HBO's True Blood- anyone watching?

[sunny]

I've become obsessed with this show and long to discuss it with a group of adults. In my quest to find serious analysis I stumbled across the fandom, where hordes of twentysomethings are 'squee'-ing a 'lulz'-ing (yeah, there is lots to squee and lulz about but they're doing it to the wrong things, mostly) and generally being asses. Pity it hasn't seemed to have caught on with the serious film analysis crowd just yet but I'm sure it will because it deserves to.

The show is an extraordinarily entertaining mix of high and low camp, extremely well done melodrama, Southern Gothic, romance, horror, suspense, raunch, a satisfyingly consistent fantasy mythos, paranormal thrills and chills, and just generally a lot of fantastic fucking fun.

The music isn't bad either. (season two wraps up in three Sunday's and I hope we get that soundtrack soon thereafter)

Alan Ball, of Six Feet Under fame, produces True Blood. The cast is outstanding and interesting, the writing superb, the directing, the costuming, all of it is highly rewarding to watch. The characters are diverse and fascinating.

The show takes an overall stance of revulsion against hypocrisy and fundamentalism, with themes of minority rights (vampires in True Blood universe have 'come out of the coffin' due to a Japanese company inventing the synthetic blood product True Blood, which theoretically ends their need to feed on humans, and some of them are trying to 'mainstream'.) civil rights, tolerance, love, redemption, and loyalty.

Watch the opening sequence.

Watch True Blood online.

The action takes place in fictional Bon Temps, Louisiana with Sookie Stackhouse, human waitress at the town watering hole Merlotte's, as the main character. Sookie is a plucky telepath who quickly comes to the attention of the new vampire in town, Bill Compton, a chivalrous Civil War veteran who has come back to his ancestral home. Bill is a 'mainstreamer'.

The vampires have a political structure, and Louisiana's vampire sheriff is Eric Northman, a 1000 year old Viking. When he finds out Sookie is a telepath all sorts of fun ensues as he maneuvers ways to use her abilities for his own purposes. Eric is not a 'mainstreamer'.



Anybody wanna take a bite? This is a show RI'ers can sink their teeth into.

[Penguin]

Yup, I watched first season just now, finished couple days ago.
Friend recommended it. (I dont have tv so all I watch is off DVD or, elsewhere)
A bit tired now for analysis and opinions...

Fun thing was that IanEye had glamoured me with an image from the series earlier, and I only realized where it was from watching it later. I had to originally look up what glamour means, in the english dictionary

[IanEye]

Fun thing was that IanEye had glamoured me with an image from the series earlier, and I only realized where it was from watching it later.
-

in the interests of continuity...

I like the show. In terms of the 'V' tripping, the idea that vampires drink human's blood, which causes some kind of reaction, such that when human's drink human blood filtered through a vampire, they trip their balls off is interesting/amusing....

[IanEye]

now that i think of it, dust mites do a similar filtering process, but with unpleasant results...

[sunny]

I like the show.

I'm just hoping RI'ers who wish to watch it will give it time to sink in. The first season, all of it actually, can be seen as sensationlistic pulp, which it is-on the surface. Deep into the second season many subtle details from s1 are taking on new meaning, characters are coming sharply and logically into focus, and themes only hinted at before are being explored with more depth.

now that i think of it, dust mites do a similar filtering process, but with unpleasant results...

Now that is cool, and exactly what I'm talking about.

[elfismiles]

will try and give it a looksie. thanks for the headsup.

[AhabsOtherLeg]

Can't wait to see this - I've had about a dozen recommendations already, but it usually takes me about two years to actually watch anything I'm told to. I'll make a special effort for this one. Sunny, your brilliant description of it in the V thread just adds to the eagerness.