True Blood

Uuugh What happened? Was I on drugs when I watched the first season? Was I glamoured by that new sexy bunch of vampires and the crazies that love them?  Or is this new season just starting out slow and tired? I understand trying to catch the feel of a slow lazy summer in the south but the story in these first 4 episodes is draggin like molasses in winter.

But I get ahead of myself.

Recap: Season 1, We have Sookie (telepath and lover of vampires) and Bill (the vampire she falls in love with). It’s the current day and vampires have come out of the coffin for all the world to see, admire and hate. Then we have an amazing supporting cast that adds spice to the sometimes overly sickeningly sweet soap opera of Sookie and Bill. Add to that a multiple murder mystery with a killer that turns out to be a close friend and poof! You have the first season of the highly acclaimed new supernatural show from HBO. But wait there’s more… the very last seconds of the last episode we were left with one unexplained dead body with funky painted toes sticking out of the local sheriff’s car!

So we waited what seems an eternity. Grasping at any little tid bit the creators would toss out to us – damn it, was that Lafayette in that car?!?!

Well they didn’t disappoint. Season 2 starts at that very moment. We certainly do find out who’s nasty toes those are!

What? Did you really think I was going to give that up? You need to watch it my darlings!

But as I said the first 4 episodes of this season are taking us a wee bit slow. There are still some great moments of dialogue – you never can tell what’s going to come out of Tara’s mouth (love that character!). I think that’s why I love this show. It’s the supporting cast that really brings it to life. All of the actors have really grown into their roles and make this show well worth watching (and waiting for).

A few things I will pass on though. This season is taking us out of back woods Bon Temps, Louisiana and on over to the big city of Dallas, Texas and giving us an up-close and personal look into the enemy of the vampires… dun dun dun … The Fellowship of the Sun.  Are ya scared? Well you should be. These are some creepy devout bible thumpin plastic smiley “Ain’t you the sweetest little thing” kinda southern crazies. You know the kind, all blond and perfect Barbie doll but then shoot you in the head kind of crazy. And poor Sookie’s doofus brother has fallen dead smack in the middle and is eatin up every bit of what they are feedin him. Except could Jason be thinking there is something not quite right about all this hate? Possibly he has a brain (and heart) after all.  And then of course we can’t forget the soap opera that is Sookie/Bill.  They are hired by Bill’s boss to go to Dallas and use Sookie’s telepathy to find a missing old vamp. Just to make things a little more goofy and uncomfortable they take along Bill’s newest prodigy, Jessica. As silly as this 17 year-old is at times I want her to turn around and stake the happy couple to the wall to put those disgusting sappy love birds out of my misery! I think I’ll puke if I have to watch Sookie profess her love and bat her eyelashes and swoonley gaze into Bill’s stone cold eyes. Thank god there are fun over the top sex filed gory possessive sub plots to keep the gushy romance to a minimum. Oh did I happen to mention sex and gore? Ya just like 1st season they don’t let us down. This time they are getting into mass orgies. The things they can show on cable tv. Oooooeeee

It looks like it’s going to be a slow ride this season. So far there are no big jaw droppin cliff hangers at the end of each episode. And there aren’t any cool plot twists to speak of. But they still have great writing and wonderful character development so it’s definitely worth watching. If you want to jump into the series and you haven’t seen the first season I think you will be ok. You can catch on to who people are and previous plot points aren’t too important. Everything you need to know if dropped in as little flashbacks. But the first season was great so go watch it anyway!

To all the folks that are die hard Charlaine Harris fans (I’ve read the books and liked them a lot but can’t say that I’m a huge fan). I’m sorry but this season is going way off the books. It seems to be keeping the main heart beat but it’s not the same creature anymore. I’m not sure you’re gonna like it. They’re being creative with the characters and it’s not all about Sookie anymore. I gotta say I like the shows a whole lot better than the books.

I have to give the first 4 episodes a solid B. It's just average so far. Not bad. Not good. Bit slow. But still strong on the character development to keep it interesting.