I got the new world in my view
On my journey I pursue
Lord said I’m running, running for the city
I got the new world in my view”

Playing over the end sequence as Bill makes his approach seeking counsel from the enigmatic Vampire Queen of Louisiana, the haunting music and lyrics from this episode’s titular song perfectly captures the rising tension of the coming showdown in Bon Temps.

Sookie and Jason’s homecoming finally revealed to the Stackhouse siblings, what we as the audience have been witnessing in their absence, that the bon temps have been roulez-ing dangerously hard in their hamlet and they quickly witness the supernatural powers afoot after running into, literally, several crazed denizens and being met by those bewitched, black eyeballs of Marianne’s minions. And the actions of those minions were the comical catalyst for one of the more amusing, and frustratingly shortest, episodes of the series to date.

After being brought up-to-speed on the strange goings-on, Jason mounts up to take back his town since he’s itching to go full-on Rambo after being unable to completely exercise his Soldiers of the Sun training against the religious fanatics who taught him those skills in Texas. Pulling from his blue collar roots, the choice of weaponry from Home Depot was classic Jason, as was his one brief strayed train of thought before making the declaration of war, “There’s a new waitress at Merlotte’s?” Even in the surrounding haze of craze it’s great to see Jason’s still that “dirty little monkey.”

While Jason’s attempts to remove Marianne’s raucous rabble (“led” scarily well by usually-erratic Terry) from Merlotte’s with nail guns and chainsaws were met with little more than “meh” and insane laughter, once teamed up with Andy and Sam the three staged a better show of force with Jason playing “the God who comes” courtesy gas mask and flares. Nearly unconvincing at first, spouting Farmer’s Almanac-inspired Godly commandments of “great weather and good crops” and not sporting the expected horns, a final addition of tree branches by Andy and the move to “smite” Sam provided assurance to the party zombies that their mission to offer up the shape-shifter as sacrifice had been accomplished. It was quite bold of Sam to so openly shift in front of Andy and Jason, although his secret is still relatively safe considering the former is consistently on, or recovering from, a drunken bender and the latter has never been looked on as particularly bright so who would trust any of their possible claims that something’s off about Sam.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a couple of interesting and potentially heady plot points were served up, but considering there are only two episodes left couldn’t possibly be explored more until next season:

• “What are you?” is a question we haven’t heard posed to Sookie since the pilot, and here we discover that there’s even more power inside her than she herself realizes – a side of telekinesis to accompany her telepathy, and who knows what else to come.
• Bill’s discovery that Lafayette is selling V again at Eric’s behest (and I love the cajones on Lafayette to tell a fanged-out vamp to “slow his roll.”)

Additional choice moments and quotes:

• Marianne and her inner circle decorating the Burning Man tower of rotting meat
• Sam summing up his purpose, “She wants to cut out my heart while a bunch of naked people watch.”
• The “lo lo..etc, etc” chant leaves me chuckling because all I can envision is the minions summoning courage to stand up to Ike (“Nom-Myoho-Renge-Kyo”), which now seems oddly fitting with the ‘worst m-effin’ intervention” for Tara.
• Jason, as the God who comes, “I have come, and I am here;” “He is the best offering…ever!”

What’s to come in the final two episodes looks to be a wonderful wrap-up to an exciting second season, where we get more Eric schemes and finally a reveal of the mysterious vampiric monarch’s face (mysterious for the two people who haven’t heard the news floating around for the past year that she’s played by Marilyn Manson’s latest goth girl, Evan Rachel Wood).

You’re not an artist, you solve problems.”

Don Draper is showing continued signs of his classic self-loathing and some new seeds of resentment regarding where his life seems to be heading with this week’s episode. His stinging statement putting Peggy in her place within the walls of Sterling Cooper says more about how he’s viewing his own role within the changing battleground of the now British-owned Madison Avenue office. The not-so-subtle dig also belies his notes of jealousy towards her rising place in the company, the ad business in general, and the free-wheeling possibilities of single life, even though Don would be the last to admit those types of feelings toward a woman and would certainly be hesitant to ever admit seeing himself in her.

Although it could be argued that Don is now actively turning more attention toward his family because he’s beginning to see the true importance it has in his life over his work. The title of this episode takes itself from a poem by Robert Browning where the author concludes that love, a true feeling and emotion, is endless and more prominent than any material object or sin – that present love is worth more than past glories.

Returning from his soul-searching trek (escape?) to California last year Don has a resolve to change his attitude and play a more active role in his family’s life, making concerted efforts to have a strong presence in his fatherly and husbandly duties including attending little Sally’s school field day and taking the reins in wife Betty’s dispute with her brother on the best care for their father.  However his steps toward future family harmony are still peppered with his urge/need to hold onto the past – he’s accepting the inevitability of change even though he’s not completely sure he’s happy about it.

And change was all over this episode. The changing atmosphere of the world with the burgeoning ideas of feminism in Peggy’s views on how products sold to women need ad campaigns with a female gaze in mind rather than a male and her own approach toward “dating.” The change in familial dynamics with Betty’s aging, senile father having to be treated like a child. The change in the landscape of New York City with the development of Madison Square Garden knocking down the historic architecture of Penn Station, and most noteworthy on the horizon one of the biggest changes to the entire world’s landscape — the day President Kennedy is assassinated, shown here as being one day before the scheduled wedding date for Roger Sterling’s daughter and will be, I suspect, the closing events of this season’s finale.