Robert N EmersonMy thoughts on HBO's True Blood
September 15th 2008 21:16
Well, I figured I'd wait until I re-watched the first offering, as well as the second, since it was obvious that the two pieces were meant to be a singular pilot.
True Blood is an interesting take, or twist, on the preternatural/occult genre, more in the veins of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan than Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, since humanity knows of some of the occult beings out there. While it is obvious that there is more than just vampires, especially if you have read or heard of the Charlaine Harris novels that the series is based on, it is more shown than said, thus far.
It is the standard dark romance fare, with respects to vampires, showing the main character as a gothic hero of sorts, with human qualities to his undead nature. With talk of vampire civil rights movements, the how and why they "came out of the coffin", the show is obviously trying to and planning on tackling real world concerns within the subplotting of the show.
I'm a fan of the contemporary urban fantasy, be it Butcher, Harrison, or Lackey, and Harris' work is a solid enough fare to deserve an adaptation. By removing the need for the "more than human" types to hide, we are presented with a character drama/mild-actioner that should be good to watch. But, we're presented with the same standard of everyone being in-shape and pretty, even if dysfunctional, and I hope that some of the characters get a lot more development than they have thus far. As it currently stands, I see a bunch of co- dependent with lustful thoughts flying around and lots of sassy, southern smacktalking.
Now, I will admit, as someone from southern folk, there is a lot of that there, but there is more depth to them, too, and I hope to see it. It's good bait to draw in initial viewers, but if you are going to keep them, then you need more.
So far, True Blood is still on my DVR record list and we'll see how it goes.
True Blood is an interesting take, or twist, on the preternatural/occult genre, more in the veins of Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan than Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, since humanity knows of some of the occult beings out there. While it is obvious that there is more than just vampires, especially if you have read or heard of the Charlaine Harris novels that the series is based on, it is more shown than said, thus far.
It is the standard dark romance fare, with respects to vampires, showing the main character as a gothic hero of sorts, with human qualities to his undead nature. With talk of vampire civil rights movements, the how and why they "came out of the coffin", the show is obviously trying to and planning on tackling real world concerns within the subplotting of the show.
I'm a fan of the contemporary urban fantasy, be it Butcher, Harrison, or Lackey, and Harris' work is a solid enough fare to deserve an adaptation. By removing the need for the "more than human" types to hide, we are presented with a character drama/mild-actioner that should be good to watch. But, we're presented with the same standard of everyone being in-shape and pretty, even if dysfunctional, and I hope that some of the characters get a lot more development than they have thus far. As it currently stands, I see a bunch of co- dependent with lustful thoughts flying around and lots of sassy, southern smacktalking.
Now, I will admit, as someone from southern folk, there is a lot of that there, but there is more depth to them, too, and I hope to see it. It's good bait to draw in initial viewers, but if you are going to keep them, then you need more.
So far, True Blood is still on my DVR record list and we'll see how it goes.
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