True Blood is back and I could not be happier! The season premiere kicked off tonight and so much was revealed and set up for the rest of the season. As happy as I am to see the show return I couldn't help but feel that this episode didn't pack as much bang as I expected. Since this is only the first episode I'm not saying it's a sign of things to come...just lacking.
Everyone is reeling in Bon Temps when another body is discovered in the Merlotte's parking lot...but it's not who everyone thinks. Tara tries hard to distance herself from the corpse, considering who it is, and seeks further comfort in Maryann and Eggs. Sookie finds out about Bill and Jessica along with the death of her Uncle Bartlett. Jason slowly wraps himself in the happy world of the Fellowship of the Sun but struggles to come up with $1200 to attend a leadership conference. Sam has memories of his early encounters with Maryann.
Based on that description it's easy to see how much happened in only an hour. The most compelling bits involved only telling small bits of the story. Maryann continues to cling to different characters, not only Tara, and her past with Sam is explored in more detail. Her few scenes just by herself are disturbing since it's obvious the woman has a shady past. This should be interesting for fans of the book series since they know what her deal is already. Bill and Jessica continue to provide the comic relief with Jessica trying to find a way to drink the True Blood. Bill's new found “paternal” instincts were hilarious and who would have thought he was a recycler? The ending, much like all True Blood endings, makes you wish it was next Sunday. With only a few glimpses of Eric at the end (with a very funny choice of hair accessory) it really brings back some throwaway lines of dialogue from season one.
As much as I enjoyed the different stories this episode felt too cluttered. So many characters had something to do that the main heroine of the series, Sookie, gets pushed to the corner. Anna Paquin really didn't seem to have anything to do aside from fighting with Bill. There were a few instances last season of this but now that almost all the characters are going in different directions hopefully it won't become a recurring thing. The Uncle Bartlett storyline finally was resolved but it seemed so pointless coming in at season two and the fact it was so casually brushed aside with the big sex scene of the evening gave it no relevance to the overall plot. Jason's storyline also bothered me since it seems the most cliche of the bunch. Maybe because this is the story that has the least mention in the novels, so the writers have to come up with everything.
I still loved this episode but it didn't seem to give a clear indication of the season to come. Based on the scenes for next week we'll finally get the big plot line and some wonderful vampire interactions. As a season premiere I'm not judging too harshly but after the brilliant season opener of season 1 I just expected something more. This episode gets a 3.5/5.
True Blood - Nothing But the Blood (Season Premiere)
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