Seeing Red: Does 'True Blood' Have Too Much Blood in Season Three?

By John Clarke Jr. Posted Aug 9th 2010 04:30PM

Pop-Ed: 'True Blood' fans can remember back to that first season when a campy gem was born. The fangs were shorter -- almost Ricky Gervais-sized -- while plots focused around the social strife and political tensions between vampires and humans, with overtones of heated 1960s race relations. We met a motley crew of characters, lovable, hated and some in-between. Alan Ball's HBO creation was funny and dark in that deep south way where danger seems to lurk behind the kudzu and Spanish Moss. Love interests, requited and not, sprouted. We marveled at the raunchy 'vamp speed sex' (a ramp up to this season's vamp speed texting!) and lurid human copulation set a standard. But gore was almost more inferred in Season One.

Then Season Two rolled over us in a weird wave, topping out with frenzied, bloody cult orgies that climaxed with eating fresh hearts and group sex slathered in blood. Those scenes were not likely to be topped, right?

Don't underestimate Season Three tricks. The 'True Blood' team seems to know third seasons are clutch and must hit hard and fast: shock and awe type of stuff. And so far, that's just what Ball and his team have done. Oh yes, there will be blood.

While the camp and gore has its place, it already eclipses the character depth that drew fans in the first place. Then there's the werewolves mess, which at times has threatened to sink the series and lose its way from the funky, murky, sexy, funny draw that is clearly its strength.

Ball has been tight-lipped on the increasing violence and has only commented on character development. He did slyly offer that Season Three would be "wicked," yet admitted the shocking windfall of violence sticks closely to Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse book series on which 'True Blood' is based. During Season One and Two, he took liberties to build characters and only loosely based his series on the books. Season Three, he says, is staying close to Harris' work.

Yet once it veers into soap opera torridity with gratuitous gore, 'Blood' might as well just be phoned in. Producers and writers may want to nurture the secondary characters such as the outstanding Jason Stackhouse, the Sheriff, pitch-perfect Lafayette and perhaps build on the weird alluring periphery of goons, sexpots, hillbillies, grifters and ex-cons. Or focus on the season's saving grace: Vampire King of Mississippi Russell Edgington and the struggle between vamp royalty and their loyal subjects over state rule. So we won't be concerned with the ultraviolence. Ball is a genius with unconventional story arcs and perfectly comfortable with jarring his viewers by ripping out a plot line. Let's drink up to that and dive into some of these season's bloodiest moments.

Viewer Beware: These Season Three Clips Are Not For the Faint of Heart

The sultry and sadistic Lorena, evil sexpot and Bill's maker, takes her time torturing Bill within an inch of his life. Bill lays splayed on the floor covered in blood. "Just make it quick," he pleads. She lovingly peruses her array of blood-splattered mid evil-looking torture devices, as she berates Bill, her unrequited love, for rejecting her and the traditional vampire ideals.

'True Blood' is educational, in a really gross way: We now know what happens to a vampire when they're staked. Earlier in the season, Bill has a violent bout of hate sex with his maker Lorena (he twists her head fully around and she's still smiling). In this highlight from last week, Sookie impales her and gets showered with gooey, vein-filled, sticky, bloody, web-like viscera that looks awfully hard to wash off. What's left is a mangled pulp.

God love this season's breakout star, the vampire freak Franklin. He's crazy as a loon, dangerously insecure, passionate, joyous to embrace carnage: a beautifully cracked deviant that gives 'Blue Velvet' sociopath Frank Booth a good run for his money. After being held hostage as a forced lover, Tara escaped by channeling her inner cave man and graphically bashing in Franklin's skull, leaving his bloody noggin caved in and crumpled like a discarded yogurt cup in a stately four-post bed.

Weird, charming and foppish Vampire King of Mississippi Russell Edgington shows some depravity in Season Three. After reading the vampire magistrate the riot act, explaining he holds the reigns to the vampire nation, he suavely lops off weasel's head as if popping a fine champagne with a sword. A beheading never looked so debonair. Leave it to the King to pull of a bloody, yet somehow classy, Sabrage.

