SOOKIE

Jill Pantozzi | June 12th, 2009

Sigh. I am such a sucker.

I have fallen hard for HBO’s True Blood. It was a love affair that started less than two weeks ago. When the show first aired I didn’t have HBO but I also thought the premise was kind of weird. A synthetic blood drink has been created so vampires can “come out of the coffin” and stop feeding off of humans? And they’re attempting to get equal rights? Six Feet Under is one of my favorite shows but I thought creator of both, Alan Ball, was being a bit too on-the-nose with the allegory there. Regardless, when talk started up about the second season I figured I’d give the first a shot seeing as how nothing is on tv now anyway.

Here’s the gist for anyone who’s never watched or couldn’t make it past the first episode (which I can understand). Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is a telepath working as a waitress in the tiny town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Soon after they announced themselves to the world, a vampire named Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) finds himself in her establishment. He gets into trouble with some vampire haters but Sookie winds up saving his life. She realizes she can’t read his mind, which is a huge relief for her as she’s suffered through the worst of humanity’s thoughts during the course of her life. Obviously, this makes her fall head over heels in love with him. I don’t blame her.

And really, that’s basically it. There are a host of other fantastic characters involved in the show who each get their chance to shine at one point or another and the first season is tied up in one giant murder mystery but it really is a simple show. It has a much smaller scope than what I first imagined. It’s based almost entirely in Bon Temps with short detours to the surrounding towns now and then and the overarching plot of vampire rights and equality is handled mostly in short news clips the characters happen to catch.

It’s hard for me to give an actual description of the show. It’s listed as a drama but it’s a lot more than that. I’d throw dark comedy and B-movie horror in as well. Oh and porn. I’d have to throw porn into the mix as well. There’s a LOT of sex in True Blood. Characters are naked for a large percentage of the show. And apparently having sex with a vampire will be the best you’ve ever had, hence the term “fang bangers.” Oh and I forgot to mention, vampire blood is used by humans as a new kind of drug.

I realize I haven’t really gushed about why I like the show so much yet. I said I fell hard, and I did, but it has that Twilight quality for me (although Paquin doesn’t think so). Deep down I know it’s terrible – when I first saw the fangs I thought of bunnies and Bill has sex with Sookie straight out of the dirt at one point – but I can’t get enough of it. Every time he says her name I swoon. It’s uncontrollable. Truthfully it’s not even a show I would recommend to someone unless I already knew they had similar tastes as me but the new season starts this Sunday and I, for one, am ready for some more sucking.