Are You Ready for Sookeh? ‘True Blood’ Will Tell
It’s hard to deny that vampires remain one of the most popular supernatural creatures in entertainment. Through the ages many vampires have been portrayed as seductive and alluring, with an ability to charm humans into doing almost anything. And while werewolves are volatile and messy, ghosts are hard to hold, and zombies are, frankly, stinky and gross, vampires are most often presented as sexy. Any fan of HBO’s hit vampire drama True Blood will tell you that vampires transcend sexy and are intoxicatingly hot, so it is no surprise that fans are excitedly gearing up for the third season of the show, which begins Sunday at 9pm EST.
If you’ve read the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, you are probably wondering which aspects of the third novel, “Club Dead”, will make it into the new season, and what new twists will be added just for the show. The extended season 3 trailer at HBO.com gives some hints about what’s to come, but doesn’t reveal exactly which direction certain elements, such as the werewolves, will take. Werewolves? That’s right! This season will have warm-blooded supes as well. There has been a lot of buzz about the casting of these characters, and although I haven’t seen the episodes yet (and thus don’t know if the actors have gotten the mannerisms and personalities down), I must say that the physical match to the book descriptions of a few key characters is amazing!
If you’ve read all the books and seen every episode and still can’t get enough True Blood, you might also be pleased to know that a True Blood comic book is going to be released in July (available for pre-order now, though I plan to wait until I can read it on my iPhone) from IDW (Disclaimer: ComicMix’s publishing partner). HBO also has a series of six mini-episodes, which they are calling “A Drop of True Blood” on their True Blood page. The shorts are little character pieces that give us some insight into things that happened around the time of the end of last season while also getting fans revved up for the new one. Be forewarned that two of the videos are not safe for work and require registration before viewing because of mature content.
Some fans of the show have expressed concern over the fact that characters from later books in the series are being introduced earlier in the run of the show than they were in the novels, and are concerned that this might detract from the Sookie and Bill storyline. Some followers are happy that more secondary characters are coming aboard and are hoping that the Bill and Sookie storyline will be focused on less. I know that, for those who like spoilers, they are apparently available
on fansites such as True-Blood.net, but I am hoping to
avoid spoilers since speculation and discovery is so much fun. If you want all of the details and stats (almost like an RPG. Oooh…I wonder if there’s a tabletop True Blood game in the works – there are certainly a lot of online RPGs going), you can find them broken down at the fansite, along with pictures of the actors. One thing that everyone who watches the series for the eye candy will want to know is that, in addition to a particularly significant male character joining the show (as well as a few more), there will be several lovely new female characters.
If you watch the show purely for story and character development, it is true that the books significantly picked up with the third novel, bringing a kind of energy and excitement that is sure to make season three a ton of fun and have fans begging for more as they wait anxiously for Sunday night.
Given that the TV version sucks dead moose through a straw, if the comic is based on it rather than directly on the books, it will be even worse than that.
I think the show is much better than the books. It has more character diversity and focuses on more than one plotline. I wonder what shows you do like, if any, since you despise TB? Interesting to know.
-a fan
Well, lessee – in the sf/fantasy genre: Buffy, Dr Who (both series), Dollhouse, Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Tomorrow People (original), Babylon 5, The Prisoner (original) and a lot of others.
Outside sf/fantasy … Burn Notice, House, The Man from UNCLE (which probably goes on the first list), Maverick (original), The Avengers (also ought to be on the other list, i guess), Hill Street Blues and a lot of others.
I have to admit i haven’t watched True Blood beyond the first two or three, but, as Doctor Johnson (i believe) said, one need not eat all of an egg to know that it is bad.
I live in Atlanta, and used to spend a considerable part of my time in New Orleans and the part of Louisiana where the books and show are set. And one of the saddest things about it is that, for a show by an Atlanta-born creator, virtually the only character with a convincing Southern/Louisiana accent was a French-Canadian who grew up in New Zealand…
I think the show is much better than the books. It has more character diversity and focuses on more than one plotline.
That sound you hear in the background is my wife, who managed to watch more than i did and labeled it semi-softcore pornography, laughing hysterically in disbelief.
“True Blood” has taken the vampire as the social outsider (like gays and minorities) metaphor that was only very little hinted at on “Buffy” and “Angel”, and put it out in front.
