Metaqualler: True Blood Season Premiere Edition

The summer television season is upon us, and gracing our presence (amongst the other shows that I have guiltily been watching, like the E! Network's Kendra -- what can I say? Her laugh is infectious! And I can't stop wondering about the creepy ramifications of her past relationship with Hugh Hefner!) is the new season of HBO's True Blood. Now, my position on this show has been, like most people, very mixed. The good parts of the show have tended to be more about new side characters introduced throughout the series, while the main characters' plots have generally ranged from boring to eye-rollingly boring. But, from the midpoint of the first season to the end of the first season, things got progressively less eye-rolly and more straight-up entertaining. Whether it was an adjustment of expectations on my part (I finally stopped looking for Six Feet Under-esque drama and realized Alan Ball only wanted to smack you upside the head with metaphors in an entertaining way instead of a meaningful way) or whether the show really improved in quality, who knows. And after watching high quality HBO series in between seasons of True Blood (like the still-raveworthy second season of In Treatment -- please renew it for a third, HBO!), canoodling with naked vampires seems like a bit of a letdown. But taken for what it is -- a fulfillment of my need for horror-ish entertainment -- it works pretty well.

The second season has started off on a fairly positive note. The weak links to the show still exist, but it seems like it has figured out how to be highly entertaining without inducing those rampant eye-rolls (and as a frequent eyeroller myself, I rolled 'em a lot.) Metaqualler is here to review a few of the notable things that happened in the season premiere. Spoilers abound...and probably some eye-rolling (but maybe not as much as the first season.)

Sookie, Bill and the vampire teenager
12-year-old Qualler says: Isn't that funny? Bill had to turn a 17-year-old into a vampire and she's TOTALLY annoying! Funny!
17-year-old Qualler says: I'm moody, too! I guess I'd be annoyed too if I were turned into a vampire and this guy with an intermittent southern accent kept telling me how to be a vampire.
21-year-old Qualler says: (Mega eye-roll). Oh, Alan Ball, will you never stop making us chuckle at your metaphors? Puberty is totally like leaning about how to be a vampire for the first time, right? (Super ultra mega eye-roll.)
26-year-old Qualler says: This subplot was mega annoying in the first season, but was mostly played for agreeable smiles in the season premiere. Plus, anything to do with the 173-year-old Bill relating to people of today is always kinda adorable. (Remember when he was playing Wii Golf and kept his fridge stocked with Fresca for his human guests last year? Still makes me want to hang out with him!)

Lafayette in the Saw-like dungeon put together by Eric the Vampire
12-year-old Qualler says: Whoa, this is totally intense! This weird sorta-torture chamber merry-go-round thing where Lafayette is a prisoner is intense! INTENSITY!
17-year-old Qualler says: The dark lighting in these scenes was creepy!
21-year-old Qualler says: Wow, I liked this the first time when it was one of those Saw movies. (Eye-roll.)
26-year-old Qualler says: Totally loved seeing Eric come out at the end of the episode highlighting his hair. This is an admittedly badass new aspect of the show -- seriously creepy stuff like this dungeon. Why does Eric need these people? Oh yeah -- added mystery is a plus. My first true non-eye-roll of the season!

Jason Stackhouse goes religuous:
12-year-old Qualler says: That's powerful social commentary!
17-year-old Qualler says: Genius! Alan Ball knows the power of making parallels between a fictional world and society today.
21-year-old Qualler says: Yeah, I get it, Alan Ball. The Fellowship of the Sun organization is totally like those Joel Osteen-style megachurches that prey on people who are in need. Wah wah wah! (Eye rolling.)
26-year-old Qualler says: Yeah, this is a bit eye-rolling, 21-year-old Qualler, especially when Alan Ball says stupid stuff like this in interviews: "The overall theme for season 2 is the power of cults, whether that is a strange, neo-Greco pagan cult or a church -- organized religion." But I have a good feeling about this plot, because of the simmering vampire/human tensions that are wrapped up in it. Plus, Jason Stackhouse has become one of my favorite characters on the show. He's so stupid but well-meaning, and I sense that his growing anti-vampire views will wreak some havoc on Sookie's relationship with vampire Bill. (Wow, I feel like a huge geek typing that last sentence. Eye-roll.) The big thing Brigitte and I agree on with this plot, though, is the fact that, actually, vampires are bad! They DO kill humans! It's not quite the same as organized religion and the gay community, Mr. Ball. Needless to say, this is pretty fun.

Now, who's ready to roll some more eyes?

This entry was posted by Unknown, on Monday, June 15, 2009. You can leave your response.