One of the Hottest, Goriest HBO Shows of the Last 30 Years Is Required Viewing for Fantasy Fans
From Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to The Vampire Diaries, to most recently, Interview with the Vampire, the vampire TV show is one of the best subgenres of fantasy television. Whereas some fantasy series take viewers to other worlds, vampire shows usually see vampires and other supernatural beings trying to exist while living in the real world. This often entails trying to avoid more dangerous supernatural threats, as well as trying to protect themselves from the threat of vampire-hating humans. Often, humans are at the center of these shows as well, as they develop connections with good vampires while fighting to protect themselves from more dangerous and evil vampires. HBO is home to what is arguably the best vampire series to hit the small screen: True Blood.
What Is HBO’s ‘True Blood’ About?
Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer as Sookie Stakhouse and Bill Compton in the woods in ‘True Blood’Image via Max
A few years after the conclusion of Six Feet Under, Alan Ball created True Blood, based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. The series follows Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a good-hearted optimist who works as a waitress in her tiny hometown, Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie is friends with her coworkers, lives with the grandmother (Lois Smith) who raised her, and is generally happy enough with her life. Sookie has never quite fit in, though, because she has always had the strange ability to read other people’s minds. Everyone around Sookie is normal (as far as she knows, that is), and those who know about or suspect her power resent the fact that they can’t hide their thoughts from her. Sookie is widely considered to be “weird,” even as she is still kind to everyone. Sookie’s world is pretty much the world as we know it, except vampires exist, and everyone knows about them.
With the recent invention of a synthetic blood called Tru Blood, vampires no longer have to hide, and they now have many of the same rights that humans have. There are many people out there who are still prejudiced against vampires, and some who are interested in vampire blood, which is sold on the black market as the drug “V.” Sookie’s world is turned upside down when vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) walks into the bar-and-grill where she works one night. Sookie is drawn to Bill the moment she meets him, and when two aspiring dealers later attack him and try to steal his blood, she saves him. The next day, the same people try to get revenge by attacking Sookie, so Bill saves her by feeding her his blood. The two are soon connected through sharing blood, but Sookie is unable to read Bill’s mind, because he’s a vampire. From there, Sookie and Bill pursue a romance with one another, but the odds are stacked against them. Most of the town is against the idea of a human woman dating a vampire, and there are many people who want to see Bill killed. The first season of True Blood is also an incredibly well-written murder mystery, as there is a mysterious local killer murdering human women who have been associated with vampires. The stakes are very high, and there are many twists and turns as viewers are led to believe that various humans and vampires could be guilty of these murders. Still, though, even as the respective humans and vampires in their orbits try to interfere, Sookie and Bill fall in love and fight to be together.
‘True Blood’ Is a Risqué, Bloody Series Perfect for Fantasy Fans
Even for fantasy fans who are wary of vampire shows, True Blood is an absolute must-watch. The series has incredible world-building, with detailed lore about the rules of vampirism, the way that vampires and humans are connected by the sharing of blood, and the threat that human beings pose to vampires. The vampires may be powerful immortals, but they are vulnerable to a world that doesn’t accept them, and to people who both openly want them dead and want to get high off their blood. The show weaves together its main fantastical twist with multiple murder mysteries, swoonworthy romances, and horror elements, to create something truly memorable.
True Blood expands on its lore even more as it goes along, in horrifying and often gory ways. This includes the introduction of an anti-vampire church called the Fellowship of the Sun, who train their members to kill vampires in disturbing ways. Both the attacks on and from the vampires are not for the faint of heart, and the show plays up its gore in the likes of Interview with the Vampire. True Blood is also one of HBO’s steamier shows, with multiple sex scenes per episode and an added sensual and emotional connection between vampires and humans who have shared blood. A large part of this aspect of True Blood’s reputation, though, can be credited to the show’s messy, compelling main love triangle.
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In True Blood, there is a whole ranking system of vampires in power who rule over different areas. Bon Temps falls under the jurisdiction of Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård), one of the vampire sheriffs who also owns a vampire club called Fangtasia. Eric initially comes into play as a harsh antagonist who makes things more difficult for Bill and Sookie, but his dynamic with Sookie changes when he needs her mindreading powers to help him find a missing loved one. The Sookie / Bill / Eric love triangle plays a major role in True Blood until the very end of the show, and it balances out the show’s more suspenseful and horrifying storylines with some unforgettable romance. True Blood is ultimately fast-paced, high-stakes, and intense, and every fantasy fan should make it their next binge-watch.
Release Date
2008 – 2014-00-00
Network
HBO Max
Directors
Daniel Minahan
Writers
Raelle Tucker, charlaine harris, Brian Buckner, Alan Ball, Alexander Woo
已发布: 2025-12-26 01:30:00
来源: collider.com
