True Blood: I Hate You, I Love You

I adore Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten), but why couldn't she have lost her loose lips tonight instead of her right ear? If she costs me some Eric-Sookie foreplay, I will be less eager to see that rotting spell reversed. She, too, will have to suffer. How many times did you rewind the Eric and Sookie kiss? 

As predicted, the shot of Eric biting Sookie in the promo for this week was from a dream. In it, he opened Sookie's door -- shirtless -- and Godric appeared. Eric watched Godric caress Sookie's leg and sniff her. (Sexier than it sounds!) Godric wanted them to drain her and walk in the sun together. Eric said no, and Godric choked him: "You are incapable of love. You are damned," he said. Eric said Sookie could redeem him. "You cannot be saved. You are a creature of death, and the living are good for only one thing, and it is not love. Drink now. Stop fighting your nature. DRINK." Out popped Eric's fangs and together they bit her. When dream Sookie screamed, real Eric woke up -- fangs extended.

He climbed up his cubby, fortunately not taking time to put on a shirt. He entered her bedroom and looked as though he was thinking about climbing up the length of her body when she awoke and his fangs retracted -- probably at the sight of the world's least sexy T-shirt. "Eric, what the hell?" Sookie said. "I had a bad dream," he answered like a child. Alexander Skarsgard is doing such a good job as Nice Eric. He makes him sound so genuine that you can understand why Sookie would let him sleep with her in her bed if he promised to keep his fangs and hands to himself.

That's what ended up happening. Eric lay down on the bed and couldn't understand why he was crying. Sookie explained that Godric was his maker, and that he loved him and missed him. Eric was upset because Godric had said he was evil. "Am I evil?" he asked her. "Well, you’re not Gandhi," she answered, "but no, you’re not evil." Eric put his head on her lap and said, "I like being next to you." As I wondered whether his blood tears would stain her linens, she laughed: If someone had told her a week ago she'd be in bed with Eric Northman stroking his hair... Eric thought she was making fun of him, but she wasn't. Godric would like this gentle and sweet Eric, she said.

It was smart writing to have Godric involved in that dream so Sookie would be reminded that Godric was the most human of the vampires she'd met -- and that she saw Eric at his most human when begging Godric not to commit suicide and leave him. Eric said it was strange to miss someone you don't remember -- Nice Eric is still a poet! -- and asked if he could stay with Sookie. He rolled over and gently wrapped her arm around him. "I will never hurt anyone as beautiful as you," he said. 

 There was no agenda. He meant it. He wasn't after sex. Nice Eric wants company and comfort. I would have been satisfied if that was as close as Eric and Sookie got in the episode, but there was more to come. If you missed any of last night’s episode “I hate you I love you” watch it here for free.