I think I’m in love with this season of True Blood. I’ve mostly let Tim take over reviewing duties, because I’ve been crazy busy and watching it on a crappy site, and because Tim does a kick ass job recapping and highlighting what has been so awesome about this season of True Blood, but don’t confuse my silence for lack of enthusiasm. Although I loved the first season (helped mostly by watching it over a one week period that kept it from getting boring), I have to say that this season is what True Blood should always have been: sex scenes, awkward accents, gratuitous blood and violence, minor social commentary, and a whole bunch of witty goofiness.
After last night’s explosive (hardy har) culmination of all the awesome Fellowship of the Sun stuff, I feel compelled to at least add my two cents, even if they completely agree with Tim’s two cents, in that True Blood is giving us a whole lot of bang for our buck and is worth a million dollars and a bunch of other money related metaphors.
So here’s the top five reasons why True Blood Season Two is even better than True Blood Season One:
5. The camp- both the literal and figurative camp. First, the literal. The Fellow ship of the Sun. Hilarious. But more importantly, the figurative. The Campy aspect of the show, hiding just behind the melodrama of the first season, has really come to the forefront this season. “Sookie is mine,” was one of my favorite instances where the show let slip the serious vampire melodrama veneer in the first season, but this season has been ridiculously full of these moments. Sookie, in particular, seems more aware this season of her role: SHE’S ABSURD. She spends all her time trying to continue banging her undead boyfriend. She’s not a Buffy or Veronica style heroine. She’s the absurd beating heart in the middle of our absurd bloody favorite.
4. Jason- first of all, football matches and wife-banging? Hot. Second of all, punching people in defense of his sister? SUPER HOT. I love that his storyline has been so alone this season, because watching dummy Jason getting continually manipulated by only-slightly smarter people in his life never fails to amuse me, and damn if Ryan Kwanten doesn’t make every dumb-but-pretty look Jason shoots us intriguing, interesting and unique.
3. The Pace- The first season seemed to take forever to tell us anything, and then blurted out everything in one episode word vomit piles. This season, every episode has been consistently hilarious, interesting, and action-packed, with murders, and monsters, and gratuitous orgies to boot.
2. Jessica-When Bill first vampified a young girl last season, I groaned. The last thing the saccharine mess of Bill/Sookie (Bookie?) needed was an annoying teenage girl. But… wow. I was wrong. Jessica is great. She’s given us a unique insight into what it means to be a vampire (and whose heart didn’t break when she realized that no matter what she was going to be a perpetual virgin?) and what it means to be a human (she’s trying to be good, even though she can’t cry because ‘it’s really gross.). Her and Hoyt’s relationship is the most compelling on the show. Besides, maybe, number one –>
1. Eric- He was a periphery character in the first season, a tantalizing glimpse into the world of vampires that Bill was trying so hard to give up. But this season, Eric is a force of nature, whether it’s pursuing Sookie for dubious reasons, worshipping at the altar of Vampire-Jesus Godric, torturing LaFayette, or faking a hillbilly accent (although, really, at well over six feet and ghostly pale with that absurd hotness, Eric is never anything but conspicuous), Eric’s increasing role on the show has only meant increasing awesome.
Now if you had asked me after last season if Tara and Sam would be on this list, I would have answered strongly yes. Even though I hate the whole alcoholic/demonic mother storyline, Tara was indubitably my favorite character. And Sam – boy did I love Sam. But this season, despite heart-eating, almost-dying, neither character has been my favorite. Partially this is a testament to the power of the supporting characters, but partially it shows how far these two characters have been removed from the most interesting storyline (the vampire, as opposed to Mayaenadeeaeae storyline). Here’s hoping it all comes together soon, and not in some lame demon-pregnancy way (this is a common theory on the interwebs).