Three years after Alan Ball laid his HBO show Six Feet Under to rest, he has returned to the same network with True Blood (premiering Sept. 7 at 9/8c), a drama series about vampires. So he’s gone from the dead to the undead–at least the guy’s lightening up with age!
Read our interview with Alan Ball
True Blood, adapted from Charlaine Harris’ beloved Southern Vampire Mysteries book series, is initially talkier than bloodthirsty viewers might be hoping for; indeed, this is more of a vampire soap opera than a 30 Days of Night-esque scream-inducer. But those who stick with it–and it’s hard not to be hooked on intrigue alone after the pilot episode–will be bloody satiated.
The series is set in small-town Louisiana, where vampires and humans coexist but aren’t exactly the best of friends. After all, it’s only been two years since vampires “came out of the coffin” following the Japanese-invented TruBlood, a synthetic blood that allows vamps to resist human blood. But yeah, most Louisianans remain a tad racist, so to speak, towards their relatively new cohabitants.
However, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a waitress/mind reader, is not most people. She has no problem with vampires and is, in fact, drawn to them because theirs are the only minds she can’t read–which is a relief for her.
There’s one vampire in particular that has caught her eye: Bill (Stephen Moyer), a hunky bloodsucker who visits her restaurant and sticks out like, well, a vampire.
Bill is equally fascinated by Sookie and her benevolence toward his kind, but warns her in no uncertain terms that becoming close could be hazardous to her health. Vampires, you see, are still not the most trustworthy bunch.
She ignores Bill’s warnings and those from her friend (Rutina Wesley), boss (Sam Trammell) and brother (Ryan Kwanten). So begins the true bloodline of True Blood.
There’s quite a bit at play in True Blood, which is why Oscar winner Ball (American Beauty) is the perfect man for this job. Ball is blessed with an ability, perhaps more than any other writer or director today, to say a lot at once.
And although vampirism might seem an illogical next step for someone whose previous show was about a dysfunctional-family-owned funeral parlor, Ball really makes Blood his own, unmistakably so: Everything looks gorgeous, and there’s gloom and comedy so evenly distributed that even the Coen brothers would approve.
One especially funny scene features the leader of the “American Vampire League” promoting vampires’ rights on Real Time with Bill Maher, which doubles as a shameless HBO in-family plug.
Playing a modern-day vampire and a girl who’s smitten with one is tricky business, but Moyer–who previously starred in the 1998 British vampire series Ultraviolet–and Paquin really pull it off. While both Bill and Sookie are complex characters, to say the least, Paquin’s Sookie is surprisingly the more mysterious of the two.
And Paquin (X-Men trilogy, The Piano) truly conveys that, getting across Sookie’s childlike curiosity but also a darker side, one that hints at deep-seated sexuality. Speaking of sex, be prepared for some explicit, envelope-pushing action that falls somewhere between Six Feet Under and Tell Me You Love Me.
All in all, Blood is an intoxicating addition to the HBO family, and along with Entourage forms the best Sunday-night duo since HBO’s Sex and the City/Sopranos heyday.
Grade: A-
