Created by Alan Ball Starring: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Chris Bauer, Nelsan Ellis, Jim Parrack, William Sanderson Review by Molly Elizabeth
SYNOPSIS:
The series follows Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid living in Louisiana who can read people's minds, and how her life is turned upside down when the Vampire Bill, walks into her place of employment two years after vampires 'came out of the coffin' on national television.
The True Blood pilot starts with a southern gal giving her southern boyfriend a handjob in the car as they race down a backroad in the woods. They pass a ratty sign that says 'We Have Tru Blood' and screech to a stop. Tru Blood means vampires! The creepy clerk fakes an accent to freak the young couple out, until a real vampire puts the fear of god into all of them and leaves with his very own Tru Blood. (Which, in a television interview with pundit Bill Maher, a pale character named Nan Flanagan has revealed is a Japanese synthetic blood substitute. Apparently the release of the product has allowed the minority vampires to reveal their identities and live their lives among the humans....)
The opening credits are a real work of art. Decaying animals juxtaposed against fleshy, sweaty female body parts really illustrate the sexy/seedy underbelly of the south. The series is set in Bon Temps, Louisiana, a small town in a small minded area. Introducing Sookie Stackhouse – a fiesty waitress in a roadhouse bar and True Blood's leading lady. Sookie has a bit of trouble waiting on tables because she is distracted by a constant barrage of thoughts. Apparently, Sookie can read minds and has to get really centered to turn off the conscious flow. Sookie (Anna Paquin) has a tiny little figure and an enormous gap in her teeth – in a word, she's charming.
A giant woman enters a home goods store and addresses the clerk who is hard at work reading. The purple giant asks the saucy, book savvy gal if she has refrigerator plastic. To the giant's chagrin, the store does not carry such a product and the ensuing altercation leads to the clerk simultaneously quitting her job and insulting the giant's wardrobe. Audience, meet Tara.
Tara heads to the roadhouse (Merlotte's) because Sookie is her best friend and she requires solace. Also liquor. Saucy line cook Lafayette greets Tara, and because they are both saucy (and Black) we know they must be related. Sam Merlotte, owner of Merlotte's has it bad for Sookie and couldn't be more obvious about it. Red-headed Arlene is a single mom and Dawn, the other waitress, is a slut.
Two gorgeous naked people get it on. The guy, we soon learn, is Jason Stackhouse, Sookie's brother. The girl, a minor character of little importance, is Maudette Pickens. Jason discovers a tiny bite mark on her leg and freaks out when she reveals that she is a 'fang-banger' – a human who has sex with vampires. Jason gets up to leave until Maudette entices him back: 'I taped it'. They get ready for some more sexy sex.
The word used previously to describe Sookie Stackhouse was 'charming.' 'Retarded' is the word used by the white trash couple that Sookie has the unfortunate luck to wait on. The Rattrays are a downer in every way, but Sookie can't focus on them for too long because in walks a vampire. He is Merlotte's first vampire, as Sookie gushingly reveals while trying to take the man's order. Unfortunately, Merlotte's is out of Tru Blood so he just has to sit there with a glass of red wine that he cannot drink. He is not alone for long, however, as the Rattray's rush to join him. Sookie's unnatural abilities and her unnatural attraction to the supernatural vampire make her suspicious – the trashy couple is up to no good.
Also up to no good is Jason Stackhouse, who is having some rather raunchy sex with Maudette. He chokes her without evidence of a safe word.
Cut to – the broody vampire (Bill Compton) in the woods pinned to the ground with a silver chain. A shot of Sookie's hand picking up a much larger iron chain which she then proceeds to wrap around the throat of Mr. Rattray. Bill is officially rescued! Sookie is smitten when she realizes that she cannot hear his thoughts. They share several heated, awkward yet intimate moments before Sookie returns from her rescue. Sam Merlotte and BFF Tara are not pleased, and Sam agrees to give Tara a new job so that she may help keep an eye on Sookie.
Everyone wants to keep an eye on Sookie – brother Jason pays the bar a post coital visit and grandma Adele is waiting up for her when she arrives home. Sookie relates her vampire tales and grandma squeals and encourages her. Brother Jason is less excited and lectures her on vampire safety over breakfast the next morning. Adele rushes in and reveals that Maudette, Jason's sexy sex partner, has been murdered. A guilty look scampers across Jason's chiseled features and he immediately places the blame on vampires. Sneaky Sookie reads a snippet of his thoughts and becomes worried that Jason himself may be the culprit. Apparently Jason WAS the last person to see (all of) Maudette alive, and is apprehended by the local law at work. Back at Merlotte's, every character that has made an appearance so far discusses Jason's arrest. Sookie is upset until her vampire Bill turns up. 'What are you?' he growls at her and asks when he may call on her. She tells him that her grandmother would love to meet him and asks for a meeting when she gets off – late night style, behind the bar. Her co workers rail upon her for such a stupid move, and she rushes out to escape their verbal lacerations. She rushes right into the arms of the vindictive Rattray's, who throw her to the ground and kick her until she bleeds. They kick her right into the end credits.
REVIEW:
True Blood is the latest from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, and is a runaway hit. The pilot was so packed with sex, drugs, blood, naked hot people and more sex that even without a supernatural twist it would have been a winner. The issues surrounding the vampires act as a metaphor for problems with natural society. The pilot is at once campy, provocative and troubled. Each character is complex in a totally human (or vampire) way; Ball succeeds in establishing a totally believable world based around immortal beings. The series really started off with a bang (or a bite!)
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TRUE BLOOD PILOT
Back at Merlotte's, every character that has made an appearance so far discusses Jason's arrest. Sookie is upset until her vampire Bill turns up. 'What are you?' he growls at her and asks when he may call on her. She tells him that her grandmother would love to meet him and asks for a meeting when she gets off – late night style, behind the bar. Her co workers rail upon her for such a stupid move, and she rushes out to escape their verbal lacerations. She rushes right into the arms of the vindictive Rattray's, who throw her to the ground and kick her until she bleeds. They kick her right into the end credits.
