Monthly Archive for September, 2009

The season finale of “True Blood” airs tonight and I thought I owed you an explanation as to why this is my favourite show since perhaps “The Little Vampire” back when I was a kid. Stephen Moyer, who stars as Bill Compton, has described it as “funny and sexy and dark and twisted and intellectual with amazing metaphors – just like Alan Ball really.” I whole-heartedly concur, and here’s a list of the things that make it so brilliant to me.

1. Attention to Detail

Whether it is God or the devil that is in the detail has not been sufficiently answered yet, but the attention to detail is what makes “True Blood” a truly excellent show. There is a scene in the opening sequence in which an unlikely vamp slams a six-pack of Tru:Blood onto the counter, and there I was, thinking to myself, “Wow, these bottles look REALLY COOL.” Turns out the drink is basically the trigger of the story: The Japanese have invented synthetic blood, which satiates all the nutritional needs that vampires have. They no longer have to feed off humans, and can live a fairly average life – well, as average as any minority in a Southern small town can. The significance of these bottles is underlined by an eye-popping design. A job well done, I say!

Please note the intricate detail on the bottleneck

There are dozens if not hundreds of small touches like this one – blink and you might miss them. One I totally would have missed was the Bird Lady statue, which was based on an exhibit in the Brooklyn Museum and hand-crafted for the show.

2. Opening Credits

These are quite frankly the best opening credits I have ever seen. I still don’t understand how they could possibly NOT have won the Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Design this year.

The Wikipedia entry on the opening title sequence by Digital Kitchen is well worth a read, but what impressed me the most was this paragraph on the Polaroid transfer technique:

The sequence’s transitions were constructed differently, though; they were made with a Polaroid transfer technique. The last frame of one shot and the first frame of another were taken as a single Polaroid photo, which was then divided between emulsion and backing. The emulsion was then filmed being further separated by chemicals and those shots of this separation were placed back into the final edit.

4. Bill Compton, a.k.a. Vampire Bill

Thinking about SOOKEH?

I think just like Sookie Stackhouse, the protagonist of “True Blood”, I fell for Bill Compton the moment he entered Merlotte’s Bar and Grill. He’s got the whole dark and broody “Southern Gentleman/Tortured Soul/Good Guy in a Bad, Bad World”-thing going for him, and he’s got mad chemistry with Sookie. Therefore, I am firmly Team Bill when it comes to who she should be with.

Sadly, his hair has never looked as good as it did in the pilot episode, and the Season 2 hair is just plain terrible. The weakest link of this show has got to be the hairstyle department.

5. The Supporting Cast

The supporting cast often makes me wish that the show’s producers wouldn’t focus on the main characters so much. Especially Adina Porter as Lettie Mae Thornton, Tara’s abusive alcoholic mother, is so incredibly good that I often find myself forgetting to breathe during her scenes. And the lack of attention she receives for her performance on this show really irks me. So here’s massive props to Adina Porter for always maintaining the humanity in a character who, had she been portrayed by a lesser actress, would have been easy to dismiss as completely unlikable.

Adina Porter

Another favourite of mine is Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette Reynolds, the fabulous chef of Merlotte’s. There is a scene in Season 1 where one of the town’s rednecks is making terrible comments about Lafayette’s homosexuality and refuses to eat the food he prepared. Lafayette leaves the kitchen in order to ruffle the heckler’s feathers. Before he does so, however, he takes off his clip-on earrings. It’s such a tiny gesture that I somehow doubt it was in the script. I like to think that Nelsan Ellis came up with it. If you know otherwise, please don’t tell me! He’s another actor who surpasses all the expectations for this role. I like to think that Alan Ball also realized this fairly quickly, because Lafayette’s storyline in the Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of novels by Charlaine Harris that the show is based on, takes a decidedly different turn than it does on the show.

3. Humour

My future husband owns this place

When Bill tells Sookie that the famous vampire bar in Shreveport is called “Fangtasia”, she is incredulous. Bill explains, “You have to remember that most vampires are very old. Puns USED to be the highest form of humour.” I’m a huge fan of puns, and this show is chock-full of ‘em. The opening credits show a church sign boldly proclaiming “GOD HATES FANGS”. When vampires decided to step into the public eye, they “came out of the coffin”, humans who live a decidedly boring existence and don’t meddle with vampires are “breathers”, and humans who do enjoy having sex with vampires are “Fang Bangers”. A fictional campaign for the synthetic blood drink reads “Friends don’t let friends drink friends.” The characters even make puns among themselves. Jessica, a newly-transformed teenage vampire, tells Bill, her “maker” (which is as close to a paternal or maternal unit as vampires get) “You suck!” She then snickers and says “That’s funny, ’cause you DO suck!”

