True Blood

A couple of months ago, I was talking to my sister on the phone, and I asked her if she had completed any television marathons since she got to college. She said that, yes, she had watched the entire first season of True Blood in a week. I was like, "Claire, that's only, like, 10 episodes! That's not a marathon!" To which she responded, "Shut up, it was 12 episodes!" Then I laughed at her.

Anyways, she told me that I just had to watch this show. I thought to myself, "Hmm, Alan Ball is the creator of Six Feet Under. This is a good sign. But it's a show about vampires. So it can't possibly be as good as Buffy. Plus, I just finished reading Twilight at my sister's recommendation, and that made me want to gag the entire time." Well, I was really bored one night and wanting to watch something new, so I decided to start True Blood and, in the process, show my little sister how a television marathon is done. 2 days and 12 episodes later, I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. It is very strange at times- exorcisms, people getting high on "V juice" (vampire blood)- but it keeps things interesting.

True Blood takes place in a world where vampires not only exist, but they are out in the open. They can go into a bar and order a bottle of O-negative that comes in the form of a synthetic blood drink called Tru Blood. On the news, political pundits argue about the merits of a "Vampire Rights Amendment." The story follows the life of Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin), a waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana, who is burdened by the ability to hear other people's thoughts. Then she meets a vampire named Bill (played by Stephen Moyer), and he is mysterious, as all the good vampires are, and introduces her to an entirely different lifestyle that fascinates her. She takes refuge in the fact that she cannot hear his thoughts. But Bon Temps is not as open-minded as Sookie. Season 1 revolves around the murders of people who associate with vampires, and Sookie becomes involved in investigating because the police and most of the people in the town believe that her brother, Jason, is the killer.

Paquin is a fantastic actress. I love her as Rogue in X-Men, but I would say her portrayal of Sookie is the best performance I've ever seen her give. She did win an Oscar for The Piano, but she was just a little girl and has matured so much since then. The most moving scene of Season 1: Sookie eating her grandmother's pecan pie after her funeral.

Episode 5, "Sparks Fly Out," and episode 8, "The Fourth Man in the Fire," were my favorites. In the former, Bill does a favor for Sookie's grandmother by coming to speak about his experiences as a Confederate soldier to her Descendants of the Glorious Dead group. In the latter, Sookie goes with Bill to the vampire bar Fangtasia ("There was a time when puns were the highest form of humor") to help a high-ranking vampire with her telepathic skillz, which leads to Bill taking extreme measures to protect her life.

It is interesting to see what aspects of vampire lore a show/book/movie uses and which ones they dismiss. In Buffy, vampires can be killed by a wooden stake in the heart, by setting them on fire, or by cutting off their heads, all of which will cause them to turn into dust; they are repelled by crucifixes and holy water; they have to be invited before they can enter a mortal's home; they have no reflection in a mirror; and they burst into flames in sunlight. In True Blood, vampires are killed by a wooden stake through the heart or by setting them on fire, both of which cause them to become a disgusting geyser of blood and guts; the mirror/crucifix/holy water factors are all rumors vampires made up to help them if they ever needed to prove that they weren't, in fact, vampires; they also have to be invited before they can enter a mortal's home; and sunlight drains them of their energy until they are barbequed. (Another Buffy-True Blood comparison: at one point, Bill is telling Sookie about how vampires can persuade humans to bend to their will by "glamouring" them, and she wants him to try it on her. He stares deep into her eyes for several seconds, slow music playing in the background, and says, "Sookie, can you feel my influence?" I just laughed and shook my head and thought about how Angel would NEVER say something like that. Bill is hot in his own way, but c'mon. Seriously. Angel is so the superior vampire.)

I'll be looking forward to Season 2 this summer.