From The Sydney Morning Herald
Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer
THERE’S something reassuring about the black-and-white glow, the dissonant static hum of the HBO logo. It mostly heralds great things, or at least bold things. Sadly, that buzzing logo appears less on free-to-air television than it did in the early days of Sex And The City, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.
So non-payers may wince at the mention of Alan Ball’s (SFU) recent thrilling offering to the pigs who devour Showcase. True Blood is a witty, sexy, smartly written vampire show for people who really don’t like vampire shows.
Set in Louisiana, in the modern parallel universe where Japanese synthetic blood has made it possible for vamps to “come out of the coffin”, we are asked to see them as just another misunderstood, much-maligned minority. In this post-September 11, fear-fuelled society, True Blood’s vampires are Muslims, homosexuals wanting to marry, or women running for president. They are a curiosity likely to divide a community.
This is yet another wonderful US production peopled by foreigners, including New Zealand’s Anna Paquin (Golden Globe winner this year for her role here as Sookie Stackhouse), Britain’s Stephen Moyer (hot as Bill Compton, with or without the fangs) and our very own Ryan Kwanten, a long way from Summer Bay, with a torso cut like GI Joe’s.
There’s plenty of sex and humour to break up the blood and, well, blood. Tiny details are perfection: we only glimpse in a wide shot a newspaper headline reading “Angelina Adopts Baby Vampire”. Mostly we have the taut, believable sexual tension between telepathic Sookie and dead-since-the-Civil War Bill. Sookie finds Bill sexy, not just because he prowls like an alley cat but because he is the one person upon whose thoughts she cannot eavesdrop. I get that we all know what men are thinking all the time but to actively seek out the company of one who cannot be understood … well, that probably is fairly sexy.
I presumed this was teen fodder and then sat through four episodes in one session. True Blood is nearly as unpredictable as it is entertaining.
What a great write-up! I’m glad the Aussies are enjoying the show just as much as we are. I can’t wait until season 2 when we’ll see Bill “prowl” some more.
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It is great to see such a nice write up from another country. True Blood seems to be making it’s mark where ever it is shown. I love the statement above quote: “Britain’s Stephen Moyer (hot as Bill Compton, with or without the fangs)”. Now that says it all as far as I am concerned!
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Hi im from its just come out here we r in the 4th episode of season 1and its definetly become popular on our foxtel(cable tv) tv here, i have already seen season 1 last yr by downloading the episodes and im so hooked, ive even imported the books from amazon.com i am awaiting the 9th book its great
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**gets up on soapbox**
Let’s just hope that HBO really starts promoting True Blood (look how great this site is). I would love to hear and read more interviews given by the actors!!! It’s like the head-honchos at HBO don’t have a clue about what a rabid (and rapidly) growing fan base it has. Season 1 has been over for months now but us fans are posting on the TB boards every day!
**steps down**
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…Britain’s Stephen Moyer (hot as Bill Compton, with or without the fangs)… Well, thats about it as far as I am concerned. Wait, one more thing- ‘…Sookie finds Bill sexy’ Well, so do I/we. :D
Its really nice to see TB making its mark in Australia.
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Hello from australia, loving true blood I’ve watched season 1 bout 5 times now, when does season 2 get released here in oz ?
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When is true blood season 2 released in australia? I love it and read the books.
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Gutted after seeing season 1 on a borrowed friends DVD to find out that it’s not going to free-to-air… I’m now stuck with the idea of hanging out with my alco aunty to watch it on her foxtel or wait til it comes out on DVD again. I can’t wait that long, waiting til April for it to go on pay TV is killing me, I’m so addicted!
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