talyseon's Full Review: True Blood - The Complete First Season
Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
True Blood (2009) Created by Alan Ball, from the novels of Charlaine Harris.
Sookie Stackhouse: [surprised] You're alive? Bill Compton: Technically, no.
It's modern day Louisiana, and Vampires are two years out of the coffin. With the introduction of the Japanese medical product, True Blood, an artificial substance, Vampires are no longer dependant on human beings for sustenance.
What does this mean? Well, for the people of Louisiana, it means they get to be the focal point for the Undead Rights movement. Louisiana and New Orleans in particular become the Vampire equivalent of Gay San Francisco. Needless to say, the transition is not frictionless.
Sookie Stackhouse is a bar maid at Merlott's, a road house outside Bon Temps (somewhere near Lafayette, maybe?) Sookie has problems of her own. She is a telepath, inadvertently hearing what other people are thinking. This can be a real curse; you don't really want to hear what other people think of you moment by moment. So when Bill Compton (Steven Moyer, who also played a vampire in the mini series Ultraviolet) wanders into her bar, Sookie is intrigued; she can not hear him. She quickly finds out why...he is a vampire.
Further, he is moving in, trying to integrate into the local community. And Sookie is rather happy with this prospect. Too bad the same thing can't be said for everyone in the community.
Episode One. Strange Love. Sookie Stackhouse: [in reference to prostitutes that specialize in vampires] See, now that just makes me sick. Adele Stackhouse: I know. What kind of cheap woman could ever do something like that? Sookie Stackhouse: No, it makes me sick that they're gettin' a thousand bucks to lay there and do nothin' while I bust my @$$ for ten bucks an hour plus tips.
It's modern day Louisiana, and Vampires are out of the coffin for two years, living off the artificial True Blood. Telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse finds her first vampire very appealing because she can't hear what he is thinking. So when she saves him from some low rent backwoods bushwhackers who are out to collect his blood (it's a combination of speed, ecstasy and Viagra) Bill Compton is more than a little intrigued himself.
Episode Two: The First Taste Jason Stackhouse: A lot of Americans don't think you people deserve special rights. Bill Compton: They're the same rights you have. Jason Stackhouse: No, I'm just saying there's a reason things are the way they are. Bill Compton: Yes. It's called injustice.
The Rattrays move to have their revenge on Sookie. But Sookie has a protector now, and he does not take kindly to being treated like a walking meth lab. Meanwhile, horndog brother Jason may be off the hook for Maudette's killing, but he sure has not learned his lesson. Addiction is addiction, whether it is blood, drugs, or women.
Episode 3. Mine. Sookie Stackhouse: Hey, Gran. Do you think I should continue seeing Bill? Adele 'Gran' Stackhouse: Sookie, 'can't tell you that. I can tell you that I think he is a smart, handsome, and very polite young man. But of course he's gonna show his best side to me so I won't stand in his way of courtin' you. Sookie Stackhouse: He scares me. Adele 'Gran' Stackhouse: Well, it is scary openin' your heart up to somebody.
While Sookie is quite taken with Bill Compton, a proper southern gentleman of the vampiric persuasion, she finds her fascination somewhat blunted when she meets a few of his ‘friends' and realizes not all vampires are civilized, or sane. Jason sleeps with another girl, just before she is killed. The boy is nothing, if not consistent. Meanwhile, Tara and Bill make a few dubious choices of their own.
Episode Four. Escape from Dragonhouse Jason: [really worried] I think I might'a od'd. Tara Thornton: Oh, my G*d... On what? Jason: V. Tara Thornton: You're doin' V now? Jason: It was my first time. Tara Thornton: Where on earth did you come across V in this town? Jason: Lafayette. Tara Thornton: My cousin is dealin' vampire blood now? G**damn idiot. Well, at least that explains why I walked in on you dancin' around in that Laura Bush mask yesterday, 'cause I gotta tell you, without a reason, that was some f***ed up sh*t! All right, let me see it. Jason: Huh? Tara Thornton: How long have you had the erection? Jason: Well, how do you know? Tara Thornton: Um, I read... You're not the first vain-@$$, body-conscious ex-jock to overdo the V and wind up with an acute case of priapism!
