licking. Horrified, Jason stops Timbo (even though he appreciates Timbo's care) and asks who kidnapped him. Timbo and other kids look on guiltily, but don't say anything. Jason convinces the boy to loosen one knot, but before he can, Crystal's half-brother Felton comes in with a shotgun and scares them away. Jason asks where Crystal is, but Felton just threatens him. Jason spits an expletive at him, but Felton shoves the barrel of the gun in Jason's face and tells him he's the one whose about to get f***ed.
In Bon Temps, Sookie tries to get Eric to leave, telling him that just because he owns her house doesn't mean he owns her. She declines his offer to make her his.
Eric replies, "Your blood tastes like freedom, Sookie. Like sunshine in a pretty blonde bottle. You may not know it yet, but that's what vampires smell when they smell you." Eric adds that she'll need protection, and he bought the house because he cares about her. He says that he could taste her blood whenever he wanted to, but instead he's asking her, politely, to be his. Sookie tells Eric she can never be with him the way she was with Bill. Eric tells her that he knows there are two Sookie's, one that clings to the idea that she's merely human, and another who knows she's better than that. He tells her that the more she lets faerie Sookie speak for her, the longer she'll go on living, and departs into the night.
One of the younger witches from Marnie's coven, Katerina, reports to Bill. She informs him that their magic brought Marnie's bird, Minerva back to life. Bill tells her that her work spying for him in the coven is done because it's no longer safe. She unbuttons her top, and Bill takes her to his bed.
Protesters outside of Fangtasia antagonize customers as Pam looks on with a wan smile. Jessica and Hoyt try to leave, but one of them insults Jessica, calling her a whore, while another records the exchange on a cell phone camera. Hoyt steps in to defend her honor and one of the protesters picks a fight. Hoyt gets pummeled. Jessica moves to help him but Pam holds her back, musing that technology has taken all the fun out of being a vampire.
Sam catches up with Luna after their run and they sit side by side in the grass, naked. Sam flirtatiously tries to get Luna to open up to him, and moves to kiss her, but she pulls away suddenly. She gets up and runs off, shifting into a mare as she goes.
Jesus and Lafayette discuss the ramifications of resurrecting the bird as they get into Lafayette's bed. Lafayette says that he thinks they were stepping where they don't belong. Jesus tells Lafayette not to blame the magic for how it's used. Jesus believes there's no such thing as black magic or white magic, just the intent that lies in the heart of the practitioner. He reassures Lafayette that he knows of nobody else that has as much light in his heart as he does.
Bill suddenly stops having sex with Katerina - he feels Sookie's presence as she walks across the grounds, up to his King's mansion. Bill's armed guards intercept Sookie and at first try to turn her away, but Bill sends orders over their walkie-talkies, allowing her to pass.
Sookie heads upstairs and greets Bill just as Katerina, who is still getting dressed and has his bite marks on her neck, is walking out of his bedroom. Sookie tells Bill that Eric has purchased her house with the intent of owning her, and asks Bill to use his royal influence to order Eric to give back her house and leave her alone. Bill tells her that Eric has friends in high places, but he'll do what he can to help her. Until he can figure out a work-around, he advises Sookie to find shelter in another human's home. Sookie asks what good that would do if Eric can buy that one too. Sookie bids Bill good night, calling him, "Your Excellency." Then she asks how Bill became King, anyway. He balks, and she decides not to press the issue, telling him, "If there's one thing I learned from us being together, it's that every time I found out something new about you, I ended up wishing I didn't know it."
As she walks out, Bill looks utterly pained and heartbroken. And we FLASH BACK to:
London, 1982
Bill, in full punk-rock get-up, with spiky hair and motorcycle jacket, trolls a bar as a band rages onstage. He strikes up a conversation with Callum, the bartender, using a cockney accent. He buys Callum a drink, and later drinks from him in an alley. Callum squeals and struggles until Bill glamours him. Under Bill's influence, he comes to believe that none of this has happened and that he'll just feel a bit weak for the next few days. Bill heals the bartender's wounds and sends him running off.
