True Blood Season 3: Out with a Wimper

True Blood: Season 3

HBO

If you haven't watched the season finale, do not read!!

This was the season that was going to take True Blood to new levels of greatness – it's popularity has never been higher, and vamp-omania was still sky high. The season started out on a high note with the introduction of the werewolves including new cast member Alcide (Joe Manganiello), as well as Crystal Norris(Lindsay Pulsipher) and her were-panther family.

The mysteries surrounding Bill's arrival in Bon Temps and of Sookie's lineage are a major part of this season's plot. We eventually find out that Bill is not exactly who he says he is, and Sookie and he have a rough patch this season, which ends badly for Bill. Sookie s finally revealed to be part fairy. To quote Sookie Stackhouse, “I'm a fairy? How f**kin lame!”

Tara was treated very badly this season by vampire Franklin Mott(James Frain), leading her at the end of the season to be suspect of any supernatural creatures (besides Sookie) even going to far as to walking out on Sam when she find out what he is. Tara sure has been mistreated the last two seasons – first by Mary Anne and then by Franklin. She has got to be a severely damaged person by now, and it shows.

Jessica and Hoyt start out the season no longer a couple, but by the end of the season are a couple again, although it looks like Hoyt will have some resistance to this relationship next season as we saw his mother purchasing a shotgun.

Lafayette has an interesting character arc this season as he begins the season getting over the torture he endured from Eric Northman for selling V, and this season he is asked by Eric to sell V. Later we meet his mother Ruby Jean Reynolds (Alfre Woodard) in the hospital being taken care of by her nurse Jesus Velasquez (Kevin Alejandro). Jesus and Lafayette immediately hit it off, and end up eventually dating. While on V, Jesus and Lafayette have a strange experience, a spiritual history lesson about their heritages, and it seems there is dark magic in both of their histories. As Lafayette comes out of his high, he sees visions of things people want to hide (such as that Jesus is a witch and that Sam has blood on his hands). It will be interesting to see where this plot goes next season, as I imagine witches will be a major part of the next season.

Jason has a small subplot this season, and the payoff (as with Lafayettes storyline) is likely to come next season. Jason decides to become a cop after dealing with the guild of killing Eggs and then blackmails Andy. He catches a drug dealer, and eventually meets Crystal Norris and her family of drug-dealing, white trash, were-panthers. In the end, Crystal's mate Felton kills their father and points the gun at Jason. Crystal leaves with her brother/mate Felton who is about to kill Jason, leaving Jason to take care of Crystal's family of were-panthers.

Arlene finds out she's pregnant this season, and then she realizes the baby is Renee's. She doesn't want to have anything to do with the baby, considering it a “demon child” and tries to get rid of it, but the baby is strong and it is likely she'll have a child next season. This is kind of ridiculous because Renee was not some kind of demon, he was just a man. And yet he still has all this power over Arlene. We'll see whee this plot goes next season.

Sam;s turn this season is a bit unbelievable. He went from the nicest guy on the block for the last two seasons, to a man capable of killing. He met his blood family, including his shape-shifting brother Tommy Mickens. He eventually took Tommy in, because he was being used by his parents to win dog fights. We soon see flash backs to Sam's darker side (something which hadn't emerged through the maenad plot from season 2 or the waitress killer plot from season 1) and find out he killed someone for money. And at the end of season 3, we see him willing to do the same to his (admittedly) trouble-making brother. We don't actually see if he's done it or not (another plot for season four).

Bill and Eric are involved in a number of double crosses this season – they all seem to be designed to protect Sookie, but in the meantime it makes them look like they have gone to the dark side (or in Eric's case, the darker side). They renounce their loyalty to Queen Sophie Ann and join Russell Edgington (Dennis O'Hare), vampire King of Mississippi, who is over 3,000 years old. It is in Mississippi that much of season 3's action takes place.

The majority of the werewolves in season 3 work for Russell, and they were the ones who kidnapped Bill in the season 2 finale. Bill begins working for Russell, as does Eric, until Russell goes over the deep end, killing a news reporter on live TV. Bill and Eric then reveal their true colors, as Bill seeks to protect Sookie, and Eric seeks payback for what Russell and his werewolves did to his (pre-vampire) family over 2,000 years ago. Eric kills his lover, a vampire named Talbot, which sets Russell even farther over the deep end.

