‘True Blood’ recap: Bon Temps celebrates life as body count grows

It’s hard to imagine a more challenging time in Bon Temps as the town struggles to recover from vampire attacks, vigilantism and the deadly hepatitis V virus.

Exhausted Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) wants to mourn the dead alone, but her friends have other plans on “Lost Cause,” Episode 75 of HBO’s “True Blood.”

Sookie finds herself hosting a “celebration of life” party as her house fills with humans, vampires, werewolves and other supernaturals. The gathering is a model of peaceful coexistence -- at least initially.

On the plus side, Sheriff Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) forgives vampire Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll) for losing control and accidentally killing three of his half-faerie daughters.

Declaring that life’s too short to dwell on the past, Andy moves forward by nervously proposing to girlfriend Holly Cleary (Lauren Bowles), who barely survived an attack by rogue vampires.

Also on the plus side, Jessica realizes she’s dating the wrong guy. That fact becomes clear when she spots vamp boyfriend James (Nathan Parsons) having sex with Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis).

Jessica quickly rebounds when she embraces Deputy Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten), saying he’s “the sweetest man in the world.” But their bliss might be short-lived, for Jason has to deal with his ferocious vampire lover, Violet Mazurski (Karolina Wydra).

Sookie’s bash turns from joyous to potentially lethal when drug-addicted Lettie Mae Daniels (Adina Porter) tries to communicate with her dead vampire daughter Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley).

Desperate to experience another vision of Tara by drinking vamp blood, Lettie Mae stabs Willa Burrell (Amelia Rose Blaire) in the shoulder. Now it’s vampires versus humans, and the fangs are out!
“Tara’s been trying to contact me from the other side,” Lettie Mae pleads in her defense. “She’s stuck. And the only way I can find out what she needs is with Willa’s blood!”

Meanwhile, in the neighboring state of Texas, vampire Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) and his progeny Pam Swynford De Beaufort (Kristin Bauer van Straten) attend a gala at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.

Eric and Pam haven’t morphed into wealthy Republican donors. They’re out to kill elusive Sarah Newlin (Anna Camp), who launched the global hepatitis V pandemic by tainting the supply of Tru Blood.

Also tracking Sarah to the fundraiser are yakuza assassins hired by the Japanese company that manufactures the synthetic blood product.

Bursting into the presidential library with machine guns blazing, the mobsters kill Sarah’s father and mother -- Paul (Brett Rice) and Nancy Mills (Bess Armstrong) -- along with dozens of security guards and innocent bystanders.

Sarah races down a hallway in a frantic escape attempt, but finds herself trapped between the hit men and Eric. Wanting Sarah for himself, Eric slaughters the yakuza. As for Sarah, she’s alive for at least a bit longer.

Finally, Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) sadly recalls his pre-vampire days in Louisiana just prior to the Civil War. Branded a “Yankee sympathizer” for predicting that Union forces will overpower the Confederates, Bill reluctantly takes up arms for the South in this “losing cause.”

“I don’t want to fight, but I don’t see a way out,” he tells his wife Caroline (Shannon Lucio), tenderly calling her his “first and only true love.”

“I will survive this war,” Bill says, vowing to one day return to his spouse and their two young daughters.

But Bill stops reflecting on his troubled past when he’s jolted back to the present. He’s startled to see dark veins emerging on his chest -- an unmistakable sign of hepatitis V.

With “True Blood” halfway through its final season, does this mean Bill will soon face the “true death”?