True Blood: The Complete First
Season (HBO Series) starring Anna
Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam
Trammell, Rutina Wesley, Ryan
Kwanten
True Blood
Alan Ball’s True Blood series works well for television, as it has enough
sensationalism to tantalize and enough story girth to make the viewer care
about the characters. That one can finally invest emotion into monsters,
including an undead Civil War victim, a transformer who can shapeshift
into various animals, and a female mind reader, speaks volumes about
America’s willingness to accept fantasy. Of course, television has always
produced good fantasy shows (I Dream of Jeannie), but True Blood’s
Southern Goth brand of fun horror is more macabre and more perverse,
not to mention gorier, than most shows of its kind to date. Adapted from
Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, True Blood thrills because of
its equal blend in each episode of erotica, humor, tragedy, mystery, and
fantasy. Set in a rural, swampy Louisiana parrish, the show centers around
Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and her clan, sweet grandmother Adele
(Lois Smith) and air-headed brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten). Illicit love is
spawned early on, when Sookie saves vampire Bill Compton (Stephen
Moyer) from having his blood stolen in the parking lot of Merlotte’s diner,
owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) who completes what will form a
complex love triangle. As tensions between Sookie’s suitors loosen or
tighten, many side plots, such as her African American best friend Tara’s
(Rutina Wesley) struggle with an alcoholic, Bible-thumping mother and her
brother’s dangerous crush on drug addicted hippie, Amy Burley (Lizzy
Caplan), keep one wondering who will succeed in this podunk place. The
main tension throughout, however, is a race war waged between vampires
and humans. As murders of “fang bangers” occur (human girls who let
vampires bite them) and dumb policeman Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer)
fails to find clues, one sees the metaphorical implications of vampirism and
feels deeper resonance with what can be a downright trashy show. Gossip
galore, especially about what kinds of babies interbreeding will produce, is
rampant. One of the funniest characters is Tara’s flamboyant cousin,
Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), who deals drugs, works as a fry cook, and
services the local white politicians, while making sure he’s always up in
everyone’s business.
What makes True Blood smarter than pure soap opera is the parallels it
draws between its monster mash and actual, familiar societal problems.
Sookie and her friends watch the news, where Evangelicals bash vampires
and prohibit mixed marriage, and everyone is addicted to V, a.k.a vampire
blood, that effects like psychedelic heroin. Even its gore reflects a mix of
serious and silly, as vampires explode into red, sticky goop. Though it may
not be attempting to qualify for the best vampire footage ever shot, True
Blood is as addictive as that substance the town’s youth obsesses over,
which is a metaphor in itself. --Trinie Dalton
Stills from True Blood (Click for larger image)
Features:
* True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
once again i find myself reading reveiws and wondering what is wrong with
the people who wrote them. as far as i can tell, almost all of the negitive
reveiws for this show were because it isnt like the books. to all of the
people who said this, did you READ the books?? do you understand that
television is a COMPLETELY different MEDIUM then books??? this is a
fantastic show, BASED ON the series of books. as far as i could tell, they
used the first book as a jumping off point and plan to stray from the series
now. BUT this is a great show if you like morbid, sex-crazed, vampire,
slightly kooky slightly serious tv shows. yes some characters got a lot more
background, many more details then they received in the book- i have to
say it would be a damn boring tv show that only focused on one character,
the way the book focuses on sookie. when will people recognize that there
are things you can do in books, and then there are things that you can do
on tv? or in a movie? all different mediums, therefore, all DESIGNED to
portray what may be the same story IN A DIFFERENT WAY. its great
show. cant wait for the next season.
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