There is some fair time spent on Lorena as well this season, including one grotesque sex scene between Bill and Lorene which was more like a beating then sex. He twists her head completely around as he is having sex with her in what I think is one of the most disgusting scenes I've ever sen on TV. Later she is killed by Bill and Sookie as they try to escape Russell's mansion.

In the end, the season went out with a sputter. The best episode, in my opinion, was “I Smell A Rat” which revealed much of the mysteries throughout the season, including Sookie's lineage. In fact, I thought there were perhaps too many reveals in this episode, giving very little time to any of them, and leaving little to be dealt with in later episodes.

The season ending cliffhanger also could have been more effective, as Sookie disappeared with her fairy godmother Claudine. It wasn't the most exciting cliffhanger, nor did it leave me aching for the next season. I am hopeful that the next season will get better – the groundwork was laid out this season for an exciting season four. This season seemed like a “between” season laying the groundwork for some exciting plot twists next season.

This seasons deaths: Cooter, Lorena, Talbot, Franklin Mott

3 fangs out of 5..more questions than answers

True Blood Hitting the Ground Review

True Blood - Hitting the Ground
Airdate: 8/1/2010

Sookie's attempt to rescue Bill has unforseen consequences. Meanwhile, Jason seeks the truth about Crystal. Sam must step in when Tommy gets involved in a dog fighting ring, all thanks to Melinda and Joe Lee's quest for money. Eric figures out how to get the information he wants from Sophie-Anne. Debbie plans to get even with Alcide while Russell ignores the Magister.


This episode, much like last, ramped up the action and plot developments. We left off at the end of the last episode with Lorena, Bill's sire, feeding on Sookie as a powerless Bill watched. After a brief feeding, Bill gets free and saves Sookie, allowing her to kill Lorena, permanently. Alcide and Tara soon showed up to help get Sookie and Bill away from Russell's mansion. Then Debbie threatens to kill Alcide, and Tara, still high on v from Franklin, tackles her.

Back in Bon Temps, Sam saves Tommy and all the other dogs from the dog fight. He offers Tommy the chance to leave his family and after some thought, Sam and Tommy leave to return to Merlotte's, finally leaving their parents behind.

Jason still searches for answers to who and what Crystal is. The meth dealer that Jason caught a few episodes ago gives Jason a few answers – he is her cousin. He looked like he was about to say that her “fiance”is actually her brother but stopped short of actually saying it. We don't learn anything else new about her, and frankly it's getting a bit annoying. We'll learn more about her soon.

Back to Tara, Alcide, Sookie and Bill. Sookie lets Bill feed from her to keep him from dying. He's starving, and has lost a lot of blood. He goes all evil vamp and feeds on her to the point of almost death. Tara throws Bill out of the truck into the sunlight, and they drive off to bring Sookie to the hospital. Sookie almost dies, as she apparently has no blood type (curious) and is in a coma. Apparently she's never really been sick before, ans has never been in a hospital (she wasn't even born in one). Sookie arrives in what can only be assumed to be Heaven, and is warned by a woman to beware of Bill, and that he will take her “light”. Bill saver her life by feeding her his blood.

Eric finds out from Sophie Ann's human, Hadley (Sookie's cousin) who or what Sookie is. Russell and Sophie Ann are married by the magister before Russell kills the magister.

Overall, we learn a lot in this episode – Bill may not be what he appears to be, Sookie is something that Eric “didn't expect”, and Cooter, Lorena, and the magister are all dead. The plot is moving along at a much faster pace now, and we're learning more and more each episode. It seems that Sookie is no longer a fan of Bill, so we'll see where that goes. Russell's plan seems to finally be coming to a head, as he is now the King of both Louisiana and Mississippi. The action has ramped up, but the sex is lacking in these last few episodes, but I guess we can't have it all.

The last episode was particularly emotional, with Sookie close to death and in Heaven. I didn't cry, but I can totally understand why other people might have cried when Sookie was close to death. Thankfully she lived. Also thankfully, Lorena is dead. I hated that b&^%$.

4 out of 5 stars

Fangtastic True Blood Issue 1 Review

TrueBlood # 1 Comic Review

For the last few years, there has been an invasion of vampires in popular culture. Vampires are now trendy and hip, from Blade to Buffy to Twilight to the Vampire Diaries to TrueBlood. Vampires have gone from horror antagonists to sympathetic anti-heroes in a matter of years.

