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True Blood (Season 5)

True Blood (Season 5)

By Patrick Samuel • May 16th, 2013
Static Mass Rating: 3/5
TRUE BLOOD, SEASON 5 (DVD)
Warner Home Video/HBO

Release date: May 20th, 2013
Running time: 720 minutes

Creator: Alan Ball

Cast: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgård, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley, Deborah Ann Woll

True Blood, Season 5

Change is something we all face in our lives, whether we want to or not. While some of us may embrace a new opportunity or challenge, there’ll always be those who shy away from them or even run. I know that impulsive streak in me has a tendency to seek out change sometimes, and more often than not I find myself having to deal with the consequences of being too eager, but I also know there are times when change is thrust upon on me and I feel the urge to run from it. It always comes down to fear though, doesn’t it? It’s those moments I thought of while watching Season 5 of True Blood and found myself wondering what I’d do in some of those situations. Would I meet those changes head-on, or flee?

Having ended on a cliffhanger in Season 4, True Blood picks up with the aftermath of Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Debbie’s (Brit Morgan) death as we see Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) attempting to dispose of the bodies. When Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) shows up, Sookie sees a way to bring her friend back to life and cuts a deal with her, agreeing to help get Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) back. This is one change that Tara never banked on as she rises from the dead as a vampire – the thing she hates most of all.

Elsewhere we see Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric being arrested by the Vampire Authority following Nan Flanigan’s (Jessica Tuck) murder. The pair are brought to Roman Zimojic (Christopher Meloni), the head of the Authority, who agrees to spare their lives in exchange for their assistance in stopping Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare) from acquiring fairy blood. In order to find they’ll have to work with Alcide (Joe Manganiello).

Meanwhile, Sam (Sam Trammell) tries to help Luna and her daughter escape from a very mean wolf pack, Hoyt (Jim Parrack) tries to forget Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) by joining a vigilante group who want to put an end to vampires and fang-bangers and we start to learn more about Terry’s (Todd Lowe) time in Iraq. There are lots of other things happening as well, for example Jason’s having visions of his dead parents, Andy gets physical with a fairy and former reverend and now vampire Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) finally declares his true sexuality when he returns to Bon Temps.

True Blood, Season 5

That makes for a lot going on in this season of True Blood and all of these storylines are handled with varying degrees of success. The highlight is of course Tara’s transition from human to vampire. Over the seasons we’ve seen her relationship with her best friend Sookie have its highs and lows, but this time it reaches the lowest of the low as her blood lust fights for control over whatever’s left of her human side. To make this storyline even more interesting we see something developing between Tara and her former nemesis Pam; there’s never been any love lost between these two but now one of them has become a parental figure for the other, but there might be something even deeper…

One of the several plot lines that don’t fare as well as Pam and Sookie’s is that of Bill and Eric’s. Their time with the Vampire Authority quickly becomes tiresome and this is sped up by the amount of religious overtones that come with the group. The new characters, including Roman, don’t have the bite that others in previous seasons, such as Maryann Forrester (Michelle Forbes), had. What I also found that didn’t work very well was Terry’s storyline, which seemed a little out of place and like a separate show entirely.

EPISODES:

  • Turn! Turn! Turn!
  • Authority Always Wins
  • Whatever I Am, You Made Me
  • We’ll Meet Again
  • Let’s Boot and Rally
  • Hopeless
  • In the Beginning
  • Somebody That I Used to Know
  • Everybody Wants to Rule the World
  • Gone, Gone, Gone
  • Sunset
  • Save Yourself

As True Blood reached its season finale I realized that if it wasn’t for Tara and Pam’s evolving storyline there was little to keep me interested. For the most part Bill and Eric don’t have much interaction with Sookie and I think that’s one of the reasons the season didn’t have much of an impact for me. I always looked forward to seeing how the trio would try to resolve or escalate the problem of their unconventional relationship and that dynamic was gone.

Regardless of the storylines that didn’t work so well in this season, True Blood remains one of my favourite shows in recent years. It still has a remarkable ability to surprise and that’s down to the writers’ willingness to allow these characters to change, grow and see things from a different perspective. We’ve seen it with Eric, Bill, and Jessica, and to some extent Pam too, but with Tara (one of my favourite characters), she now has a chance to meet her enemies on a firmer footing. Whereas before she mostly let her mouth do the work for her, now she can draw strength from her vampire blood and this is something that will make season 6 something worth looking out for.

True Blood, Season 5

Patrick Samuel

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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