http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/11/true-blood-hbo.html
'True Blood' amps up the enjoyable vamp antics as its finale approaches OK, fine, "True Blood" fans. I give up. You win. I like this show. And yet. Those of you whove been e-mailing me telling me that True Blood, which airs its season finale 8 p.m. Sunday, is your favorite show -- I cant say I agree. But the friends and readers whove been saying the HBO show has finally become the escapist vamp potboiler that was lurking inside the somewhat pretentious show we first saw back in September -- yes, I agree with that assessment. Though its not perfect, True Blood has improved a lot. Dare I say it no longer needs a transfusion? There are so many things about True Blood I can still pick apart, and I mentioned many of them in my initial review. As Sookie Stackhouse, a woman in love with a courtly vampire, the miscast Anna Paquin is often the least interesting part of this show. The shows melodrama veers into laughable Southern Gothic at times (Demon exorcisms? Really?). There are plenty of plot holes that you could drive a hearse through. The shows vampire mythology is contradictory, if not downright chaotic. And dont start me on the variable accents on this show: In the Watcher household, a favorite pastime is imitating all the weird ways various characters on the show pronounce the name Sookie. On the other hand, lately, True Blood has been doing a lot of things right; in the last three or four episodes, in particular, it has gotten markedly better. Perhaps because of the obvious lack of charisma between Sookie and her vampire lover, Bill (the fine Stephen Moyer), the show has been adding terrific guest actors left and right. And its focused on the one through-line that unites the shows disparate elements: The mystery of whos been murdering women in Bon Temps, La. A few weeks ago, the wonderful Stephen Root showed up as a gay vampire accountant (and thats the first time I have ever written those three words in a row). His character didnt resemble the mostly predictable vamps on this show, which have tended to favor eyeliner, leather pants and wanton murder. He was a lonely, soft-spoken guy who thought becoming a bloodsucker would spice up his life -- but it didnt, at least not the way he thought it would. Sookies dim brother, the eternally shirtless Jason (Ryan Kwanten), used to be one of my least favorite characters. But recent developments involving Jason, Roots character and Amy, the hippie-dippie psycho played by the excellent Lizzy Caplan, did a lot to amp up Jasons story line, and it even gave Kwanten the chance to prove he can do more than take off his shirt. As if that werent enough, in recent weeks the show featured two "Homicide" veterans I would watch read from the telephone book: Michelle Forbes, of HBOs In Treatment, and Zeljko Ivanek, who won an Emmy for his work on FXs Damages. Theyre two of the best character actors working now, and Ivanek in particular was terrific as the Magister, the final adjudicator of vampire disputes. If anyone could make sitting in a chair in the back of a truck transfixing, Ivanek could. Forbes role is less clear -- her mysterious character just took in Sookies troubled friend, Tara (Rutina Wesley) -- but I dearly hope that if there is a second season of True Blood, Forbes is in it. Ditto for Alexander Skarsgard (Iceman in Generation Kill), who plays Eric, the quietly intimidating sheriff to Southern vampires. In addition to loading up the show with a terrific array of guest actors, True Blood features one of the best supporting casts around. As Tara, Wesley has given what could have been a grating character a lot of anguished depth, and I once again have to single out Nelsan Ellis, whose Lafayette is one of my favorite TV characters right now. Sam Trammell has also been providing solid support as the amiable bar owner Sam Merlotte (though I still dont understand why either Sam or Bill is attracted to the huffy Sookie). I dont know if this development follows the progress of Charlaine Harris Stackhouse novels, on which the series is based, but True Blood has wisely opened up the world of the show beyond vampires, a territory that his been well trod in books, TV and movies for decades now. There are shapeshifters in Sookies world, and other beings with strange powers have been hinted at as well. (One thing the show has not handled all that well: Sookies own psychic powers, which figured prominently early in the season but have been barely mentioned in recent weeks.) Though it still has its self-indulgent moments, True Blood has picked up its pace admirably and now boasts more tension than the lackluster current season of Showtimes Dexter. (Dare I say "True Blood" has sucked the life out of "Dexter"? Sorry, that may be one pun too many). An HBO representative says that viewership for the show has increased dramatically over the last couple of months (for more on that, check out this AP story). But even before those numbers went up, the network had renewed True Blood for a second season, which now looks like a wise move (and a necessary one -- the finale, the HBO representative said, contains a couple of cliffhangers). All in all, this drama is on its way to becoming what creator Alan Ball originally promised: A sexy, well-acted soap opera about bloodsuckers and the people who love them.
