TV Review: True Blood
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Thou Shalt Not Crave They Neighbor.
There’s no doubt that vampire dramas are definitely popular these days. Every decade or so something comes around to start the vampire craze all over again. From Anne Rice to Buffy, vampires have definitely had a good run over the last two decades.
Teens have no shortage of vampires today: from the sparkling vampires of Twilight, to the soon to be lapis lazuli wearing vamps (if they kept true to the books) of the up-and-coming CW teen drama The Vampire Diaries. And while many adults have been as enraptured by the Cullens as teens have, quality adult vampire stories had taken a back seat.
Until Alan Ball got a hold of Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries.
Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, and HBO have undeniably scored a win with the sexy, gory, vampire saga of Sookie Stackhouse and her beloved vamp, Bill Compton. The series is most definitely not for the faint of heart. But if you enjoy great storytelling and episodes that consistently leave you on the edge of your seat, then you’ll love True Blood.
In the world of True Blood, barmaid Sookie Stackhouse is a pretty young woman from a small town in Louisiana called Bon Temps. Sookie was born with what she calls a disability: she’s telepathic. When she meets the new vampire in town, Bill, she’s instantly attracted to him. Not only because he’s the first vampire she’s ever met, but because he’s able to offer her the one thing she’s never been able to find with another person: silence. Sookie discovers she can’t read the minds of a vampire. And that is just the start of her attraction to Bill.
So yes, I did mention that Bill walked into the bar where Sookie works. In the world of True Blood, vampires have “come out of the coffin” so to speak. The Japanese developed a synthetic blood that can sustain vampires without the “need” to kill humans. Once the vampires discovered this synthetic blood, they decided to reveal themselves to the world at large. Vampires are now fighting for their rights as “Undead Americans” and of course they have their radical religious enemies, a church-like organization called The Fellowship of the Sun.
Ball does a brilliant job of weaving the complexities of Harris’ world to life. He has also managed the scary proposition of taking a beloved book series and translating it to a series in a new and exciting way. While the series does draw heavily from the novels, they are not afraid to expand the world away from the books a bit, especially as you move into season two. And even more surprisingly, they’ve managed to do it in such a way that it is fun to see how they pull a little further away from the books each episode. Instead of alienating the fanbase, I feel more drawn into the world to see just how they are going to do it differently.
That said, I do still recommend reading the books. They’re great, quick, fun reads and I feel add depth of character to the television series. But I’m not your book reviewer, so back to the series.
Anna Paquin (Rogue from X-Men) is surprisingly grown up and yet still innocent in her portrayal of Sookie. She does a great job of translating Sookie’s quirks and confidence to the small screen with ease. Her vampire beau, Bill Compton is played by Paquin’s real-life fiancee Stephen Moyer. Moyer simply smolders on screen with his southern gentleman persona that exudes cool charm and old world grace. The world of Bon Temps is rounded out by wonderful secondary characters like her best friend, feisty Tara (Rutina Wesley), her simple man-whore brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), her sweet boss Sam (Sam Trammell), the smoldering vampire sheriff of area five Eric (Alexander Skarsgård ), and fan favorite, the flamboyant Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis). These characters add so many layers to the series they their storyline at times overshadow Sookie and Bill’s romance. And you simply don’t mind in the least.
Season Two has seen the addition of two more characters, Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Maryanne (Michelle Forbes finally in a role that utilizes her talent). Both characters have added so much to Season Two that the viewer is left wanting so much more than one hour each week. Every episode is frustratingly left with a cliffhanger so big you just don’t see how you’ll ever make it to the next week. But of course, you’re parked right back in front of the television the following Sunday (or whenever you happen to pull it off of your DVR).
As I said before, this series is not afraid of violence or sex. It is by no means high art. It has it’s cheesy moments just like any other show; however, with True Blood the cheese just seems to add to the charm. So if you’re looking for some grown up vampire drama with vampires that don’t sparkle, check out True Blood. Season One is now available on DVD, and I promise, each episode will only leave you wanting to sink your teeth into more.
Gallery of Images
Posted By:
16 Comments
Subscribe to Comments FeedLeave a Reply
Book of the Month
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1-6From writer/artist Bryan Lee O'Malley comes the story of Scott Pilgrim, the 23 year old slacker who's precious little life is turned upside down when he meets the girl of his dreams (literally), Ramona Flowers, and discovers that in order to be with her, he must fight and destroy her seven evil ex boyfriends. Buy all SIX volumes and qualify for free shipping from IST!
I watched the first five episodes or so, but couldn’t take anymore after that. Tonally, it’s too all over the place. I’m not a prude by any stretch, but the show seems way too obsessed with sex. I mean, when folks aren’t doing it, they’re talking and thinking about doing it. While I have no problem with the cheese in principle, I feel that it sets back the vampire genre a few steps.
