It was around this point last season that I was wondering how much longer I could stick with True Blood, Prime's flagship vampire series, given how many different plot threads and characters were being wedged into every new episode. To be honest, I thought Season 4 might've been my final extended stay in Bon Temps.
Yet, here we are at the midway point of Season 5 and I'm enjoying True Blood more than I have since that brilliant first season - and with Sookie (Anna Paquin), Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), Bill (Stephen Moyer) and the gang going off air for a couple of weeks due to the Olympics (returning on August 16), it seems now is the right time to take stock of the fifth season so far.
(Warning: Spoilers from Season 5 of True Blood follow.)
Let's get one thing straight: most of the problems from Season 4 are still present in Season 5.
For a start, there are far too many storylines in play - in six episodes to date, we've seen Eric & Bill hunting down Russell Edgington, politics at the Authority, Sookie & Alcide trying to hook up, Alcide challenging for leadership of the pack, Jason discovering the truth about his parents' death, the introduction of the faerie nightclub, Sam and Luna getting shot by shifter-assassins, Pam taking responsibility for creation Tara, Tara making friends then fighting with Jessica, Lafayette getting weighed down by guilt over Tara's becoming a vampire, Terry and Patrick accidentally finding a fire demon, Terry revealing his Iraq War history to Arlene and leaving town, Andy revealing his naked butt on Facebook, Hoyt becoming a fang-banger ... the list goes on. By the way, I just listed 14 different storylines. I'm sure I missed a few.
The real problem is that most of the characters are extraneous. Does anyone really care about Terry Bellefleur and what he got up to in Iraq? Does anyone have any interest in Alcide beyond Sookie trying to take his shirt off so viewers can get a squiz at Joe Manganiello's six-pack*? I reckon you could reduce Alcide, Jason, Terry, Sam, Luna, Arlene, Hoyt, Jessica and Andy to uber-minor, appear-once-every-two-or-three-weeks roles, and nobody would either notice or care.
But somehow the good is outweighing the bad this season; where Season 4 spent far too much time with Marnie, the wicked witch of the south and a character who was absolutely no fun to be around, Season 5 has changed things up with entertaining character pairings, the return of a fan favourite, and a pair of legitimately interesting stories.
I can't be the only one enjoying Bill & Eric's excellent adventure, can I? From the clean-up scene in the premiere (Bill chatting on the phone while Eric cleans up the remains of Nan Flanagan at 300mph in the background) to their bogus journey to meet the Authority to their discovery of Russell Edgington (one of the greatest television characters ever conceived thanks to Denis O'Hare, and one that I hope plays a bigger part in the second half of the season**), Bill & Eric have been more entertaining, partly thanks to their newfound Sookie-less time together.
For whatever reason, Sookie made the vampire boys about as much fun as a head cold.
Even when Sookie and Alcide joined in the fun last week ("a 3000-year-old vampire wants to suck my blood - must be Thursday!") it didn't dredge up any bad memories of years gone by, since the caught-in-the-act lovers kept to themselves and had a legitimate reason to be there (Sookie using her faerie powers to see Doug's memories).
I also love the pairing of Tara and Pam. Pam (Kristin Bauer Van Straten) has always been a favourite of mine; I was surprised by how emotional it was to see Eric setting her free a couple of weeks ago, since I didn't realise how invested I was in the character. But I'll admit to being a little sceptical of this story at the outset. I've hated Tara (Rutina Wesley) for years and started the season hoping she would be dead and gone after the events of the Season 4 finale.
It's been a pleasant surprise to see how well the maker-progeny relationship between the two has worked: Tara is a much more interesting character now that she has a bit of power behind her (as opposed to being the abused Tara of years past), while Pam's sheer unwillingness to be a maker has been a source of great entertainment.
The Authority stuff has been hit-miss for me but I like the concept, if not the execution, of a kind of shadow government who secretly run the world under the guise of the Vampire Rights Movement, as well as the religious angle the writers took by introducing the idea that vampires pre-date humans. Christopher Meloni has been great in his role, too. Well, I mean, had been great - it was disappointing that Meloni's casting turned out to be a stunt, designed to get us quickly invested in a new character before dispatching him in grand (and gross) fashion.
But that is a minor blip on an otherwise fun season; I haven't felt this good about True Blood, this late in a season, since its first - and as long as Bill & Eric keep up the buddy-cop routine, as long as Pam keeps working on Tara, and as long as everyone else is kept to fairly minimal roles, this might be the best season in years.
What do you think of the fifth season of True Blood, so far?
(*) Even I have to admit: phwoar!
(**) Here's a mandatory link to Russell Edgington interrupting the news, one of the greatest TV scenes ever.
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Coming up in the next week, July 28 to August 3 ...
