‘True Blood’ Review: “F— the Pain Away”

‘True Blood’ season 6 spurts out its 5th episode of the year, “F--- the Pain Away,” as Warlow's origins and motivations come to light, while Pam, Eric, Tara and Jessica find themselves interned at the vampire camp, and Andy struggles to save the lives of his daughters.

Last week’s ‘True Blood’ episode, “At Last,” saw Sookie, Jason and Niall uncover the true identity of the mysterious Warlow, while Eric made a surprising proposition to Willa Burrell, and Sam attempted to protect Nicole from the pursuing werewolves out for blood, so how does “F--- the Pain Away” keep the new season flowing? What will season 6 of ‘True Blood’ bring, now that Warlow has been revealed?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘True Blood’ season 6, episode 5, “F--- the Pain Away”!

Jessica’s high state causes her to throw herself at Bill, as Warlow claims to a vengeful Sookie that her parents had intended to kill her the night he murdered them on the bridge. Bill mysteriously senses Warlow’s pain, and rushes off to Sookie’s to interrupt the quarrel between the pair. Uninterested in Sookie however, Bill commands Warlow to follow him under Lilith’s authority.

Andy Bellefleur speeds up to Bill’s house, finding the bodies of his daughters as Jessica hides nearby. Andy finds one of the girls to have barely survived the attack, and carries her off. Meanwhile, Tara informs Eric that the Louisiana Vampire Task Force has captured Pam, and the pair decide to surrender themselves to the authorities in order to rescue her.

Governor Burrell shrugs off Sarah Newlin’s advances, and the notion they start their own family to replace Willa, before the Governor personally accompanies Willa to the internment camp. Meanwhile, Bill explains to Warlow that he commands him by his connection to Lilith, as we see a flashback to 3500 BC of Lilith finding Warlow, and siring him outside his ancient village. Back in the present, Jason finds Sarah Newlin waiting outside his home, and the pair rekindle their affair in spite of the time and changes between them.

Andy takes his surviving daughter to the police station, feeding her a hidden stash of vampire blood to restore her, while elsewhere Alcide investigates a local bar in search of Sam and Nicole. The patrons of the bar refuse to help, and when Jackson offers his advice, Alcide coldly rebuffs him and throws his father out of his life. Back at Jason’s, with Sarah asleep in the bed, Jason answers the door to find a frantic Jessica, still plagued by the morality of her actions, and looking for comfort. Sarah steps out, angry with Jason for having a past vampire lover, and rescinds Jessica’s invitation to the house. Outside, the waiting LAVTF take her into custody.

Eric enters a circular white room with three other vampires, where three rubber balls descend from the ceiling, as authorities shoot the slowest to catch a ball. Meanwhile, a therapist explains his intent to test Pam psychologically rather than physically, and offers her a human donor as incentive. Back at Merlotte’s, Sookie approaches Lafayette for help in learning the truth from her parents’ spirits, while Terry meets with one of his old army buddies and commissions the man to kill him, unable to cope with the guilt of killing Patrick.

Andy watches his remaining daughter recuperate, as Holly consoles him and urges not to seek pointless retaliation on Bill. Meanwhile, Jessica finds Tara in the camp, as Pam blithely explains to her therapist that she has no remorse for killing other vampires, and no connection to her maker now that he’s released her from the relationship. Out on the road, Sam stops Nicole from placing a call to her parents, unaware that Jackson happens to be staying in the same motel.

While Tara and Jessica meet a mysterious new female vampire within the other prisoners, guards lead Willa Burrell to her own private cell. Jason leaves a message for Sookie about making things right for his recent actions, and approaches an LAVTF recruitment center. Sookie meanwhile begins the séance with Lafayette, and sees a vision of Warlow promising the fearful Stackhouses to make their daughter an immortal princess, as their ancestor had agreed to. After confirming that the Stackhouses indeed attempted to kill Sookie that night, the spirit of Corbett Stackhouse possesses Lafayette, and drags Sookie to the trunk of his car.

Down in Bill’s lab, Warlow holds Dr. Takahashi hostage and refuses to take part in Lilith’s prophecy of his role in saving the vampire race. In flashback, we see the vampire Warlow returning to his former village, and uncontrollably murdering its inhabitants, save for a young Niall. Loathing himself and his actions, Warlow ultimately kills Lilith, Blasting open a hole for sunlight to enter the cave in her sleep.

Back in the present, Sarah Newlin leads Governor Burrell to a surprise in the internment camp, as Steve Newlin greets him and shows Eric alone in a testing room. The Governor surprises Eric by revealing he interned his daughter rather than abandon his crusade against vampires, before offering Eric a stake. Guards then usher Pam into the room with a stake of her own, as the therapist urges her to show how little her maker means to her.

Out at a nearby stream, the possessed Lafayette drags Sookie out of his car and ignores her cries, dunking her in the water to drown her.

Dare we say it, save for a few clear blemishes on the storyline, is 'True Blood' actually becoming good again? We have to admit, the introduction of a villain with clear motivations, an intriguing exploration of human experiments on vampires and a genuine sense of dread have done wonders for the season. It looks as if Bill's prophecy of the core four vampires meeting the sun may come to pass sooner than we'd expected, and definitely has us invested going forward.

Similarly, the inclusion of Warlow and his origins into the story feels much better handled than the previous season, wherein the character had been something of an intangible afterthought to the main storyline. Here, we actually have a chance to incorporate Bill into the story, without necessarily getting bogged down in a rehashed love story. Lafayette's spiritual possession seems more of a distraction than anything else, but at least incorporates the character into the proceedings.

As per usual, the werewolf story and Terry Bellefleur's decision to have himself hunted circles the drain, though the elder Bellefleur had some nice moments as Andy grieved for his lost children and sought an outlet for his vengeance.

Did you get your fill of fang-banging ‘True Blood’ action?  What did you think about “F--- the Pain Away”? Join the discussion in the comments, and be sure to check back next week for another all-new recap when HBO debuts the season 6 episode, “Don't You Feel Me?”!