What Is Maryann In True Blood?

There's no one quite like Maryann Forrester on "True Blood," HBO's beloved fantasy horror series. It's a sensual world filled with supernatural creatures who openly live beside mortals. At the center of it all is Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), an innocent human waitress (or so audiences initially think) who soon discovers that she's far more special than she ever thought she was. This is Sookie's story, but she's far from the only interesting character.

Maryann is one of the most memorable characters in the "True Blood" timeline. She's a maenad with a seductive way about her, and she's also quite the walking mystery. With her lustful, controlling ways, she becomes a thorn in the side of Sookie during Season 1 and is the main antagonist of Season 2. Who was she, and what did she do during her time on the show? What sort of powers did she have? And would she ever make it back for a "True Blood" reunion? Here's our breakdown of all things Maryann.

Maryann was that rare thing on "True Blood" — a representation of the classic gods of Greek and Roman mythology. While the majority of the show's mythological creatures were vampires, werewolves, fairies, shapeshifters and other sundry creatures, Maryann stood out by being a maenad. A maenad is an immortal acolyte and worshipper of Dionysus, the god of wine and many more things — some of them debauched — in Greek and Roman mythology. Maryann's sect is looking for the perfect vessel to sacrifice in order to bring Dionysus back to life, so that he will ravish and then devour her and his devotees. That guides her interactions with friends and foes alike.

She's later revealed to be many millennia old; it's very likely that "Maryann Forrester" was never her real name in the first place. She's not afraid to use those close to her to get what she wants, and she has a fondness for gifts and fresh fruit — both fitting as a handmaiden of the natural world-loving Dionysus. 

Maryann is played by Michelle Forbes, a veteran of film and TV whose career began on "Guiding Light," where she played psychiatrist Sonni Carrera. While her breakout role on the big screen came as Carrie in 1993's "Kalifornia," she cemented herself as a "Star Trek" legend by playing Ensign Ro Laren in eight episodes of "Star Trek: the Next Generation" between 1991 and 1994. She then had a regular role as Dr. Julianna Cox on "Homicide: Life on the Street." 

Forbes also played Lynne Kresge on Season 2 of "24," after which she joined the cast of "True Blood" as Maryann. Post-Maryann, she played Mitch Larsen in "The Killing," Gail McLeod in "Chicago Fire," and Retro Girl in "Powers." She reprised Ro Laren for "Star Trek: Picard," regularly recurred on "New Amsterdam" as Dr. Veronica Fuentes, and appeared as Kleinsasser family matriarch Margaret in Season 1 of "Big Sky." She was also Lieutenant Jackson in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2." As one can see, her career was anything but ruined by "True Blood."

Maryann is gifted with the power of hypnotism. She is able to bend any human to her will and have them act as her slave. She often uses these powers to get people into bed, either with her or with someone else. That helps boost her energy, as she lives off human electricity. When it comes to going up against supernatural creatures her powers seem to vary, but a faerie like Sookie and a variety of vampires show weakness at her hands. She doesn't age and is apparently immortal, equipped with blood that's toxic and claws which can kill, both of which are poison to mortals and vampires alike. She's also able to withstand being bitten by a vampire without turning, and they can't even attempt draining her without becoming very ill. 

On top of all that, she also has super strength and speed, aerokinetic abilities, and some intuitive powers. She's fairly impervious to physical damage unless she lets her guard down. When a maenad lets down her guard, it's usually to someone she thinks is Dionysus, coming to her in animal form. This is how Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) manages to kill her — but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Maryann is first introduced in Season 1 through her interaction with Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), who almost runs her down while she's walking nude in the road with her pig. Tara and Maryann become close after Maryann bails Tara out of prison in the wake of the murder of Tara's fake exorcist, Miss Jeanette (Aisha Hinds). Tara even begins to date Eggs (Mehcad Brooks), one of Maryann's acolytes. Meanwhile, Sam reveals that he got caught robbing Maryann's house when he was a teenager and was hypnotized and seduced by her, losing his virginity.

When Sookie goes to Dallas to help investigate the Fellowship of the Sun cult, Tara is invited to watch over her house for her. Maryann manipulates everyone around Tara until she feels isolated and invites Maryann to stay at Sookie's home. Sam soon confronts Daphne (Ashley Jones), who explains who and what Maryann is, and Maryann reacts to this betrayal by killing Daphne. She feeds Daphne's heart to Eggs and Tara, and the sex they have results in severe bruising that causes others to suspect Eggs of abusing Tara. 

Maryann soon holds the whole town under her sway, and a desperate Bill (Stephen Moyer) consults with Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood), vampire queen of Louisiana, on how to kill the maenad. But vengeance comes from another player. Maryann takes Sookie captive, planning on making her a handmaiden to the upcoming sacrifice. Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill rush to her rescue, but it's Sam who shapeshifts into a bull to protect Sookie. Maryann mistakes Sam for Dionysus, and Sam gores her, putting an end to her reign of terror.

In the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, Maryann isn't even called Maryann. She's introduced during Book 2, "Living Dead in Dallas," and is called Callisto. She's a maenad just like Maryann is, but her involvement in the plot is much more minor. As in "True Blood," she's often seen with her feral pig.

Callisto travels the world demanding that bar owners make a tribute to Dionysus, since open worship of the god isn't common in the modern era and their displays of alcohol sort of count as shrines. She wants Eric to pay up for his display of behind-the-bar-booze at his Fangtasia bar, and hurts Sookie to prove how serious she is, clawing her as she does in the show. Much in the same way Maryann poisons Bill on the show with her blood, Callisto's attack leaves Sookie with polluted blood. The vampires save Sookie's life by drinking from her frequently, and she also receives treatment from Dr. Ludwig.

In the books, Callisto's powers work much the same way as they do in the show. She has the ability to turn a room filled with people into an orgy, unleashing the sexual desires of anyone in her radius. Callisto is part of a flock of murderous maenads who appear at the end of the book to seduce and kill many humans at a rowdy sex party. Callisto murders three people there before leaving town to find more tributes. It's implied that she and Sam Merlotte had a wholly consensual fling while they were both adults, but the book isn't explicit about it.

Maryann was last seen during a Season 5 flashback. Will that be the final time viewers see her? While it might seem impossible for Maryann to appear in a "True Blood" reunion or sequel series considering the nature of her death, it would probably be easy enough to resurrect her considering the supernatural nature of the show's universe. Maryann was always a popular character who made whatever storyline she was in better (for example, she was a major part of "I Will Rise Up," one of the best episodes of "True Blood" as voted by IMDb users), so it's likely that nobody would complain should writers use a bit of magic trickery to bring her back from the dead for a reunion.

That being said, at the time of this writing, there's been no word of a "True Blood" reunion or revival with the original cast. However, a reboot with a "Riverdale"-style spin was announced in 2020 which Anna Paquin felt pretty surprised about. Meanwhile, Michelle Forbes is staying plenty busy as an actress. She admitted there was a unique reason why she was so drawn to playing Maryann in the first place, telling TV Guide, "I tend to play a lot of tortured people, so it has been liberating playing Maryann. There is a sense of contentment that was, to be honest, initially horrifying and frightening to me." Perhaps someday she'll experience the liberation of playing the character once more.