True Blood

Reviewed by:
Robbie Throckmorton

The Skinny: HBO's latest stab at revival, adapted loosely from Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire novels, is set in a near-future Louisiana where vampires live somewhat normally among humans, thanks to a synthetic blood drink (Tru Blood) that keeps them shotgunning cold ones instead of loved ones. Mortals, in turn, experiment with the vamp lifestyle, getting hooked on the drink and creating a new fetish: "fang-banging."

The Good: While recent small-screen vampire tales have missed the jugular (we're looking at you, Moonlight), this take is an interesting one for now—we're suckers for the undead. Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer lead a solid cast, despite plenty of uneven Southern and Creole accents. And vampires are hornier than we are, so the show's as sex-filled as it is gory.

The Bad: The show is a not-at-all subtle metaphor for racism and homophobia. (Paquin's character even utters the line "coming out of the coffin.") We want to see vampires, period. The junkies capturing vamps to sell their blood on the black market was an OK diversion, but leave the vampires' rights lobbyists out of it.

Ball's Out: Bloodsuckers aside, this show piqued our interest because it's an Alan Ball project. We dug American Beauty and the first couple seasons of Six Feet Under. He's off to a decent start, but we need a few more episodes to determine whether Ball can do for the undead what he did for the dead.

Watch, Ignore, or Read a Book Instead? If you check it out, you'll probably find yourself hanging around for more.

Share