True Blood’s Alan Ball may be leaving as showrunner, but this season he still has a “stake” in what happens on True Blood and he is no stranger to courting difficult topics. He’s looked at mortality in Six Feet Under and now Season 5 of True Blood is delving deep into the world of religion and politics. Just in case you needed definite proof that vampire dramas can be thoughtful and challenging… Ball, who is on his last season as showrunner, lists one major influence for the current season:
Our jumping off point was ‘OK, what is a vampire theocracy?’ You don’t really see vampires being religious creatures. They are excluded from God. But what if there was a vampire bible? A religion? Theocracy? How would that impact our human characters, or vampire characters? I haven’t really seen that before.
It’s a pretty interesting idea, and one that the recent crop of vampire-centric books, films and TV shows hasn’t really covered. Speaking to TheWrap, Ball elaborated on his idea, giving us examples from within the cast of how his latest theme is coming to life:
Chris Meloni comes in, he is the guardian of the blood. Supposedly they have a vial of blood of the first vampire — like a Catholic icon. The governing body of vampires is like the Catholic church plus the Supreme Court for vampires. But it’s a very secret organization.
This could all go down very sinister routes and runs the risk of offending some of True Blood’s viewership, but that’s a small price to pay for topnotch, boundary-pushing TV. Will this new trend make Season 5 True Blood’s best yet, or will it turn you off the show completely?
source: moviepilot.com
Disappointed how he is abandoning the sinking ship.
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Shadaliza Reply:
June 19th, 2012 at 22:05
First I think TB is far from sinking. Second Alan Ball is not leaving the show, he remains executive producer.
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carolin Reply:
June 20th, 2012 at 23:49
i kinda agree with lila .i felt meloni’s scenes where just so slow and deliberate the other authority memebers looked so damn bored.
and the dialogue of the show was pretty lame especially roman.
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Mr. Ball isn’t going anywhere. And if you think TB is sinking…it is STILL one of HBO’s top money~makers with it’s dvd sales and merhcandising sells sky~rocketing every year! Some people around the world are just now watching Season 2. So TB isn’t going anywhere and I fully expect them to announce the approval of Season 6!
Just because Mr. Ball is not the ‘show~runner’ after this season, doesn’t mean he is out of the loop.He is STILL an Executive Producer. And Mark Hudis, a current writer for the series, is ‘taking over’ the day~to~day operations of TB, so Mr. can juggle some other projects. Mark and Alan Ball have been friends and colleagues [on other shows] for some 20 years. So Mr.Ball is handing off some duties to a trusted friend. I wouldn’t call that ‘abandoning’ the show.
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I can’t complain. I’m enjoying season 5 so far.
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lovelylavendar Reply:
June 20th, 2012 at 12:24
Agreed!
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He needs to stop trying to make grand political statements and just produce a good show.
There are too many plot holes and continuity errors, not to mention the writing is borderline kitschy.
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lovelylavendar Reply:
June 20th, 2012 at 12:27
True blood is supposed to be campy. The Politics of the day affect everyone and make for great story telling.
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I am fascinated by the direction the vampire story is taking and most interested in the development of their theocracy. All in all I think it’s been a gangbusters start for Season 5.
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I think this has been the best season since season one, Far from a sinking ship and it is a Vampire show so yes sometime it will be a little kitchy. I loved this show from the beginning and still do, and I like what AB is doing with the Vampire Bible and all the other story lines. My only problem is the show is not long enough, if I had my way it would be on every night of the week! LOL Great Job AB and writing staff!!!!
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True blood is still one of the best shows on TV right now!…I find it hugely entertaining and creepy sexy and with Awesome actors to boot! Far from a sinking ship. I trust AB and his vision for the show.
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If True Blood is sinking, I will go down with this ship.
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