True Blood, Season 2

TRUE BLOOD, SEASON 2 (Blu-ray)
HBO Home Entertainment 

Release Date: May 17th, 2010
Certificate (UK): 15
Running Time: 12 hours (apx.)

Created by: Alan Ball

Cast: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley, Nelsan Ellis, Alexander Skarsgard, Allan Hyde, Deborah Ann Woll and Michelle Forbes

True Blood is based on the novels, The Southern Vampire Mysteries, by Charlaine Harris and stars Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress in the fictional town of Bon Temps with telepathic abilities. It’s set in a world where vampires have come out of the coffin and struggle for power against the humans. When Sookie meets Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a 173 year old vampire, the two of them fall in love, but things in Bon Temps are about to get a little more dangerous with the little bad things everyone does in Season 2.

Picking up where Season 1 ended, Sookie, her best friend Tara (Rutina Wesley) and detective Andy discover a body in a car. The car belongs to Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) who runs the local bar. He’s in love with Sookie but in the previous season he hooked up with Tara for a few one-offs, he’s also a shape-shifter but no one knows…yet.

Fearing the body might be Tara’s cousin Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), it turns out to be the woman who conned Tara and her mother into paying for an exorcism. As they examine the body, they see her heart has been removed.

Meanwhile, Lafayette is being held prisoner by the Viking vampire Eric in Fangtasia’s basement. Along with a couple of other captives, Eric has them chained up and living in their own filth while they await questioning in the disappearance of a vampire. When Eric picks them off and chews them up with only Lafayette left, he is ready to make a deal and say anything in order to stay alive, but his information is useless. Eric hopes to find Godric (Allan Hyde), his maker, who is missing.

Sookie meets Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll), the teenage girl Eric forced Bill to turn into a vampire after he killed one to save Sookie (Season 1). Jessica is now living in Bill’s house and under his care while she adjusts to her new vampire life.

Tara falls under the spell of Maryann (Michelle Forbes) and moves into her house with her. At the house she meets Eggs and the two are attracted to each other. Maryann plays matchmaker while feeding them with food and wine fit for Gods.

When she pays a visit to Merlotte’s bar, Sam begins to panic, realising he knows her from when he was a teenager/puppy. As the bar fills up during the course of the night he is shocked to see the people of Bom Temps engaged in a drunken orgy which seems to be orchestrated by Maryann.

Elsewhere, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), Sookie’s dim-witted, 6-packed brother is falling under a different kind of spell. Unhappy with the vampire situation in Bon Temps after the deaths of his grandmother, girlfriend and best friend and with his sister becoming a “fang-banger”, Jason finds solace in the Fellowship of the Sun, an anti-vampire movement planning to start a war. Jason joins their camp and follows their cause, impressing  leader Rev. Steve Newlin with his dedication and physical abilities. The reverend’s wife Sarah is also impressed with his physical abilities!

As the plots converge, Sookie finds herself at the centre of it all. Eric enlists her to help him find Godric which puts her right in the path of the crazy church people from the Fellowship of the Sun. While she’s away, Maryann takes over her grandmother’s house and uses it as the base for her worshipping of the “God who comes”. Building a towering effigy of rotting meat and animal bones, she summons the God while wearing Sookie’s grandmother’s wedding dress.

True Blood is unlike any television I’ve come across before.  It’s like Buffy on drugs, mad, mad drugs! The storylines are incredible, the dialogue is fast and foul and the characters are so full of life, even the undead ones! The fusion of vampire folklore, Deep South superstitions and ancient Greek mythology gives the show a remarkable amount of depth.

The introduction of Maryann as the maenad who worships Dionysus was fascinating to watch, the character is utterly despicable in her actions with complete disregard for the feelings or belongings of others. The meal she prepares for Eggs and Tara almost made me throw up – revolting and yet hilarious. It’s right up there with Eric worrying about blood in his hair.

It will be interesting to see how the shows continues, especially with the inevitable relationship with Sookie and Eric – we can all see it coming a mile off and who would blame Sookie for wanting a bit of necking time with Eric?

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints.

Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger’s Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers.

Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy.

Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

Patrick Samuel ¦ Asperger Artist

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