True Blood, should I stick with it?

stesaurus

Ok so just watched the first two eps in Season 1 of True Blood. I'm not overly enamoured so far, pretty poor acting and seems to be relying on sex scenes a bit much.

Accents are pretty annoying too.

So should I stick with it? Does it get any better???

jor el

Hell yes you should stick with it. I don't mind the accents, and the excessive and gratuitous nudity is no bad thing either.

ipnface

when it first came on i stopped watching after three episodes but came back to it last week and went on from ep 4 and it gets really really good. season 2 is coming to an interesting climax too.

J-blk

Yep, the three first episodes in particular are pretty crap and I nearly gave up on it as well - it really takes off from the fourth in and from about the middle of the first season onwards, it has been consistently awesome.

DingDong

I watched the pilot of True Blood and hated it. It was only after I saw a few people on boards recommend it I gave it another go. I'm glad I did as it picks up. Season one was just alright it get better. Season two on the other hand has been excellent especially last night episode which is probably my favourite one yet

Harpy

I've found that with a few hbo shows i've watched the pilot or the first couple of episodes you're not sure what to make of them and then they turn out to be class shows. i'd say definatley stick with true blood its a brilliant show..

JonathanAnon

I'm looking at a new series to start watching at home. I have a friend who has loads of American series' on DVD (let's say ;-) .. lol) and I was looking them up on Tv.com to see which was the best. True Blood is the top rated show currently on the telly.

To be honest the whole idea of vampires doesnt really appeal to me, but I'm gonna give it a shot.

That's the link to True Blood on tv.com, a great site, reviews all the episodes of your favorite

http://www.tv.com/true-blood/show/74645/summary.html?q=true%20blood&tag=search_results;title;1

missingtime

Give it 5 episodes and you will be hooked. Its great entertainment for entertainments sake.

Really enjoying it at the moment.

Harpy

JonathanAnon wrote: »

I'm looking at a new series to start watching at home. I have a friend who has loads of American series' on DVD (let's say ;-) .. lol) and I was looking them up on Tv.com to see which was the best. True Blood is the top rated show currently on the telly.

To be honest the whole idea of vampires doesnt really appeal to me, but I'm gonna give it a shot.

That's the link to True Blood on tv.com, a great site, reviews all the episodes of your favorite

http://www.tv.com/true-blood/show/74645/summary.html?q=true%20blood&tag=search_results;title;1

yeah i was the same as soon as i heard vampires i was like aw no not gonna like it but watched it then and really got into.. definatley worth watching a few episodes and see what you think.

Basq

The first 3 or so episodes are utter trash... but by Christ, it really gets a kick in it's arse and has been superb since!

ixoy

Yep, the first few episodes make it seem like some sort of hick vampire show with crappy accents and gratuitous sex. And then suddenly it's a lot lot more and you're on tenterhooks after each episode - and it's continuing like that right into the second season.

tman

basquille wrote: »

The first 3 or so episodes are utter trash... but by Christ, it really gets a kick in it's arse and has been superb since!

Hmmmm... I've watched 3 episodes so far and while I found it enjoyable, I didn't really get what all the hype is about...
Will dip into a couple more tomorrow methinks

tvnutz

Agree with nearly everyone when they say the first few eps with pretty crap,but it really gets going and is just really exciting tv. And I'll tell you know,season 2 has been brilliant so far,it is probably 10 times better than season 1.

Block (8

Just a quick check at the amount of pages in the other true blood thread should confirm how much it's liked

Basq

Block (8 wrote: »

Just a quick check at the amount of pages in the other true blood thread should confirm how much it's liked

The funny thing is that the season 1 discussion thread has just reached it's 8th page... whereas the season 2 discussion thread is well into page 12, and that's with 4 episodes remaining!

J-blk

basquille wrote: »

The funny thing is that the season 1 discussion thread has just reached it's 8th page... whereas the season 2 discussion thread is well into page 12, and that's with 4 episodes remaining!

That's because by season 2, the addiction has fully taken hold! How the #@!? are we going to survive the break to season 3?

Krieg

Ha, Im the same, watched 3 episodes and said "meh", same arguments as mentioned above. But i think Ill give it another go

iguana

basquille wrote: »

The funny thing is that the season 1 discussion thread has just reached it's 8th page... whereas the season 2 discussion thread is well into page 12, and that's with 4 episodes remaining!