"You don't kill them," says a female voice behind him.
Bill wheels around and shows his fangs, to see Nan wearing an 80's power suit. Nan is impressed that Bill seems to want to fit in, and recruits Bill to join their cause of mainstreaming, explaining that the greatest minds in the vampire legions, including Louis Pasteur (yes, he's a vampire) are working on synthesizing human blood that vampires can survive on. She tells Bill that she's looking for a few good vampire spies to infiltrate the monarchies and plant the seeds of discord from within. She concludes, "are you in, or are you out?"
In the present, Bill looks troubled by just how far in he has gotten.
The next day, Sookie heads into work at Merlotte's, where Terry and Arlene have brought in baby Mikey. Terry introduces Sookie to Mikey, and Arlene freaks out, telling Sookie not to read his mind or hers and wailing that her intentions are pure. She runs off, leaving Sookie confused and Terry to explain it away by citing sleep deprivation.
Andy drives up to the werepanther trailer park in Hotshot in a frenzy. He uses the pretense of official police business to try to scare some V out of the residents. Crystal, hopped up on V, jumps on top of a still-bound Jason and stuffs a rag in his mouth to keep him from screaming and alerting Andy. She tells Jason that they only have to wait a little longer before they can be together forever.
Outside, Andy is pumping his fist open and closed anxiously. Felton recognizes this side-effect of V-withdrawal, and sends Luther, an elderly Hotshot resident, to Andy with a vial of V. Andy hungrily seizes it, shouts that he's taking it as official evidence, and drives off. Crystal hears Andy drive off and begins purring and licking Jason, telling him he's done well. Jason, still gagged, looks horrified.
At Merlotte's, Sam heads into his back office to find Luna sexily draped in his chair. She tells him that she's trying to seduce him as her way to saying sorry for the way she left him the night before. She tells him that she really wants to let him in, and plants a deep, passionate kiss on him. She asks if he's coming to the group tonight, and he says yes. She turns to leave; her work there is done. Sam playfully asks what she would have done if he had said no, and Luna smiles. Sam walks her to the door. Tommy, who is sitting at a table, asks who she is. Sam tells Tommy to mind his own business.
In the kitchen, Terry asks Arlene what she wants to do that evening, but she's not listening. She stares at Mikey, very hard, until a blood vessel bursts in her eye. Arlene screams and blames Mikey, saying he's as rotten to the core as his daddy was. As Arlene runs off, Terry reassures the baby that he's his daddy.
Sookie heads home, and experiences a horrifying flashback of being chased by faeries. She snaps back to reality and realizes that it's just Tara running up to her. They hug, and Tara joins her as she heads inside. Sookie is angry to see a red bow accompanied by a note that says, "Out with the old" on her front door. Tara thinks that it's from Bill at first, but Sookie assures her that she's no longer with him, explaining that it's from Eric.
On the table is a new microwave with another note that says, "In with the new." Sookie explains that they're not together, but that Eric bought her house. That brings even less comfort to Tara. Sookie opens the fridge to see that Eric has also left a carafe of blood in her fridge. "Psychopathic frat boy!" Sookie hisses as she pours it down the drain.
She and Tara decide they can forget their worries by sharing some ice cream on the couch in the living room. Sookie grabs some blankets and heads in, but immediately notices that a new armoire has been placed there. She opens it and is horrified to discover the armoire is concealing a ladder leading underneath the house; Eric has built himself a cubby in Sookie's home.
Hoyt is nursing his cuts and bruises at the house he shares with Jessica. Feeling bad for him, she offers some of her blood so he can heal faster. Hoyt declines, saying he doesn't need "that sh*t." Jessica is insulted, and asks where the keys to his car are. He's distressed that she's running off on him, but tosses her the keys anyway. She tells him she's going to the drug store to get him some Advil. But at the fork in the road, instead of driving to the store, she heads to Shreveport and Fangtasia.
