Talk us through itSookie, great name, Stackhouse is a waitress at a backwards roadhouse bar, Marlottes, in Bon Temps Louisiana. Making Sookie's life tougher she has telepathic powers and can hear the thoughts of those around her, for better or worse. On the bright side her boss Sam is looking over her, in his normal guise or as a sheep dog, as well as her best friend the feisty Tara. On the down side her grandmother dotes on her and Brother Jason brings new meaning to the term "horndog".
Complicating matters further vampires have "come out of the coffin" and are part and parcel of every When a local chick turns up murdered Jason is the prime suspect but how long before suspicion falls on Bill?
ReviewScaryminds is covering Trueblood due to kiwi Anna Paquin playing lead character Sookie Stackhouse, and Aussie actor Ryan Kwanten playing Sookie's brother Jason Stackhouse. With additional Down Under troops expected to arrive in Season three we're all over this one.Charlaine Harris's Southern gothic novel series is brought to the screen by Alan Ball with substantial updates, mainly to the characters of Vampire Bill, Sam, and the overly flamboyant Lafayette. I haven't read all that much of Ms Harris's work, supernatural romance is one horror sub genre I give a wide berth too, but judging from the first episode of HBO's new Trueblood series I might have to change my avoidance tendencies. Simply put Alan Ball has lined up the posts and kicked a major. Judging from episode one we are into one hell of a decent television outing. Let's rock and roll with this one and see how the coffins stack up. Thankfully Alan Ball doesn't feel the need to re-invent the wheel, have vampires sparkling during the day, or otherwise make a mockery of centuries of blood sucker folk lore. Vampires in the Trueblood universe do not go out during the day, can move faster than Danni Minoque to a photo shot opportunity, and can be killed via staking. Episode one, Strange Love, doesn't tackle the religious side of things, besides southern bible bashers, which end of day is possibly a blessing in surprise. About the only truly new innovation, besides the idea of the synthetic blood, is that Vamps are helpless if tied up with silver. Whether this was simply a plot idea to have Vampire Bill at the mercy of the Rattrays or will have some ongoing purpose in the first and subsequent seasons remains to be seen. Speaking of silver and, well okay we weren't, werewolves there is some doggie action, though it's not exactly The Howling level of canine. One character is able to shape shift into a border collie, not entirely sure if that's one of the better ideas I have stumbled across in horror but it certainly provides an indication that more than one thing that might go bump in the night could be shambling around the Louisiana bayous. Alan Ball hands out enough to keep us interested in what else might be coming down the line at us but doesn't overly confuse things with multiple plot arcs forming quicker than Paris Hilton can down a tequilla at closing time. While the gore factor may not be overly high, perhaps hoping to build an Audience base before spreading the claret around, the T&A is going down like a steamy night down the Cross. The ladies will be pleased to know that in amongst the boobs and girly bits they get lets of chances to check out Aussie hunk Ryan Kwanten, who isn't adverse to going fully nekkid. I would imagine both the gore and naughty will get ramped up as the season progresses, HBO aren't noted for their prim and proper programming after all. Central to the concept of Trueblood, from the pilot episode at least, is the relationship between Anna Paquin's Sookie and Stephen Moyer's Vampire Bill. Sookie, besides being telepathic, is pretty naïve about the World, and this plays brilliant against Vampire Bill's world-weary cynicism. You get the feeling that Bill has pretty much given up on not only the human world but also the darker side. Sookie is initially attracted to Bill due to her being unable to pick up on his thoughts, a welcome relief from the bombardment she normal undergoes from most humans who apparently have little to no control of their inner thoughts. Bill recognizes the difference in Sookie and is attracted to something he hasn't encountered before. Strangely for someone who is overcome by the projected thoughts of others Sookie works as a waitress at a bar rather than maybe in a library or a morgue. Besides introducing us to the main characters, the background to the Trueblood world, and the general relationship matrix, the first episode also shows that vampires are not the only predators on the scene. Vampire blood is sort after by humans for its properties, and there are vampire hunters who in a parody of the vamps themselves drain "v juice" for black-market sale. Denise and Mack Rattray present this darker side of human nature and commerce but haven't reckoned with Sookie's abilities. Only being brushed upon in Strange Love is a subtext of racism and exploitation that may or may not be developed in subsequent episodes. Vampires, who came out of the coffin two years previously due to the Japanese developing the synthetic TruBlood as a substitute for the human kind, are viewed very much with suspicion and downright fear. The American Vampire League (AVL in subsequent episode reviews) is fighting for equal rights and the recognition of Vampires as being part and parcel of normal society. Clearly the parallel to the U.S civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s isn't exactly being swept under the carpet, and right wing fundamental religion isn't being allowed an easy out. Whether the AVL, and vampires in general, are what they present themselves to be remains at this stage the subject of conjecture. Bill is attempting to "mainstream" in Bon Temps, but is everything what it appears to be? 
I'll cover the Actors one by one as the first season episode guide builds so let's kick off with Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse). Paquin came to TrueBlood via the X-Men movie franchise and showed her worth with a Golden Globes win for Trueblood in 2008 and subsequent Globes nominations. Paquin is excellent in the role with her accent, apparently pretty good, never dropping. I should have taken notice of who did the score but the incidental music overshadowed, if you love Southern style rock then you are in for a treat with TrueBlood.
Summary ExecutionI got given a copy of the box set of season one of Trueblood with the advice that ScaryMinds should cover due to Down Under involvement. I was as happy as John Howard at the bowling crease with a chance to have a look the show and had a pretty good time as the first episode rolled. I'm expecting things to get pretty solid from here and will stick with the entire season.The first season rocks on out with twelve episodes, not many for a U.S television series but presenting the most ambitious project Scaryminds has tackled thus far in our one year of existence. There are at least another couple of seasons coming our way so expect Bon Temps to be a standard vacation location for this site in the coming months. If you like Southern Gothic and a show prepared to have fun with itself then Trueblood is worth a look. Based on episode one the show isn't going to be exactly simple, I haven't covered all the plot developments and sub stories in this review, but it looks like you are going to get value for the time invested as the season progresses. I'm prepared to tap into an artery with this show, stick with me as we delve further into events in the heartland of Louisiana.
ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ... Looks like we may be onto something good here, time to hunker down with the remote.
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