Tags: true blood

Comments

(32)

Monday 09 August

By mw

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I don't watch those kind of shows, blood makes me sick, too much of it. These pics looks pretty bloddy, makes my tummy churn.

By awesome Corders

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Love, love this show! But yes, it is very bloody & gory, not for the faint of heart. Still I think it's one of the best shows out there!

By Robbie

Exactly! If you don't want to, you don't have to watch! It's pay cable. I love this show.

By CAROL

I love love love love love this show! The time goes so fast and the next thing you know it's over :( Man I can't wait for Sunday night! This is the best show EVER!!!!!!!!

By supercook

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true blood is the best vampire show ever and i seen them all if u dont like watching a true vampire series then go watch twilight its for the kids

By Jim

This season has been excellent. I think it will have a couple more good seasons then it should end.

By loganoneil

It's called 'True BLOOD', people! It's a show about VAMPIRES, remember? You can't have one WITHOUT the other! If you don't want to see blood, there's always the 'Twilight' series. It's almost totally devoid of it (along with talent, a decent poltline, direction, etc...). Go watch that and let real vampire fans alone with this!

By lee

Yes they have ampted up the gore, but it works. This is a show about vampires so to tame it as the seasons' move forward would be a little off. I do however think that the writer's should, in future seasons' and episodes, concentrate on the local flavor.

By Dave

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It is not the blood , it is the guts.

By Brandi

I love this show but I disagree with Alan Ball that season 3 is staying close to the books. So far the show has kept some of the main plot lines and changed all the details. As for the werewolves there involvement in the series is nothing at all like the books. I don't mind that he has changed things but I feel like this season he has not done Sookie's character justice at all. In the book she is mentally very strong and in this last episode she lost that quality for me. How they had her handle Bill is nothing how she would had in the book. Still love the series tho.

By Diana

First let me say it's brilliant the way Alan Ball uses real wolves because history has shown you can NOT make a CGI wolf..

In a book you talk about blood but you don't see it, once you put it to screen you have to actually see the blood - so in a round about way it's no more bloody than the book.

I love Jessica but I'll be glad when Bill and Sookie break up, it's time for a Eric romance with Sookie.

True Blood is the only show on TV I watch right now because everything is boring.

By Ali

It's not the blood that bothers me, it's the tears. Tara is crying every two seconds!

By Jersey Girl

I agree with you about Tara. In addition, all she does is buck her eyes and look scared. Her character is much, much stronger in the book.

By Mason

Lee...you are wise. The show should stick with local color. God knows there's enough of it!

By gabrielle

Great piece on what most True Blood fans have been talking about regarding the third season. If you eat pasta while watching it, make it a white sauce.

By John

I wish the show was a little more like the first two seasons, the blood has gotten a little out of hand,and distracts from the characters

By Colleen

It's a show about vampires. Blood is a required part of it. If you can't handle the blood, don't watch. It's bloodier than past seasons, but I have enjoyed it much more than last season.

By Debbie

This is one of my favorite shows and I never miss an episode but I have to admit that I've had to walk out of the room a couple of times this season. Tone it down a bit please.

By Cloe

I hate to say it, but I haven't been enjoying too much of season 3. I stuck it out through season 2's much-too-dragged-on-forever story line with the maenad and hoped that season 3 would be better. So far, it's a toss up. Some things have been good, but over all some of the gore and whatnot has really gone over the top. They don't really further the story - it's just there for shock value and doesnt' contribute anything. Another thing is that there are almost TOO MANY new characters this season - it's like overload. I love the show and will stick it out for the rest of the season, but then I'll make a decision about whether or not to keep watching in season 4.

I need more Pam, too! I was hoping for more of her and Jessica. the way she was sort of guiding her on the ways of being a vamp. And I love the interaction between Arlene and Jessica. More of that, please! :)

It appears that the author of the editorial hasn't read the series. It pretty much follows the books. While the television series introduces new characters, i.e, a love interest for Lafayette and story plots, the series does exactly what it is supposed to do. Read the series, there is far more blood.

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