Bloody hell… when it comes to an almost perfect TV series, True Blood is
as close to a near death experience as possible and I guess that it
helps that you have the undead walking around. Based on the brilliant
books by Charlaine Harris, True Blood follows the exploits of
Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid who works in the quiet town of Bon Temps
Louisiana and has an extraordinary gift.
Sookie is a telepath and has
the ability to hear the thoughts of those around her which has shaped
her journey as a woman. Unfortunately this “gift” cannot be turned off
and when she meets her first vampire, Bill Compton, not only is this
love at first sight but because Bill is dead, Sookie cannot hear his
thoughts.
Apart from Sookie and Bill, the town of Bon Temps has many
secrets (not just the redneck variety) such as Sookie’s boss, Sam
Merlotte, a shape shifter or Lafayette, a gay male prostitute who sells
vampire blood on the side that makes this town more colourful than
Disney Land. Just be warned that the main colour of this town is red… just like
blood. The series is also sexually quite intense, whether it’s the brooding
vampires, the naked women or the hot humid weather of Louisiana, it’s a
very steamy series that has a huge cult following from around the world...
myself included.
From the cliff hanger ending of season one that saw Lafayette either
murdered or kidnapped, fans are once again introduced to this amazing
universe by Harris. The relationship between Sookie
and Bill is a constant in the series, however the two main themes in
season two include the Fellowship of the Sun, a church group who opposes
the integration of vampires into society and Maryann, a witchlike
goddess who has the town of Bon Temps under her charm.
From the
start, we
learn from a
flashback revolving Sam, that Maryann is not all what she seems and
after Sam stole a large amount of money from her as a teenager, it
appears that Maryann has not forgotten this sin. Jason, Sookie’s sister
is once again involved in the wrong side of morality as he joins the
Fellowship of the Sun, believing that this is the path god intended for
him.
Of course, Jason has trouble keeping things in pants and eventually
beds the minister’s (Michael McMillan) young wife Sarah (Anna Camp)
which actually sparked epiphany for our young stud. Another new
character in season two is Daphne (Ashley Jones), a new comer to the
town who gets a job at Merlotte’s and falls for Sam once they learn that
they are both shifters. Lastly we have Shawnelle (Betsy Rue), a killer
redhead in her early 20’s who was forcibly turned by Bill due to a
decision by his vampire council. As Bill is not the average cold blooded
vampire killer, he feels guilty for turning her and takes on Shawnelle as his “protégée”
or daughter who eventually hooks up with Hoyt (Jim Parrack), much to the
disgust of this mother.
Although the first season introduced all the characters of this great
modern mythology, the second season works on more of the ideology from
the previous series such as the consequences of having vampires
integrated with society and of course… if vampires exist, what else
exists? This is made known when Sookie is attacked by a strange creature
and on deaths door, Bill asks Eric (Alexander Skarsgård), a powerful
vampire to save her. But if Eric is involved, one can expect that the
price is generally more than you can afford and without spoiling things
too much, Sookie eventually pays the price… so to speak.
From fangbangers to Sookie’s friend Tara being mesmerised by Maryann, we see
gods and even Vampire Queens in season two of True Blood which really pushes the
boundaries of this franchise and if you thought season one was amazing,
season two is even better.
In terms of video quality… holy moley! HBO should be given a medal because
on Blu-ray, True Blood looks amazing with exceptional detail from
realistic skin tones, vibrant colours and sharp images. You can see
almost every detail and flaw of the actors involved in this production.
Add in some great cinematography and you really think you are in some
Louisiana swamp. To compliment the HD video, the audio is English DTS-HD
Master Audio 5.1 for that true cinematic experience.
When it
comes to extras, the disc is reeling with them that include bonus
episodes of Entourage, Bored to Death, Eastbound and Down plus
Hung, all great HBO series. But for True Blood, we have character
perspectives, flashback/flash forwards (pivotal moments from the
series), pro/anti-vampire feeds (mock news updates), hints/FYI (trivia
facts), The Vampire Report (mock reports on vampire events(, Fellowship
of the Sun: Reflections of the Light (rules to live by under the order)
and finally audio commentaries from the cast and crew... WOW
So what are
you waiting for fangbangers? Go out and buy this now!
Episode Listing:
Nothing But the Blood
Keep This Party Going
Scratch My Back
Let's Take a Trip Together
Never Let Me Go
Hard-Hearted Hannah
Release Me
Timebomb
I Will Rise Up
New World In My View
Frenzy
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
