A Second Look At: True Blood

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I am a huge fan of this show, and never miss an episode. I thought that the first season got off to a somewhat rocky start – the first 3 episodes were hit or miss, but by episode 4 of the first season I was hooked, and have thought that the show has only improved since then. The second season has been really interesting and exciting so far, and I don’t quite agree that the human characters aren’t well-rounded enough. I love the Newlins, and thought that the show has gone out of its way to “humanize” their characters to show more of their motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. Most of the humans are quite well-rounded and interesting – Sookie (who has definitely grown on me since Season 1), Jason, Tara, Sam, Terry, Andy, Hoyt, and Lafayette especially – and the vampire characters (excepting Bill the Boringest Vampire Ever) are so freaking cool. Eric, especially, is growing on me – and Godric was the coolest! This is right up there with Lost and Supernatural on my list of Top 3 Favorite Still-Running Shows. The Maryanne storyline seems to be running its course, I’ve liked her on the show but am ready for that storyline to hit the back burner in favor of more vampire politics stuff and Eric-Sookie stuff.

I don’t know if it matches Buffy. I probably wouldn’t rank it above Buffy, at this point, but I do think it is fantastic. Ask me again after 7 glorious seasons and a 5-season spinoff show (Eric and Pam, please!) and comic book re-birth.

BTW – does anybody know of anyplace other than TV Guide, TWP, and Ken Tucker at EW that does weekly True Blood watches/discussions?

The Onion AV Club’s TV Club, but their writers/commenters have that annoying habit of pretending to hate the shows they watch every week.

Try this one – it’s hysterical.

http://www.trueblood-news.com/

@Shara: We have a discussion post up shortly after the initial airing each week at http://true-blood.net.

@James: I’m glad you’ve given the series a second look. I was a fan of Charlaine Harris’s novels first and was excited when Alan Ball optioned them for a series. Season 1 did get off to a rather campy, bumpy start, but fortunately they found their footing and the show is getting better with every installment. That said, I am ready for Maryann’s storyline to wrap; it feels like what should have been a 6-episode arc was stretched to 12 and lost some appeal in the process.

My favorite weekly recap is Mark Blankenship’s Sucker Punch – he can be found at The Huffington Post or http://www.thecriticalcondition.com/. I also like the one at NY Magazine, http://www.nymag.com.

I had the same hesitations with season 1 – I tried watching it a few times, but could never get past the vampire sex in the first episode. I finally sucked it up and watched the first season the week before the second premiered, and now, I’m totally hooked. The most complex characters for me are Lafayette and Eric, and I’m glad that they are giving Jason more to do than just be really, really good-looking.

I agree that the Maryanne storyline could have been consolidated into a few episodes, though now they seem to be moving it along – it intrigues me that Lafayette and Tara’s mom were immune to Maryanne’s powers. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the season ends. And now that Mad Men is back, I will have something juicy to fill my Sunday nights when it does.

I can’t stand the Maryann story… I’m pretty sure they are just dragging it on for the nudity and shock value. I loved the vampire politics stuff, and was surprised to find how much I liked Eric. So: More Eric and the rest of the vampires, less orgies. Not the first time this week I’ve said that…

The best thing to do right after True Blood airs on Sunday nights is to listen to / tweet and chat about the episode with Dallas ( True Blood in Dallas blog) and the Twitter Sookie @SookieBonTemps for our great blogtalk radio show

“Talk Blood” http://talkblood.blogspot.com/

Thanks and everyone is welcome !

Dallas ( truebloodindallas@gmail.com )

http://www.lovingtruebloodindallas.com/

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Thanks to everyone for the recommendations :)

I agree with the class – MORE ERIC! LESS MARYANNE AND ORGIES!

“Ask me again after 7 glorious seasons and a 5-season spinoff show (Eric and Pam, please!) and comic book re-birth.”

A spin-off and comic-book rebirth would be news to Charlaine Harris, considering she still owns the characters and is continuing to write the Southern Vampire Mysteries.

True Blood the TV show is only working its way through book two now, out of a so-far nine part series. Harris is working on more, so there is quite a ways to go to catch up…but don’t count on HBO to stick with any show that long.

Yeah, I just said that in jest, comparing the 2 current seasons to the prolific nature of the Buffverse… I don’t actually expect it to achieve Buffy levels of longevity or cross-medium success.

Definitely check out Televisionary

http://www.televisionaryblog.com

He does weekly reviews of TB and often reviews the eps in advance too.