Olympic Games opening ceremony - Prime, Saturday from 7am (ceremony from 8am)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Season 12 finale - TV3, Saturday at 8.30pm
The Hidden Side of Sport - BBC Knowledge, Tuesdays at 8.30pm
Olympico, hosted by Leigh Hart - Comedy Central, Wednesdays at 9pm
Bones, Season 7 finale - TV3, Thursday at 8.30pm
Kitchen Nightmares - TV2, Thursdays at 9.30pm
For a more extensive look at the week ahead, click here.
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Love the show, and have since I was totally caught off-guard by the very first episode. I've never had a problem with the large number of characters or storylines, but then I consider it to a stylish soap. With vampires.
You have to remember True Blood episodes run long ..typically 52-58 minutes (no idea why the variability) compared with the 40 minutes or so of a standard "one hour" drama". And although most of a series has been filmed before it starts to air, the actors still can't be worked to death. So longer episodes mean a bigger cast. Or a very long shooting schedule (which equates to dollars).
Interestingly no-one complains about the vast number of characters or the huge number of storylines in Game of Thrones. Although that show does park characters who aren't needed - I think Jamie Lannister was only in 3 or 4 of the 10 episodes in season 2.
I also agree this series of True Blood does seem to be more fun. Not sure what it is, although maybe it is more grounded in reality somehow.
True Bloods main problem is that they love their cast too much. Multiple storylines for multiple characters. Even if they're small fries.
It's time to introduce a little of Joss Whedon's method of storytelling - and just finish some characters off for good.
Agreed - Russell Edgington is a hoot.
I love the vampire plots... Pam is one of the most fascinating and underutilised characters (Pam in a Walmart suit was one of the greatest things about this season). If these plots along with Sookie and Jason's faerie were the main focus of the season, I think I could give it an A so far.
Like you said, I really wish that the werewolf/shapeshifter plots were reduced to every 1-3 episodes. They area a bit superfluous, but I'm sure they'll tie in somehow at the end.
I hate Terry's storyline and wish he and Arlene would be demoted to side characters only (like Mrs Fortenberry). On a plus side, it's nice to see that the smoke monster from Lost has found another job.
You're absolutely right about most of the secondary characters. In the books, almost all of them are primarily there as background to the principal characters and the central plot of the book. Focussing on so many characters only worked for seasons 1 and 2 where the whole town was directly impacted by one central set of events. It does get a bit distracting trying to keep track of so many unrelated events!
Having said that, I'm still enjoying the show - it's a hell of a lot better than most of the other shite on TV at the moment.
And yes, the more shirtless Alcide the better! :-)
Always look forward to True Blood, but do agree with you that there have been too many story lines. Still the acting is top notch and the characters interesting. I only sense there is a few more seasons to go (Alan Ball has already started to step away from being hands-on in anticipation of that), so maybe now is the time to starting tying up some of the plots.
how hot is Eric "sister" ?
I have just seen the Australian film "Not Suitable For Children" featuring Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse) and it is the first film I have seen with him in it that is actually pretty good. In fact I loved it - it is a very understated rom com. More drama then comedy. Also just finishing watching "Mad Men" season 4 which I thought was fantastic. I love its style. The episode "The Suitcase" was particularly good featuring the Liston V Clay fight. I love that line by Don's elderly secretary about all the fuss over the fight - "If I want to see two negros fight I just throw a dollar out my window". It was funny and tragic when she died answering phones a couple of episodes later. And then there was Don getting to know Lane Pryce better and getting a hooker for him. It is so sad he commits suicide at the end of the next season. As for "True Blood" - I enjoyed the first 2 seasons but the third season went a bit flat for me. Does it pick up in seasons 4 and 5 with new good ideas or are they just a one trick pony reliant on shocking blood scenes?
Eric and Bill hanging out together is so awesome! I love the pair of them together.
Some people have loved this season, some have hated with a passion. I'm liking this season much more than last, and I'm glad that more focus is on the vampires. I wasn't sure how you (Chris) would like it after Dan Fienberg ripped it apart, but I'm glad you are enjoying it, and a lot of what you wrote is in line with how I feel. I will say I HATE the Terry storyline, and I know Lafayette is your favorite, but his storyline isn't good either. Pam and Tara have the best storyline right now, followed by the vampire politics, and everything else not mentioned above is ok. I love Pam to death and she has been murdering this season, and Tara has grown on me alot, and coming from someone who considered her the worst character in all of TV in seasons 3 and 4, that's saying something. Wait till you see her on the next episode. She has a body to kill for! Oh, and Russell Edgington FTW!
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I have to admit that I've been wishing the Tara whiny character would please go away and die. I did a little dance when she got the shotgun at the end of the last series.
However raging psychopath Tara is a lot more fun.
Definitely agree with you, way too many storylines for me to get invested in many of them.