Not as smoothly or beautifully written as last week's, but in terms of twists and pivots -- we're at the 4/5 point in the series where everything changes every season, and you can really feel it here -- this season is shaping up to be seriously, wonderfully promising. Still not sure what the overarching thing is, yet, but what's happening so far is gold.

Pam saves Tara from her cliffhanger UV suicide, of course, and finds Bill and Eric waiting for them when she gets back to Fangtasia! But the reunion goes sour when Eric (by process of elimination) assumes Pam dug up Russell for some reason. Of course she didn't, but in the end -- and it's the most moving thing you've seen on this show since Godric met the sun -- he Releases Pam as her Maker, since he's not expecting to live much longer. Bill has his own sweet goodbye with Jessica, and Pam asserts this really beautiful new responsibility and affection for Tara, and it's just great all around.

Tara convinces Bill that Sookie is the worst, and the whole town quickly follows suit now that Tara's new vampy style is common knowledge. So now pretty much her whole life is back to what it was like before Bill, and she's back to being the village idiot. And then Lafayette randomly gets so pissed and mean that he demon-face curses her car to kill her. In case you were wondering if Demon-Face Lafayette also has magic powers, the answer is yes.

Alcide tells the Pelts that Debbie was killed by Marcus Bozeman, which is awesome, but Sookie's already run to Jason and tried to get herself arrested. In the end, Jessica glamours Andy out of pursuing the case further, but in a really awkwardly worded way where it seems like there will be further consequences. Back home, a very drunk and shellshocked Sookie narrowly avoids killing herself in her car before finding herself astraddle a lovesick Alcide Herveaux. Of course, Bill and Eric watch all of this go down and Bill decides to use her as Russell-bait, and it's kind of delicious.

Andy's corrupt buddy takes him and Jason to a strip club/cabaret full of fae -- including both Cousin Hadley and Andy's fairy one-night stand from last year -- and Jason learns about the faerie refugees, as well as the possibility that ... vampires killed his parents? Okay, sure.

The search for Private Ellers continues, with a long flashback about the My Lai situation we've been assuming -- complete with, cringefully, the whole battalion singing "Born On The Fourth Of July" -- and the boys finally find him, and his bunker, but he doesn't really do much this week except be super hot and super crazy. Roman and Salome spend the whole episode boring the Authority while trying to figure out what to do with dumb old Nora, and eventually also stake the little boy vampire for sneakiness-related reasons. Sam's old shifter pals show up at Merlotte's, but later turn up dead, so I guess Sam will have a storyline one day.

Next week: Luna gets involved in the dead shifter stuff, Hoyt tries to fangbang his ex's new little sister, Bill and Eric get a deadline and flush out a nest, and Sookie holds a meeting of every person in the entire world that is in love with her and it's like sixty thousand people, all in her kitchen, all just being so darn in love with her. But not Bill, because he has had it. He thought he was in love with her once, but that's pure nihilism to him now.