I am a huge fan of True Blood and an even bigger fan of The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, which the show is loosely based on. But I was not impressed with Season Three (and I am not the only one).
One of the things that bothered me the whole season was the separation of the characters. In Season One and Season Two, there were one or two plot lines that everyone played a part in. There was the mystery of the serial killer and then Mary Ann, the maenad, taking over the town. In the third season, everyone had their own individual storyline and it was hard to keep up with.
Spoilers ahead for those who have not seen the third season and still care to.
Sookie/Eric/Bill
These three are so all over the place. Sookie hates Bill and Eric then she needs their help. Bill and Eric hate each other, but work together when needed. I don’t like it when Sookie can easily forgive either of them, even after all the times that they have used or betrayed her. When Bill buried Eric it was surprising and it got better with Eric getting out and exposing Bill for the liar he was to Sookie. The girl finally got the guts to rescind them both from her house and showed the Sookie that I love -- strong and not willing to take anybody’s crap.
Eric/Russell Edginton
I thought the whole vengeance thing would have been more dramatic and exciting. After figuring out Russell was the one that killed his family, Eric got his revenge by killing Russell’s husband, Talbot. But seeing Russell carry Talbot’s nasty goo remains around was disturbing. I did like the end when Eric tricked Russell into thinking Sookie’s blood would help him walk in the sun, but it felt like there was going to be more of a showdown than that.
Jason/Crystal/Hot Shot
Another story line with promise, this one was involving. It was hard to see Jason struggle with the guilt of killing Eggs and then when Crystal came around things got more interesting for him. The story should have focused more on the were-panther aspect instead of the meth dealing community aspect; it would have been more interesting. I am hoping they develop this more.
Tara
When is this girl going to catch a break? There is always something bad happening to her. First Eggs, her boyfriend, gets killed, and she tries to commit suicide, then gets involved with a psychotic vampire who rapes her and tries to kill her, and then finds out that her friend Jason was the one that killed Eggs and the cop Andy covered it up. She hardly had any interaction with Sookie, who is her best friend. When she was driving out of Bon Temps in the season finale I was secretly hoping it was either for good or she would get a good plot line somewhere else.
Sam
I was all for Sam’s storyline where he went to find his birth parents because he deserves more screen time and he needed something else to do besides pine for Sookie. It was all going along fine until they showed a flashback of Sam killing two people for money. My thought when I watched this was that this was totally out of character for him and not necessary. I was even more turned off by the possibility that he murdered his own brother. I don’t like the crazy, angry all the time Sam. Bring back the caring, loyal friend Sam.
Alcide/werewolves
One of the things True Blood got right was the introduction of Alcide. He has always been one of my favorite characters and they cast him perfectly with Joe Manganiello. Alcide and Sookie are a great pair and it was fun watching the scenes with them together. They didn’t show much of Alcide’s werewolf pack though and this is who Sookie ends up allying with.
Fairies
This is another story thread that could have been produced better and had a little more mystery added to it. Claudine usually shows up around the normal world, helping Sookie, going to Merlotte’s and such. There is no fairy world in the books, so I hope they make this more appealing then it is so far.
Miscellaneous
I liked the introduction of Jesus and his relationship with Lafayette. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Jessica and Hoyt getting back together made me glad and I love their scenes together. Bill and Sophie-Ann’s fight scene at the end was a little laughable and too Matrix-y for me. Arlene and Terry’s baby plot isn’t really needed, probably just to give these two something to do since they are likeable characters.
Season Three wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. It was a “meh.” There were too many characters and too many plot lines to keep up with. There was also a lack of closure all round. My overall problem with the series is that they have so much material from the books to work with and are having trouble translating it to this medium. Season One was fantastic and it has just gone downhill.
That said, the fourth season has a lot of potential to get the show back on track (the plot is to be pulled from Dead to the World, the fourth novel in the series and my favorite in the series). If the season is anything like the novel then we will have more naked Eric, witches vs. werewolves and vampires, and a new love for Sookie. All of that might not happen, but I hope that at least the characters will appear together more. Also: please make something good happen for Tara!
True Blood returns to HBO in June, 2011.
