Recently Vampire stories have been making a comeback to the mainstream in a big way, with the Twilight movies leading the way for other blockbusters such as Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant and Daybreakers, as well as paving the way for HBO’s True Blood; a TV series based upon ‘The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ series of books written by Charlaine Harris; set in a world where vampires not only exist, but have recently become a matter of public knowledge, and are fighting for the same politically equal rights that people have.
Set in a small fictional Louisiana (U.S. deep-south) town known as Bon Temps, True Blood tells the story of a young woman named Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin, X-Men), who aside from working at the town’s local bar and restaurant, and being telepathic, leads a fairly boring life, even by the standards set by the small towns inhabitants.
However Sookie’s life changes dramatically when the bar gets its first vampire customer, a 170+ year old man called Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer, 88 Minutes), who Sookie is instantly intrigued by and attracted to, something that she feels twice as strong when she realises that she is unable to hear his thoughts.
The series main plotline from that point forward is the relationship between Sookie and Bill a relationship that the majority of the townsfolk are less than approving of; as despite the fact that Bill is trying to mainstream and become part of the town, and that vampires no longer need to drink human blood thanks to a Japanese created drink named TruBlood which is supposed to give them all the sustenance they need; the townspeople go so far as to label Sookie a fangbanger (derogatory term used to describe people that associate with, and have sex with, vampires), and believe that what she is doing is extremely reckless and dangerous.
As with any other series there are a number of subplots, some of which last only an episode, some of which last a few episodes, and some of which span the entire series length, and all of which involve completely different characters and themes. One of the more interesting and prolific subplots, revolves around a series of rather brutal murders that occur in the town, and all seem to point to Sookie’s brother, Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten, Home And Away), as the murderer, whilst still taking its time to fully unravel and reveal a very interesting and engaging ‘whodunit’ storyline that provides several answers before ripping them away, and will keep viewers guessing right up until its conclusion.
There’s also the fact that Sookie’s boss is romantically obsessed with her, the troubles that her best friend Tara (Rutina Wesley, How She Move) has trying to cope with her alcoholic mother, and a strange dog that keeps following Sookie around, among other things.
The stories and characters in True Blood are exceptionally well written (as is the case with just about any HBO drama), as despite the rather outlandish setting they always seem both realistic and believable; with each individual character, be it a main character or unimportant supporting character, having their own unique backstory and natural feeling flaws and moods.
All of the characters are also portrayed to a very high standard, with the actors successfully conveying a whole host of emotions that the majority of characters go through during the series; Anna Paquin has won a Golden Globe for best actress for her role as the series main protagonist, and is every bit as southern, naive, and cautious, as a girl with Sookie’s background would be. Ryan Kwanten also delivers a solid performance as the very stupid, small town Casanova, and is at his best during scenes where he is at his most scared or bewildered.
Probably the most important role (after Sookie’s) is that of Bill, the friendly neighbourhood vampire. Stephen Moyer does a great job of playing the tortured soul, and the decision to cast a relatively unknown Brit in the role was a good one, as it really gives the feeling of someone that has been around, but in hiding, for a long time. And although his emotional depth is rather limited (a vampire character trait rather than a writing or acting weakness), he is every bit as likeable as Sookie thinks he is, but somehow fails to successfully come across as dangerous as he should be.
The relationship between Sookie and Bill is one that has been tackled in literature and on screen countless times before (Buffy and Angel, Buffy and Spike, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, etc. etc. etc.) but it still a really interesting dynamic; is he or isn’t he going to bite her? Does she want him to? Will the townsfolk run him off, or possibly disown her? And how can they realistically be together when he only wakes up when it’s nearly her bedtime?
But one of the most interesting things about the series, aside from the relationships, murders, and interesting social debates (which mirror the struggles of just about every minority group in history), is simply learning the True Blood take on vampire culture; do they have reflections? Are they hurt by silver or garlic? How does their internal hierarchy and culture work? And what does drinking vampire blood do to a human?
Overall True Blood is an amazing series which has a tone that is hard to convey, it has a subject which isn’t totally original but is still thoroughly interesting and totally gripping, and has stories and characters that are instantly likeable, completely immersive, and guaranteed to draw almost any viewer in for the long haul; and is a series that comes more than highly recommended.
Picture:
True Blood’s 1080p transfer, like the series itself, is a groundbreaking marvel because few people would have thought that it’d be possible to have a picture that is so grainy, and intentionally bad looking, that it actually looks amazing; the high level of grain serves to add to the look of each and every scene (furthering the shows style), yet barely dilutes any of the pictures fine detail, which is at an impressively high level.
Textures are well defined, and the shows palette is presented in a pristine condition; the earthy outdoors colours look perfectly natural, as do the healthy looking skin tones, and vibrant and luscious primaries; particularly the frequently warm and lurid reds. Blacks are equally impressive, being both deep, dark, and well rendered, and the contrast of each scene is remarkable; whether it features warm and bright daytime outdoors shots, or cold and dark interior night ones.
