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The second episode of True Blood is better than the first. As stilted as Stephen Moyer was as Bill Compton in the pilot, he and Sookie’s budding romance seems more grounded this time. Bill is confounded both by Sookie’s innocence and her absence of fear. He lost his wife and children in the 1800s and has returned to Bon Temps to try to build an inconspicuous life, reclaiming the old Compton manor. Sookie has spent her life trying to quiet the voices in her head, but always feeling different. A moral compass and the gutter minds of her horny customers keep her at arm’s length from normal human relationships, but Bill brings Old World manners to a self-respecting girl, asking her when he might “call on her.” She can’t hear Bill’s thoughts, and Bill has no power over her mind. If only the vampire haters don’t come between them. Hey, wait—I signed up for a vampire show. How'd I get inside a romance novel.
No worries. At least it's a well-crafted romance in an intriguing setting. The show maintains its quirky mix of a reality dominated by cheap beer,
Southern sin and scattershot redemption and tabloid headlines reading
“Angelina Adopts Vampire Baby.” At odds with this new world order are
rednecks, hyper-judgmental Christian televangelists and just plain
folks with the sense to be a little scared. “You know they can
hypnotize you,” says Sookie’s African-American friend Tara. “Yeah,”
Sookie responds. “And black people are lazy and Jews have horns.”
Balancing the religious bigotry that’s painted by the show’s creators
in even more ridiculous shades of black and white than sadly exists,
Sookie tells her grandma, “I don’t think Jesus would mind if somebody
were a vampire.”
As for the fanged ones themselves, the few on screen so far delight in
scaring mortals. Beyond that, we’ve only seen teasing glimpses and
learned some of the ground rules—Healing blood: check. Restrained by
silver: check. Superhuman strength and speed: check. Bat
transformation: No, at least for Bill. And they can only enter a house
with the invitation of its inhabitants, tipping the series' hand that
this is a full-on embrace of the mythology rather than trying
pseudo-science the explanations. It’s a bizarre little world in
small-town Lousiana, but one that I’ll be visiting again next week.
Related Links:
True Blood review: Episode 5 "Sparks Fly Out"
True Blood review: Episode 3 "Mine"
True Blood review: Episode 1 Series Premiere
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I liked the episode. For those who havent read the novels it was cute how Sookie became more attractive after drinking Bills blood. It happened in the novel and also here but it wasn't stated. Even Layfaette was looking at her.
This is getting better.
This is the best hour long "drama" to come around for a long time. I love it. It can horrify me and make me laugh all within seconds. The little details are fantastic and the southern setting is perfect right down to the Jace Everett theme song. (I thought it was Chris Isaac the first time I heard it.) Great, great show.
True Blood is terrible. It has some of the least believable dialog I've ever heard, all the characters are trailer trash stereotypes, and the gratuitous sex is far and beyond the actual needs of the plot.
It also adds absolutely nothing to vampire mythology. I had no idea Alan Ball was capable of such hackiness.
I quite like the show. I think it has its cheesy moments, but definitely in a good way. Believable dialogue or not, its all about fantasy and escapism, and some people need to lighten up a bit and go with the flow. And in response to the former above me: I don't think it perpetuates bad southern stereotypes. Not sure where you're from, but I'm born/raised in the deep, deep south -- and I didn't feel it was stereotypical at all. At worst, the accents were a bit crap on some actors' parts IMHO, but otherwise the characters are pretty dimensional people and well acted.