True Blood

True Blood is an US TV drama series produced by Alan Ball, based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris and inspired by all sorts of vampire shows like Dark Shadows from the sixties.. The setting is Bon Temps, a made up, small town in northwestern Louisiana that is home to humans and vampires. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is the main star: a telepathic waitress who’s not your usual small town girl. The Immortal Romance Slot takes alot of inspiration from the show.

The TV show is produced by HBO and was first shown in September 7 2008. It has since won several awards, including a Golden Globe and an Emmy, and one of many smash hits in this genre, following on from the likes of Buffy and other shows about immortality.

True Blood Season 4: “I can Eat Who I Want!”

The whole idea behind the series is that, unknown to most of us, vampires have been living among us, until 2 years before the first show, when synthetic blood (Tru Blood) was invented by Japanese scientists which allowed vampires to head out of their coffins to show their pasty faces to the world (since they no longer need human blood to survive).

The vampire society splits into two- those that want to live alongside humans, and those who want to wipe them out. Other creatures such as werewolves, fairies and witches also feature.

Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is a telepathic mix between a Human and a Fairy (a halfling) who waits on the tables at Merlotte’s Bar and Grill, which is owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps.

Sam is a shapeshifter, although he keeps this under wraps. There’s also Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a handsome 173-year-old vampire who once again made Bon Temps his home, Sookie’s brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) with the roving eye for the ladies; and a 1000-year-old vampire and Sheriff, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård).

True Blood’s storylines explore issues such as the struggle for equal rights, racial and sexual discrimination and violence against minorities, drug addiction, religion, and the importance of family. Some pretty big themes, in other words.

Title Sequence

One of the coolest things about the show is True Blood’s Emmy-nominated title sequence which showcases the show’s Deep South setting, alongside a haunting soundtrack: “Bad Things” by Jace Everett.

The title sequence features images and scenes of death and rebirth; the circle of life. A Venus fly-trap traps a frog while footage of a decaying fox’s head is speeded up to show maggots feeding off of the rotting flesh. A woman is cleansed of her sins in a lake and a priest performs an exorcism on a member of his congregation. All pretty harrowing stuff, and a good indication of the way the show continues.

Music

True Blood soundtrack albums have earned Grammy Award nominations twice- quite a record.
The main song is “Bad Things” by country music artist Jace Everett.

All in all, this is a superb series- if you haven’t seen it yet, and you are into hard hitting dramas with an edge, you’ll love it. A must.