'True Blood' Recap: Russell Edgington's Return and a Fire Monster

John P. Johnson/HBO

Finally, True Blood picked up some serious momentum this week.

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After weeks of teasing the return of Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare), and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and Bill’s (Stephen Moyer) promise to bring him into the Vampire Authority, things finally got moving with the new BFFs hunting down the infamous bad guy.

[Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen Sunday’s episode.]

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Sookie-Doo and the Gang is back together with Sookie (Anna Paquin), Bill, Eric and Alcide (Joe Manganiello) taking off in search of the big, bad vampire King of Mississippi. In other storylines, Tara (Rutina Wesley) keeps working through her vampire training, and Terry (Todd Lowe) and his marine buddy Patrick (Scott Foley) deal with a new discovery in their investigation of the mysterious fires attacking members of their squad.

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Here are four highlights from Sunday's episode:

1. The Hunt of Russell Edgington

The episode begins right where the previous ended, with Sookie and Alcide getting hot and heavy. But any viewers hoping that this was the start of a beautiful new relationship would be severely disappointed when the makeout session is interrupted by Sookie’s need to puke, and then by Eric and Bill.

Eric and Bill need Sookie to unglamour Alcide’s employee, Doug, who is the only one who can clue them in to how Russell Edgington escaped his tomb of cement.

She succeeds, and finds out that a female member of the Authority helped unearth Russell. Bill accuses Eric of telling Nora about Russell, but Eric says she wouldn’t do that.

Bill and Eric also find out that they only have until dawn to turn in Russell to the Authority, or their iStakes will be activated to kill.

At the creepy old house, the group finds both dead and alive humans that are food for Russell. They discover the sickly-looking Russell at the very end of the episode.

2. Tara’s Vampire Training and Draining

Tara tries on her vampireness in a new way, wearing a sexy corset to Fangtasia. But Pam makes her work behind the bar, which pisses her off (as does everything these days). Pam also has to reprimand her for trying to feed on a customer in public.

Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) drops by and has a heart-to-heart with Tara about being a new vampire. She says that Bill, Eric and Pam are all really old vampires, so they forget what it’s like to be a newbie. Tara seems to open up for the first time since she was turned, explaining that she feels like she’s going crazy with her hunger for blood.

Their new friendship is cut short, however, when Jessica catches Tara in the bathroom with her ex, Hoyt. The golden rule applies to vampires too, ladies.

3. Invasion of the Fire Monster

Terry and Patrick are tied up by their former marine buddy, Eller, who has gone off the deep end. But it turns out Eller is haunted by a demon of sorts, a fire monster called an “ifrit.” When Terry, Patrick and Eller were in Iraq, a dying woman cursed them, which is the cause of all the fires striking the homes of the Marines from his squad.

After admitting that he too saw the ifrit, Terry convinces Eller to let him and Patrick go so they can all get out of there together. But Patrick knocks Eller out because he doesn’t believe Terry about the ifrit. The ifrit gets Eller.

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4. Shifter Saga Continues

Andy (Chris Bauer) interviews Sam (Sam Trammell) about his two dead friends. He tells Andy that he found them dead, and that they are all shifters.

Sam goes to Luna (Janina Gavankar) to tell her about the death of their shifter friends. As Sam exits the house, he’s shot, and when Luna runs out after him, she’s shot, right in the belly.

Plenty of cliffhangers will have to be answered in the coming weeks. Will either Sam or Luna survive? Will Eric and Bill make their dawn deadline and deliver Russell Edgington to the Authority? What are Terry and Todd going to do about the fire monster? How many awesome speeches will Christopher Meloni’s Roman give this season?

Favorite lines of the night:

"A 3,000 year-old vampire wants to suck my blood, must be Thursday!" - Sookie

“New York City smells like pee and the people are rude.” - Eric

What did you think of Sunday's episode? Weigh in on the comment section below.

Email: Rebecca.ford@thr.com; Twitter: @Beccamford