An engaging, multi-award winning, critical hit, True Blood has captivated audiences with its blend of sex, horror, violence, and sex, ever since its pilot episode first aired; and began to gain the highest ratings for HBO since the network first aired The Sopranos; and is about to see its spectacular third season released on Blu-ray and DVD.
Upping the ante from the previous seasons, season three really goes to show that no-one in Bon Temps (the quiet little swamp town where the events of True Blood takes place) is innocent, secret-free, or not at least part-supernatural. The show picks up right where the second season finished, after the telepathic Sookie (Anna Paquin, X-Men) realizes her vampire boyfriend; Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer, 88 Minutes); has been kidnapped, and desperately tries to find out what has happened to him, and bring him back alive (or at least as undead as he was when he taken).
Sookie’s quest takes her across state lines to Mississippi; where she meets a rebellious vampire King named Russell Edgington (Denis O Hare, Milk), becomes entangled with a pack of vicious werewolves (with one shirtless wolf eventually growing to become her next muscular fantasy man), and begins to realize that she may not be able to trust the enigmatic vampire Sheriff Eric (Alexander Skarsgard, Generation Kill), or her lover Bill, as revelations about both, and their actions cause her to lose faith in their loyalty.
Back in Bon Temps Tara (Rutina Wesley, California Winter) struggles to come to terms with the death of a dear friend, and has a hard time dealing with supernatural forces, Sam (Sam Trammell, Aliens vs Predator Requiem) discovers the truth about who he really is and tracks down his birth parents, Jason (Ryan Kwanten, Dead Silence) decides to become a cop and, true to his character, falls head over heels for a new girl, as Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis, The Soloist) tries to hold the lives of his loved ones together and find love himself, while Hoyt (Jim Parrack, Battle: Los Angeles) and Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll, Mother’s Day) try to decide if a relationship between a vampire and a mortal can really work out.
Depending on how you look at it, season three is either the best or the worst season of a great series, as while there’s still plenty of sex in just about every episode (though not quite as much as the orgies that concluded the second series), the focus on vampires and their inner culture has continued to slip out of focus somewhat; in favor of introducing new and ‘exciting’ supernatural beings which actually clutter the world of the show, and soon become too numerous to cover in any proper depth.
Having said that, there’s still something cool about a vampires vs werewolves feud (seeing the aftermath of Bill taking on an entire pack single-handedly makes you long to have seen the actual fight), and exploring the wolves subculture is both amusing and interesting (despite being a touch predictable), and the sub-plot involving Sam’s family is one of the best in the show; being intriguing, full of tension, and exceptionally well done; however things start to fall apart when extra beings are introduced, and we begin to uncover the real ‘mystery’ of the show; Sookie’s true identity.
While being one of the biggest plots in the latter half of the season, and one of the main selling points of season 3, it’s hard to think of a storyline as naff, or as cheesily executed, as the ‘revealing’ scenes which explain where Sookie comes from; they, and that storyline in itself, are, in a word, shit. And Sookie said it best when she found out and promptly exclaimed, “how fucking lame.”
It’s inevitable that a series such as True Blood will begin to expand its world outside the confines of the small town in which it was set, and introduce ‘bigger’ and ‘badder’ monsters for people to contend with, but where its success lies (aside from the threeway relationship between Bill, Sookie, and Eric, the sexual chemistry between them, and the relationships of many other characters) is in not only its superb characterization (so many so the characters we know so well are expanded upon, given further background, and a chance to truly shine throughout the season), but the way in which the show depicts its vampires; dangerous and alluring.
The allure of the vampires in True Blood is being plugged heavily in the marketing (note the giant VILF posters adorning your city), and it’s not hard to see how effective they are; as the vampires in the show are not only immortal, but extremely powerful, emotional, and headstrong, all look they have walked straight off a catwalk, and obviously have large sexual appetites; the complete opposite of their counterparts in the Twilight Saga. In fact HBO’s True Blood does everything better than Twilight; vampires, werewolves, fights, relationships, everything; True Blood is Twilight for adults, cranked up to 11. Forget Twilight, True Blood is the only place to see a real vampire.
And thankfully the show’s writers seem to have realized that exploring the vampire culture and its impact on society (after their existence became common knowledge) was one of the best things about the show, and once again make the Vampire Rights Amendment a major issue, and the subject of some vital political decisions in the vampire community; all leading back to the ambitions of Russell Edgington (who’s played brilliantly by Denis O Hare, and is a character that could not only provide hours of entertainment, but steals almost every scene he’s in), and how his actions affect the lives of Sookie, Bill, and Eric.