I have always been a sucker for a good vampire story, so it's no surprise that one of my favorite shows is HBO's TrueBlood. The show is created by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) and based off of the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris.

When i saw that IDW had released issue # 1 of the new True Blood comic today, I only had to think for a second before picking it up. I don't often buy comic books (or books) adapted from TV shows or movies because the writers often don't get the already established voices of the characters right. Unless the writer of the show is the same as the books, it's tough to keep all the voices consistent, and that makes the writers job twice as hard. Not only does the writer have to tell a good story, but they have to stick to pre-established voices for each of the characters. Often times these stories take place in between seasons, so a sense of danger is often lost as well, since nothing can really happen to these characters (since they'll all be back to themselves for the season premier!).

True Blood # 1 is written by Mariah Huehner and David Tischman, neither of of whom I have ever heard of. Needless to say the voices of most of the characters are pitch perfect. The one gripe i had here was Eric Northman, the vampire sheriff of area 5 was far too passive. I take this to mean that he will not be the focus of this particular story, but it is a bit off-putting because if you've watched the show, he is anything but passive. The main cast is all here - Sookie, Bill, Eric, Jason, Lafayette, Sam, and Tara. Each of their voices is pitch-perfect.

The book is drawn by David Messina and Gaetano Carlucci, with colors by Giovanna Niro. A book like this relies a lot on the artistic interpretation of the character, and the artists often draw the characters to resemble the actors slightly, or it looks like they traced them directly from real life. The characters in this book look exactly like the real actors, and it's done well. The only exception to this is Sam Merlotte. When every character in the book looks just like the associated actor, except one, that one character stands out a fair amount. This is the case here. Sam is drawn well, and resembles actor Sam Trammell, but not in the same identical way that the other characters do. When you get past this, the art is beautiful, and for a dark comic, the colors pop.

The story itself starts off with a mysterious narrator, and ends with a bit of blood and a creature that seems to be more powerful then even the combined might of two vampires. It is still the first issue, but I want to see what comes next. I'll definitely be there for issue number two.

And at least these vampires don't sparkle.

3 out of 5 stars

Six Feet Under TV Series Review

Six Feet Under is a drama that aired on HBO from 2001-2005. The plot revolves around three siblings, Nate (Peter Krause), David (Michael C. Hall) and Claire (Lauren Ambrose) and mother Ruth (Frances Conroy) coming to grips with the death of the family patriarch Nate Fischer, Sr. This leaves the two brothers Nate and David to run the inherited family business, Fisher & Sons funeral home.

While often gruesome, the show deals with death in a very mature way throughout. It eases you into it, and though there is at least one death in every episode, the show is entertaining and dramatic without being depressing. In fact, it surprised me how much i look forward to each episode. The plot is at times a little slow moving, but there is enough going on, and the writing is so superb, you don't even notice the speed.

The characters are (very) flawed, but believable. Nate makes some monumentally bad decisions in the course of the shows five seasons, but more often then not, i found myself rooting for him and hoping he makes it through. He was by far my favorite character on the show. I even feel bad for him when his bad decisions come back and bite him in the face.

A recurring plot device of having the recently (and not so recently in the case of the father, Nate Fisher Sr.) deceased have conversations with the various characters (mostly David and Nate) is well used and adds to the ambiance and themes of the show. It even sometimes helps to move the plot along, especially in the case of the father, Nate Fisher Sr. who dies in episode 1.

The main reason I wanted to watch this show to begin with was because I had heard that the series finale, titled "Everyone's Waiting" was considered one of the best television series finale's of all time. After watching it, I now understand why. This episode tied all the plots up beautifully, in a sophisticated manner, and even served to tie into the shows themes of death and family. It is hard to discuss this episode without spoiling it, but I will say what they did with the episode serves to perfectly tie the entire series together without taking anything away from it. The last ten minutes of the episode are heartbreaking, peaceful, and beautiful at the same time, and suffice it to say should not be missed.

The creator and producer of this show, Alan Ball, also created and produced another show I have been watching recently, True Blood. Though the subject matter is much different, both shows deal with death, the writing is superb (and adult) in each, and you can definitely see the similarities.

I recommend this show to anyone interested in drama. The themes of death, the afterlife, peace, family, and growing up are all central. Some of the plots are sexual in nature and should not be viewed by children, but everyone else should check it out. The writing is superb, the cinematography beautiful, and the last episode, again, is not to be missed.