‘True Blood’ recap: Pam tracks Eric; vigilantes take up arms

Determined to track down her missing maker, vampire Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) discovers Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) at one of his old haunts on “I Found You,” Episode 72 of HBO’s “True Blood.”

Eric was last seen bursting into flames while nude sunbathing in Sweden. Refusing to believe Eric is dead, Pam launches a global search that takes her to Morocco and then France.

Although he’s not drinking wine, Eric is laying low in the Rhone Valley. He also isn’t drinking blood, which explains his deteriorating condition.

“You found me,” Eric says weakly, seemingly indifferent to Pam’s arrival.

Meanwhile, it’s a bad time in Bon Temps following a brutal rampage by vampires infected with Hepatitis-V virus. Vamp Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley) is among the casualties. And her mother, Lettie Mae Daniels (Adina Porter), fears Tara is “stuck somewhere between heaven and Earth.”

Lettie Mae, who’s addicted to vamp blood, craves another dose – supposedly so she can contact Tara’s spirit. When psychic Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis) refuses to cooperate, Lettie Mae manipulates vampire Willa Burrell (Amelia Rose Blaire).

Intentionally burning her hand on a skillet, Lettie Mae pleads with Willa for just a taste to ease the pain. When Willa reluctantly agrees, Lettie Mae has a vision of Tara hanging on a cross with a snake coiled around her.

Meanwhile, Mayor Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) keeps the townspeople busy by encouraging them to restore Bellefleur’s Bar and Grill, where the H-vamps struck.

The volunteers panic, however, when they find corpses stacked in the restaurant freezer and realize another attack is imminent. Troublemaker Vince (Brett Rickaby) seizes the moment to ignite a vigilante revolt.

“There’s only one thing to do – arm up,” Vince declares. And with gun stores sold out, the biggest stash of weapons is at the sheriff’s station.

Adilyn (Bailey Noble), the half-faerie daughter of Sheriff Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer), rushes to warn Deputy Kenya Jones (Tanya Wright) about the insurgency.

But Kenya sides with the mob, hands over the guns and tries to handcuff Adilyn, who blasts the deputy with a ball of faerie light.

Andy’s unaware of the uprising because he’s investigating the nearby town of Saint Alice with Sam, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), her brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello).

What they find are empty streets, deserted buildings and a mass grave, meaning all the residents are kidnapped or dead.

Sookie sadly contemplates “the brutal indifference of life” as she reads the diary of a young woman and identifies with her plight. The ill-fated diarist fell in love with a vampire – just like Sookie – and succumbed to the ruthless H-vamps.

When Sookie returns to Bon Temps, she visits former beau Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) and asks if his vampire powers still alert him when she’s in danger. Perhaps Sookie is planning a do-or-die mission to save her town.

Finally, local folk Arlene Fowler (Carrie Preston), Holly Cleary (Lauren Bowles) and pregnant Nicole Wright (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) remain prisoners of the H-vamps. Chained in a dingy basement, they scream in horror as other captives are taken away and killed for food.

Arlene recognizes one of the vamps, former school instructor Betty Harris (Lily Knight), and begs for mercy.

“Your legacy is all you have now,” Arlene says, reminding Betty of her distinguished teaching career. “Please help us get out of here!”

Even though the other vampires will murder her if they find out, Betty promises to free Arlene and her companions. But when Betty sucks some blood to replenish herself, she abruptly disintegrates into a pile of gore.

So much for that escape plan.