I prefer to take my vampires more seriously for the most part (although a couple exceptions include The Reluctant Vampire episode of Tales From the Crypt and Sundown starring Bruce Campbell and David Carradine). Many (if not all) of the characters seem too broad and absurd, making it difficult for me to care about or even like some of them. I can appreciate great trash just as much as the next person. This particular brand just doesn’t work for me. To each their own. I guess it’s at least better than Twilight (I’m assuming, having not seen the film).
HBO and Showtime shows tend to be sex heavy to start with for some reason. Jeremiah was the same. In both cases, it was toned way down a little later.
I love it, and am enjoying it a lot. Although I’m a bit behind on the second season. I’m only 3 episodes in.
I agree. In the second half of the first season and forward, it has gotten much better. They seemed to have stopped trying to cram too much sex and nudity into the show and just let the story and characters draw in the audience. The only bad part is the 12 episode seasons.
I watched season 1 and thought it was an entertaining distraction but Season 2 has been really good, I would say significantly better than one. Michelle Forbes has been great (whatdya mean, ” finally in a role that utilizes her talent”? Admiral Kane!)
Also Wonderjenn you’ve glossed over some of my favorite additions to the main cast. Including Mehcad Brooks and Alexander Skarsgård who is probably my favorite character right now. He looks like he’s about seven feet tall.
One thing I’ve noticed about the show that I come to appreciate is they’re casting from a different talent pool than most other shows. There’s been a handful of character actors I’ve recognized (Forbes, John Billingsly, Steven Root, Zeljko Ivanek). Usually the guest stars are new faces and it makes a big difference.
And I don’t get the dislike for the sex and nuddity. It’s a sexually charged show, what’s the problem? Last episode was probably the best to date and we saw Anna Paquinn’s nipple (was that a first?)! Awesome!
I didn’t mind the nudity except when it felt forced a couple times in the first season. And i agree about Alexander Skarsgård, especially the last three or four episodes. Now I’m not quite sure if your actually asking is that was the first time or not but no you saw it in the first season as well.
If you mean “last episode” as in the last episode that has aired of season 2, then no, it was definitely not the first time we’ve seen Anna Paquin’s nipples. I’m not caught up with the series, and I’ve already seen her nude in two episodes.
In any case, I don’t have a dislike for the sex and nudity, I was just telling the facts. HBO and Showtime overdo it on a lot of their shows to begin with. To get the ratings up, I suspect. Then they tend to tone it down. It’s not completely gone by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a lot less of a “big deal” as it was to begin with.
once you get further into season 2 I think you’ll find it’s more sexually explicit than season 1.
Wow, I’m the worst at noticing on screen nudity.
Anyways, I disagree that the sex scenes are forced. It’s just a sexually charged show, that’s part of its identity. It’s like saying the violence on the Shield is forced. It is certainly more than is necessary for some people’s taste but that violence is part of the show’s identity.
It’s like saying that Lost drag’s out the mystery too long. The mystery is what the show’s about.
It was during the “makeup sex” concerning Jessica that she was first nude.
I never said the sex scenes were forced. I said it was overdone to begin with. It all felt pretty natural, but could have also been toned down quite a bit if they wanted to. Anyway, like I said, it didn’t bother me at all that it was there.
Sorry Saberj, but im going to have to correct you on that one… the first time she was nude was half way through the first season, long before Jessica was even introduced, not that it matters a whole lot.
@Rusty Yeah i can agree with that. I guess its just me that saw those first few episodes over done, but I like how it is now.
Did they show anything? Because the makeup sex was the first time I ever saw nipples from her. Anyway, the whole point was that she didn’t just recently start.
Also, since the first season was only 12 episodes, I would argue that halfway through is not “long before Jessica was even introduced”.
I never said you called them “forced” Randy, someone else said forced. All my comments are not directed to you specifically.
Anyways, the point is that I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with the sex scenes, whether forced or overdone or obsessed or whatever. Sure they could tone it down if they wanted to… they don’t want to. It’s a sexually explicit show.
They could also take out the vampires if they wanted… but it’s a vampire show.
I guess you agree Randy, so that’s great. We agree on something at last. It seemed like we had found just about everything on earth to disagree on so I guess it was inevitable that we’d run out.
Cheers.
People don’t know how to correctly reply to comments, so it’s often hard to see who is talking to who. Thanks for clarifying.
@Did they show anything? Yeah, within the first minute of the episode if i remember correctly.
@Also, since the first season was only 12 episodes, I would argue that halfway through is not “long before Jessica was even introduced” Well comparably speaking, it was over a quarter of a season before she came in, so one could consider it a fair amount of time.
I only seen the first ep , so far this shows good , I have the pay for it becouse i dont have HBO , But I dont care , the show good that all that matters
Now i seen the whole first season it great now i will buy season 2 soon