MERLOTTE'S

Everybody's staying home and cuddling up close these days. The vampires don't bother going out because there's no TruBlood anywhere, and the humans don't bother going out for the same reason plus dying, and so everything is empty all the time. Lafayette serves up some food to Andy and Holly -- Andy's been escorting her home, in the pre-war days lately -- and Lafayette acts gay and then they nuzzle and are cute. This is a great episode and these little texture scenes are a huge part of why. What story does this move forward? None. It's just slices of life, to fill in the places where an ifrit once cavorted.

CASTLE COMPTON

After a few seconds of sad memories, Jessica is interrupted by the Authority. She's not interested in going with the SWAT guys, but they give Jessica some FaceTime with Bill, and even over the phone she can tell he has overcome all previous levels of douchiness to find a whole new undiscovered realm of being a douche. As her maker, he commands her. And I gotta say that this part I'm pretty interested in, because Jessica's main story -- before she discovered boys, before Bill Compton saved her -- was her cult family that was way into the Bible and locking up their daughters. So now she's right back where she started, because Bill cannot be trusted this season. Isn't that sad?

AUTHORITY

Lafayette's old boyfriend is making a lot of sense these days, now that his entire racist paranoia deal is coming true, so now he seems a lot more righteous than he did when he was just a hateful hypocrite. This season is a little problematic. Steve is totally owning him in the debate itself, so it kind of goes both ways, but still. Once it gets amazing and he starts tossing dog whistles Finch's way about how they're both secret gay Republicans, etc., things switch to Russell mooning over Steve on TV, but screw that.

Authority: "Good thing Eric did drugs again, because he's fine."
Russell: "We really play fast and loose with the membership these days, don't we?"
Eric: "Just because I am close to getting killed at all times and I'm locked in an underground bunker with the craziest people on the planet doesn't mean I still can't fuck with your head."
Russell: "What do you mean?"
Eric: "Just that I've decided to forgive you for killing my whole family that time."
Russell: "We kind of went past that when you fucked and murdered my husband."
Eric: "I know, that's what makes this such a mindfuck to pull on you. Anyway, we're besties now. Lilith says!"