(S01E02) "Angelina Adopts a Vampire baby." - Cover of a tabloid
After all the comments I got about last week's review, I feel that I have to address some issues.
The first one is the books that this show is based on. I understand that they are popular and without the series there would be no show but I haven't read them nor do I have any intention of doing so. My job is to review the television show True Blood and unless they introduce a character named Charlaine Harris, this is the last time you will see that name in my review.
The second issue is a comment I made in last week's review about how I find southern accents funny. One reader in particular was offended by this and went so far as to call it a form of racism. I find a lot of things funny and southern accents are one of them. All that means is that people with southern accents make me laugh, that's all. If you want to glean some anti-southern message from that, so be it. I can't stop you. Just like you can't stop me from enjoying Talladega Nights.
Now on to my review.
As disturbingly violent as it was, I really liked that the opening started right where last week's episode left off. Clearly, that dog is more than just some stray. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be something dumb like a cursed soul. I mean, what is this, Sabrina the Teen Age Witch?
I was relieved to see that Jason didn't kill anyone but I was even more relieved to see that the local law enforcement didn't automatically rule him out. It's refreshing to see small town lawmen who aren't portrayed as idiots. The fact that they sweated Jason in hopes of getting a confession shows that they are at least competent.
The first fifteen minutes of the show seemed pretty choppy to me. Jumping back and forth from Sookie to Jason to Tara and back made me wish they would stop and concentrate on one storyline at a time. I understand that there are a lot of characters with a lot to say but I'd like to see a little more patience from the director.
Once Sookie and Bill were able to have a conversation, I felt that I was actually seeing some character development. I learned a little more about Sookie's abilities and the truth about vampire blood, although shouldn't it be ichor?
I'm still in awe at how well these characters are written. Lois Smith's, "Gran" Adele, for instance, manages to take each little scene and convey a myriad of emotions ranging from excitement over meeting a civil war vet to concern about her grandkids.
The writing also shines in all the ways they compare vampire prejudice with others. It's hard to imagine vampires as an oppressed group since we know them to be fictional but when you give in to the idea that they exist in this world and are asking to be treated as equals it really makes perfect sense. I just wish there were more examples of the "vampire lobby" than the few we get each episode.
Bill and Sookie's walk was a nice way to let us know more about Bill's vampiric ways and I enjoyed the flashbacks that showed us what it was like for Sookie to grow up being so different. What I liked the most was seeing Bill almost lose control after being so bewitched by Sookie.
As with most second offerings, this episode didn't quite measure up to the pilot but it still held my interest. More importantly, seeing the vampire with the skeleton tattoo at Bill's house guaranteed that I'll be tuning in next week.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-15-2008 @ 10:09AM
Malren said...
"I'm still in awe at how well these characters are written."
Wait you're SERIOUS?
This show was written by a repressed, frustrated, sexless hausfrau who glanced briefly at the source books, saw they were crap and said "screw it, no one's gonna care as long as there are sex and vampires." Then they wrote something about half as good as the already piss-poor books.
Every character in this show is thin as tissue paper, a parody of anything remotely realistic. They're utterly unbelievable, which means no one can suspend their disbelief in order to buy the vampire parts.
And Paquin's accent isn't funny...it's horrifyingly laughable.
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9-15-2008 @ 10:48AM
Steve said...
The show is pretty meh!
Doubt it will get a 2nd season.
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9-15-2008 @ 11:10AM
Matt R said...
The dog is Sam Merlotte, Sookie's boss who obvioulsly is attracted to her. In the scene from the second episode when they are talking in his office, a painting with a similiar looking dog standing protectively over a blond female seems to imply he has his own power. I haven't read the books but this seems to go with non-vampires having powers aspect of the show.
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9-15-2008 @ 11:44AM
carrespondent said...
At the risk of someone calling it a spoiler, my lovely wife's theory about the dog is...
It's Sam, who is secretly a type of lycanthrope. His affection for and protectiveness of Sookie comes through in both forms.
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9-15-2008 @ 1:50PM
CK said...
Actually, he's a shape shifter...lycanthropes (werewolves) will come into play later.
I do really love the series! I can't wait for next week...hopefully we'll meet Eric!
9-15-2008 @ 12:24PM
GL said...
The painting of the dog in the office was too much. Did it really have to look like a picture from a red riding hood children's book in order for people to get the implications?
As to the gal's accent, she sounds exactly like my sister. It is a laughable accent, but it is also real.
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9-15-2008 @ 12:53PM
Derek said...