“True Blood” is about the current state of America and our society and politics and as a comment on current state of American politics and society “True Blood” is pretty much dead on. There are constant references to The Vampire Rights Act, and vampire and human marriage, a miltant religious order dedicated to the destruction of vampires, and etc.
It also has vampires that love being vampires and while Bill does a have his emo moments he’s no where near as whiny and annoying as Angel was on the first 3 seasons of “Buffy” and for the first 4 seasons of his own show.
Well, Angel was a special case.As to all those things you cite in “True Blood” – except, possibly, for vamp-human marriages – are in the books, and (according to most people i know who have read the books and wasted more time on the show) better done there.The main thing the series seems to have added that’s not in the books is blatant, graphic and near-pornographic sex.
Given that the TV version sucks dead moose through a straw, if the comic is based on it rather than directly on the books, it will be even worse than that.
I think the show is much better than the books. It has more character diversity and focuses on more than one plotline. I wonder what shows you do like, if any, since you despise TB? Interesting to know.-a fan
Well, lessee – in the sf/fantasy genre: Buffy, Dr Who (both series), Dollhouse, Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Tomorrow People (original), Babylon 5, The Prisoner (original) and a lot of others.Outside sf/fantasy … Burn Notice, House, The Man from UNCLE (which probably goes on the first list), Maverick (original), The Avengers (also ought to be on the other list, i guess), Hill Street Blues and a lot of others.I have to admit i haven't watched True Blood beyond the first two or three, but, as Doctor Johnson (i believe) said, one need not eat all of an egg to know that it is bad. I live in Atlanta, and used to spend a considerable part of my time in New Orleans and the part of Louisiana where the books and show are set. And one of the saddest things about it is that, for a show by an Atlanta-born creator, virtually the only character with a convincing Southern/Louisiana accent was a French-Canadian who grew up in New Zealand…
I think the show is much better than the books. It has more character diversity and focuses on more than one plotline.That sound you hear in the background is my wife, who managed to watch more than i did and labeled it semi-softcore pornography, laughing hysterically in disbelief.
"True Blood" has taken the vampire as the social outsider (like gays and minorities) metaphor that was only very little hinted at on "Buffy" and "Angel", and put it out in front. "True Blood" is about the current state of America and our society and politics and as a comment on current state of American politics and society "True Blood" is pretty much dead on. There are constant references to The Vampire Rights Act, and vampire and human marriage, a miltant religious order dedicated to the destruction of vampires, and etc.It also has vampires that love being vampires and while Bill does a have his emo moments he's no where near as whiny and annoying as Angel was on the first 3 seasons of "Buffy" and for the first 4 seasons of his own show.
Well, Angel was a special case.As to all those things you cite in "True Blood" – except, possibly, for vamp-human marriages – are in the books, and (according to most people i know who have read the books and wasted more time on the show) better done there.The main thing the series seems to have added that's not in the books is blatant, graphic and near-pornographic sex.
I don’t understand girls’ obsession with vampires these days with their Twilight this and their Trueblood that. Vampires are not supposed to be “sexy”, they are walking corposes animated by an evil spirit.
Nosferatu or nothin’.
Tell that to Count Dracula… he had a way with the ladies. But seriously, 1. there are plenty of men who love vampires, too. 2. Twilight is faeries pretending to be vampires. True Blood *is* bloody and the fact that the vampires aren’t human is evident. If you want animated corpses pure and simple, there are plenty of zombies around.
A zombie is not at all the same thing as a traditional vampire. A zombie is mindless, a traditional Western European/early American vampire is a soulless corpse inhabited by an intelligent evil spirit, key word being intelligent. They are not glamorous, or attractive, they are evil.
I don't understand girls' obsession with vampires these days with their Twilight this and their Trueblood that. Vampires are not supposed to be "sexy", they are walking corposes animated by an evil spirit. Nosferatu or nothin'.
Tell that to Count Dracula… he had a way with the ladies. But seriously, 1. there are plenty of men who love vampires, too. 2. Twilight is faeries pretending to be vampires. True Blood *is* bloody and the fact that the vampires aren't human is evident. If you want animated corpses pure and simple, there are plenty of zombies around.
A zombie is not at all the same thing as a traditional vampire. A zombie is mindless, a traditional Western European/early American vampire is a soulless corpse inhabited by an intelligent evil spirit, key word being intelligent. They are not glamorous, or attractive, they are evil.