Once again, I watch but don't much care for "True Blood," but I know that enough of you do that I'm going to provide these weekly posts to discuss the episodes after I've seen them. (I've watched the first three in advance; I'm not sure whether HBO will keep providing them in that fashion or if I'll be watching live or on a DVR delay as the season moves along.)
Anyway, just as soon as a baby armadillo sleeps under my bed, what did everybody think of episode two?
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupRalph The writing has gotten better this season so far. Its much more dark and scary. Also, I love Denis OHare.
June 20, 2010 at 9:13PM EST Reply to Commentmwilson0701 As long as they never mention Mary-Ann again, I will keep watching.
June 20, 2010 at 9:28PM EST Reply to CommentRalph I agree with you. The Maryann storyline ruined what was an otherwise near perfect season. That Dallas storyline was great though.
June 20, 2010 at 9:42PM ESTsemicolwin how can you call it a 'near perfect season' and then say that one of the biggest storylines of the season (Mary-Ann's) was bad? All the big, important storylines of a season need to be good for it to reasonably be called 'near perfect'.
June 22, 2010 at 10:11AM ESTMax I don't really care for the changes they've gone with compared to the books. Not because it's different, that's fine, but they make changes and then insist on the show still obeying the rules set down by the books, when most every change they introduce violates every rule the books lay down. I'm really not cool with the "Eric is selling V!" storyline, it's just very out of character and kinda beneath him. The way they've portrayed the Queen of Louisiana is so fucking wrong. A horrible change. Also, has anyone noticed two episodes have gone by and Sookie seems to be a supporting character in her own goddamn series?
June 20, 2010 at 9:39PM EST Reply to CommentJake "it's just very out of character and kinda beneath him."
June 20, 2010 at 9:47PM ESTHes doing it against his will. Hes being forced to do it by the Queen. Is he stronger than the queen? Sure, but he has to follow her orders because of the hierarchy, whhich is not chosen based on age.
LJA I honestly think a lot of people who have read the books are at somewhat of a disadvantage with this show. I've never read the books, and therefore, I don't experience any of the frustration that many of the readers seem to have. The readers seem to have certain expectations about character or plot. I'm just experiencing fun and outrageous story-telling, and I'm just enjoying every campy, sexy moment of it.
June 20, 2010 at 10:55PM ESTI chose to separate the show from the books and try to think of them as completely different things that have a few similarities. It helps me be able to enjoy the show way more, lol!
Truck I've been wondering: is this one of those shows that is intentionally bad? I have a feeling I'm missing the point. I watch the show and think it is just straight bad, but maybe it's laughably bad and I haven't gotten it yet.
June 20, 2010 at 10:29PM EST Reply to CommentI guess my question is: why do people like this show? Do they really like the plot and acting?
xbrooklyngrrl I keep wondering the same thing. I watch it, but reluctantly; it just keeps not quite working, and definitely doesn't mesermerize the way Breaking Bad did this season. It just doesn't fall together; too much and yet not enough. ANd sorry, maybe it's a guy thing, but I really don't like Anna Pacquin, she just seems drippy, and her true vampire love is too courtly.
June 20, 2010 at 10:35PM ESTAnd Nazis? Did they have to go there?
LJA To me, it's a guilty pleasure. I think a couple of the actors are giving legitimately decent performances, but mostly it's just fun, kitchy, outrageous, campy pulp. If you don't take it seriously or judge it with the same criteria you'd judge Mad Men, there's no harm done.
June 20, 2010 at 11:01PM ESTTo me, it's like this: People who listen to NPR tune in to Howard Stern every now and then for a laugh and to blow off steam. There's no point in comparing apples to oranges.
Loretta @LJA: Agree completely, and great analogy. I love and appreciate serious television (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Wire) but sometimes I just wanna watch Jason Stackhouse be stupid and hear Lafayette say something sassy. I'm completely aware that it's a silly, over-the-top show.
June 21, 2010 at 7:16AM ESTAlso, to all those saying that Sookie seems like a supporting character in her own series, I say: thank goodness. She was definitely the weak link in the first season, and I'm glad to see them focusing on others (Eric, Sam, Jason, etc) more.
PotatoSolution I watch it because I have nothing better to do at 9pm on Sunday night. And this show makes me laugh at least once an episode (sometimes intentionally).
