Creators Stir in Enough Fresh Blood
Posted 11-23-2011 at 01:23 AM by lemotry
True Blood DVD creator Alan Ball is no stranger to HBO, having previously crafted the moderately successful series Six Feet Under. While that series handled some fairly weighty material at times, par for the course in its funeral-parlor setting, his latest offering is a pop confection that is firmly focused on entertainment, intellectual stimulation.
The series follows the denizens of a Louisiana backwater as they come to terms with the public emergence of vampires as ordinary citizens. These vampires want rights, seeking to be treated no differently than their human counterparts with the ability to date and marry humans, vote, move freely in public, etc. This generates conflict in the community as the humans pick their side, with the majority coming down firmly against the vamps. The story is nothing new, bearing blatantly obvious overtones of the civil rights and gay rights movements as well as parallels to other fictional works such as Marvel’s X-Men comic-book saga. The vampire theme is also overused and long in the tooth, so to speak, but the creators stir in enough fresh blood to give viewers sufficient reason to keep coming back for another serving.
The main plot revolves around Civil War-era vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) and his budding relationship with human empath Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin). He’s a Southern gentleman, she’s a sweet girl who loves the fact that she can’t hear his thoughts, and together they attempt to define their relationship while navigating the court of public opinion. To add a romantic triangle, Sookie’s boss Sam also has deep feelings for her and deep feelings against Bill, but he’s not exactly what he seems. There’s also a season-long arc regarding a mystery serial killer in their midst, and while its resolution is nothing special, it does give the characters added friction as they explore their feelings.
The series follows the denizens of a Louisiana backwater as they come to terms with the public emergence of vampires as ordinary citizens. These vampires want rights, seeking to be treated no differently than their human counterparts with the ability to date and marry humans, vote, move freely in public, etc. This generates conflict in the community as the humans pick their side, with the majority coming down firmly against the vamps. The story is nothing new, bearing blatantly obvious overtones of the civil rights and gay rights movements as well as parallels to other fictional works such as Marvel’s X-Men comic-book saga. The vampire theme is also overused and long in the tooth, so to speak, but the creators stir in enough fresh blood to give viewers sufficient reason to keep coming back for another serving.
The main plot revolves around Civil War-era vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) and his budding relationship with human empath Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin). He’s a Southern gentleman, she’s a sweet girl who loves the fact that she can’t hear his thoughts, and together they attempt to define their relationship while navigating the court of public opinion. To add a romantic triangle, Sookie’s boss Sam also has deep feelings for her and deep feelings against Bill, but he’s not exactly what he seems. There’s also a season-long arc regarding a mystery serial killer in their midst, and while its resolution is nothing special, it does give the characters added friction as they explore their feelings.
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