Tara heads over to greet Lafayette, just as he and Jesus are heading off to a Wiccan gathering. After joking around for a bit, Lafayette convinces Tara, who can't believe her cousin is a Wiccan now, to join them at the coven meeting.
Eric stops in to visit Bill, who weakly asks him to relinquish ownership of Sookie's house. Eric naturally refuses. Bill follows up his request by informing Eric that there's a new coven in Bon Temps. Eric is sarcastically dismissive, until the new King horrifies him with the knowledge that they're necromancers and brought a bird back from the dead.
"If they can control the dead, then they can control us," Bill says, impressing the gravity of the situation upon Eric. Eric reminds Bill that there's no need; long before Bill was born into his human life, Eric was dealing with the Inquisition. He tells Eric to take care of it himself. Eric asks if the AVL has signed off on this order, and Bill bellows that as the King of Louisiana, he doesn't have to ask anyone else. Eric smirks and tells Bill that he'll visit the coven. Then he sarcastically bows with a theatrical flourish, saying, "My King." Eric shakes his head and laughs to himself as he turns his back on Bill.
Bill thinks about the moment where he rose to challenge Queen Sophie-Anne in combat. Sophie-Anne reminds Bill that she's more than twice his age. Bill tells her that he has nothing to lose. They levitate and tangle in mid-air before Sophie-Anne easily throws Bill to the ground, sending him sliding down the hall. But as Bill moves to stand again, a team of human sharpshooters move in and take aim on the Queen. Sophie-Anne is shocked that Bill brought humans in on vampire affairs. But Bill tells her that she did that when she sent him after Sookie. The sharpshooter's guns are loaded with wooden bullets, constructed with a silver core. They fire on Sophie-Anne, reducing her to a puddle of gel as she meets her true death.
Nan walks in behind Bill and asks if this was all about Sookie, wondering what's so special about her. Bill smiles and tells the suspicious Nan nothing. She tells Bill he had better not be lying to her, adding that Sophie-Anne lied and things turned out badly for her. She officially names William "Bill" Compton the King of Louisiana. He pledges his fealty to the AVL as long as he walks the Earth. "Hear, hear," Nan replies. "Now, go clean yourself up. You're covered in Queen."
At Fangtasia, Sookie pleads with Pam to convince Eric to relinquish ownership of her house. Pam can't believe Sookie thought she would side with her on the issue. Sookie tells Pam that she's waiting for Eric in his office. But before she turns her back on Sookie completely, Pam advises Sookie to accept Eric's offer. "With what you are, faerie princess, you need to be somebody or you won't be at all. Eric is handsome, he's rich, and in his own way, he cares about you. He really does." Sookie stubbornly declines, refusing to be Eric's puppet. "Shame for you, then," Pam coos. "He pulls good string."
Jessica drives up to Fangtasia, walking through the protesters with a look of purpose on her face. She enters and scans the bar for Matt, the handsome fangbanger who approached her the other evening. Finding him, she silently homes in; he offers her his hand.
Tara, Jesus, and Lafayette sit amidst the coven as the witches buzz what they've achieved. Someone asks Marnie what they're going to bring back next, and with a twisted smile on her face, Marnie answers that they're going to bring back a person. The coven is shocked and Tara decides she's going to wait outside.
At Sam's shifter meeting, they discuss what the freakiest thing they've ever shifted into was. Luna silences everyone when she admits she shifted into her own mother. She explains that her mother died giving birth to her. In Navajo culture, there's the belief that Skinwalkers were horrible, evil witches whose powers allow them to transform into any animal on Earth. including humans. They are said to gain their powers by killing another shifter from their own family. She says that the feeling of being somebody else was crazy and scary at first, but then became exhilarating because she got to be her mother, who she never met. Luna sniffs the air, sensing another shifter. Sam gets the scent, and takes off. He sees that Tommy has been listening the whole time. Tommy sees Sam running toward him, and takes off. They shift into owl form and Sam flies after his brother.
