Finally I have finished watching season two of True Blood and I loved it just as much as the first one! I was so pleased it was good, cause there is nothing worse than loving one series of a show, only for the second one to be lacking something. This definitely not the case with True Blood.
I watched the DVD, so I pretty much watched all twelve episodes back to back. I think this is the best way of watching a decent series as you never miss one, or have to wait a whole week to find out what happens. It’s a bit like watching a really long movie. It has to be said that this is the one show where I never fast-forward through the opening credits – I love the Jace Everett song, Bad Things!
So season two has quite a few storylines running through it.
Sookie and Bill go to Dallas to find Eric’s maker, Godric. They take with them Jessica, the newly turned vampire, who is not only a vampire, but also a teenage girl. There is a really sweet storyline with her finding her first love, but also that she will forever be a virgin!
Jason Stackhouse, after his girlfriend dying, has turned to the Fellowship of the Sun church – an anti-vampire establishment who intend to use God to wage a war against the vampires.
But the main storyline is that of Maryann, a woman who has ‘be-friended’ Tara. She takes over Sookie’s house (while she is away in Dallas) and the town all go to her parties which turn into violent orgies. Maryann possesses most of the population of Bon Temps and they all have completely black ‘bug’ eyes. Maryann then uses them to catch Sam as she wants to sacrifice Sam so that her ‘god’ will come to her. All just another day in Bon Temps!
There is lots of sex – LOTS of sex – in this season, even more so than the first, so if you are easily offended you probably won’t enjoy the show too much. There is a good amount of humour in the show as well, mainly brought by Jason Stackhouse and Andy Belfleur. All of the characters are fun (with the exception of Bill!). Lafayette, the short-order cook and Tara’s cousin, is a brilliant character, and the queen of Louisiana vampire, who is introduced towards the end of the show, is very funny. I absolutely love any scenes with Eric in. He has the sexy, bad-vampire thing down perfectly and I have to consciously keep my mouth shut to stop from drooling all over the floor.
My only problem was that I kept comparing the storyline’s to the books, trying to recognise what happens, and piece all of the different books together, but it didn’t really affect how I felt about the season.
I’m not sure I can wait for season three, so if any of my lovely friends State-side would like to pick me up a copy and post it over…;-)
So, what do you get when two vampire literature writers, one in England, the other in the US, team up to do a blog?
A giveaway on BOTH sides of the pond!
Our True Blood Season 1 DVD giveaway starts today!
First off, thanks to all our new followers, some of whom came over here from All Things Smart and Scary and the contest for Blood Ties over there -- congrats to the winner!
So, what draws us to these TV series?
Blood Ties: A hot, sexy vampire, a strong, smart female, and a cute police detective -- what more can I say? I'm not too into love triangles, but Blood Ties made it work really well -- I almost rooted for Mike at times ;-) Or maybe because I only wanted Henry all to myself! This series captivated me and captured my imagination -- it got me thinking into my own vampire protagonist's history (Henry Fitzroy, the vampire in the series, was based on the actual illegitimate son of Henry VIII), and thus Release was born.
Sadly, this series ended only after two short seasons. In order to get my Henry fix, I actually bought some of the books by Tanya Huff -- believe it or not, I'd never really read 'vampire fiction' before, other than Dracula or Interview With the Vampire! I loved the books, but I really enjoyed Ms. Huff's 'Smoke' series -- featuring Henry, but with Tony as the protagonist (instead of Vicki). I do encourage you to check them out if you haven't already!
So, onto True Blood. Marissa is a huge fan of both the HBO series and Charlaine Harris’s novels it seemed only fit that we get things going this week with a review and a competition.
Set in the deep south, the existence of vampires has been revealed. The Japanese have invented a type of synthetic blood which gives the vampires the option of ‘main-streaming’ (living alongside humans), without the need to feed on them.
Sookie Stackhouse is the female ‘heroine’. Twenty-five, blond, sexy, she can also kick-ass and, on top of that, she is a mind-reader. This makes it very difficult for her to date – imagine trying to having dinner with someone when you know all they are thinking about is what your boobs look like? So when she meets Bill and discovers that she cannot hear his thoughts she is thrilled. Except for one small problem; Bill is a vampire.
Sookie never goes through the whole ‘make me a vampire so I can spend the rest of eternity with you’ thing. She is confident with who she is and though she loves Bill, she also loves her life. This is refreshing in these days of angst-ridden, vampire-human relationships. But her involvement with Bill takes her into a whole new role she never imagined for herself. In the novels her ‘talent’ is used to help both vampires and humans, generally to find out who committed murders and disappearances.
True Blood, (both the series and the novels) is full of hot, dirty vampire sex, drugs (in the form of vampire blood), and plenty of rock-n-roll. These are vampires for grown-ups. At no point do the vampires go through the angst of who they are – instead they are more, ‘yeah, we’re vampires. Deal with it.’
The television series does the books proud. Although it follows different characters more closely than the books, it does stay true to the characters and most of the first novel. It involves a series of murders where Sookie’s sex-obsessed brother is implicated, but each of the murder victims also have vampire bites. The series has a great edgy feel to it and the music at the start of the show, Bad Things by Jace Everett, is fantastic - check out the post below.
The second series of True Blood has just started here in the UK (finally…), so what better way of catching up then by entering our competition.
And keep your eyes peeled as we’ll be giving away some of Charlaine Harris’s novels very soon!
So there you have it -- True Blood and Blood Ties: hot women, even hotter vamps, and some cute human guys thrown into the mix! What more could a girl ask for? ;-)
Today's contest question is: What would you prefer as a boyfriend/girlfriend (amended the question per Taliesin's suggestion ;-) -- a human, shape-shifter or werewolf -- and why?
Now I know there will be many women out there who would read this and think that I am exceptionally strange, but I can't help thinking that the modern day vampire is ultimately what women want. I'm not talking about the killing people and sleeping in a coffin type, I am talking that of Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire, Bill in True Blood, though I personally wouldn't go for Edward in Twilight - a little young for me and reminds me way too much of my little brother, which is just plain creepy.
Anyway, they all have that intense, tortured soul thing going on and you are ultimately the one who is going to save them from an eternity of loneliness. Plus they are the ultimate bad-boy; sexy with just the right dose of danger. Of course it is a shame they wouldn't be able to take you to the Bahamas for a couple of weeks of lying in the sun, but I think I could bring myself to make that sacrifice
For anyone who has been able to watch the second series of True Blood, Bill's outpouring of love for Sookie captures exactly what I am talking about. How could any woman resist being told by a gorgeous man who, not only has the whole of eternity, but wants to spend it with you, that you 'are his miracle'. I mean, come on, I think its a miracle if my hubby gets me a card on my birthday! Personally I don't get last season's love triangle. I'm sorry, but old shape-shifting Sam just wouldn't get a look in. So what if you can turn into a dog? Since when have dogs been sexy?
We have yet to get the second season here in the UK and I am waiting impatiently and making do with short clips on youtube (any ideas when it will be over here anyone?). In the meantime I have been dosing myself in my own tortured vampire with my sequel to Alone and I think it is going well, though it is still very early days.
