True Blood is a messy show. The show’s first season was a stunning blend of horror, comedy, and an inherent charm that hooked me right from the pilot’s teaser. While many didn’t really enjoy seasons two and three, I thought both were entertaining albeit slightly convoluted journeys. The fourth season however was an utter disaster. While that doesn’t seem to be the general consensus online, I found the year to be a complete disappointment (which was unfortunate given the introduction of witches to the show’s mythology) and the plethora of useless characters and subplots.
I think the show’s biggest flaw is Alan Ball’s lack of willingness to kill off the show’s dead weight (and trust me the show has a ton of them). Nevertheless, I was hoping this year would be a return to form and while it wasn’t as horrible as last year, it’s still far from the potential the show possesses.
The fifth season premiere started out intriguingly enough, picking up seconds after we left off last year. I admire shows that do this because time-jumps like last year’s have the potential to feel like cop-outs sometimes. However, I really really wish Alan Ball had killed off Tara. The character really started to grate on my nerves the last two years and while there’s definite potential with her being Pam’s personal vampire, the show would have benefited a lot from her ouster. Speaking of characters that should have been killed yesterday: Lafayette, Terry, Holt etc… The list goes on and the show really needs to adopt a more trigger-happy lifestyle.
In other news I was amused by the introduction of Eric’s sister (and their incestuous relationship) as well as the return of Steve Newlin (newly vamped up and gay) into Jason’s life. The werewolf arc and Lafayette’s trials on the other hand I could do without. Moreover, I was hoping this premier would have provided us with Russel’s return but I guess the writers intend on dragging that out for a while.
Conclusion
All in all, this was an enjoyable enough premiere that thankfully redeemed a fair amount of season four’s bad-will. However, True Blood still has some ways to go before it can truly reclaim its former glory. Here’s hoping…
Nad Rating
B
I have to disagree completely about season 4.
Season 3 was a total mess, with story lines all over the place, but season 4 was much neater and cohesive, and one of the best seasons if you ask me. Leaps ahead of season 3 anyway.
I do agree about the dead-weight the show has. There's characters dying left and right, but sometimes it's not the right ones biting the bullet. Great review.
Really Panda I quite enjoyed season three with Russel's antics. It felt cohesive and not messy at the time (although I was never a fan of useless Alcide and his boring storylines).
I so wanted to love season four. Seeing as how much I love witches (Charmed etc…) I was sure I would adore it but I found myself frustrated and bored weak in weak out with Marnie and Jesus among others.
Anyways thanks for reading and I do hope we enjoy this season because I still love this show.