Sat Sep 6, 2008 10:13PM12 comments ›
Sat Sep 6, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Early Review: True Blood
Does HBO's new bloodsucking drama....suck?
For too long, paranormal dramas have been restricted to basic cable where they become weighed down with melodrama and morals that everyday teens can take away from each episode. I’d like to say that True Blood breaks that trend, but, sadly, it does not and with the exception of a few expletives and some exposed body parts, this show could certainly be made for ABC or the oh-so-hip CW.
From the Alan Ball, the creator of the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under comes the TV series based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series by Charlaine Harris about a southern telepathic waitress named Sookie Stackhouse who solves mysteries involving vampires, werewolves, and other such creatures. Keep in mind, this series was written four years before the nation’s newfound interest in vampires was peaked with Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. That said, this still isn’t safe from being called a watered down version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
There were only a few scenes that were of interest to any fan of the vampire mythos, the rest establishing the faux racism storyline that seems to be the backbone of the show. In a world where vampires have “come out of the coffin” (not my turn of phrase) and are now publicly known, they become the new racial scapegoat for the scared and angry citizens of Southern America to abuse. This storyline borders didacticism by using “vampire” as a replacement for words like “black” or “gay” or even “cylon”. In a world where these immortal creatures walk the earth, why should they care what the clerk at the Quik-N-Stop has to say to them? Unanswered questions like these makes one realize why this series needs to be looked at like a Vampire Romance novel, instead of a replacement for something like Buffy or Angel, much like watching The New Adventures of Lois & Clark.
Outside of plot holes like that, the other two issues with the pilot were the pacing and acting. The pacing seems to be almost at a torturous level, leaving entire chunks of time where nothing more than a lot of pensive staring goes on. We understand that there is a lot of animosity between the vampires and the “mortals”, but they can rip your throats out, so stop looking like a pissed off toddler. The acting (I won’t go into how bad the southern accents are) and motivation of characters just came across as inconsistent, as many of them were either set as “angry girl” or “delusional grandmother”. There was hardly any reasoning behind these emotions, and they felt unnecessary and distracting.
The ending left for a good cliffhanger and a want to pursue the next episode, which I encourage. This series will hopefully improve and become slightly more watchable, but this doesn’t seem like another Buffy the Vampire Slayer or even a Twilight, instead just a watered down amalgam of the two. Rating 6/10
True Blood debuts on HBO Sunday evening at 9 p.m. and has a twelve episode season.
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Comments (12)
mike weber (10:56 PM on Sat Sep 6, 2008)
Some comments by Ball that i encounteres online seem to imply that he really doesn't know or care much about vampires and/or vampire lore.
I managed to get hold of a partial copy of the pilot episode some time ago.
I couldn't manage to watch all of even that.
Kate did; her summary tells me that it's pretty much nothing like the books.
One important thing - while the series is set in the South, the books make it pretty obvious that the tension between humans and vampires is pretty well universal, not just limited to the Old Confederacy.
Of course, the books establish that there are other supernaturals lurking in the shadows, waiting to see how the vampires' revelation works out - shapeshifters, werewolves (not exactly the same thing), fairies (literally) and a lot of others.
I must say, i find it amusing that main roles i know a Canadian-born actress who grew up in New Zealand for are both rural Southerners...
Em (3:39 PM on Tue Oct 14, 2008)
In some respects, I agree that the pilot wasn't that great. Rather campy, really - but, as with Six Feet Under, I think that Ball's newest series simply started slow. I was hesitant to continue to give True Blood a chance, but am now quite glad that I have. I'm not a fanatic of vampires, but have always loved stories about them (esp those written by Christopher Moore and Poppy Z. Brite) - and I think that this series is turning into one helluva fun/interesting/romantic/mysterious ride.
Jason (11:10 PM on Mon Oct 13, 2008)
This show is great.. I honestly don't know how anyone could say different. I do NOT like most tv series at all. True Blood is amazing from the acting to the story line. Everyone should check out this series.
karen (5:24 AM on Thu Oct 2, 2008)
Whoever said True Blood doesn't follow the books, either didn't read the books or doesn't understand how script is pulled from a book. It follows the books beautifully and I believe C.Harris is onboard as a consultant. Of course it's going to start of slow...you have to stay with it as it builds just like a book. Now in the 4th episode and all the folks (men and women) I know, are hooked. Great job everyone!
mike weber (11:27 PM on Wed Dec 3, 2008)
I've read all of the books.
The series is going ofr almost a soft-core porn vibe in some sequences that the books don't have.
And i have a long-time family background in writing and TV/radio/film production. I don't write professionally myself, but my brother is an NYTime Best-Selling author, and we all grew up running tame at several different ad agencies where our mother was a copywriter/producer.
I know what goes into script adaptations - it's nice if sometimes the original books do.
Anonymous (3:03 AM on Mon Sep 15, 2008)
True Blood feels a lot like Heroes right off the bat (just rented the first episode from Blockbuster), though it still feels mostly original... overall the show makes me want to eat Cajun food and drink beer
Andrew (12:00 PM on Tue Nov 4, 2008)
Do any of u read manga? Sookie seems to be just like a girl in the manga vampire knight, and her name is yukie just cought me as wierd
Anonymous (2:24 PM on Wed Dec 3, 2008)
I don't understand how twilight and buffy can be your references ... I think that both suck and I was happy to see at last a good serie about vampires and supernatural creatures ... I can't wait till next year : the cliffhanger is awful !! :D
frizz (5:21 AM on Sun Dec 21, 2008)
i just started watching true blood and i love it! i love the twisted feel of it but i also like that by watching it i feel compelled to start talking like them too, because you just start to feel like you're part of this world. i'll admit that when i picture a world with all that magic out in the open i never pictured it quite that sexual! oh and people who like this should read the Anita Blake books! oh and i liked Twilight!
Anonymous (7:23 PM on Fri Dec 19, 2008)
Holy shit you people are stupid. This is the most ridiculous piece of shit show I have ever seen in my entire life. You can't compare it to Twilight or even Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is REALLY saying something. This is just a show someone decided to spit out quickly while the vampire idea was still trendy. I have never read the books but I seriously hope they are better than this show.
Keri (6:52 PM on Mon Jul 13, 2009)
Well i have read most of the books and seen some of the film.... i think that its great because it shows how vampires would really live amung humans, It also shows diffrent kinds of vampires in the film but more in the book, like it decribes them and what diffrences they have from other vampires. Some are gay. The vampire known as "Bubba" in the books prefers cat's blood than humans, and vampires that wants to kill themselfs like godfrey.... Oh and i think it is Better than Twilight by far!.
Kreuz (8:50 AM on Mon Nov 16, 2009)
If you listen carefully to every character's line and speech, it is fair to say that there is not much going on there! Sex, sex and here's me serving a cheeseburger here and there to some humans having stupid thoughts! Great, am absolutely extatic about this serie!! I don't get the fact that there should be so much nudity, it very pointless and does look like a pseudo intellectual (as some says it is a whole metaphor for racism) show that turned up into a B-serie kind of porn. It feeds the fantasies of people who has a fascination for vampire-sex-violence-blood party or just people with very basic mind on the matter and therefore, a lot would say "It's great!!"
It's a very easy scenario and not really much to it, basic human being with basic emotions would absolutely love it for the very same reason i've mentionned : blood, tits, ass, sex and probably this awesome burger, yum, it makes me hungry!! Anyway,i believe it is a way to expose some vicious fantansies of ours.