This show is so unitenionally hilarious. It had my friends and I in stitches. How come I haven't read one review that compares this show to Alien Nation (from the 90's I believe)?
I like the show so far, although I have to say that I think the performances have been a bit better than te writing so far. The show has potential. I hope HBO sticks with it.
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9-15-2008 @ 2:20PM
Lobo said...
Back in the late 50s and early 60s I heard roughly the same conversation a number of times that occurred between Jason and Bill about how his kind don't deserve equal rights. In every occasion Jason's counterpart was white and Bill's was black.
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9-15-2008 @ 4:18PM
v3ronic4 said...
At the risk of someone calling it a spoiler.... that was a spoiler.
I guess I'll never these reviews, thanks to the affable commenters around here.
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9-15-2008 @ 4:03PM
Anita said...
I like how they toned down the characters this time around. Both Lafayette and Tara seem less like caricatures. Admittedly, if I met a 187-yr-old southern vampire I'd totally ask him if he had slaves and 'hmph' the way Tara did. However, I like how Bill slid out of it. I can also see more this episode why Tara and Sookie are friends. Both are 'Others' and both are people that tell the truth. One because she can't control her mind, and the other because she can't control her mouth. However, the actress playing Tara seems to have a better connection with the male characters on the show & even Gran, than with Anna Paquin. At the same time, I'm glad they replaced Brook Kerr with Routina Wesley. Although Brook is insanely pretty and generated a type of innocence on 'Passions' that I could see connecting with Paquin, acting wise, I doubt Kerr could portray the vulnerability, desperation and isolation the writers have packed into the Tara character. However, since I haven't read the books, I don't know if Tara is truly as isolated as Ball has figured her -
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9-15-2008 @ 4:23PM
nattyff said...
I'm loving the show!!!
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9-15-2008 @ 5:06PM
Gina said...
I actually liked this episode more than last week's. I think the series has potential, but we will have to wait if it kicks into gear and stays around for a second season.
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9-15-2008 @ 5:54PM
Islandaise said...
I love this show and I hope it stays. I've watched it repeatedly the last few days, especially the scenes with Bill and Sookie.
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9-15-2008 @ 7:27PM
SJ said...
I can't believe this is a HBO show. It's pretty bad...the writing is awful. Paquin's Lousiana accent is awfully hilarious.
Alan Ball probably thinks he's cool or a genius for writing this. It's a very good concept, too bad the execution sucks.
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9-15-2008 @ 8:52PM
John said...
Anyone else from Louisiana find this show semi-offensive but in general too funny to watch? Paquin sounds like someone ripped her out of Civil Ware-era Georgia. Sam (I think that's the bar owner's name) keeps calling her "cher" all the time. I've never heard a person from Louisiana say that except Justin Wilson. It just sounds silly without a cajun accent, which thank God no one in the show attempts really. Also, not intending to be racist, but there's a difference between southern African American accent and a regular souther accent...
I'm from Shreveport, LA by the way.
9-15-2008 @ 11:13PM
Anita said...
"Also, not intending to be racist, but there's a difference between southern African American accent and a regular souther accent..." It kinda is, when you feel the need to randomly point it out and call one 'regular'
9-15-2008 @ 8:40PM
Jojee said...
I liked this episode a lot more than the first. I hated Tara's character last week and now I am willing to give her a chance. She was a real person this week. And I loved how they caught the little nuisances of the black folks. The sugar on the already sweet lucky charms, pick in the hair (remembering to cock it to the right) and the dialogue between Tara and her cousin. Of course they almost ruined it with the mercenary story...but they were trying.
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9-15-2008 @ 11:42PM
Angie said...
I liked the second episode. Im waiting for the characters and show to settle down and feel lived in.
It hasn't captured me like Moonlight and Blood Ties did from the very first episodes but Im hoping that HBO are serious about it and give it time to grow.
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9-16-2008 @ 1:11PM
Lois said...
The thing that distresses me is that the books are really funny and that's what they are meant to be--light and funny. There's very little violence. Alan Ball went off on his own blood letting frenzy that has nothing to do with the series.
Doesn't work for me.
And you can knock Charlaine Harris but she's got about six series going on and making tons of money on them. She's doing somthing besides being a hausfrau.
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10-02-2008 @ 1:38PM
Andy Salazar said...
its ok. But I dont know if I will keep watching.
The sex, gore and language of Alan Ball's script are not adding anything to the show, so it just seems salacious.
I do not care for the leads. Some of the supporting characters are interesting, but its not enough.
I'll stick with a show like Dexter, which I think it a 'cut' above the rest. :P
AJ
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