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| Buy Your Own True Blood! |
Television Network : HBO
Running Time : 54-56 Minutes
Broadcast Run :September 7th, 2008 to Present(36 Episodes)
The ultimate widespread guilty pleasure, True Blood has become the office water cooler show of the summer. From it's incredibly sexy cast to it's attacking hot button issues(Fangs are fags here, much how the X-Men are blacks in their movement for equal rights), True Blood has become a show that HBO can stake their reputation on. Increasing viewership and promotion for the series has given the series HBO's highest ratings since critical juggernaut the Sopranos.
Granted, True Blood has it's problems. It gets weighed down by melodrama and characters making decisions in the Lost sense(IE: One character makes a good decision based on the facts they know which rubs another character the wrong way, because they don't know all the facts, and as such, uninformed decisions are made from here out until all the facts are brought to the forefront, or in Lost's case, not brought to the forefront). But ultimately the shows theme of vampires coming out of the coffin hits strongest, and the best moments of the series are those not regulated to Bon Temps, the fictional location in Louisiana of our series protagonist. Whether it's the Fellowship of the Sun arguing against the Vampire Coalition on daily news outlets or vampire king Russel Edgington ripping out the heart of a newscaster on live broadcast television, these moments seem to outshine the rest of the show.
Anna Paquin is a servicable female lead in the vulnerable but extremely dangerous and deadly Sookie Stackhouse. She gets into a relationship with Bill, Stephen Moyer and real life fiancee, after Bill coerceres her to drink his blood during their first interaction. Over time, they develop a loving relationship, if not for the fact that it started out on a lie. Erik Northman(Alexander Skaarsgard, who should be Thor) eventually reveals the truth to Sookie, after long since alienating her from himself, which causes Sookie to reject both vampires and retreat to solitude in the latest episode.
I wanted to wait until the finale aired to give my opinions, and then give the finale some time to digest. Ultimately, True Blood is just another vampire soap opera, but it's done very well. It has a good mixture of comedy sparsed in(Like Jason, this season, trying his best to become Chuck Norris Jr.) and weighty almost apocalyptic moments(IE: The main villain from season 2, Russell disemboweling said news caster), and transitions from these moments without pause or problems. Airing on HBO allows the shows producers and Alan Ball to push the limits of television visually, whether it be the incredibly speedy vampires rushing from prey to prey, or the psychodelic after effects of dosing on a drop of V(aka vampire blood, an LSD like substance). It doesn't have the ball and chain of the CW and network television to dull True Blood's fangs.
If you've been caught up in the vampire craze from Twilight, or hopefully from the days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood is a fine collection to your vampire indulgence. If not, HBO is delivering a strong mythologically laced drama in a setting usually unseen on Network Television, although seen more often in the past few years. Plus, if you found Anna Paquin cute in the X-Men trilogy, you will absolutely find her scintillating in True Blood. People who don't want to see vampires explode into a goo of red innards or vampire-human relations may want to steer clear. Definitely not a show for children, or even teenagers really.
Season 3 of this drama finished airing Sunday night, September 12th. Don't expect True Blood to return until next summer, although Season 4 has been commissioned and will contain twelve episodes of blood sucking fang banging melodramatic hilarity. As long as Jason Stackhouse is around, the world will forever laugh with True Blood. As always, clips below the cut.
PS, I pose this question to you with my answer. Best possible TV gay couple of all time? I say Lafayette from True Blood & Omar Little from the Wire. Anyone else with anything better?
B+
Lafayette Delivers the Aids Burger
Jason Stackhouse Questions What Else Could Be Real Other Than Vampires
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