Lafayette questions where the coven will get a dead body. Eric bursts into the room and jokingly asks if someone called for a dead body. Lafayette jumps up in horror.
Sookie heads into the bathroom and hears Jessica drinking from Matt. She calls Jessica out of the stall. Sookie asks if Hoyt knows what she's doing. Jessica tells her that she resents Sookie acting like her stepmother. She tells Sookie that she can drink who she wants, and rejoins Matt.
Sam catches Tommy, and they accuse one another of betrayal; Sam for lying about the anger management classes and Tommy for lying about his leg, which has obviously healed. Tommy softens and tells Sam that he just wants to be brothers. Sam doesn't trust Tommy but tells him that they can slowly chip away at that and try again to start a relationship.
Eric arrives at the coven's meeting and asks Marnie to identify herself. She steps forward and Eric politely thanks her. He informs her that, "the coven is disbanded", adding: "Before you think of agreeing and meeting behind my back, know this: There is no behind my back."
Marnie asks what's in it for her, and Eric grows angry. Lafayette tells her that Eric does not negotiate, and urges Marnie to accept. Tara comes inside to see what's going on and seeing Eric there, she groans, "I hate this place."
Marnie considers for a moment, then quickly says, "Join hands." But Eric is faster. He grabs Marnie and sinks his fangs into her neck. Horrified, Holly begins to lead the coven in chanting a protection spell. Everyone joins hands but Lafayette, who is too scared to participate. Tara runs up behind Eric with a stake. Eric quickly throws Marnie down and seizes Tara by the neck. He smiles. "What have we here?"
Seeing Tara in danger, Lafayette joins the circle, and Marnie rises off of the floor as the room goes dark. She is possessed by a spirit and chants a spell in Latin. Eric drops Tara and suddenly looks very afraid. His fangs retract, his gaze goes blank, and he flees the magic shop.
Crystal and Felton come in to Jason's room, and Felton begins to disrobe. Crystal finally lets Jason in on their plan: Crystal needs to keep the family going, but Felton appears to be shooting blanks. So they're going to use Jason to get Crystal pregnant. First, they have to make him into a werepanther. She tells him it's only going to hurt in the beginning. Crystal disrobes, and both she and Felton shift into their werepanther forms and sink their teeth into Jason's exposed torso as he screams.
Sookie is driving back from Fangtasia when she encounters a shirtless, dazed Eric wandering down the road. She pulls over, rolls down the window and asks what he's doing. Eric doesn't recognize her. Even after Sookie identifies herself he insists, with a blank look on his face, that he doesn't know who she is. He turns to leave. Eric stops in his tracks and inhales deeply. He walks up to Sookie's car and looks at her with new and intense interest, asking, "Why do you smell so good?"
Trailer[]
Notes[]
Accolades[]
- This episode currently hasn't received any awards.
Allusions[]
- [Shifter Mythology]: In this episode we learn that there are some shapeshifters who can change into other humans (known as skinwalkers), but in order to do so it is believed that they must kill another shifter member of their own family.
Bloopers and Continuity Errors[]
- The scene in the bar featuring Callum and Bill talking shows the Guinness beer tap from 2009; it's the limited edition 250 anniversary Guinness.
Continuity[]
- Although credited, Courtney Ford (Portia) does not appear in this episode.
- This episode marks the final appearance of Evan Rachel Wood as Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne of Louisiana. Via a flashback in this episode, the moment is shown when the Queen meets the True Death at the hands of Bill and Nan.
Flashbacks[]
- Sophie-Anne meeting the True Death is shown in a flashback.
- A flashback of Bill feeding on a human and meeting Nan in London in 1982 is shown.
Miscredits[]
- There are no miscredits that occur in this episode.
