True Blood Season One

Jul 24, 2009 | No Comments | @andrewmarcec

“True Blood” is based off the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlene Harris, and adapted by “Six Feet Under” creator Alan Ball.  It takes place in Bon Temps, Louisiana, a small secluded town that is attempting to cope with their new residents…vampires.  They mad their presence known several years ago after the Japanese successfully created a synthetic blood, True Blood. This invention now allows vampires and humans to live together without fear of one another.  As the citizens of Bon Temp encounter several vampires at their favorite local hang out, Merlotte’s, a local dive run by Sam Merlotte, they slowly become more and more segregated.  The story follows Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress at Merlotte’s, her friends and family and her newly found vampire lover Bill.

“True Blood” takes the myths about vampires that all of us know by heart, and slightly alters them and seamlessly works them all into the vastly complex town of Bon Temps.  Not only are they able to craftily debunk classic myths like vampires casting no reflection in the mirror, they also work in a slew of other supernatural beings.  Werewolves, shape shifters, evil beings, are all addressed and are all craftily placed throughout this universe giving the viewer a familiar feeling, and an almost giddy feeling at noticing all the different myth references.

Not everything is fun and games in Bon Temps however, there is a murderer running rampant, quickly killing off all the women in town who had slept with vampires.  These women are also called fang-bangers.  Sookie is pulling into the investigation to clear her brother Jason’s name.  Sookie scans the thoughts of others constantly looking for clues to find who the real killer is, but even she is surprised when the murderer reveals himself.  The police believe whatever seems to be the most plausible option, the newly found religious group blames the vampires, and the townsfolk will believe whatever they are told.

On top of the murders there is a new drug in town, V.  V is vampire blood, it is usually taken orally, only one to two drops maximum.  Sometimes, when the blood is older, it is dropped onto an aspirin and crushed, so that it doesn’t coagulate.  When you do V, you absorb the special physical traits that the vampire had when it was extracted.  However each time you take it, you could absorb a different trait, even from the same vampire’s blood.

Even though vampires are real, there are specific rules that they must follow.  Each territory is ruled over by a sheriff, he or she makes sure that the vampires are keeping the peace, and if they do break vampire law he brings them before a council of other vampires to set judgment upon them.  These rulings are by no means lax in any way.  Bill, bit by bit, explains the rules of what it is to be vampire to Sookie and immerses her in a world that she never wants to leave.

Just like “Six Feet Under”, “True Blood” carries over similar qualities that make the reader easily fall in love with all the characters and the town of Bon Temps.  Most importantly what “True Blood” has is character development, and the build up of an incredibly world all its own.  Whether you be a fan of Sookie and Bill and the love they have, or hate everything about them, you will fall in love with several characters of the show because they all feel the same way as we, the viewer does.  The interaction between characters in the show is phenomenal, and all of the interaction is incredibly well done and not forced at all.  The one complaint out there is the accents.  Due to this being set in the south, all the characters have thick southern accents.  Many of them fall short of perfection, Sookie for example, is so incredibly over embellished and forced it’s painful to listen to her talk.

The relationship between Sookie and Bill is also a little over the top.  From the overly loving gazes, or incredibly awkward playful banter between the two, it is obvious that neither of them have probably ever had many successful relationships…then again, not many people have ever had sex after their lover crawled out of a shallow grave.  However the dialogue between the two is incredibly childish and almost an embarrassing excuse for the two to have sex.

Overall the show is fantastic, and season two is in full swing.  If you haven’t caught the “True Blood” fever, what are you waiting for?  Watch the intro below and get hooked.

Intro:

YouTube Preview Image

Topics: Blog | Read more about:

Comments are closed.

This is the personal website of author Andrew Marcec. Here you'll find excerpts of all his latest works, his daily blog, the serial podcast 'Oasis', and a whole lot more. So feel free to stay a while, read some of his work, and drop Andrew a line when you're done!

  • No public Twitter messages.