(S01E01) True Blood is definitely a show after my own heart. I love any high concept drama that lays out the entire idea in the first five minutes.
In case you didn't get it, here's the short version. Synthetic blood is now available for vampires to buy, therefore they no longer need to kill to survive. So, as a society, they decide to live out in the open and are met with the kind of fear and skepticism that you'd expect.
The great part of the show is that unlike ethnic groups that are defined by their race, vampires exist in every society all around the globe. In a way, the whole thing can be viewed as a comment on the difficulty of being a homosexual in today's world.
On first look, I can't help but think that this may be the perfect TV show. It combines the brilliance of Alan Ball, the hotness of Anna Paquin, the mystique of vampires and the innate humor of the deep south to make a very intriguing program.
Like Ball's other show, Six Feet Under, one of the best parts of the show is the supporting characters. The people who wander in and out of the lives of Sookie Stackhouse and her friends are always interesting to watch.
One twist of the show is that vampire blood is a much sought after commodity. So not only are vamps persecuted and discriminated against, they are often hunted and drained by addicts and dealers.
What I particularly liked about the show is the setting. By placing the action in Louisiana, Ball is able to parallel the plight of the vampire with a host of other minorities all at the same time. The little town of Bon Temps is a melting pot of black, white, gay, fat and every other kind of group that has ever felt persecuted.
As one would expect, the show is much more than just a vampire circus. In this first episode, Sookie's brother Jason gets carried away and strangles a girl during sex. He, of course, blames it on vampires since he has seen video of her copulating with the undead. Unfortunately, he's not smart enough to realize that there is also videotape of him losing control and taking the woman's life. When the law comes after him, it's not only a great twist, but it's also great to see William Sanderson and Chris Bauer back on series TV.
One more twist is that Sookie happens to be able to read minds. Not only does this make her special compared to the rest of her friends but it gives her a real reason to be attracted to Bill, her first vampire, since he's the one person who's mind she can't read.
Giving the lead character special powers causes True Blood to resemble Buffy a little too much, but considering how fans of that show are still moaning it's demise, they will probably welcome Ball's vampire tale with open arms. The writing makes it clear that the world is not inhabited by a host of other monsters like Sunnydale. It's only vampires. The other striking difference is, of course, the location.
Overall, the show has plenty of what it takes to build an audience and I know that I am definitely a fan.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
9-08-2008 @ 1:44PM
ryan said...
I think the last few seconds of the pilot episode should convince anyone well enough that the heroine of this show is nothing at all like Buffy. Which is good in my opinion, the superpowered 100lb hot chick fighting in skimpy outfits is an overused cliche at this point.
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9-08-2008 @ 1:44PM
tracey8051 said...
"The writing makes it clear that the world is not inhabited by a host of other monsters like Sunnydale. It's only vampires."
That proves you've never read the series. Look forward to all different types of were-animals, fairies, witches and all kinds of supernatural goodies to come. Even the dog in the parking lot isn't what he seems in this awesome show! They did an amazing job of bringing the books to life and I can't wait to see the next episode.
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9-08-2008 @ 2:05PM
cdawg said...
I have been waiting for this post all day!
Ok so I have mixed feelings - it did drag a bit, and without vamps it'd be totally generic. (and not believable that a gay man would live in that town - although Lafayette is DEFINITELY the best part of the show).
I don't think Paul necessarily killed her. all we saw was them having rough sex, which is what she liked.
either way, he is sex on a stick!
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9-09-2008 @ 9:01AM
dennis phillips said...
hope this does'nt turn into another "carnivale"
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9-09-2008 @ 1:25PM
Alicia said...
Ditto THAT!!
9-08-2008 @ 2:26PM
Ryan said...
I loved it. I can't wait for more.
Also I was/am a big Buffy fan.
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9-08-2008 @ 3:26PM
Franklin said...
"...and the innate humor of the deep south to make a very intriguing program."
Prejudiced much, Paulie?
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9-08-2008 @ 3:13PM
Adrian said...
Yeah, it's so obvious he didn't kill her. The rough sex and the tape are there to incriminate him but you can see in his face and the way he acts he didn't do it.
It should be easy for anyone who watches tv tho ;P
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9-08-2008 @ 3:36PM
Walter Mixtopoles AKA Franklin said...
"...and the innate humor of the deep south to make a very intriguingprogram."
Prejudiced much, Paulie?
Spoken like a true Yankee asshole. Or is it the self-righteous socialist in you? I'm betting it's both mixed in with a hearty dose of unable-to-maintain-a-relationship-itis.