June 21, 2010 at 10:44AM ESTChazz_Goodtimes No- I don't think the show is intentionally bad, though it is my favorite source of unintentional comedy. I think to some extent they write it, and act it, a little bit campy so it is entertaining enough on a Sunday night for me. Think The Mummy movie franchise and you're alomst there.
June 21, 2010 at 1:41PM ESTI think the biggest problem is that Sookie is an excruciatingly annoying character made worse by Anna Paquin's awful acting and accent. Her scenes go beyond the fun unintentional comedy to something thats just bad television.
Miles Ellison It is a pretty bad show, but people love trailer trash vampire sex romps.
June 23, 2010 at 7:59PM ESTjen The plot and acting on this show are excellent. They just aren't plots you apparently care about. There are plenty of shows people talk about as excellent that I find completely uninpired and boring re-treads of the same old same old. Castle is one of those - It's just not going to be my taste, no matter how many people tell me that it's well-written. Alan Ball has done an excellent job with True Blood of putting together pulpy, dramatic, interesting plots, that still manage to have deeper meaning and underlying themes that run through the seasons.
June 24, 2010 at 10:34AM ESTJames Truck, the writing this season has been a major improvement over seasons 1 & 2. It's like the 3rd season of Big Love. That's how good these last 2 episodes have been.
June 20, 2010 at 11:24PM EST Reply to CommentTom One of the best shows on tv. I agree with James, in fact I think it's better than Buffy was.
June 20, 2010 at 11:32PM ESTJ Watching:
June 21, 2010 at 12:46AM EST Reply to CommentVampires < Paint dry
rachelmed Wow. Thanks for being so insightful and adding a lot to the discussion!
June 21, 2010 at 1:56AM ESTJ You're welcome.
June 21, 2010 at 5:08PM ESTMatt Write a comment..."I don't like True Blood, but I'm going to post about it! I'm totally doing it for the fans and not to be a self-serving whiny little internet troll too! Really!"
June 21, 2010 at 1:10AM EST Reply to CommentGimme a break. If you whine about something you hate online, you're doing it for yourself, usually to get attention.
xbrooklyngrrl I often don't agree with Alan, but I get what he's doing, and there's NO whining. He doesn't like the show, but he's providing a forum for his readers cause many of them do....and he never said Hate, that's a word used too often on b logs.
June 21, 2010 at 1:17AM ESTIt's not hating to find something not your style...we do NOT have to all agree.
LJA Matt - I'd rather have Alan say upfront, like he does, that he's not a fan. There's another writer on HitFix who is recapping (vs reviewing) the episodes who is also not a fan. The difference is, the recapping writer openly mocks the episodes, and by extension, insults the viewers with her tone. Alan's upfront with his indifference to the show and doesn't take it so far as to mock the rest of us. I'm happy for Alan's space to convene and wish HitFix would change writers over in the "recap" blog.
June 21, 2010 at 10:37AM ESTxbrooklyngrrl @ LJA: I prefer a whole lot more pleasure with my guilt, this show leaves me always wanting it to be better. It's like sex, but lousy sex: was it better than nothing when I know how good it could be??? It's like Big Love, which last season was taut and this season abused my loyalty. And the acting, well, it's barely there, lots of posing and bare chests, bad accents (why hire a full cast of Brits and Aussies????). But I get that people enjoy it....I'll quit commenting.
June 21, 2010 at 1:13AM EST Reply to CommentEOTW As a longtime fan of your first blog, why even bother to keep watching a show you obviously detest? I hated this show from the first minutes of the pilot and could barely finish that (Ball lost it after the third season of 6FU anyway). Concentrate on the shows you care about, not this crap. How far HBO has allen. Life is too short for this garbage.
June 21, 2010 at 1:16AM EST Reply to CommentBill Garbage? This show is just as good as Buffy was.
June 21, 2010 at 1:29AM ESTCanadianskeezix Allan is a television journalist, and like any journalist he doesn't necessarily just follow the stories that interest him the most. As a fan of his blog, you would know that he keeps track of what is happening in television by following, to varying degrees,high profile shows that he does not necessarily count among his favourites.
June 21, 2010 at 11:47AM ESTBill This show is very taut.