With Jason under suspicion for murder, Again, Sookie asks Bill to take her to Fangtasia, the Vamp Bar in Shreveport so she can look for evidence that might clear him. In the meantime, Jason was holding V, and took the whole vial, with comical results. If there are three ways to mess up, Jason will try the one he has never tried before.
Episode 5. Sparks Fly Out.
"Giving vampire blood to Jason Stackhouse is like giving ho-ho to a diabetic! You know he can't control himself!" Tara Thornton
Sookie and Bill are on the outs because of a police stop, and how Bill and the cop treat each other (hyper male territorial). Bill is on the ins with Adele for talking to the local Civil War society, as a first hand participant. Sam asks Sookie out, and Jason proves the depths of his stupidity by getting more V from Lafayette, and is looking at Tara in a new light.
Episode 6. Cold Ground
Tara Thornton: [about vampires] Do you think they're capable of lovin' a person? Lafayette Reynolds: Who knows what they're capable of.
The murdered strikes very close to home for Sookie. This puts her in a weak position with everyone's thoughts beating in on her. What she does decide to do is to continue seeing Bill. A great insight into southern culture episode.
Episode 7. Burning House of Love.
Lafayette Reynolds: Look at you! All pornalicious. What kinda crazy mix you goin' get yourself into? Sookie Stackhouse: [almost laughing] Can't I be in a good mood with out it bein' a big deal?
Sookie and Bill finally commit a little pseudo-necrophilia. Needless to say, the grapevine is burning with this news. Tara's mom wants an exorcism to cure her alcoholism. The kiss of vampires move into a local house, which is met with some time honored redneck resistance. And why is Sam running buck naked through the bayou country?
Episode 8. The Fourth Man in the Fire.
Lisa Fowler: [as they're eating ice cream] Bill, why can't you have ice cream? Bill Compton: You might say that I am lactose intolerant. Coby Fowler: Just like Aunt Fern. Except she don't tolerate Mexicans.
Sookie is relieved to find Bill was not burned with the other vampires. The town is ticked for her being relieved. Jason's new girlfriend is a Svengali with boobs, and we find out where Lafayette gets his V. While Sookie is worrying about small town prejudices, she should be worried about vampire hierarchies and greedy elder vampires who want her for themselves.
Episode 9. Plaisir d'amour
When Sookie does as asked, and identifies the thief at Fangtasia, she finds herself the bone in a dogfight. In protecting her, Bill has bought himself some trouble. Knowing he will be gone awhile, he asks Sam Merlott to watch out for Sookie.
Meanwhile, Amy starts at Merlott's, when she is not busy keeping Eddie the vampire in the Basement with Jason. Lord, if it weren't for bad choices, that boy wouldn't get to make any...
Tara decides maybe she does need an exorcism, but not at $800. Sookie spends the night in Bill's bed while he is away, but wakes up with a naked man across the foot of the bed!
Episode 10. I Don't Wanna Know.
"Life is just getting too weird too fast." Sookie Stackhouse.
No one is exactly what they seem. When Sookie finds Sam Merlott sleeping naked across the foot of Bill's bed, she thinks he's the serial killer. The truth is stranger. Tara finds out Miss Jeanette the exorcist isn't everything she seems either. Meanwhile, two vampires' lives are on the line, Eddie, prisoner of Jason and Amy, and Bill, facing Vampire Justice, which has no clause about "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" and in fact, seems to enjoy it.
Episode 11. To Love is to Bury.
Lafayette Reynolds: Did you hear what he just said? Terry Bellefleur: I can't listen to politicians no more. I get a seizure.
After Amy's brutal murder of their vampire prisoner Eddie, Jason is beginning to wonder if maybe this girl is a little too high maintenance. Sookie is perusing the investigation of the serial killer, after her close call at Amy's engagement party, Tara is busted for drunk driving, and we learn there really is no justice in her relationship with her mother. Meanwhile, Bill's punishment plays out in such a way that you begin to wonder if the five years in coffin would have been kinder.
Episode 12. You'll be the Death of Me.
Sookie Stackhouse: You know what's funny is that your thoughts don't have an accent. Rene Lenier: That must be hard on you, living with that. Sookie Stackhouse: It is hard, sometimes. You have no idea how sick and twisted some people are. Rene Lenier: Oh lord. I believe that. Yes, ma'am.