That's 'cause so many of us didn't start watching it until the series had finished airing and we ended up watch the whole series as a block. By the time we'd seen it we didn't have anything to add to the discussion apart from "that was great, I was so hooked I watched the whole lot in 2 days". For series 2 there are a lot more of us watching it week by week so we get to join in on the speculation and theories.

The weirdest thing about True Blood is that the tv show improves on the original story. I've read the first book now and it's the first time I've ever said the show is better than the book. That said it's a good book, but it will be the slowest series I've ever read as I'll be reading one book a year after the series it's based on airs as I don't want to spoil the show. Though there are quite a few divergences the main plotlines are quite similar.

EKRIUQ

As I am also Vampire, I seem to be only person, who got hooked from the beginning, but then I watched season one in marathon format and I'm now up to date with season two. I find season two far superior than one but and I like the way other interesting aspects of season one are now being brought into play.

Tara character seems to just keep getting rubbish pointless storylines, and Sam’s starting to piss me off now but the rest is great

It’s already been signed up for a third season

stesaurus

Thanks for all the replies. Only positive answers so far so I must be missing out.

I'll stick with it so!

steve 0

Does the "True Blood - Season 2 [** Spoilers **] " thread have future spoilers or is it episode discussions @ US pace?

Basq

steve 0 wrote: »

Does the "True Blood - Season 2 [** Spoilers **] " thread have future spoilers or is it episode discussions @ US pace?

Episode discussions are US pace.

Any spoilers for future episodes are spoilered in there.

Mr E

iguana wrote: »

... and it's the first time I've ever said the show is better than the book.

I would have said that about Dexter. The show is far superior to the book (dark passenger me arse).

With True Blood, I watched the first 4 over one weekend, and haven't gone back. This thread has given me the incentive to continue, though....

Basq

Mr E wrote: »

With True Blood, I watched the first 4 over one weekend, and haven't gone back. This thread has given me the incentive to continue, though....

You really should.. it's turned into one of the most addictive shows on the box.

I only got around to going back to 'Supernatural' recently after giving up after the 1st episode to season 2.

pickarooney

I think I'm the only viewer who actually enjoyed the pilot and the first episodes, although this could have been the 'pleasantly surprised' effect. The idea of Buffy meets Manimal sounded like the worst one I'd heard in ages but I said I'd watch it, it being HBO and Alan Ball before dismissing it completely. I was wrong, AB was right.

transylman

Given HBOs hit rate I decided to give it a shot. Watched the first 3 episodes and was nor very impressed at all. Seems like a pretty standard vapire tv series a la buffy, except with swearing and nudity.
Skipped through some of the later episodes as well but they just seemed the same. Alex Skarsgard was awesome in Generation Kill but seeing him in this I found it a bit hard to take him seriously.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

I'm just on the season 1 finale at the moment myself and it's awesome. Can't wait to dive into season 2.

Basq

transylman wrote: »

Seems like a pretty standard vapire tv series a la buffy, except with swearing and nudity.

Couldn't be any further from the truth!

But if you couldn't get into it from the later episodes, it's probably not for you. But you did just "skip through them"

tvnutz

transylman wrote: »

Given HBOs hit rate I decided to give it a shot. Watched the first 3 episodes and was nor very impressed at all. Seems like a pretty standard vapire tv series a la buffy, except with swearing and nudity.
Skipped through some of the later episodes as well but they just seemed the same. Alex Skarsgard was awesome in Generation Kill but seeing him in this I found it a bit hard to take him seriously.

absolutely nothing like buffy,except that it has vampires in it,other than that,such a different show to buffy/angel.

Kirby

tvnutz wrote: »

absolutely nothing like buffy,except that it has vampires in it,other than that,such a different show to buffy/angel.

While its a different show, I'd have to disagree with you there. The flashbacks, Bill's backstory are very, very reminiscent of Angels backstory. How he was made, how he tried to please his maker by torturing and killing for years, ultimately leaving her to find his humanity, etc. etc. Even some of the scenes feel the same. So while there are differences, I'm finding season 2 to be quite "angelish".

iguana

Kirby wrote: »

While its a different show, I'd have to disagree with you there. The flashbacks, Bill's backstory are very, very reminiscent of Angels backstory. How he was made, how he tried to please his maker by torturing and killing for years, ultimately leaving her to find his humanity, etc. etc. Even some of the scenes feel the same. So while there are differences, I'm finding season 2 to be quite "angelish".

