Escape from Dragon House

## Related Pages

"*That's Eric. He's the oldest thing in this bar.*"
—Bill Compton

**"Escape from Dragon House"** is the fourth episode of Season One of HBO's *True Blood*. It was written by Brian Buckner and directed by Michael Lehmann. It is the fourth episode of the series overall, and premiered on September 28, 2008.

## Synopsis

When another Bon Temps resident is found murdered under suspicious circumstances, Jason is once again taken into custody and it is up to Sookie to uncover the identity of the real killer and clear her brother's name. Asking for his help Bill takes Sookie to the vampire bar Fangtasia, where she is introduced to Eric, a thousand-year-old Viking vampire and Bill's superior.

## Recap

*This section is a detailed recap of this episode. **There are major spoilers.** Click to expand.*

As Sookie screams for help, Jason shows up with a bouquet of flowers for Dawn. Dawn’s neighbor answers Sookie’s calls and, upon seeing Dawn’s body, immediately accuses Jason of killing her and storms off. A little later a large crowd of police and onlookers has gathered. These include Merlotte's waitress Arlene Fowler, her boyfriend René Lenier and Hoyt Fortenberry, both of whom work on Jason’s road crew. Sam, who owns the block of houses where Dawn lives, shows up. He attempts to comfort Sookie just as coroner Mike Spencer and his assistant Neil Jones bring Dawn’s body out.

Andy Bellefleur takes Jason in for questioning once more. Jason, remembering that he has illegal vampire blood on him given by Lafayette, swallows the whole vial in his agony. Halfway through his questioning, the overdose of V gives Jason a severe case of priapism. He is rescued from the cops by Tara. After she takes him home, Jason tries to rid himself of his erection, but nothing seems to work. Adele asks Sookie to read the townspeople’s thoughts in order to find any evidence that will clear her brother’s name.

Desperate for relief, Jason goes to Merlotte’s to see Lafayette who cannot help him and instead throws him out telling him not to drink more than two drops at once. After deducing Jason’s use of V, Tara insists on taking him to the hospital.

In order to help with Sookie’s investigation, Bill agrees to take her to a vampire bar in Shreveport named Fangtasia. Sam warns Sookie of the dangers of hanging around such places and tells her she could even get herself killed, but she ignores him and goes anyway. When they arrive at Fangtasia, Bill and Sookie are admitted by an old vampire acquaintance of Bill’s, Pam. Sookie describes the bar as what a vampire bar would be like if it were in Disneyland.

At the hospital, Jason lies to the doctor about not taking any drugs. Not wanting to risk a drug reaction, the doctor uses a large syringe to drain the blood out of Jason’s penis without anesthesia; Tara can't even look. On the ride home Jason sleeps while Tara reminisces about their childhood together, when Jason would protect her from her mother’s drunken violence. It clearly seems that Tara is in love with Jason.

At Fangtasia, Bill and Sookie are summoned by Eric Northman, a thousand-year-old Viking vampire and owner of the bar. Sookie shows him pictures of Maudette and Dawn. Eric reveals that he slept with Dawn, but rejected Maudette. Sookie senses that a human is being fed on in the bathroom just before a police raid on Fangtasia. She, Bill, Pam and Eric manage to escape just in time. On their way back to Bon Temps, Bill is pulled over by a police officer and the situation gets out of hand when Bill glamours the officer; Bill makes the officer hand him his gun. Sookie is afraid Bill is going to kill him, but instead he simply drives off after warning the officer to be careful the next time he pulls someone over on suspicion of being a vampire.

The episode ends with Sam letting himself into Dawn’s old house and sniffing her pillow and sheets.
## Cast

* Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton
* Sam Trammell as Sam Merlotte
* Ryan Kwanten as Jason Stackhouse
* Rutina Wesley as Tara Thornton
* Chris Bauer as Detective Andy Bellefleur
* Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette Reynolds
* Jim Parrack as Hoyt Fortenberry
* Adina Porter as Lettie Mae Daniels
* Carrie Preston as Arlene Fowler Bellefleur
* Michael Raymond-James as René Lenier
* William Sanderson as Sheriff Bud Dearborne
* Alexander Skarsgård as Eric Northman
* Lynn Collins as Dawn Green
* Lois Smith as Adele Stackhouse
* Raoul Trujillo as Longshadow
* Dale Raoul as Maxine Fortenberry
* John Billingsley as Mike Spencer

Co-Starring* Scott Alan Smith as Dr. Offutt
* David Pease as State trooper
* Melanie MacQueen as Faye Lebvre
* Kevin McHale as Neil Jones
* Avion Baker as Young Tara
* Labon Hester as Young Jason
* John Rezig as Kevin Ellis

## Trivia

### Title

* The title and the song of the episode are an allusion to the final escape from Fangtasia Club when the police arrive.

### Goofs

* Jason's eye color as a kid and as an adult are different.

## Multimedia

### Soundtrack

* "Brand New Cadillac" - **Wayne Hancock**
* "Not This Time" - **Johnny Neel**
* "Jack Me Up" - **Jeff Laine**
* "Ho'i Mai, Ku'u Ipo" - **Kalani Kinimaka & His Kanakas**
* "Don't Fear the Reaper" - **Heaven 17**
* "Demon(s)" - **Darkest Hour**
* "Escape from Dragon House" - **Dengue Fever**
* "That Smell" - **Lynyrd Skynyrd**