I also find pretty much everything Pam says hilarious because few have mastered the art of comedic timing the way Kristin Bauer has, and even Chow, who in terms of casting and character development is a huge disappointment when taking the Southern Vampire Mysteries into consideration, has made me laugh a couple of times (“What’s your game?”). I would even be so bold and consider the Pam-Eric-Chow triangle the core of comedy on this show.

The infamous tracksuit killers

Yes, really!

6. Hoyt and Jessica

I fell asleep during one of the episodes of Season 1 once and dreamt that Hoyt Fortenberry was the killer. I woke up feeling devastated, because I had genuinely liked Hoyt despite being a serious momma’s boy. Imagine my relief when it turned out he wasn’t the killer, and the whole thing was just a figment of my imagination. Similarly, I have always like teen vampire Jessica despite being “annoying”, as Eric so nicely put it. She is hilarious, especially when interacting with other vampires. So when bloodthirsty Jessica walked into Merlotte’s, and suddenly found herself making shy eye contact with Hoyt, I think I actually shrieked because I hadn’t seen this one coming. They are the cutest couple on the show, and Alan Ball better fix the mess of the last episode before this season is over!

Jessica: “Is it my fault my fangs come out when I’m turned on?”

7. Special Effects

“True Blood” appears to have a fairly large budget, and it is put to good use. The special effects are great but they never overwrite a scene, they merely underline it. And this is they way that special effects should always be employed. Are you listening, Hollywood?

From what I have gathered, most of the special effects are courtesy of MastersFX Inc. I wish I could show you Lettie Mae’s exorcism, during which a freakishly authentic-looking opossum (can be found in the MasterFX gallery under “Animals”) is drowned. I was gasping throughout the scene because it looked so very real and laughed an amazed laugh afterwards. But alas, not everything can be found on YouTube. Here’s a YouTube video highlighting the skills of MastersFX instead. Warning: Don’t watch if you’ve just had your lunch.

8. Eddie the Gay, Old and Uncool Vampire

Need I say more? I was heartbroken when he was killed, and I hope Amy burns in hell for what she’s done!

9. Godric

Godric has sadly CHOSEN to burn, as the fake obituaries by HBO will tell you. He is one of the characters who make me glad that the makers of the show have strayed from the novels. In the Southern Vampire Series, Godric shares the same physical attributes with the TV version – a boy with short hair, a pasty complexion, and ancient tattoos. He has also offered himself to The Fellowship of the Sun. This is where the similarities end. In the books, he has changed his name to Godfrey, he wasn’t Eric’s maker and therefore the deep emotional bond between these two never existed, and, most importantly, he offered himself to the Fellowship because he wanted to renounce his past, in which he killed, abused, and fed on children. Lovely, right?! The Godric on the show was different. He was as close to a God-like creature as they ever get. Calm, wise, full of love, and reverent. I was and continue to be incredibly fond of this Godric – and he warmed me to Eric, too.

10. ERIC

Eric Northman, who coined the term “Teacup Humans”

Yes, always save the best for last. Eric has been a bit of an acquired taste for me. Of course I’ve always found him very cool – how could you not. But the Season 1 Eric with the long hair and the clichéd rock star demeanour wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. It wasn’t till Season 2 where he walks down the stairs to the “dungeon” with a barber’s cloak and tin foil in his hair (and the resulting new haircut – MUCH better!) that I really started noticing him. I mean, just look at him. Or Alexander Skarsgård, the actor who portrays him. Gorgeous. Um, where was I…

Just like Jessica, I think Eric also works best when played against other vampires, such as the scene where Bill is clothes-shopping for Jessica at the mall, Eric appears, and the shop assistant mistakes them for gay lovers. THAT was brilliant. He and Pam are the best on-screen duo since Batman & Robin, and I get the chills when they talk Swedish. So sexy! Strangely enough, I sense no chemistry between him and Sookie whatsoever. But I won’t go militant (as others do – the Team Bill vs. Team Eric battles on the Internet are quite literally epic) – I’m ok with any excuse that gets him to shed some clothes, haha. I’m sorry, I won’t get any coherent text done as far as Eric is concerned. You just have to see for yourself I’m afraid.