True Blood Is Back

Vampires, werewolves, maenads, shape-shifters, weird panther-type creatures and now witches — HBO's True Blood harbors all manner of supernatural beings in its menagerie of characters.

The great thing is that each of these otherworldly characters brings with them enough crazy drama to fill an entire season of Jersey Shore, so there's a lot to look forward to in Season 4 of the show, which revs up on HBO this Sunday. From mainstays like inexplicably-well-adjusted-considering-her-environment waitress Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin) and mildly bipolar vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) to new bloods like Jesus (Kevin Alejandro), a whole lot of folks are in the mix.

To catch up on what brought the show to this point, watch the "True Blood in Under 5 Minutes" video above. To get a glimpse at the upcoming season, here's a handy list of what's to come.

Witches!

Sookie herself says it best: "Oh great, now I have to deal with witches?!" Yes, the big new thing this season will be the introduction of witches to the sleepy Louisiana burg of Bon Temps. The charge will, it seems, be lead by Lafayette (the consistently fantastic Nelsan Ellis), who — thanks to his new beau, Jesus — is finally getting his own supernatural plot line (about damn time).

Yes, after the shape-shifters, werewolves, maenads and panthers that have been introduced in previous seasons, True Blood is moving into slightly more Anne Rice-ian territory by including witches into its ever-diversifying mix of otherworldly creatures. At this rate, Sookie and the gang will be dealing gargoyles by Season 8.

Sookie's New Faerie-dom

When Sookie found out she was a faerie last season, she pronounced the situation "fucking lame." But in the first eight minutes of Season 4 (in the video above), it seems as though the faerie tale may not be as boring as it looked on the surface.

The fae have an evil dark side, and the ability to do that weird microwave-fingers thing that Sookie can magically do. This season should explore all the other tricks they have up their sleeves, or skirts or whatever.


Eric's Memory Loss

If this season's promos are to be believed, the new witches in Bon Temps have power over vampires, and apparently use those powers to brain-bleach Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), effectively sucking out all of his swag.

For those that like Eric all manipulative and cocky, this is a big bummer, but for those who remember him as being sexiest when he was shirtless and crying blood, the newly vulnerable Eric should be appealing. This appeal should also translate to characters inside the TV as well as out, namely Sookie. (See next panel.)

Eric and Sookie Hook Up

It's been a long time coming, but this season is slated to be the one where all that pent-up sexual tension between Sookie and Eric finally sees some release.

Sookie gave Bill the boot at the end of last season (see clip above), leaving the door wide open (literally and figuratively) for Eric to swoop in. And in case you were wondering, the guy who plays Bill — Stephen Moyer, Anna Paquin's real-life husband — is totally OK with this.

A New Gay Storyline

After ostensibly burying two of the show's main gays last season — Talbot (Theo Alexander) was reduced to an oozing pile of mutilated dildos by Eric and his partner, while Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare) was literally dumped into a vat of cement after eviscerating a nightly news anchor (see video above) — True Blood will need to replenish its homosexual pool this season.

Luckily, a previously straight main character will reportedly have a gay romance


Jason Stackhouse Tied to a Bed

This little perk is pretty shallow. It's just to call attention to the fact that Bon Temps' resident lothario is shirtless, bleeding and strapped to a bed.

What happens next is actually more meaty. As we see in the clip above, the reason Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is so stricken is that his sometimes-panther girlfriend Crystal says he's becoming "one of us." Oh, really?

Something Interesting Might Happen With Tara

Tara (Rutina Wesley) has always been a badass. But in the world of True Blood, that's not always enough, what with all the vampires, werewolves, panthers and other crazy creatures running around.

That's always left her playing the victim — being possessed by whatever voodoo it was that Maryann Forrester did, getting imprisoned and raped by Franklin Mott, that sort of thing. At the end of last season she pulled a half-Britney, cutting off most of her hair and promising to skip town and not be a victim any more (see clip above).

With any luck, she won't be so milquetoast-y this season. She is, after all, Lafayette's cousin, and if this whole witch deal is genetic, then she may possess some sorcery of her own (sadly this'll come a little too late to have helped her with the aforementioned possession and imprisonment).


More Pam

With Eric newly infantlike, his vampire progeny Pam (Kristin Bauer) will have to step up to help him. Finally, more opportunities to see Pam do what she does best: Act like a total raging bossypants — something that's not easy when facing off with an honest-to-goodness witch.

Godric Returns!

Very little is known about what is going to come of it, but it's been reported that Eric's maker Godric (Allen Hyde), who flamed out in Season 2, is coming back. Honestly, it doesn't matter what he does. Remember how awesome he was and how much it sucked when he stood in the sun?