(This review is for Season 1. I haven't yet seen Season 2. But I suspect that little has changed.)
I'm giving "True Blood" 6/10 stars because it works as an absurdest comedy. But it certainly does not work as the advertised drama or romance that it's often sold as. The humor is sometimes intentional, sometimes not, but it is worth checking out as a lark.
The setting and premise of the series provide most of the humor. "True Blood" takes place in an alternate universe where vampires have revealed themselves to the human world and demanded civil rights (the obvious allegory to the gay rights movement is quite intentional). But at the same time, with the notable exception of the main vampire character, vampires are presented as almost completely vile and despicable beings. The series clumsily attempts to blend the traditional bad-boy/sexy/dangerous vampires of horror films with the oppressed/underdog homosexual image of the gay rights movement--and the result is absurd, if often unintentionally funny. To appreciate the absurdity of the series, imagine a gay rights documentary which argues for gay rights but which also portrays 99% of homosexuals as bloodthirsty psychopaths with absolutely no regard for heterosexual life. That's basically "True Blood." In one scene, vampires will be seen in TV interviews asking humans for civil rights. In the next scene, we'll see a gang of them killing a human for looking at them funny. The series writers seem oblivious to this obvious contradiction and seem to want to have it both ways--making for a very surreal and humorously unrealistic world.
Equally unrealistic are the human inhabitants of the town of Bon Temps (a small Louisiana town where most of the series takes place). Despite a per-capita murder rate that has to be about 200x that of Detroit; and a town comprised almost exclusively of supernatural beings and psychopaths; the residents of Bon Temps seem to forget from episode to episode that their town is more like a house of horrors than any small town in America. Content with their two-man police force and expressing no desire to leave--residents debate the intricacies of vampire civil rights even as the arrival of their first town vampire is accompanied by no less than a dozen murdered citizens in the span of about 2 weeks. The citizens of Bon Temps act more like robots than real human beings--as if the whole town is populated by characters banged out on the computer keyboard of a stoned writer at about 2 a.m. the night before they're to shoot the scenes--with no real thought given to how real human beings interact.
The two protagonists of the series (and supposedly love interests in the "romance" aspect of the show--which is equally absurdly presented) are town telepath, Sookie Stackhouse, and newly arrived town vampire, Bill Compton. Both are presented as the most naive, stupid, and oblivious creatures on the planet earth. Even as Sookie's friends and family are dropping like flies, she gushes over Bill bringing her roses. And, as for Bill, it takes a uniquely epic dullard to have lived 150 years and not realize that attempting to "mainstream" himself among humans will only cause problems for those humans (as all his psychopath vampire friends start showing up to town right behind him, to threaten and kill humans on whatever the whim strikes them). Bill is the kind of window dressing love interest character that has the depth of a kiddie pool. He professes his undying love for the Sookie even as his very presence puts her and everyone she knows and loves in constant mortal danger. He acts like someone who hasn't even lived 15 years, much less 150.
But, again, I'm still giving this 3 stars--mainly because it is fun. If you watch it more like a Paul Verhoeven comedy (a la "Robocop" or "starship Troopers"), it actually works--complete with interstitial comedy bits posing as new stories (the aforementioned reports of vampires demanding civil rights and debating on news shows with humans who are ostensibly presented as bigots, but whom come off more in the context of the series as not alarmist *enough* about the murderous vampire horde in their midst). Some of the writers seem to appreciate this as comedy more than others, so it's hit or miss. But even the misses are funny. You can't help but laugh at a scene where a character reacts to losing half his family in one night with a shrug of the shoulder and a "Oh well, I still have to go to work" the next morning.
I'm giving "True Blood" 6/10 stars because it works as an absurdest comedy. But it certainly does not work as the advertised drama or romance that it's often sold as. The humor is sometimes intentional, sometimes not, but it is worth checking out as a lark.
The setting and premise of the series provide most of the humor. "True Blood" takes place in an alternate universe where vampires have revealed themselves to the human world and demanded civil rights (the obvious allegory to the gay rights movement is quite intentional). But at the same time, with the notable exception of the main vampire character, vampires are presented as almost completely vile and despicable beings. The series clumsily attempts to blend the traditional bad-boy/sexy/dangerous vampires of horror films with the oppressed/underdog homosexual image of the gay rights movement--and the result is absurd, if often unintentionally funny. To appreciate the absurdity of the series, imagine a gay rights documentary which argues for gay rights but which also portrays 99% of homosexuals as bloodthirsty psychopaths with absolutely no regard for heterosexual life. That's basically "True Blood." In one scene, vampires will be seen in TV interviews asking humans for civil rights. In the next scene, we'll see a gang of them killing a human for looking at them funny. The series writers seem oblivious to this obvious contradiction and seem to want to have it both ways--making for a very surreal and humorously unrealistic world.
Equally unrealistic are the human inhabitants of the town of Bon Temps (a small Louisiana town where most of the series takes place). Despite a per-capita murder rate that has to be about 200x that of Detroit; and a town comprised almost exclusively of supernatural beings and psychopaths; the residents of Bon Temps seem to forget from episode to episode that their town is more like a house of horrors than any small town in America. Content with their two-man police force and expressing no desire to leave--residents debate the intricacies of vampire civil rights even as the arrival of their first town vampire is accompanied by no less than a dozen murdered citizens in the span of about 2 weeks. The citizens of Bon Temps act more like robots than real human beings--as if the whole town is populated by characters banged out on the computer keyboard of a stoned writer at about 2 a.m. the night before they're to shoot the scenes--with no real thought given to how real human beings interact.
The two protagonists of the series (and supposedly love interests in the "romance" aspect of the show--which is equally absurdly presented) are town telepath, Sookie Stackhouse, and newly arrived town vampire, Bill Compton. Both are presented as the most naive, stupid, and oblivious creatures on the planet earth. Even as Sookie's friends and family are dropping like flies, she gushes over Bill bringing her roses. And, as for Bill, it takes a uniquely epic dullard to have lived 150 years and not realize that attempting to "mainstream" himself among humans will only cause problems for those humans (as all his psychopath vampire friends start showing up to town right behind him, to threaten and kill humans on whatever the whim strikes them). Bill is the kind of window dressing love interest character that has the depth of a kiddie pool. He professes his undying love for the Sookie even as his very presence puts her and everyone she knows and loves in constant mortal danger. He acts like someone who hasn't even lived 15 years, much less 150.
But, again, I'm still giving this 3 stars--mainly because it is fun. If you watch it more like a Paul Verhoeven comedy (a la "Robocop" or "starship Troopers"), it actually works--complete with interstitial comedy bits posing as new stories (the aforementioned reports of vampires demanding civil rights and debating on news shows with humans who are ostensibly presented as bigots, but whom come off more in the context of the series as not alarmist *enough* about the murderous vampire horde in their midst). Some of the writers seem to appreciate this as comedy more than others, so it's hit or miss. But even the misses are funny. You can't help but laugh at a scene where a character reacts to losing half his family in one night with a shrug of the shoulder and a "Oh well, I still have to go to work" the next morning.