I love to sit back and watch an entertaining TV show that doesnt insult your intelligence. Unfortunately, I can count on ONE HAND the number of shows like that in the last 20 years. (LEXX, MST3K, FUTURAMA, TRUE BLOOD, 6 FEET UNDER) I was hooked on this show from the first episode. Truebies end up reading all the Charlaine Harris SOOKIE STACKHOUSE books, looking for spoilers on the net, and even have been known to go as far as paying 7.99$ for a 4-pack of TRUE BLOOD at the Mall. (Blood Orange soft drink.) The third season, for those keeping score, was based on the third novel of the SOOKIE STACKHOUSE books, AKA "CLUB DEAD". Alan Ball does a great job of translating the books, narrated in the first person via Sookie, into a fully fleshed out community of various supernatural beings all trying to pass as humans, along with "Fang Bangers", which are humans trying to pass themselves off as supernatural beings (read: Vampires. It pokes fun at the Goth culture.) Nothing is as it seems, and cliff hangers are the order of the day, in this update of the DARK SHADOWS vampire soap opera of the 1960s. Alan Ball has actually pulled in scenes from various SOOKIE novels, in order to introduce more of the characters and plot lines earlier than say....book six. So, even tho book THREE (CLUB DEAD) is what season three is based upon, outside of Alcide, werewolves, the werewolf bar, Crystal and Hotshot community, Jackson Mississippi and the Vampire king, and Bill's disappearance, a good deal of what goes on here, is the invention of the TRUE BLOOD writing staff. As much as I love watching the series, I do have problems with the way some of the characters get make overs, and the way plot points from future books are pulled into this season. (The FAE material, for example, or how the TOPCAT of Hotshot, Calvin, is made into an evil inbred redneck, instead of the noble working man from the novels, who has a crush on Sookie.) OF course diverging from the novels began in the first season with the way TARA's role was expanded, and how Lafayette survived not being killed off at the end of season one, as happened in the books.
Not remaining true to the books has its positive and negative points. On the positive side, you cant use the book's plot points, as a way to predict what you are going to see in any one episode. Alan Ball has made the show his own, removing stale, pointless running jokes from the books (like the BUBBA-ELVIS vampire character), and inserting new and interesting characters, like Jessica, Sam's brother Tommy, or Russel Edgington's boyfriend. Franklin's appearance in this season, when he should have been in season 5 I believe, worked out well, as did Sookie's discovery of her own supernatural backround. But for those who havent had a least SOME foreknowledge about the basic plot for season three, the complicated, interwoven plotlines, and huge cast of characters, can become confusing. The books have unifying factors built into their concept, mostly because the entire book is seen from Sookie's perspective. Also, Ms. Harris's books have fewer characters, and fewer storylines running concurrently. Because Alan Ball decided to make the TRUE BLOOD story dense with characters and overlapping storylines, this season especially recieved some negative criticism because too much was going on at the same time, and people became confused. It was only after i watched the show a couple of times after recieving SEASON THREE, that i saw the interlocking pieces of the puzzle in a more unifying light. Jessica and Holt work as a foil for the Sookie and Bill relationship. Sam's family problems are a foil for Tara's family problems, and Lorena's psychopathic love is a foil for Franklin's psychopathic love for Tara. There are SO MANY of these little plot devices woven into the story, that with a little bit of work, and multiple viewings, the OVERARCHING UNITY of the third season (as well as the series' storyline as a whole), provide you with a series that is MORE than the parts it's made of. Other people complain about the sexual content. BUT HEY, Vampires and sexual obscession have gone together like peanut butter and jelly since the very first vampire films. What worked as sexual obsession in the 1930s with Bela cant work today. The entire mythology of supernatural beings has been provided a totally post modern update, starting with genetically engineered human blood itself, aka TRUE BLOOD. Like any show that involves fantasy, suspension of disbelief is nessacary, or else the vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches, and fairies just seem like child entertainment. Well, this show is NOT for children....its a definate RATED R. Also, the homophobia of the fundamentalist south is transformed into vampirephobia, just as the southern addiction to Oxycotin was turned into addiction to "V". In fact, for the number of supernatural creatures that populate the show, its surprising how totally HUMAN their concerns and interactions are. Vampire/human couples face the same discrimination that interracial couples face, Goth culture still has its posiers, there's incest in the backwoods communities, even vampire "royalty" that mirrors human "royalty" based on mega wealth. (you'll notice the kings and queens of the various states, are filthy rich). The number of psychopaths in Bon Temps seems to be a bit over the top, but at least they can be vampires as much as humans. Werewolves are revisioned as bikers, both "good" bikers like Alcide, and the "hell's angel's" types brain-cooked on drugs, like Cooter. (The neo-nazi tendicies of the Hell's Angel biker group, is even addressed in the TV show, tho not the books.)
The extras are almost always entertaining, tho the POST MORTEMS range from Alan Ball talking about how much fun it was working with REAL wolves, to fake TV talk shows discussing the politics of vampire equal rights, and fake training films for vampires who face fighting werewolves. Some of the post mortems were not that thought out, especially the two IN MEMORIA post mortems, which were collections of clips. BUT HEY, they are there if you want them. The show analysis and commentary tracks can be lots of fun, especially when combination occur like the actor for Vampire Bill, and Sookies brother get together, since they both have british accents. Knowing the little bits about the filming, and acting, and writing that went into even the most transitory scenes, helps you to appreciate the amount of time and attention to detail this show contains. (Again, thank ALAN BALL for that.) Every actor is top notch, and every special effect is convincing within the framework of the show. So, for TRUEBIES, or if you enjoyed season ONE and/or SEASON TWO, its not even a question...you will no doubt buy season THREE. Personally, I'd do this NOW, and study the third season as much as you can, because so many CLUES have already been introduced, that set up season four. At the end of the 3rd season, we are all set up for witches, the Jason-Crystal relationship, the Sookie-Eric relationship, and the fight between the witches and.....oh, you'll see. It's obvious the Truebies are going to become DEAD TO THE WORLD when HBO begings broadcasting TRUE BLOOD SEASON 4 at the end of June 2011. Obviously, watching TRUE BLOOD isnt the same as watching a Werner Herzog film, but since this is an HBO production, you are watching TV production at its finest. The only people I'd NOT recommend this show to, would be children under 16, homophobes, hemophobes, and possibly elderly people over the age of 79. (the culture that is portrayed is a bit randy for the elderly. In fact, season 2 included full frontal nudity, and at least one scene of erotica per episode.) As for everyone else, this is a very addictive show, and proves that TV can STILL be fun, without capitulating to reality TV, shock newscasts, or nascar.
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Mark Gregory Rugman
I saw don't let little children watch this
Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2021
