Season of the Fix -- True Blood

Save for Lost, I really don't watch too many television shows, and this is something I've long wanted to change about myself. Problem is, I'm sans DVR/TiVo here at the apartment, and my schedule varies on a daly basis so much that I'd be hard-pressed to stick to a regular, consistent weekly viewing ritual. Lost, being such a clusterfuck of brilliant sci-fi and intriguingly "what the fuck" enigmas, had me hooked from day one, when that poor sap got sucked into the airplane propeller. And ever since I've been unable to look away.

But still, there's tons of shows I wish I was a regular with: Heroes, Dexter, Prison Break, for starters. Wish I would've watched Six Feet Under. Know I should've been up on The Wire since day one. Californication seems like a winner, as does Weeds.

So this season, being rather intrigued by a slew of new shows, I've vowed to give as many as possible a real shot.

First up, is HBO's True Blood, a show that seems right up my twisted alley. Vampires. Extreme content. From the respected creator of aforementioned Six Feet Under, a fella named Alan Ball. Seems worthy of being my first potential-TV-addiction for this new season.




The premise is a compelling one, at least to me. Sookie Sutherland, played by the increasingly-attractive one-time Oscar winner Anna Paquin, is an innocent-enough chick working as a waitress at a dive bar called Merlotte's Bar & Grille, a popular local haunt in this nondescript Southern gothic town. (Sookie Sutherland is quite the name, isn't it? Many a perverted joke could be inserted here, but I'll resist the urge....for now). Her brother, Jason, is a construction worker of sorts, who's also banging every cute piece of tail this side of the Mississip. Sookie's best friend, the livewire, sassy gal named Tara, harbors hidden lust for Jason, and she's just been hired as a bartender by Merlotte's namesake owner, Sam, who not-so-secretly loves Sookie.

The catch to all this is....vampires co-exist in society. They're seen in a cloak of intrigue, the public has this love/hate relationship with them. There's talk of some sort of Vampire Rights Act, and its spokeswoman goes on Real Time with Bill Maher to discuss its ramifications. This drink called True Blood, made from blood obviously, is sold in select locations for vamps to consume, in the hopes that'll prevent them from seeking blood within humans, thus killing folks. Humans who slurp on a vampire's blood feel a fix, a high such as drug intake. And there's also people referred to as "fangbangers" who get sexual kicks out of letting vampires bite them, and have rough dirty vamp sex with them.

All a bit sordid, eh? Indeed, and True Blood holds nothing back, in terms of sexual nature. Jason has a whole running sequence where's fucking this fangbanger chick, who shows him a homemade sex tape in which she takes it from behind from a vampire. See here:



Shit hits the fan, emotionally, though, once Bill, a mysterious and suave vamp, enters Merlottes and catches the open-to-suggestion eyes of Sookie. And here, an inevitable forbidden love affair is seed-planted. And in a fit of unexplained rage, Jason strangles the fangbanger he's banging to death. Or so it seems. And thus, the inaugaral season of True Blood is underway.

At first, I was a bit bored. The characters seemed a bit goofy, and sort of like caricatures. Especially TKTK, who seemed to be a hackneyed "strong outspoken Black female" character. But as the hour progressed, things picked up nicely. The stuff with Sookie's brother seems like it'll develop quite nicely, and the staff at Merlottes is filled with colorful enough personalities to promise some serious drama as the season moves forth. I wish there was more vampire insanity, but I'm sure that'll come in time. Or at least a horror lover such as myself could hope.

I'm not 100% sold, but I'm definitely willing to continue on the True Blood ride for a couple more weeks. Giving it a benefit of the doubt. The way this first episode, called 'Strange Love,' ends is pretty effective, continuing a seedy plotline that appears in the first 20 minutes but then seemingly disappears for the remainder of the episode, and it doesn't bode well for poor Sookie.

And speaking of Sookie.....when the fuck did Anna Paquin become so hot?!?! She's always struck me as a bit plain-Jane, run of the mill in her cuteness. But here, she's damn close to reaching va-va-va-voom territory, and I for one am not peeved at it, at all. Check her fine self out:



Hopefully True Blood keeps getting better. There's such strong potential here at work. I could easily seeing the show self-imploding if the wrong turns are taken, narrative wise. But as of now, I'll consider my newfound TV kick at a cool 1-0record.

Up next, J.J. Abrams' Fringe, on Fox. Starts tomorrow night. I'm there, dudes. Now, off to the new season of Entourage, a show I have thankfully submerged myself in. Without Ari and Drama, the show would suck, real talk. And from what I can tell, all of these characters are doing the EXACT same shit as always. The writers better add some new blood into the show, or take some unforeseen plot turns. Otherwise, I'm jumping ship rather soon.

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Oh, by the way, that crazy-ass '80s gem Night of the Demons is on later tonight on the godsend Monsters HD. Hell fuckin' yeah. Shit creeped me out royally as a wee lad. Let's see if its held up over the years.

Remember when that possessed girl sticks her lipstick up her hoo-hah?! Sick, right? Oh, I forgot...most of the heads reading this probably don't even know what the hell Night of the Demons even is. So that called-out scene just either made you run to Blockbuster, or shake your head in disgust. To each his/her own, I guess. Diff strokes for diff folks.