SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
True Blood is back! After nine moths of brutal waiting after Season Two's jarring cliffhanger (who kidnapped Bill?!!), HBO's perfect storm of a guilty pleasure returned with a bang. The show felt like it was 20 minutes long; it perfectly tied up the lingering moments from Season 2, while beginning some juicy plot threads for Season 3. However, not everything worked.
We started right where we left off - Sookie, wearing that lavender dress, attempting to make sense of Bill's kidnapping. Girl really loves to shriek, doesn't she? I'm happy to see that Alan Ball can shift between his multiple arcs pretty well, while still keeping Sookie's story line front and center. Maybe praise should also go to Anna Paquin for keeping her kooky character grounded in her kooky supernatural Louisiana. She gives the show a feeling of blunt authenticity that keeps the show from spiraling out of control into pure camp.
One of my favorite subplots from last night's premiere was Jessica dealing with a man she killed. Without Maker Bill around to teach her the ways of the vampires, she's like a teenage girl who fucked up while the parents were out for dinner. Deborah Ann Woll captured a teenage girl attempting to cover up her mistake perfectly - desperately trying to feed her prey some of her blood, awkwardly prancing around whenever Sookie was in the house, hiding how much of an emotional mess she was. I'll be waiting for her reunion with Hoyt, because there relationship was beyond adorable towards the end of last season. I do wonder where she got a Blackberry app about crazy gang branding symbols though...
Bill has kidnapped by werewolves! Or a four-man team named "The Fuck Crew," as they affectionately desire to be called. These men were the perfect amount of creep to initiate the viewer to werewolves on True Blood; these are not the pretty vampires we're used to, but rough and gruff men from the woods. Bill eventually escaped from their clutches, making his way though the wilderness, and stopping for a little granny snack to regain his strength. The episode ended with Bill's fangs bared, surrounded by a pack of werewolves. Uh-oh.
Pam has been upgraded to a regular this season, and I'm so happy she's in it to win it. I find her endlessly hilarious, and one of the shows most underused gems. Sookie's line "I'm in no mood for lesbian weirdness tonight, Pam!" was one of my favorite of the episode, and Pam quietly berating Lafayette was one of her best moments yet. I can't wait for Kristin Bauer's character to continually develop over the season, hopefully moving to a more interesting task than simply pushing V and our resident vamp bouncer.
Jason Stackhouse continues to be one of the show's most deceptively deep characters, and Ryan Kwanten carries it off incredibly well. His interaction with Hoyt and the two NYU graduates in Merlotte's was hilarious, and his inability to have sex because of his emotional trauma was a nice addition to a character who is known for his sexual exploits. However, where will True Blood find it's gratuitous nudity without Jason? Sure, there was certainly some from Jason in the premiere, but if he can't get it up for a while... Regardless, Jason seeing Egg's bullet hole on the girls he brings home is a nice addition to Jason's complicated world. Conscious off, dick on!
Speaking of Eggs, Tara is a mess. Hopefully "mess" will be upgraded to "bat shit crazy" in the coming weeks, and I am always down for Tara's Mom to be involved in her daughter's scarred life (Adina Porter is astounding as a mother struggling to save her daughter while copping with her many demons), but she felt underdeveloped in tonight's episode. We've seen blank stares and copious pill-popping to deal with the death of a loved one; I want something more from Tara. Will she grapple with the fact that she was being used by a mythological beast? Maryann's mind control over her was a dangerous thing, and Tara's love for Eggs may have been completely based in the serious evil that overcame Bon Temps last season. Her character has a lot of promise dealing with the downfall from last season, hopefully True Blood is up to the challenge.
Eric gave Jason a run for his money in the whole nudity category, along with his new "dancer." However, Eric dealing with the V craze in Louisiana seemed awkwardly structured; hopefully he'll be spending more time with Sookie in the hunt for Bill, because I'm not a fan of his dry sheriff duties right now. Eric is one of my favorite characters on the show, and I hope this drama with the Queen forcing the sale of V is resolved soon. Not my favorite subplot, and I think Eric deserves better.
Sam continues to be my least favorite character on the show. His "homoerotic" (awkward?) moment with Bill just seemed odd and ill-conceived (yes, I know Bill gave a lot of his blood to Sam, but still...), even if Stephen Moyer was giving the moment his all. Sam is off in search of his birth parents. Cool. His brother lied to him. Awesome. Hopefully Sam's journey for self-discovery in Arkansas gives him a solid story that connects with me. Because umm I'm ready to see his character killed off. Sorry puppy.
Lafayette has his standard sass back (sorely missing from last season), and hopefully he'll be used more this season. Arlene's pregnancy announcement in seemed rushed; I wish the producer's had given that revelation more time to breathe, as Arlene wasn't given nearly enough screen time to go along with the moment. We'll see how her relationship with Terry develops, because I wasn't feeling their moments last night.
Overall, a wonderful start to a promising season. I was giddy the entire hour, and could barely believe it had flown by so fast when the credits rolled. Most of the subplots are working for me; a few are not. Regardless, I trust Alan Ball - the man juggles his deep cast of characters with such ease it's remarkable. I do wish the season's Big Bad was more clearly defined; is it the werewolves? Or is there a stronger darkness on the way? This show has truly hit its stride, finding the right tone and completely grasping what it's audience wants - blood, sex, and high drama. We want it fast, rough, and usually pretty sloppy. This show is a blast. Here's to the start of a very promising new season.
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