It’s getting warmer outside, so it must be time for ‘True Blood,’ that sweaty, sticky, bloody concoction from HBO and Alan Ball, to be back. The third season debuted last night, picking up right where the last one had ended, and thank god for a thorough “Last Season On True Blood..”, recap because, jeezum crow, a lot of ridiculous shit went down last season.
[Editor's Note: Beware - Spoilers Abound.]
Rewinding a bit, the first season I watched accompanied with a lot of heavy sighs. Don’t get me wrong – I adored the deep south setting, the big ideas, the fantastic opening credits (done by Digital Kitchen, who did the also amazing opening for ‘Dexter‘), the bumbling Jason Stackhouse, the flamboyant delivery of “fuck” by Lafayette – like no other line reading I’ve ever heard. Even Bill was nice to listen to. But, for a series that claimed to root itself in a reality of a world where vampires were “out of the casket” with a straight face, there were too many things that were slightly off the mark for me, that eventually ended up turning into a mountain of problems I had. (The most glaring “Oh, that’s bullshit” moment for me was Sookie having to clean up her Gran’s crime scene in her own house. Even in the smallest backwoods communities, I’m fairly certain that you wouldn’t have to mop up your own beloved Grandmother’s haemoglobin off the kitchen linoleum.) So, as much as I really really enjoyed aspects of it (RIP Rene – the sweet psycho with the most amazing accent and speech patterns), the first season left me dry, but of course I was down to see what the second season would taste like.
And to give credit where credit’s due, it did get outrageously better. Weirdly though, the character I disliked the most throughout was Sookie, our “heroine.” Other than fucking the shit out of Bill, all she did was bitch and moan to him, then apologize. Sorry, but even a vampire boyfriend would find that tiresome and annoying. Luckily, there were many fun distractions from these two – the Jessica storyline that I feared would be terrible but turned into such a sweet thing with Hoyt, EricEricEric, the Fellowship of the Sun, Maryann’s shaking and neverending supply of fruit and eventual corruption of the town, Andy Bellefleur & Jason’s team up, Sam becoming less pouty and getting an actual storyline, and Eric and, oh yeah, Eric. I loved this season. Consistently funny, gross, over the top and sexy, it was great television.
So, last night was heavily anticipated around these parts. I can hardly gauge, based on just one episode, as to whether this season will top the last, but I felt it was a strong enough start. Sookie running around annoying people with her mouth trying to find Bill, the “Fuck You Crew” (complete with Patrick Swayze’s hideous brother) doing bad things to Bill in a moving vehicle, Sam investigating his past, Tara and her sober but still crazy Mom, Lafayette giving the word “bitch” the gravity and impact of a punch to the head, Eric naked and fucking and screaming into a bluetooth (unfortunate really – I would think even vampires would realize those are douche machines), and the best line of the night, delivered by Andy to sweet dumb Jason, to get him to shake off Eggs’ shooting and get back in the fuck saddle he usually rides, “Conscience off, dick on.” I can’t wait to see what they’re gonna throw at us next.
Here’s some other cable shows coming back to us now that network TV is hibernating, and only giving us mindless cotton candy like ‘Wipeout‘ and ‘World’s Deadliest Grammas!’
‘Rescue Me‘ Season Six (FX / June 29, 2010)
Haven’t seen a single episode but my friends love it, and Denis Leary is pretty much a foul mouthed brethren of mine. And, ever since I saw ‘Backdraft,’ I have been a firm admirer of firefighters. And 90s-mulleted Kurt Russell.
‘Mad Men‘ Season Four (AMC / July 25, 2010)
We are frantically catching up on the second season right now. There is no show on TV that so perfectly nails a time past, with set design and clothing and hair and the non-stop drinking and smoking (goddamn those poor actors), but also gives the characters lines and things to do that consistently surprise me. My favourite scenes are the advertising presentations where Don Draper blows everybody’s minds. Fucking brilliant television.
‘Weeds‘ Season Six (Showtime / Aug 16, 2010)
We totally have the first season of this on Blu-Ray. I have no reason to not be watching it. I’m sorry.
‘Hung‘ Season Two (HBO / June 27, 2010)
This little weird dude of a show threw me last year when the first season aired. I should have hated Jane Adams‘ frumpy exasperating character (nope), and how weird Thomas Jane’s overweight weird twin teenagers were (so random a casting decision, yet perfect) and stupid Anne Heche – then I remembered how good an actress she was. Jane’s anchoring of the show, with not just his huge dink, was so solid, and I hope the quirkiness + desperation formula they established continues on in this second season.
‘Entourage‘ Season Seven (HBO / June 27, 2010)
The most fun and forgettable half hour on HBO. If you think about it long enough, you could poke a thousand holes into every character and storyline, but that’s no fun. Every episode is complete fantasy and dreamy and boyland, and L.A. at it’s very fictional best, and I love it.
Happy TV-ing friends. Do tell, what cable magic return are you most anticipating?