Bill and Angel are nothing alike. Angel was a feckless waster who spent his dad's money on drinking and whoring. When he was made a vampire he lost his soul, murdered his family (parents and sister) and went off with Darla. He loved killing people and specialised in psychological torture, he was known as one of the most vicious, nastiest vampires in history. Then he did it to the wrong person and her gypsy family cursed him to have a soul, whereupon he immediately regretted everything he did and no longer wanted to kill anything. He did once attempt to fake it in China as he was frightened to live without Darla but she knew he was faking, tested him and he failed. After that he lived as a hermit until he saw Buffy and decided to become worthy of her while she lives her life's mission of killing vampires. He can't have sex with anyone he loves as he will lose his soul. And he hopes to one day become human again.

Bill was a 30 year old man with a wife and children, well respected in his community and a soldier in the civil war. Lorena made him a vampire because he was a good man. Bill hated to leave his family and live without them because he loved them. Then he traveled with Lorena killing though he didn't really like it, faking it for her, so he had something to live for and because the younger the vampire - the greater the bloodlust. But eventually his distaste won out and he got her to allow him to leave as in this mythology vampires have control of those they sire. Then he went on with his life, still feeding from humans - but rarely draining them as he could glamour away their knowledge of him - and killing people who crossed him. He only became involved with Sookie as her telepathy fascinated him and he doesn't love her in a way that makes him want to change his life.

So beyond the fact that Bill and Angel were men who got made into vampires by women who they then killed with while having a sexual relationship they have nothing in common. They were different as men and are different as vampires.

tvnutz

Kirby wrote: »

While its a different show, I'd have to disagree with you there. The flashbacks, Bill's backstory are very, very reminiscent of Angels backstory. How he was made, how he tried to please his maker by torturing and killing for years, ultimately leaving her to find his humanity, etc. etc. Even some of the scenes feel the same. So while there are differences, I'm finding season 2 to be quite "angelish".

Iguana has it spot on,Angel and Bill are nothing alike. As you said Bill killed people to please his maker,trying to fall in love with her even though he didn't. Angel wasn't trying to please anyone,in Buffy the vampires have no souls and are just evil,he didn't leave her to find his humanity,he was given a soul against his will and despite trying to stick with his old life his guilt made him leave her,it wasn't really his choice,he was guilted into it by the new soul he never asked for. Clearly in True Blood the vampires are different,iguana's post explains Bill quite well.

Kirby

Both are different from the other vampires around them.
Both love a Human with special abilities.
Both were made by women who became obsessed with them and showed up later to try and stop said love with human.
Both live a mainly solitary existance, not in nests, in an old house.
Both feel guilt about what they have done in the past.
Both feel it is wrong to hurt humans.
Both are "good" vampires.
Both have a fellow vampire around them that wants said human for himself.

I'm not saying they are the same person, there are many differences, but to say they are "nothing alike" is a bit silly.

tvnutz

Kirby wrote: »

Both are different from the other vampires around them.
Both love a Human with special abilities.
Both were made by women who became obsessed with them and showed up later to try and stop said love with human.
Both live a mainly solitary existance, not in nests, in an old house.
Both feel guilt about what they have done in the past.
Both feel it is wrong to hurt humans.
Both are "good" vampires.
Both have a fellow vampire around them that wants said human for himself.

I'm not saying they are the same person, there are many differences, but to say they are "nothing alike" is a bit silly.

These are generalised things and some don't really apply to who the characters are.You could pick many general things about dozens of characters on different shows and make superficial links.

Your first point most likely does not apply to Bill,we havn't seen all the vamps around him,in fact there are many that probaly mainstream and are like him. That vamp that Lafyette was getting the blood from comes to mind.Angel and Spike were the only 2 with souls and were different from all the vamps around them,not the case with the vampires in True Blood.

About the guilt,Angel only feels guilt because he was forced to feel guilt by been given a soul,that is not the case with Bill. This is a major point in both characters.

Both feel it is wrong to hurt humans.
Both are "good" vampires.

Again these 2 are forced on Angel whereas they are not with Bill.That is one big difference I like about True Blood compared to Buffy/Angel. The vampires seem to have a choice about how they act and who they want to be. In Buffy/Angel unless you are given a soul,a vampire is just a soulless monster who kills people with thinking.