Any fan of the series knows how well every recurring cast member fits their respective role (each seems just as vulnerable, cold, angry, surly, dimwitted, or crazy, as they need to be, and appear every bit as believable as they possibly can in such an outlandish setting), but season 3 introduces a number of new characters, including Sookie’s werewolf guardian Alcide (Joe Manganiello, Spider-Man); who’s as gruff and muscly as needed, but rather dull overall; and the fantastic, utterly brilliant, vampire, Franklin Mott; who’s played to perfection by James Frain (Tron: Legacy), is hilarious funny (just watch how fast he can text motherfucker), deeply troubled, clearly bipoplar, and easily the single best thing about season 3, and a compelling argument for watching just in himself.
Season 3 on the whole is a very compelling watch, and it’s great to not only see much more of Eric this season (even if he is turning into a bit of a whoopsie, and gradually losing the hard-man image that made him so appealing), but the strains of Bill and Sookie’s relationship, how the Vampire Rights Amendment is being received, and the often highly entertaining backstory of a number of supporting characters. The only real downside to the season (aside from the obviously terrible Sookie’s origin plot) is the fact that the new characters, and new monsters, are making the world of Bon Temps become just a little too cluttered, however as some of the are so flawlessly brilliant (ala Franklin Mott), and the introduction of new people is generally handled fairly gradually, it’s still a great season, from a bloody great show.
Picture:
True Blood’s third season comes to Blu-ray with an impressive 1080p transfer that’s every bit as strong as that included on the season one and two boxsets; containing superbly inky black levels with startling delineation (a must in a series such as this; where so much of the action takes place at night), accurate fleshtones (easily conveying the natural warmth of the living, and the cold emptiness of the undead), superb colour and contrast (blood reds looks especially striking), excellent clarity, and an impeccable level of fine detail.
Textures also look stunning, and although the transfer isn’t entirely free of errors (there’s a negligible amount of easy-to-miss artifacting in certain scenes, and the odd soft shot here and there), more affecting issues such as aliasing and blocking are nowhere to be seen; making for an impressively strong visual presentation, that showcases each episode as it was meant to be seen (with the trademark level of grain adding that extra level of texture, and completing the look of Bon Temps excellently).
Audio:
As with the image quality, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio track awarded to the True Blood Season Three Blu-ray release is just as of just a high a quality as that awarded to previous seasons, and is practically faultless; containing perfect prioritization, crisply clear dialogue that never becomes lost in the chaos of the the series, powerful and weighty bass, precise directionality, effective effects, effortlessly smooth pans, and rear channels that are practically never silent, and used to great effect with bolstering effects, or subtle ambience; creating an audio extravaganza that might not be as in-your-face as The Pacfic, but is just as effective in terms of sheer quality.
Extras:
True Blood Season Three also comes to Blu-ray with a wealth of fan-pleasing special features that are sure to be a hit; including six interesting and informative audio commentaries (which provide a great deal of background information regarding the show’s production), enhanced viewing available on every episode (which contains flashforwards and flashbacks; to key points in the episode; character perspectives, bios, trivia, and more, but will only really be of interest to massive fans of the series), and the option to view the character perspectives (interview with Jessica, Alcide, and Andy, and Tommy) on their own.
Also included are a number of post mortems (which originally aired directly after the episodes on HBO, and consist of amusing fake footage relating to the show; such as a vampire interrogation, an interview with a vampire rights activist, a guide to surviving a werewolf attack, and a thank you message from the show’s creator Alan Ball), a featurette exploring filming the aftermath of a werewolf attack, episode recaps, a feature called True Blood Lines (a text based feature that shows how each of the characters are connected, and provides some background information about them), an amusing ‘60s Batman style “Who Can Sookie Trust? Will Jason and Crystal End Up Together? Insert Disc 4 to Find Out” pop-up that appears at the end of each disc if you selected the “play all option” (and is in no way a special feature, but is such a great inclusion it had to be mentioned), and possibly the best feature on the disc; the music video to Snoop Dogg’s ‘Oh Sookie’ (which riffs off a number of themes in the show, and is hilariously funny).
The Bottom Line:
Expanding the number of supernatural beings to inhabit the small town of Bon Temps may have made the third season of HBO’s vampire soap opera True Blood seem a little cluttered, but season three continues to be not only the best vampire show on TV; with its alluring blend of sex and violence; but the best example of vampires on screen (big or small) for years, and continues to impress with its strong characterization, powerful drama, and a whole lot of blood.
HBO are beginning to build a solid reputation for not only producing amazingly gripping and well crafted TV shows, but for releasing near faultless quality home releases; of which True Blood is a fine example, thanks to its brilliant picture quality, flawless audio, and numerous, fan-pleasing, special features, which all ensure any True Blood fan will be thoroughly impressed with the season three Blu-ray.
Werewolves may seem like a predictable move, but True Blood handles them in its unique, unabashed, unforgiving, manner; making it not only interesting, enticing, and undeniably cool, but better than just about any other vampires vs werewolves show or movie out there. Forget Underworld. Fuck Twilight. True Blood’s where its at, and with a Blu-ray release this good, how could you not be a ‘fangbanger?’
