Boxed set a bloody blessing for Sookie Stackhouse fans
What is it? True Blood, The Complete Series, 80 episodes on 33 discs from HBO When? Now How much? $249.99 Is this one of those about vampires? Yes. And werewolves. And witches. And other assorted supernatural beings.
Based on the series of books by Charlaine Harris, the series explores a world in which vampires “live” among humans and have only recently come out of the coffin, so to speak.
With Tru Blood (a Japanese synthetic blood product), vampires now feel safe to step out into the open. They don’t need to feast on people anymore so why not join society at large? They don’t pose a threat (so they say).
The outing of the vampires leads to all sorts of legal, social and ethical conundrums as humans and vampires alike debate themselves and each other about just how vampires will and should fit into society. Also, vampire blood turns out to be a pretty popular drug.
In the midst of all this is Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress at Merlotte’s, a bar and restaurant in the tiny town of Bon Temps, La. She’s definitely in the pro-vampire camp, intrigued and fascinated by the creatures. That’s particularly true when she meets Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a brooding, romantic vampire who lived in the area in his human days — way back in the 1800s.
Powerful vampire Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard), a former viking, owns the vampire bar Fangtasia and becomes the “bad boy” rival to Bill for Sookie’s heart. She spends the series basically bouncing back and forth between the two.
Over the course of the series, Sookie and her friends and family, including best pal Tara (Rutina Wesley) and dim-witted brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten), get sucked into various acts of supernatural mayhem. Vampires are still dangerous creatures and they may have a few things up their sleeves. And they’re not the only supernatural beings out there.
In addition to being another vampire show, the series uses this whole setup to explore questions of human rights, intolerance, drugs, religion and the power of the media.
How is it? Gross. Explicit. Wild and about as crazy as you can imagine. Those with a low tolerance for fantasy should know better than to even start here.
It can be entertaining in an over-the-top, cheesy, Grand Guignol way and has inspired a very devoted following.
The sex, violence and gore factors are all extremely high here, so consider yourself warned.
Are there extras? Extras from previous DVD releases are carried over here so those who already own individual series sets don’t need to double-dip. For others, the set includes episode commentaries, some pretty amusing mock ads and documentaries, mini-episodes and “inside the episode” features. The final season set has five commentaries and a half-hour retrospective with the main cast, creator and producers.
New this week: Barney Miller, Season 6; CatDog, Complete Series; Doctor Who, Season 8; Hart to Hart, Season 3; The Jeffersons, Complete Series; Mister Ed, Complete Series; Mork & Mindy, Complete Series; Under the Dome, Season 2.
Next week: The Americans, Season 2; Arrested Development, Season 4; Extant, Season 1; The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Season 4.