Tough talk on True Blood,Food Network Star faces the dial of doom and Masters of Sex returns

Finally,the gang on True Blood acted smart this week and made plans to take down the Hep V vamps hiding out at Fangtasia(it took them long enough!). They got some unexpected help from Eric and a very reluctant Pam, who stopped by on their way to find Sarah Newlin and do what Jason should've done last season.

Seeing the origins of Fangtasia in flashback form was fun, as it turned out that the place was originally a crappy video rental joint(assigned as punishment by the Authority) and future flunkie Ginger was once a budding film scholar who had most of her brain power zapped by Pam's constant glamoring.

 Also helped to see that secret back way into Fangtasia that came in handy for the rescue. Eric is still awesome, even in walking dead mode, and hopefully Willa will get over herself to make peace with him before all is said and done.

 What was best of all was seeing Sookie going forward in a  take-no-prisoners stride . Her blunt talk with Jessica about getting over her self starvation as penance for draining Andy's three fairy daughters was just the right slap in the face that Jessica needed. Don't get me wrong; it was a shame that those girls fell prey to the whole fairy blood allure for vamps but as Sookie succinctly pointed out, there are way bigger fish to fry at the moment:

This may be the start of a strong upswing for the show,which I'm keeping my fingers crossed for. Even with the immediate threat gone from Bon Temps, there is still more trouble ahead and perhaps a cure that will save Eric in time(a girl can hope,can't she?):

The remaining contenders on Food Network Star made it to Vegas,where they learned that their number would increase as Luca rejoined the competition. He didn't seem to be the most likely guy to survive Star Salvation but I guess he improved greatly since we last saw him.

Once that was settled, the culinary contenders were tasked to make a dish for a pool party that had all of the guests given handheld meters( known as "the dial of doom") to register their approval or disapproval of  each person's presentation. Then, booths were set up for the food to be handed out, along with poker chips to place in a counter at each station. The contestant with the highest amount of chips would be declared the winner.

That honor went to Lenny, for his tasty sliders and keeping his promise to belly flop into the pool. A bit much, perhaps, yet the guy has such an infectious good nature that you can't blame him for playing to the cheap seats on this one.

Going home was Chris, who is a nice enough fellow but just can't get across his foodie passion in promos like this. It was a pretty close decision, as Emma and Sarah were on the chopping block with him( I would have sent Sarah home, due to her barely getting anyone to taste her food). Oh, well, the show must and will go on as the next challenge requires even razzle dazzle from the cooking crew still here:

Masters of Sex began it's second season with it's two leads carrying on with their lives separately in public while meeting together in private, as in a regular standing appointment at a hotel under false names.

Bill's career path seemed to be halted for awhile but with the help of his wife and the husband of a former study subject, he landed a brand new position that will fund his study as well. It would be nice if he tried to warm up to his newborn son and stop being bitchy to his well meaning mother but hey, one thing at a time.

Virginia, on the other hand, has to fend off creeps at work who think she's open for business,so to speak, and sell crappy diet pills to make ends meet at home.

Clearly, she's getting the worst of this deal and while I can understand her deep attraction to Bill(not to mention the social conventions of the time period), she does deserve way better than this and I hope that we don't have to wait too long for her to either receive that or realize that by the end of this seasonal run:

RANDOM NOTES:

UNDER THE DOME: Dwight Yokam showed up this week, as Lionel Chumley, a local barber who still holds a torch for the late Mrs. Big Jim. It looks like he might stay around awhile and not just because of the dome but due to a mysterious message to Junior from his perhaps still among the living mom(knew Sherry Stringfield wasn't just a one shot cast member here!):