After four episodes, it finally dawned on me last week that True Blood may in fact not be a parable about civil rights and the need for integration and acceptance in small town America. In truth, True Blood has been far more shallow a show than I was expecting. The show has been twisting and turning its way around the civil rights question for four episodes. To my surprise, this time the show finally brought some real emotion.

With Jason’s horrible penis-draining last week, I thought we might see him turn over a new leaf. Unfortunately, LaFayette convinces him to try “V” again, this time using a proper dosage. LaFayette suggests that taking the proper dose allows the user to feel the feelings of the vampire. Now with a more manageable high, Jason shows up at the historical society out of his mind on vampire blood.

After the incident at the vampire bar, Sookie has completely reevaluated her relationship with Bill. Bill’s performance with the policeman really struck a chord with Sookie. We all know they’ll end up together again, but for now she’s won Sam the were-barkeep’s approval. He finally works up the courage to ask Sookie out to grandmother’s historical society meeting. When Sam and Sookie arrive at the meeting, Bill is already there as the guest of honor.

With all the principles in place (and Jason high as a kite) Bill begins his speech to the terrified and curious townsfolk. Bill reinforces the idea that vampires and humans can and should live together in peace. The results are mixed. A child in the audience points out to his mother how “white” Bill is. His mother replies “No, we’re white. He’s dead.” Bill’s speech recounting his experiences in the Civil War does quite a bit to rehabilitate him in the eyes of the townspeople. He’s even embraced by some of them after his speech.

Now alone, Bill flashes back to his civil war days, before he became a vampire. A soldier fleeing the Yankees, he sought refuge in a cabin with a new widow. The widow offers herself to Bill and he recoils not wanting to sully his marriage. The widow is a vampire and she feeds on Bill. The widow claims Bill as her own and makes him a vampire. Later, Bill goes home to his family with the widow knowing that he can never return to his human life. Obviously, Bill still feels the pain of that loss.

Sookie returns home, having made a good faith attempt at a date with Sam, to find her grandmother dead. I certainly didn’t see that coming and I can only imagine the horrific impact that it will have on the generally sunny and positive Sookie and the already unstable Jason.

Despite Jason’s boner-ific adventures, the show took a more serious tone this week. I was all ready to give up on the narrative and just sit back and enjoy the nude bloodletting when the show changed its outlook. Bill dealt with the pain of his lost humanity, the townspeople took a step forward in understanding vampires and LaFayette got to beat up some bigots. Pleasantly, my rather bleak outlook on the show last week was reversed.