True Blood: Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll

I am not a Charlaine Harris fan. It’s not that I have anything against her, her writing, or The Southern Vampire Mysteries series. I just haven’t gotten around to reading them. I’ve always loved vampire stories. There’s just something mythical, dark, sexy and mysterious about them. I was never a Moonlight fan, but I loved me some Buffy and Angel. And I blew through Meyers’ Twilight series in about three weeks, so I would say I was primed for the HBO television adaptation True Blood. It could have been a big ball of flaming crap, and I’m sure I would love it no matter what, as long as some lovin’, a few deaths and fangs were included.

The show did not fail. Almost immediately, True Blood became a sensation, and HBO finally had something to compete with Showtime since The Sopranos and Sex and the City ended. It’s no surprise that the show was quickly picked up for a second season, and after this one, I can see why. If you loved Harris’ books and weren’t too judgmental, you were quickly made a fan. Even if you thought the acting was subpar and the southern accents abysmal, it fits so sweetly into the guilty pleasure category.

It looks like the show will follow the Dexter model. They will follow the books pretty closely during the first season, and then branch out to tell more of their own stories in the subsequent seasons. We were introduced to Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a special resident of Bon Temps. Imagine an extremely small, backwater town where everyone knows everyone’s business, and the people and the times are extremely similar to our own, except for one large difference.

In the True Blood world, vampires have come out of hiding and begun to claim equality just like any other civil rights movement of the past. Forget that they aren’t really alive, they should be treated like people too. This central plot is meant to mirror the issues that America has dealt with in the past and are still dealing with to this day, especially homosexuals and their current plight for the right to marry.

I’ll embrace a show that tackles such grave but important issues like this any day. Sookie works at Merlotte’s, the town’s eating establishment and bar. She works with her friends, including her boss Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), her smart-talking best friend Tara (Rutina Wesley) and friend Arlene, and Tara’s cousin Lafayette. She lives with her grandmother and near her brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten), the town drunk/ladies man.

Sookie seems like your typical sweet, southern girl except she can read minds. Something that causes her stress but also insight. This deeper understanding also makes her extremely empathetic and caring. She quickly falls for the new guy in town, who happens to be Bon Temps first residential and out vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), but she’s no pushover and is not scared to speak her mind and draw boundaries.

With tensions running very pro-Christian and anti-vampire in the town, Sookie goes from that girl you take home to momma to the girl on that wicked path. It doesn’t help that her boss and friend is obsessively in love with her and her friend Tara is constantly flipping out. (They both disapprove of Bill to top it off.) Jason also becomes the prime suspect when beautiful ladies he’s “dated” (and by date I mean spent one cheap but wildly aerobic night with) women who turn up dead and also happen to be involved in some way with vampires. Could it be the dimwitted brother planning multiple murders? If not, who?

This became the major mystery of the series with the wonderful backdrops of Sookie’s love life and the town’s battle with equality.

I’m not writing this review to spoil anything for you. The mystery is the most engrossing part of the series, and you won’t get a peep out of me! I really recommend picking up this season on DVD when it’s released or if you have the means to watch HBO On Demand, to catch the episodes you’ve missed ASAP. This show epitomizes sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. It’s that edgy show that doesn’t take itself too seriously even though it’s making some great points. Plus there’s something about shows about small towns where hilarity always ensues.

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Photographs courtesy of HBO and IMDbPro