I see where you are coming from but as characters I think they are hugely different.

Mink

I managed to watch the first few episodes of Series 1 on-line & I'm hooked. Reading the books also.

How are all ye watching it? What channel is it on & when?

The region 2 (UK & Europe) DVD isn't released til Oct 26th & I really don't want to wait til then!!

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Just watched season 1 and season 2 (well the ones that have aired) over 3 days and am already suffering from withdrawl symptoms - it's definitely a show worth watching.
Bring on Monday...

J-blk

Mink wrote: »

The region 2 (UK & Europe) DVD isn't released til Oct 26th & I really don't want to wait til then!!

TBH, most DVD players these days can easily be modified to be region free and if you haven't done so, you might want to consider it. Especially when it comes to TV boxsets of US shows, we get screwed over with the region 2 DVDs typically - not only do they come out later and cost more but most of the time, they even lack a lot of extras that were bundled into the region 1 variation.

As for True Blood season 2, it's currently airing in the US every Sunday night on HBO - it has not made it over to any UK/Irish stations yet...

iguana

tvnutz wrote: »

Both feel it is wrong to hurt humans.
Both are "good" vampires.

Again these 2 are forced on Angel whereas they are not with Bill.

Bill doesn't even think it's that wrong to kill humans, he killed the Rattrays after the attacked Sookie and made it look like a freak tornado killed them. He also toyed cruelly with the policeman he glamoured until Sookie made him stop. He killed and turned Jessica when the magistrate vampires ordered him to. In the 2nd season he was open to killing Jessica's parents if he'd needed to. He doesn't particularly enjoy killing, but he doesn't mind it either. On the other hand he is much less likely to kill a vampire, though he did kill Longshadow to save Sookie, while Angel would kill almost any vampire that crossed his path.

kirby wrote:

Both were made by women who became obsessed with them and showed up later to try and stop said love with human.

Darla wasn't particularly obsessed with Angel, she turned him away when he was ensouled as he repelled her. She was in Sunnydale before Angel was as she was there for the Master, her sire, who was trapped in the hellmouth. Her and Angel being in the same place was coincidence, not her choice. She missed him because he was handsome, a great shag and had been psychotically evil, all the things a lady vampire looks for in a man, and she wanted to be able to have him back like that, but she was obsessed with him.

Conor108

And you can buy TruBlood! Thats really cool:D

tvnutz

Conor108 wrote: »

And you can buy TruBlood! Thats really cool:D

Won't ship here sadly...

Conor108

Where theres a will theres a way Not that I'd bother, Fanta ftw

tvnutz

Conor108 wrote: »

Where theres a will theres a way Not that I'd bother, Fanta ftw

I'd buy it just for the bottle,don't care about the drink.

TommyUnderwear

Definitely the best tv show on at the moment. Series 2 kicks the backside right off series 1 and that ended really well. Am waiting with baited breath now for tonight's episode in the states!!

MickBeth

Any Six Feet under fans......I was never bowled over True Blood but Am a HUGE Six Feet fan!!!!


It's so prtentcious you have to love it sipmply because it's so "boo-hoo ritch kid......Daddy not by you a new beemer?

And the charechter's are VERY grateing at times especialy "Nate" and "Brenda"
whose so up her own arse she could floss her teeth from within.......

SO any fan's?

tvnutz

MickBeth wrote: »

Any Six Feet under fans......I was never bowled over True Blood but Am a HUGE Six Feet fan!!!!


It's so prtentcious you have to love it sipmply because it's so "boo-hoo ritch kid......Daddy not by you a new beemer?

And the charechter's are VERY grateing at times especialy "Nate" and "Brenda"
whose so up her own arse she could floss her teeth from within.......

SO any fan's?

The parts of that I can make sense of...not many.

But basically this is a True Blood thread as per title,start a new one if you want to discuss Six Feet Under.

MickBeth

so hoe do I do that ( I'm cyber dyslexic)

Conor108

I've almost finished season 1 and tbh it hasn't grabbed me. I think maybe with all this "critically acclaimed" talk etc. it was hyped up for me but I'll see it thorugh to the end of season and decide what I think of it:)

But goddamit thats the best intro ever

internetaddict

Stick with it.. It's so good. It kicks "Twilight" ass.
Can't wait till Monday.. for those not liking season 1 so far.. it gets better especially the last two eps.