The Serial Killer is revealed, and Bill has to get a tan to save Sookie! Jason, back in jail as a suspect, finds religion. Of course, it is the Fellowship of the Sun, an antivampire organization. Give the boy a choice, and he will pick the wrong one, every time....
Tara's benefactor, Mary Ann has a history with Sam Merlott. And what exactly has happened to Lafayette?
Of course the season has to end on a cliff hanger. The world Charlene Harris has created is complex and interesting, if a little...unrealistic. I think the world would be a lot more divisive over the issue of vampires, as in panic in the streets.
That aside, Sookie's weird little world certainly is involving. Colourful does not begin to describe the people in her world, much less the vampires and shape shifters. And the actors do an incredible job of bringing them to life. If I can like Lafayette Reynolds after discovering he's a dealer, that says something about Nelsan Ellis' acting skills.
The Cast.
Anna Paquin ... Sookie Stackhouse (21 episodes, 2008-2009) Stephen Moyer ... Bill Compton / ... (21 episodes, 2008-2009) Sam Trammell ... Sam Merlotte (21 episodes, 2008-2009) Ryan Kwanten ... Jason Stackhouse / ... (21 episodes, 2008-2009) Rutina Wesley ... Tara Thornton (21 episodes, 2008-2009) Jim Parrack ... Hoyt Fortenberry (19 episodes, 2008-2009) Chris Bauer ... Andy Bellefleur (12 episodes, 2008) Nelsan Ellis ... Lafayette Reynolds (12 episodes, 2008) Carrie Preston ... Arlene Fowler (12 episodes, 2008) Michael Raymond-James ... Rene Lenier (12 episodes, 2008) William Sanderson ... Sheriff Bud Dearborne (12 episodes, 2008) Adina Porter ... Lettie Mae Thornton (11 episodes, 2008) Deborah Ann Woll ... Jessica Hamby (11 episodes, 2008-2009) Robert Amjarv ... Bus Boy (11 episodes, 2008) Alexander Skarsgård ... Eric Northman (9 episodes, 2008) Todd Lowe ... Terry Bellefleur (8 episodes, 2008) Anna Camp ... Sarah Newlin (8 episodes, 2009) Lois Smith ... Adele Stackhouse / ... (7 episodes, 2008) Kristin Bauer ... Pam (7 episodes, 2008) Ashley Jones ... Daphne (7 episodes, 2009) Lizzy Caplan ... Amy Burley (6 episodes, 2008) Dale Raoul ... Maxine Fortenberry (6 episodes, 2008-2009) Rosemary Garris ... Bargirl / ... (6 episodes, 2008-2009) Lynn Collins ... Dawn Green (5 episodes, 2008) Aisha Hinds ... Miss Jeanette (4 episodes, 2008) Raoul Trujillo ... Longshadow (4 episodes, 2008) John Billingsley ... Mike Spencer (4 episodes, 2008) Graham Shiels ... Liam / ... (4 episodes, 2008) Michelle Forbes ... Maryann (4 episodes, 2008-2009)
There is a sort of dichotomy with the issue of southern culture. The show captures the feel very well, if some of the actors are, well, over acting. I guess it's a case of making life more real than life.
That said, it definitely is a lively show, full of the deep currents of secrets and rumor that are the life's blood of the Deep South. Add the gothic elements of vampires and telepathy, and what you get is a gumbo of concepts. It's a weird mix, but tasty.
The production values are great. Sookie's house is old but homey. Bill's old, elegant and old, with a decaying air of forgotten grandeur that very nicely fits the mythos of the vampire.
And it's sexy. There is something for everyone. Sookie is sweet and fresh, Tara is spicy to the point of pain, Arlene is perfect for the set that like truckstop waitresses. And the menfolk; my, my, my, my. Bill is a southern gentleman of the old school. (What else would he be?) Jason is the cute little horndog that everyone goes home with but doesn't talk about after, and Lafayette is sweet, strong, and too clever by half. Sam Merlott has a scruffy sincerity, (and a nice butt) and the list goes on.
All in all it is a convincing mix of horror and mystery leavened with humor and a whole lot of sex. What more could you want for a Sunday night?
True Blood chronicles the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps...where vampires have emerged from the coffin, and no longer need humans for their fix...More at eCOST.com
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