'True Blood' Season 7 Spoilers: Eric Returns, Reunites With Pam

By Emma Koonse, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, July 03, 2014

Alexander Skarsgard at the Tribeca Film Festival 2010. | (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/David Shankbone)

"True Blood" returns to HBO this Sunday with a new installment entitled "Fire In the Hole."

The seventh and final season of the vampire thriller series is well underway, but fans are still wondering about their favorite character, Eric Northman, portrayed by Alexander Skarsgard. Eric's fate hung in the balance at the end of season six, but television insiders say the character will be back on "True Blood" as soon as June 20.

"There will be more of Eric. A lot more of Eric," TVLine reported. "And if you're a fan of Eric-Pam, then you're going to love the July 20 episode. I've got two words for you, one of them is road and the other is trip."

In response to the questions about Eric following season six, "True Blood" executive producer Brian Buckner discussed the future for the character.

"Well, I did not confirm that he's alive," the EP said, according to ScreenRant.com. "Not that I want to create more conversation, because I don't, but to be clear, we're not saying how we're going to use him, we're simply saying that we are using him."

As for the "zombie vampires" infected with Hep-V this season, Buckner compared the latest threat to Bon Temps to vampires of seasons past and debunked their zombie-like qualities.

"They're weaker and driven by a need to eat in a way that the vampires that we've come to know are not," he said. "They have to drink human blood in larger quantities and more frequently than before. And the other thing to clarify, honestly, it feels weird to have to clarify everything, which is essentially what [season seven's] job is – but they're not going to be zombies. They're far more organized and haven't lost their mental capacity."

"True Blood" airs on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. EST. The synopsis for "Fire in the Hole" is as follows: "Pam tries to motivate Eric to return to Louisiana; Sookie comes up with a risky plan; Jason mulls a future with Violet; Willa is forced to relocate; Sarah Newlin puts her past behind her."