True Blood
In the Beginning
TV Flash files “In the Beginning” as hour 55 of 80 in the TV Flash guide — True Blood (2008–2014) on HBO, season 5, episode 7, aired 2012-07-22, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E07: listed hour 55 of 80 in the True Blood guide, hour 7 of 12 in season 5. It aired 2012-07-22 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Hopeless” (S05E06). Next is “Somebody That I Used to Know” (S05E08).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Salome reveals her true allegiances while Bill and Eric get a powerful taste of sacred blood. A revelation at Hot Wings causes Sookie to wonder what her life would be like without faerie powers. Meanwhile, Sam sniffs out several shifter shooters; Hoyt finds camaraderie in a new group of friends; Alcide prepares for the worst in his face-off with J.D.; Andy attempts to reconnect with Bud; Lafayette finds an unlikely ally searching for Jesus' body in Mexico; Lettie Mae pays Tara a visit; and Arlene takes a sentimental journey as her concerns towards Terry deepen.
Viewer FAQ
Where does In the Beginning sit in the True Blood guide?
S05E07 is listed hour 55 of 80 — hour 7 of 12 in season 5, season 5 episode 7.
When did True Blood S05E07 air?
In the Beginning aired 2012-07-22 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need the Charlaine Harris books?
No. Ball's HBO series is developed from The Southern Vampire Mysteries, but it plays as Louisiana supernatural soap — sex, gore, allegory — on its own fangs.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse falls into vampire politics when the undead mainstream with synthetic blood. Alan Ball's HBO adaptation of Charlaine Harris: Louisiana heat, sex, gore, civil-rights allegory. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgård — prestige pulp that knew it was pulp.
The first useful image is a bottle of synthetic blood, not a fang close-up. Telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse falls into vampire politics when the undead "mainstream" into society with Tru Blood as cover story. Alan Ball developed Charlaine Harris's *The Southern Vampire Mysteries* for HBO; the series premiered September 7, 2008, and ran seven seasons through 2014. Anna Paquin stars beside Stephen Moyer's Bill, Alexander Skarsgård's Eric, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, and Nelsan Ellis's Lafayette. Louisiana…
Filed against
- Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse
Anna Paquin’s Sookie Stackhouse fell into True Blood’s vampire politics as a telepathic waitress — Louisiana heat, synthetic blood, Alan Ball’s HBO adaptation of Charlaine Harris as sex, gore, civil-rights allegory. Prestige pulp that…
- Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton
Stephen Moyer bit True Blood as Bill Compton — the vampire who walks a telepathic waitress into undead politics, synthetic blood as civil-rights allegory, Louisiana heat and prestige pulp. Alan Ball adapting Charlaine Harris for HBO. TV…
- Alexander Skarsgard as Eric Northman
Alexander Skarsgård’s Eric Northman made True Blood’s Louisiana vampire politics look expensive — 2000s catalog pulp, a thousand-year stare, prestige sex-and-gore with a civil-rights wink. Generation Kill and Big Little Lies kept the file…
- Sam Trammell as Sam Merlotte
Sam Trammell's Sam Merlotte poured True Blood as Bon Temps bartender weather — telepathic waitress Sookie, vampire politics, synthetic blood, Alan Ball's HBO heat, sex, gore, civil-rights allegory. Prestige pulp needed a shape-shifter…
- Ryan Kwanten as Jason Stackhouse
Ryan Kwanten's Jason Stackhouse kept True Blood's Louisiana heat looking like a brother with a pulse — telepathic waitress Sookie falling into vampire politics, Alan Ball's HBO adaptation of Charlaine Harris, sex, gore, civil-rights…
- Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette Reynolds
Nelsan Ellis’s Lafayette Reynolds cooked True Blood’s Louisiana heat into a reason to stay through the gore — Alan Ball’s HBO adaptation of Charlaine Harris, telepathic waitress, vampire politics, synthetic blood, sex, civil-rights…