Blood, ubervamps, faerie babies and a lot of boob action as the new season of HBO’s True Blood kicks off in the US.
We kick off season six with a rather lengthy recap of recent events, followed be a reprise of Bill rising as an ubervamp. It’s only a couple of minutes before someone notable is killed off, with Luna’s oh-so-tragic demise kicking off the death toll. Then we have Bill, uh, flying? Well, that was interesting.
As usual with True Blood, the opening episode is a little disjointed, reminding us of the many many plot lines left open at the end of season five. Sam now has charge of little wolf girl Emma after Luna’s death, Alcide is now pack master, Andy has faerie babies and there’s a new face of evil in the form of Governor Burrell who is enforcing a vampire curfew and closing all vamp run businesses.
He’s also looking to make some dollar from the vamps, as we see him making a deal with the TruBlood company to start up production again.
Then we have our main group; Sookie, Eric, Jason, Nora, Pam and Tara are all on the run from Bill the ubervamp. Jason has gone all bloodthirsty on his search for Warlow, Pam and Tara’s romance is quickly fading and Nora wants to use ‘the faerie’ to end Bill, knowing that Sookie is Eric’s one weakness. In the opening episode, Eric’s attitude is reminiscent of his memory-loss phase in season four and he reminds us of his feelings for Sookie. However, wanting her life back, Sookie seems to have said goodbye to Eric for now, most likely to make room for yet another suitor in the form of a new faerie character on his way. Poor Eric.
So, what do we make of Bill as some sort of vampire demi-god? Well, he’s a lot more sane than anticipated once he’s got rid of the naked and covered in blood look. He seems to have inherited some new powers too, but I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t stick to the psycho Bill for a while. However, I don’t think all is as it seems. Bill appears to be far too ‘normal’ and it’s a little creepy. The scenes with Jess suggest that something else might be going on, as he tucks her into bed for the night, with her believing all is fabulous.
Correct! Whilst we don’t get a great deal of Bill in the episode, perhaps due to the fact that Stephen Moyer directed it, not allowing for much screen-time, right at the end we’re offered a glimpse of what is to come. Three blood drenched naked vamps, different figures than that of Lilith we’ve seen previously, call out to Bill before, er, entering him? Maybe this will make way for crazy ubervamp Bill once more. We can only hope.
In other news. Alcide looks set to go a little power-mad, with the wolf ladies throwing themselves at him and Andy is trying to get used to fathering his new litter of faerie babies. All four of which seem to be growing up rather quickly… Finally, ‘who the fuck is Warlow’? Eric’s question finally sparks something off when Jason meets him, but we’re offered little explanation for the time being.
I’m going to be brutally honest. After looking forward to the new season since last August’s dramatic finale, I was extremely disappointed in the opening episode. Since season six only has 10 episodes rather than the usual 12 to allow Anna Paquin’s maternity leave, I was expecting each instalment to pack more of a punch. Let’s hope that this is just a slow burner and is setting up for bigger and better things.
With the seventh episode titled ‘The Funeral’, there are plenty of rumours of one of the key characters being killed off mid-season. Most people are reckoning on Eric or Bill meeting their demise, but I think that characters like Jason or Jess could also be in line for the chop. However, if Eric or Bill are to be at the receiving end, my money’s on Eric. Whilst Bill seems the obvious option, I think that Eric’s losing it. He’s hopelessly in love with Sookie who can’t except the man (or monster) that he used to be. He’s back on the dark and brooding path and I can see him making a sacrifice later in the series.
Well, that’s all for now on the True Blood front this week. Make sure you come back next week to check out an episode two recap and more rumours of things to come. Now I’ll leave you with the winning quote of the episode. Enjoy Truebies!
Quote of the Week goes to Pam:
‘I hate the beach. Fish piss and sand in your cooch.’