True Blood Season 3 - "Beautifully Broken"

I'm a little late getting this up, but it's time we talk about last week's episode of TRUE BLOOD, "Beautifully Broken". While not as fast-paced as the season premiere, I still enjoyed this episode, which further developed the season's various plots.

First and foremost, we were finally introduced to Russell Edgington, the vampire King of Mississippi, who we learn was behind Bill's abduction, having hired a group of werewolves to apprehend him proposition him into helping overthrow Queen Sophie-Anne. I loved the developments in this plot line, from the awesome opening sequence with Bill ripping apart the werewolves with his teeth (though I wish we could have seen a bit more of the fight), to the multi-course dinner with Edginton's husband, Theo ("Chilled, carbonated blood. It's cruelty-free. All willingly donated. Note the citrusy finish. This one only ate tangerines for a week"). Also, that final shot, with Bill launching a lantern at Lorena, causing her to burst into flames? Amazing.

The second major plot line involved Eric reluctantly providing Sookie with more information about the werewolves and included a pretty sweet flashback to Eric and Godric posing as SS officers and hunting werewolves. Any excuse to bring back Godric is a good thing in my book.

I'm not exactly loving that we're getting even more of Tara wallowing in misery, which has kind of become her default activity since season one. The one redeeming aspect was Lafayette's decision to take charge following her suicide attempt and drag her miserable ass to the mental hospital for a "Scared Straight" introduction to his crazy mother, and, more happily, allowed him to meet her crazy hot nurse, Jesus. I do like that by the end of the episode, Tara's storyline had taken a more positive turn with her introduction to Franklin, some sort of vampire detective who's apparently trying to dig up information on Bill's past. The pair's tag-team ass-whupping of some racist rednecks toward episode's end hint that their relationship could take a dangerous turn.

I'm intrigued to see where Jason's story goes, as his feelings of guilt morphed into jealousy of Andy's new role as town hero after he shouldered the blame for Egg's death. When he rode along with Andy on a routine call and ended up tacking a meth dealer, I got the impression that we may see a career change in Jason's immediate future.

Jessica continued to be a source a humor and pathos as she scrambles to figure out how to dispose of the body she's been squirreling away beneath the floor of her home. I LOOOOVED her scenes in Fangtasia this week as she grilled Pam for advice on the vampire "birds and the bees". Her scene with Hoyt, though, was a heart-breaker. Why can't those two crazy kids just find a way to make it work?!

Can't wait for tonight's episode, where Sookie's werewolf protector, Alcide is finally due to make an appearance. Why am I so excited? Um, because Alcide looks like this:
How's everyone else liking season three so far?