So just as Warlow was coming back into our dimension, Jason was taking potshots at the mysterious stranger -- who immediately pulls a j/k and explains that he is the Stackhouses' quote "Fairy Grandfather," Niall. After some recon on the upstairs bathroom portal, he fills the kids in on the whole backstory: The faerie line from which they descend is royalty, the fae equivalent of Warlow's vampire provenance, and they've been at war for all time. The last time he returned was when Claudine sent him to a pocket hell; the time before that was when John Stackhouse dumbly sold Sookie to him.

It's only the next morning since last episode (and thus last season), so Sookie's understandably a little late for work. While Arlene and Terry deal with Scott Foley's pregnant widow -- and Sam deals with a group of VUS kids led by a smarmily darling, privilege-checking sophomore (luckily played by Jurnee Smollett, who could've made even Lorena seem delightful) who wants Sam and all supes to come out once and for all -- She runs into an another halfling, the hot-as-hell Ben, and immediately begins her Sookie Dance of Conflicted Desire and Mixed Messages that usually gets boys killed. And although she doesn't ever make it to Merlotte's, she does learn a valuable lesson from Niall about turning herself into a magical nuclear bomb.

Lafayette and Emma are getting along famously, but of course the wolfpack shows up to ruin everything, knocking the shit out of stupid Sam -- much to the watching VUSers' outrage/pleasure -- and taking her home where she belongs. He makes some valid points about Luna's dying wishes, but ultimately Lala and Emma can't save him from the ass-beating he's constantly asking for.

The gun Tara was shot with is formerly secret US anti-vamp tech, wherein the bullet lodges and then emits UV rays, cooking the vamp from the inside out. (I guess this will work even in this season, where vampires just like to hang out all day not gettin' the Bleeds at all, just hanging out and talking about how they're feeling super fine in the daytime.) Eric eventually gets it out and heads off to yell at Governor Burrell, so -- as Nora's giving Pam an unbelievably sweet pep talk about Eric's love for her -- Eric bluffs his way into a meeting and attempts to pretend he's a wildlife enthusiast just long enough to glamour the Governor out of his pogrom. When Burrell shows off his anti-glamour contact lenses, Eric realizes he's going to have to come in at another angle: Namely, mesmerizing and kidnapping the Governor's lovely daughter.

Mixed throughout, we get some vague info on the Billith situation when his possession last week by three seeming Liliths turns out to be more of a transdimensional visit to a "no place" where he and a cleaned-up Lilith can spout inanities at each other. While in the real world Bill's bloodbending hookers and sucking out their blood through their faces, causing Jessica to fall on her knees and pray sweetly for (and kinda to) Bill and the rest of the cast, out in the no-place Lilith's explaining that things are coming to a head in a whole new apocalyptic way we've never seen before: He's experiencing the pain of all vampires (à la witch Marnie), but from the future -- including a future in which Jessica, Tara, Eric and the rest are put into a literal gassing chamber and burnt up alive.

Fast-moving, with a lot of nice little character moments -- Sookie being adorable, Nora's humble kindness in the face of Pam's waning shittiness, Lala and Sam as Emma's parents, Eric's sexy impression of a dorky southern birder, Jessica's complex relationship with each and all of the entities involved in Billith -- and some good signs of what's to come. Lilith's top-heavy portent seems a little pointlessly oblique (RIP, Elder Faerie!) at this point, but the revelation of Billith's tripartite nature and prophetic clairvoyance is probably enough for a single episode anyway, if you weren't expecting any of it. And of course, Niall taking the wind out of the sails of Jason's madness has already improved the season remarkably, so it'll be good to see where that goes.

Next Week: Bill works the prophet margin while Emma's presence divides the Pack and Niall continues preparing the Stackhouses for their inevitable meeting with Warlow. Maybe Tara will actually talk or be a person or something, but I'm sure nobody really cares either way at this point.