June 21, 2010 at 1:33AM EST Reply to Commentrachelmed I really liked this episode and agree with others that the writing has gotten much better in these two episodes. I was also over Maryanne way before her storyline ended and now my only real gripe with the show is Tara and her pouting. I like James Frain who plays the vampire Tara met this episode so hopefully having them paired will get me back on her side.
June 21, 2010 at 2:03AM EST Reply to CommentI also enjoyed Sookie's little line about expecting Bill to come through the door at any minute and say "Sookeh!", haha. I like that it can laugh at itself and Anna did a pretty good impression of Moyer's delivery herself!
True Blood is a kind of guilty pleasure for me and I'm very thankful you provide a place for us to discuss it even though you don't like it much yourself Alan. If you continue to do this I don't think you need to watch it though and torture yourself. A space to write is good enough for me.
Pedestrienne Agree with all you've said, rachelmed!
June 22, 2010 at 4:31AM ESTTrue Blood is a fab guilty pleasure, and I think a lot of the writers and actors are canny enough that they know it and enjoy throwing us a bit of juicy ham. Evidence: Paquin's "Sookeh!"
I too think the writing has tightened up. I didn't mind the Maryanne storyline, but I did feel it was overhyped, although I was happy with the conclusion.
Yes, "Nazi werewolves" is a bit cheesebags, but didn't Eric confirm in the episode that that's not really what they are, hence directing us toward shedding that moniker for them already?
timb First Spartacus and now True Blood? If I didn't know better Alan, I'd think you were blogging for the Family Research Council or Brent Bozzell
June 21, 2010 at 9:10AM EST Reply to CommentSara I hate to play spoiler Nazi, or even spoiler werewolf Nazi, but is there any chance we can classify plot points from the books as spoilers, Alan? Thanks to someone upthread, we now know that Bill and Sookeh's relationship ends somehow.
June 21, 2010 at 11:14AM EST Reply to CommentSR Error on the photo caption. That's Eric, no Lafayette.
June 21, 2010 at 12:19PM EST Reply to Commentorgan Since Alan won't be recapping TB much this season, may i recommend Videogum Gabe's hilarious recap-reviews : http://videogum.com/tag/true-blood/
June 21, 2010 at 1:40PM EST Reply to CommentThough i gave up on TB as a quality show halfway through season one, i'm still watching despite all the plot contrivances, too many characters which leads toa lack of any deeper characterization and the "let's sex it up even further" reasoning of the producers.
SaneN85 LJA desribes the recap this link is to perfectly, "The difference is, the recapping writer openly mocks the episodes, and by extension, insults the viewers with her tone."
June 21, 2010 at 4:42PM ESTI've found that TVGasm does a great True Blood recap without suggesting their readers are idiots for watching it. Now, if only they can get it out in a timely manner.
Lepidoptera I'm completely ashamed that I once enjoyed this disaster. A part of me still stands by the contention that the first season was good TV, but the idea of this has been so obscured by this pathetic attempt to keep up with Twilight that simply divorcing myself from this trainwreck is far easier to do.
June 21, 2010 at 10:37PM EST Reply to CommentThe werewolves subplot (main plot??) is not just insulting, predictable, cliched, juvenile, and small-minded. It's insanely poorly written. This has devolved into soft-porn with the kink being strange, inexplicable appearances of every tired supernatural creature imaginable. Think "the Thriller video" with less plot, less reason, smaller imagination, and fewer clothes.
Is Sookie going to sleep with Eric? Is Bill going to sleep with Eric? Is everybody going to sleep with Jessica? Who cares, here come the werewolves to distract you from the fact that no character has a story worth following. I am done, done, done, and shamed by the fact that I made it this far.
Michael I've found these two episodes highly entertaining. Is that so bad for a tv show? It's fun, light, fantasy with great production values. I'd say the dullest scenes for me are the flashbacks (this season as much as last). But the rest zips by and I have a great time. Plus, it's one of the few series I can enjoy equally with my boyfriend (who likes stuff like Desperate Housewives while I prefer shows like Deadwood/The Wire).
June 22, 2010 at 5:20PM EST Reply to CommentTim Fairweather I was disappointed ... the werewolves are much too weak to really be a threat.
June 23, 2010 at 3:20PM EST Reply to Comment