My Foray into “True Blood”
How this got started, I don’t know. One day I woke up and found myself four seasons into HBO’s hit vampire series, True Blood (2008-2014). I don’t even particularly care for vampires. All I remember is being vaguely cognizant of the first few episodes and thinking to myself: “This show is epic. It’s like a high-brow Vampire Diaries.” Four seasons deep, I swim to the surface and realize my error. There is nothing high-brow about True Blood.
During what I like to call this country’s “Vampire Era,” between the late 90s and early 2010s, HBO decided to hop on the bandwagon with True Blood. I’m crediting Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the initial vampire boom, but Twilight is a close contender. The novels and numerous film adaptations of Twilight consume the early 2000s and provide the foundation for The Vampire Diaries (2009), The Originals (2013) and, yes, True Blood. While all the kids (myself included) devoured Twilight and Vampire Diaries, I can only assume the adults were watching True Blood. No child should be watching that show. In classic HBO fashion, it is riddled with excessive violence, sex, and generally disturbing material.
At its core, True Blood isn’t much different from every other vampire story. It follows Sookie Stackhouse, an innocent and naive waitress, whose life changes entirely when a vampire walks into her bar. This vampire’s name is Bill Compton and he’s a good vampire (AKA he doesn’t eat people). As the story goes, they fall in love and Sookie’s small town scorns her. She and Bill work to change the minds of the town while also defending them from the bad vampires—the ring-leader of this faction being Eric Northman, played by a hilarious Alexander Skarsgård.
They are all the same: Sookie Stackhouse is Elena Gilbert is Bella Swan; Bill Compton is Stefan Salvatore is Edward Cullen. What sets True Blood apart is its tone. The show rarely takes itself seriously. It’s not high-brow and it knows it. Dare I say, it even plays into being low-brow. That is exactly why I love it. When Sookie first encounters Bill in the pilot, she laughs in his face upon learning his name is Bill and not something more sexy and mysterious. What a great start.
I believe the trick to enjoying True Blood is to let it be a comedy. The first season makes that a little challenging because the show gives seriousness a good, old college try. I find Sookie to be too annoying, Bill incredibly unattractive, and everyone a little whiny. It’s obvious the writers and actors are much more comfortable starting in the second season because everything’s more self-aware. Anna Paquin (Sookie) totally comes into her own, carrying the show on her back. She transforms Sookie Stackhouse into a more nuanced vampire-leading-lady than Elena Gilbert or Bella Swan. Her love for vampires is begrudgingly; she cares about her family and friends arguably more than Bill; and she’s the hero of her own story.
Don’t get me wrong, True Blood is probably one of the most out-of-pocket TV shows I’ve ever seen. It’s right up there with Ally McBeal, Scandal, and Pretty Little Liars. Those writers came up with some insane ideas and many they should’ve kept to themselves. Sometimes I’ll watch a scene in True Blood and feel like I can tell the actors think what they’re doing is hilarious. Alexander Skarsgård, especially, seemed to be having an absolute romp being both the villain and comedic relief.
Most soap operas are comedies when it gets down to it. To sustain a show based on a kernel of an idea season after season, you are forced to get creative. Eventually, you will run out of logical plot lines and have no choice but to jump the shark. A good show will embrace the shark. True Blood does just that.