Music[]
- "Dominatrix" - Zack Tempest
- "And The World Laughs With You" - Flying Lotus feat. Thom Yorke
- "Trash The Place" - See Spot Kill
- "Lift Off" - John Etkin-Bell and Mike Farmer
- "Make Some Noise" - John Etkin-Bell and Mike Farmer
- "A Life on the Ocean Wave" - Unknown Marching Band
- "Fat City" - Tom Heyman
- "Trampolines" - Eric Corne
- "Wheels" - Kanude
- "Family Man" - Craig Campbell
- "Clown Darker" - DJ Acucrack
- "Coming Down" - DJ Acucrack
- "Well OK Honey" - Jenny O
- "Shoot First" - Unknown
- "You Smell Like Dinner" - Jinx Titanic & Super 8 C*m Shot
Production[]
- There are no production notes available for this episode.
Title[]
- The title of this episode may refer to the amnesiac Eric wondering why Sookie smells so good.
- The title of this episode is similar to a line of dialogue spoken by Hollis to Sookie in "It Hurts Me Too": "You look like dinner."
Trivia[]
- This episode continues the food tradition that is found every second episode of each season.
- Possessing the lowest number of views than any episode within the same season, the viewership for this episode dropped by almost half, only to be almost doubled again by the following episode.
Memorable Quotes[]
Arlene Fowler: "I love that baby... I love that baby with all my heart."
Eric Northman:
- (to Bill) "My King" (and bows)
- "There is no behind my back... I am everywhere"
Marnie Stonebrook: (casting a spell on Eric) "Jam tibi impero et præcipio maligne spiritus! ut confestim allata et circulo discedas, absque omni strepito, terrore, clamore et foetore, asque sine omni damno mei tam animæ quam corporis." (Now I command and charge you, O evil spirit! that you immediately depart from the circle, abstaining from all noise, terror, tumult, and filth, and if you refuse I will damn you both in body and soul.)
Pam Swynford de Beaufort:
- "Let these good people practice their constitutional right to be fucking idiots!"
- "Technology's taken the fun out of being a vampire."
- "You need to be somebody's or you won’t be at all."
- "Did I miss something? Are we girls now? Did we join a book club and read some queer chick lit memoirs and are bound together by estrogen or sisterhood, or some other feminist drivel?"
Sookie Stackhouse: (seeing Eric's blood in refrigerator) "Psychopathic frat boy!"
Terry Bellefleur: "Your Mama just gets a little crazy sometimes, which means we just have to love her that much harder."
Sam Merlotte: (to Luna) "People don't get to be as beautiful as you are without havin' one hell of a story to tell."
Memorable Dialogue[]
Sookie Stackhouse: "I will never be Eric's puppet."
Pam Swynford de Beaufort: "Hm. Shame for you then. He pulls good string."
Sookie Stackhouse: "Do you think my legs are just going to magically open for you?"
Eric Northman: "Well that was saucy..must have been fairy Sookie talking. I like when she comes out."
Sookie Stackhouse: "... and I'm already sorry I said it."
Cast[]
Gallery[]
Images[]
Video[]
Trading Cards[]
Episode B1[]
Episode Ratings[]
Episode # | Episode Title | Viewers (in millions) |
#4.02 (38) | "You Smell Like Dinner" | 2.90 |
True Blood Season 4 | |
<< Season 1 • << Season 2 • << Season 3 | Season 5 >> • Season 6 >> • Season 7>> |
#01 "She's Not There" | #07 "Cold Grey Light of Dawn" |
#02 "You Smell Like Dinner" | #08 "Spellbound" |
#03 "If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'?" | #09 "Let's Get Out of Here" |
#04 "I'm Alive and on Fire" | #10 "Burning Down the House" |
#05 "Me and the Devil" | #11 "Soul of Fire" |
#06 "I Wish I Was the Moon" | #12 "And When I Die" |