The transfer is also relatively free from technical errors; with sharply defined edges that have clearly had no enhancement, and there are no signs of banding, and definitely no noise reduction; however, the series does contain a few instances where compression artifacts may be observed (mostly during some poorly lit scenes), although with the grain levels being what they are, that aren’t all that noticeable.
But despite having some very minor compression issues, this is still an absolutely stunning transfer that is sure to please anyone that watches the series; having a high level of fine detail, well rendered colours, contrast, and deeply defined blacks; making for a picture that showcases each episode exactly how it was meant to be seen.
Audio:
The 5.1 DTS HD-MA soundtrack that accompanies True Blood is even more impressive than its stunning picture quality, and every bit as atmospheric as the series itself; the dialogue is always clear, always strong, and as well as being perfectly placed (originating from whichever speaker is most appropriate, and not simply being tied down to the centre channel), is always well prioritized, making even the quietest of voices, or the most difficult of accents, a doddle to understand.
And as easy to understand as the dialogue is, if it is in the quietest of scenes, or the most action packed ones, it is always surrounded and engulfed by probably the most realistic ambient effects ever added to a disc; from noisy crickets or a summer breeze, right up to burning skin, hissing blood, or the virulent and overpowering screams present at a vampire tribunal, or the rock music playing at the local vampire bar; and are all so well placed, and accompanied by such seamless pans and transitions that they are wholly convincing.
LFE is also well used, and often shocking, extenuating every snarl or rumble, and lending a real sense of weight and immediacy to many of the action scenes; just as the excellent use of music does to the rest of the series; Nathan Barr’s award winning original score is perfectly crafted and instils every viewer with just the right emotion for the scene it accompanies, as does the use of heavy rock songs such as Blue Oyster Cult’s ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’, or Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘That Smell,’ and Jace Everett’s award winning theme song “Bad Things” (which plays over one of the best, and most intriguing, introduction sequences seen on HBO).
In short, the 5.1 mix that accompanies True Blood, is quite possibly the mostly carefully crafted, and natural sounding, soundfield that has been released on any TV Blu-ray so far, and even manages to best the series’ impressive picture quality; it is fully immersive, completely organic, and every effect is so seamless that it’s as close to being there as anyone watching from their living room can possibly be.
Extras:
Unlike the thoroughly impressive picture and audio quality, the series’ special features are anything but special, and will probably leave most fans of the series rather underwhelmed as it doesn’t feature any interviews with members of the cast or crew, no effects featurettes, shorts, and not even a basic making of supplement.
What is included is an enhanced viewing feature, that is basically a picture-in-picture track that pops up; providing snippets of vampire related trivia, animated maps of the town, falsified adverts for synthetic blood, and Lafayette (the bar’s chef, and town’s resident drug dealer/male prostitute) offering up his insights into the characters of those around him; and although it is available on every episode, it can get very boring as there isn’t enough information, and ¾ of every episode is simply dead time, as the tracks generally only take up about ten minutes of screen time.
There is also a series of audio commentaries (available for half of the series’ episodes) featuring dialogue from Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin, as well as numerous writers and directors, and one from the show’s Executive Producer/Series Creator Alan Ball; all of which are fairly interesting (despite repeating a good deal of information), and cover just about every aspect of production and how they approached the task of turning nine novels into a TV series.
The commentary track by Series Creator Alan Ball (featured on the pilot episode) is by far the best, and details the development of the project; from the coincidental way he read the first book, to having the show scuppered by the writer’s strike, and it’s progression thereafter; but it is one of the only decent extras included in the set as the PiP feature is largely worthless and, despite the relatively interesting nature and high quality of the audio commentaries they are likely to get passed over by the majority of casual viewers.
Overall this is a fairly poor showing from HBO, who could have released a near perfect set had they only included a couple of short interviews, a decent (although not necessarily lengthy) making of featurette, and possibly cut the PiP feature into a couple of bitesize shorts. As it stands, the extras are of no consequence and will lack in appeal to the majority of viewers, though it still cannot take anything away from how good the series itself is.
The Bottom Line:
True Blood is simply an excellent series, that despite retreading a lot of very well covered ground, still comes off as not only new and fresh, but totally intriguing. It’s a series that has managed to successfully blend the genres of mystery, fantasy, horror, comedy, drama, and romance, all together in only 12 short hours of gripping programming, and anyone that watches the first couple of episodes is bound to be hooked for good (in fact the series intro itself will have many viewers jaws dropped in amazement).
Presented on Blu-ray with picture and audio quality that is just about unmatched (certainly for any television release), and generally offered at a more than reasonable price (the Blu-ray usually hovers around the £25-£30 mark), it’s one to seriously consider buying; and for all but a very select few, would make an excellent blind buy.
There are some problems with the extras; namely that there aren’t any decent ones (the commentaries can be interesting and have a nice amount of information, but most people won’t sit through episodes again to listen to them); but that shouldn’t distract from the rest of the discs accomplishments; containing a truly brilliant series (which is why people will watch it), and having excellent audio and video quality (which is why people should choose the Blu-ray over the DVD); and means that True Blood: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray, would be an exceptional addition to just about anyone’s collection.