The world's full of assholes, you're just another one lost in a sea of them. I would be sad for you except that your innate self-righteousness makes me laugh.
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9-08-2008 @ 5:32PM
Oneiroi said...
I haven't seen the episode yet, so I can't tell if it was positive or negative comment. It sounded pretty neutral to me.
Either way, calm down. Being a jerk on the internet isn't helping anything.
9-09-2008 @ 2:19AM
nickmagoo said...
wow, that is really unnecessary and frankly, franklin, the only one being an assh*le is you...i grew up in very rural virginia (only 6,000 in the county still, mainly farms and forests), have friends and family there and visit when i can...and it IS a pretty funny place - and they certainly know how to laugh at themselves as well. it's also a place filled with ghosts of the past (slave cabins can still be seen from the highway).
9-09-2008 @ 12:08PM
Franklin said...
nickmagoo, from what's posted publicly I agree it sounds like I'm the only one being an asshole, but you're not seeing the entire story. That comment was originally an email response from me to Paulie replying to his private, email where he admitted that, yes, he is prejuced towards Southerners.
I asked publicly, "Prejudiced much, Paulie?" to which he responded privately, "Actually, Franklin-ie, when it comes to Southerns, very much." He then decided to post publicly my email response while leaving his admitted prejudice, akin to racism, private only for my eyes.
It seems that Paulie is not only the owner of many chins, but also the bearer of many prejudices of which he's too much of a porcine puss to publicly admit.
I, too, am from the south and to me his comment sounded exactly as he meant it; prejudice. This he freely admits, but only in private. Honestly, I was hoping I was wrong and he would explain that what he meant was that while every corner of this country has its idiosyncratic tendencies, he had a special fondness for southern quirkiness and the humor it often evokes.
Turns out he's just another fat bastard.
9-09-2008 @ 7:11PM
nickmagoo said...
if he took your private communication, excerpted it, and made it public without any sort of explanation then he's totally in the wrong...and i agree, the constant digs on southerners are tiresome, rude, and uninformed. i've lived all over the US (VA, IN, DC, CO, AZ, NY, LA, WA) and traveled to 49 states, and to me there are no nicer folks than southerners...and while racism is still an ugly force to be reckoned with in the south, i've met more out and out racists in other parts of the country than there.
9-10-2008 @ 2:54PM
Franklin said...
That's exactly what he did. Responded privately admitting his racist-like beliefs then posted my private reply in a public forum.
What we've learned about Paulie is he's not only a fat, racist bastard, but a coward as well.
Thank you for understanding the situation. I guess it takes a fellow Southerner to see the thinly veiled prejudice and ignorance in Paulie's actions.
9-08-2008 @ 10:06PM
dimitrios said...
Did everyone watch the same boring and poorly acted show that I watched last night?
I would give anything to see a television show or movie based in the South that doesn't cart out every single southern stereotype.
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9-08-2008 @ 3:46PM
cdawg said...
dont take it so personally - its supposed to be southern camp - everything is supposed to be exagerrated.
I just had a new thought - I think its the vampire that the dead chick had sex with who killed her because he was pissed she showed the tape. HOWEVER, how was he even videotaped? Vampires don't show up in pictures or mirrors or anything, right? So how do they show up in video?
Finally - can anyone place the woman vampire who gave the news report in the beginning - it's not Ross' ex-wife from Friends is it? Or Costanza's ex-fiancee?
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9-08-2008 @ 4:51PM
strwbrryblnde said...
The blonde vampire in the beginning was in Judging Amy, she played Amy's sister-in-law. I haven't read the books based off the show but I am a huge vampire fan, so far I liked this show.
9-08-2008 @ 5:42PM
James said...
I'm not sure if this show has the same lore as Moonlight, but in Moonlight, vampires show up on digital mediums, but not silver based mediums.
9-08-2008 @ 4:56PM
Denism said...
I was saddened by watching the one-hour intro to the show.
The producers spent an hour covering the Vampire legend throughout history and focused on the media and it's depiction of the genre.
Lots of time was spent on Christopher Lee and even the Muppet vampire was featured a couple of times. But the words "Buffy" and "Angel" were only spoken once during a rapid-fire listing of Vampire shows.
Why would they dis Joss Whedon?
Don't they realize that he created a ready-made audience for their show?
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9-08-2008 @ 4:59PM
cdawg said...
Thanks Strawberry Blond!!!
I actually JUST figured it out for myself. Phew that was going to kill me all night!
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