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"Frenzy"
True Blood episode
File:True blood 212 frenzy.png The townspeople under Maryann's spell
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 11
Directed by	Daniel Minahan
Written by	Alan Ball
Original air date	August 30, 2009
Guest appearances
Evan Rachel Wood as Queen Sophie Anne Dale Raoul as Maxine Fortenberry Lindsey Haun as Hadley Hale John Billingsley as Mike Spencer Adina Porter as Lettie Mae Thornton Kristin Bauer as Pam Adam Leadbetter as Karl Alec Gray as Coby Fowler Laurel Weber as Lisa Fowler

Frenzy is the 11th episode of the second season of True Blood and the show's 23rd episode overall. The episode was written by Alan Ball and directed by Daniel Minahan. It originally aired in the United States on HBO on August 30, 2009. In the episode, Bill seeks the advice of Sophie-Ann, the vampire queen of Louisiana, in order to get information on defeating Maryann, whilst Sookie hunkers down at Lafayette's house and Jason and Andy journey to the police station to arm themselves.

Plot

Bill walks in on Sophie-Anne, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, feeding from the femoral artery of a young girl. Bill asks her advice on how to defeat Maryann, but Sophie-Anne makes Bill reluctantly spend the entire day lounging with her and playing Yahtzee before she will tell him what she knows. She eventually reveals to Bill that Maryann is waiting for her God to come and bring her “true death” and that she can be killed only when she believes her god has come for her. Bill departs for Bon Temps, running into Eric on the way out. He threatens to reveal to Sophie-Anne that Eric is making Lafayette sell vampire blood unless he stays away from Sookie. Hoyt takes his mother Maxine away from Jessica after seeing her more violent side, and says he should have listened to Bill’s warnings about her. Jessica, heartbroken, screams in rage and hurt.

Tara proves difficult for Sookie, Lafayette and Lettie Mae to handle, as she insists on going after Eggs. Tara manages to convince her mother that God wants her to let her go, and Lettie Mae holds Sookie and Lafayette at gunpoint while Tara makes her getaway. Sookie and Lafayette manage to liberate themselves from Lettie Mae and go after Tara, who goes to Sookie’s house and finds Eggs in the kitchen. Tara shows Maryann that she can no longer be convinced through words and also that she refuses to let herself be influenced by Maryann's "vibrating" energy, so Maryann resorts to slapping her across the face which has the effect of once again putting Tara under her influence. Sam finds Coby and Lisa Fowler – Arlene’s young children – wandering around the woods hiding from their mother and the rest of the townspeople. Sam takes them in and feeds them lunch, as they tell him they have not eaten in a couple of days.

Jason and Andy, meanwhile, decide to take action against Maryann and, ignoring Sam’s advice that Maryann cannot be stopped with violence, they go to the police station to arm themselves. All of the staff at the police department are under Maryann's influence and behave obnoxiously and dangerously, but Andy and Jason still manage to arm themselves with plenty of guns and ammo. Jason and Andy put aside their differences and decide to work together to defeat Maryann. Sam takes the kids to Fangtasia and reluctantly asks Eric for help, and the Viking vampire agrees to ask Sophie-Anne’s advice about stopping Maryann. The townspeople tell Maryann that the god came and smote Sam, but Maryann deduces that the mob has been tricked by Sam’s shape-shifting and angrily orders them out.

Hoyt tries to deal with Maxine on his own, but she continues to insult him and even reveals that his father killed himself because he was weak, and that he was not shot by burglars as Hoyt believed. Sookie and Lafayette arrive at her house and, while Lafayette distracts Terry and Arlene with drugs, Sookie sneaks inside. After a brief and disturbing encounter with Mike Spencer, she makes her way upstairs. Lafayette runs into Maryann and Carl. He attempts to shoot Maryann, however she effortlessly deflects the bullet into Carl who dies as a result. Sookie finds Tara and Eggs in her Gran’s old room, building a large nest on the bed in which sits a large, unhatched egg. Sookie screams for help as Lafayette, now also under Maryann's influence, advances on her.

Title reference

The song Frenzy by Screamin' Jay Hawkins plays during the scene when Jason and Andy arrive at the police station. A reprise of the song is used over the end credits. Frenzy also refers to the out-of-control state of the townspeople.

Cast

This episode marked the first appearance of Evan Rachel Wood as the Louisiana vampire Queen, Sophie-Anne and Lindsey Haun as Sookie and Jason Stackhouse's cousin, Hadley Hale. It also marked the final appearance of Maryann's servant, Karl, portrayed by Adam Leadbetter.

Reception

Ratings

The episode gained an impressive 5.2 million viewers upon its initial broadcast, making it the second most viewed episode of the second season. The episode gained a 2.8/7 share among adults 18-49.