Best show I’ve watched in a long time. After watching the first show which was the Season Two Premiere I was reeled in hook, line, and sinker. It’s better than a cheesy soap, each episode ends with cliff hangers and even if you have read the books, there are so many surprising plot twists that the story is never dull. All the characters have grown so much from Season One. I miss Pam though, she was a great character. Also, not enough development with Lafayette – he needs to have more face time with a deeper story. I’m sick of Mary-Ann, she needs to go away permanently. This show makes paying my monthly cable so worth the money. I love it.

You can also go to this site http://www.itweevee.com ..live discussion via twitter on all tv shows including true blood

I’m really glad you have come back to this. I come by every week to see if you have picked it up again, becuase I love your blog, and often agree with you on most shows…and was disappointed you wouldn’t write about this one.
This is my favorite show on tv right now. Hung is another one i love too, and I’m really missing Big Love.
As far as the Maryanne storyline, the point is not just to show nudity…if you watch each episode from the beginning of the season with her, you can see how her power has grown each time. That’s the point of them all, is each time the table has even more food, more everything, the people drink a little more, go a little more crazy each time, until we get to the actual orgy, which sam was nearly sacrificed at. The last episode, with maryanne talking about chaos and the beauty of going into a frenzy for your god, that explained a lot about her as well.
Lafayette will be getting more and more interesting (one of my favorite characters on the show, so glad they didn’t kill him off when he was supposed to die per the books!). Jason, not sure where they will go with him now, after this season is over, but I sure as heck can’t wait until Eric and Sookie finally get together. :D

Sarah says..you are a true fan. I stumbled upon True Blood about a 2 weeks ago trying to past my time in my uneventful evenings. I love this show, it’s the best I’ve seen in a longtime and I do agree with most of the other comments. Less Maryanne and more Lafayette and Sookie-Eric spice! Lafayette has something big in store for us next season I could just feel it!
Bill needs a change in character, too much talk about mainstreaming and not enough of the vampire history that brought them to that point.
Sam is intriguing but is getting lost somehow along the way.
I think the cutest character there would be Jessica with all her spunk and childlike behavior , she’s struggling with so much while being absolutely obvious to what’s going on in BonTemps.
Jason, well it’s hard to even see him doing much in the next season, I feel as though his character has run its course, but who’s to know!
Godric, this child like character smothered us in his charm, his power! So sad to see him go, but it maybe a catalyst for the Sookie and Eric spice that I want!
It may not last as long as we like but maybe more support just might open HOB’s eyes to the return on such an investment.
To the other contributors, you’ll are great!

Sarah says..you are a true fan. I stumbled upon True Blood about a 2 weeks ago trying to past my time in my uneventful evenings. I love this show, it’s the best I’ve seen in a longtime and I do agree with most of the other comments. Less Maryanne and more Lafayette and Sookie-Eric spice! Lafayette has something big in store for us next season I could just feel it!
Bill needs a change in character, too much talk about mainstreaming and not enough of the vampire history that brought them to that point.
Sam is intriguing but is getting lost somehow along the way.
I think the cutest character there would be Jessica with all her spunk and childlike behavior , she’s struggling with so much while being absolutely obvious to what’s going on in BonTemps.
Jason, well it’s hard to even see him doing much in the next season, I feel as though his character has run its course, but who’s to know!
Godric, this child like character smothered us in his charm, his power! So sad to see him go, but it maybe a catalyst for the Sookie and Eric spice that I want!
It may not last as long as we like but maybe more support just might open HOB’s eyes to the return on such an investment.
To the other contributors, you all are great!

I think this is a terrific show with many layers. Alan Ball’s vision and particular spin on this diluted genre makes it fresh. It’s certainly more adult than the “Twilight” nonsense. I can see your point about charicatures but it really is part soap opera. In that way it’s kind of like a gourmet hamburger at a fine dining restaurant. Many of the people I speak to though are obsessed with the show and it’s characters

(SEE: http://truebloodnet.com/author/emma-rappaport/#tvg )

for case in point as well as the comments below the story. I think what we have here is another franchise that begets uber-fans like “Star Trek” which I, as a fan welcome. But, if they start mass producing “True Blood” inspired perfume .. that’s where I might revolt.

At my house, we call True Blood “Dirty Twilight” :)

[...] A Second Look At: True Blood [...]

I completely agree. Maryann could have been interesting. But so far she’s boring.

Look back on the season, it’s been: Maryann is crazy! Maryann makes people act wild! Maryann is trying to get Sam! Lather, rinse, repeat 9 times. There has been zero development.

And for a show that only has 12 episodes a season, that’s an amazing waste of airtime.