True Blood Past Seasons

[LadyJaney]

Since HBO2 is showing a marathon of the past 6 seasons of TB this week, I figured I'd start a thread to discuss the seasons past of this show.

 

I actually ended up watching most of Season 1 last night, just to refresh and it blows my mind how much has changed and how much I forgot.

 

I forgot just how much happened in the first season.  Certain things for some reason I thought happened in season 2 or 3 but it was in season 1.  Things I especially noticed/miss:

 

1.  Tara--she was so awesome back then.  Such a smart ass.  She hated the vampires too.  I forgot that she had the hots for Jason in the beginning.  I loved her thing with Sam.  IMO, they were each other's best pairing and more should have happened between them.  I have hated that they made her a vampire since it happened.  I also don't get how she went from having feelings for Jason and Sam to only going for women.  I could see her being Bi here but it's like she completely changed in every way.  I do miss old Tara though and her interactions with LaFayette, Sam and even Sookie.

 

2.  I miss Rene.  It was a good plot to make him the killer and all, but he was a good part of the show.  He was hot too.

 

3.  Jason and Amy.  They were a good pair, probably Jason's best love interest.  She was crazy and had her bad ways but Lizzie Kaplan was good and a good fit to the cast.  I forgot that she was part of Season 1.

 

4.  I also forgot that Jessica happened in season 1.  For some reason I thought she was a season two character.

 

5.  I really didn't like Eric in the first season.  I'm probably one of the few TB fans who has never been a big Eric fan.  I do like him now, just never a favorite.  Same with Pam.  I enjoy her snark, but less is more with both of them for me.

 

6.  My gosh, Sookie was annoying.  Arrogant, smug, bitchy and into everyone's business.  I suppose she probably still is, but she doesn't bug me like she did in that first season.  I did love her romance with Bill in the beginning.  However, her bragging/flaunting of it was annoying as hell.

 

7.  I loved Sookie's grandmother.  I hated that they killed Adele so soon.

 

8.  I miss the cast interactions at Merlotte's back then.  Everyone interacted with each other.  I loved LaFayette especially back in those days.  I still do, but he was maybe a bit less jaded by so many tragedies then.  Makes me miss characters like Rene, Dawn, Hoyt, Terry, etc.

 

9.  I love how back then it was mostly just the vamps vs humans.  We had a little bit of shifter stuff with Sam.  I loved the collie Sam used to turn into!  Now we have fairies, shifters, werewolves and vamps.  It's a lot to keep track of.  However the best addition in later seasons was Alcide.  Joe Manganiello is too hot for words.  I do miss him in these early episodes!

 

Anyone who would like to share their input, please do!!

Edited June 18, 2014 by LadyJaney

[Charlie Baker]

Season 1 was far and away the best.  The characters had some substance and logic to them and it was emotionally involving.  Subsequent seasons just got more over the top and less substantial.  Still fun, even if the following seasons were all wildly uneven and occasionally frustrating.  

[fliptopbox]

I still think season 1 was by far the best one. I've seen em all, but season 1 is the only one I keep coming back to rewatch.

 

Also add me to the list of people who don't really care for Eric...short as that list might be.

Edited June 18, 2014 by fliptopbox

[angelita100]

I don't like the victim Tara became after season one but actually like her as a vampire but would like to see more interaction with Lafayette.  I miss that.  I never caredfor her with Sam as she would always be his second choice.  I feel that whole Sookie/Sam relationship is really random.  I couldn't believe that scene in season six where she had the nerve to come say she thought they would always end up together.  Is she insane?

 

Hated Amy.  I liked Jason in season one but  grew to love Jason in later seasons.  I prefer watching Jason in scenes with  almost any other woman scenes except the werecat girl and crazy Amy.  I even like his girl in season 6.  She cracks me up and would prefer to see him end up with her over Jessica..

 

Eric is one of the most fascinating characters on the show.  His back story  - his family, Pam, his maker - are the best back stories of all of the characters and most of that was explored past season 1.

 

As for all the supes -- I only really just hate the werewolves.   All of the storysurrounding them were not good. Shifters were boring but not as bad as the werewolves.  The Fairy story was fine for the most part.  They needed to come up with an explanation for Sookie and her fairy blood is the only thing that make me ok with every man in town being in love with her.   

 

So I guess I love parts of all the seasons.  Season 1 doesn't stand out to me as much more awesome than any other.  I think characters like Jessica, Jason, Lafayette, Eric, came into their own after that season. Hell even Bill was more interesting when he became king.

Edited June 20, 2014 by angelita100

[DollEyes]

 

Hated Amy. I liked Jason in season one but grew to love Jason in later seasons. I prefer to watch Jason in scenes with almost any other woman scenes except the werecat girl and crazy Amy. I even like his girl in season 6. She cracks me up and would prefer to see him end up with her over Jessica..

 

  Not me, re the last point. Violet is just as possessive and batshit crazy as Crystal and I don't want to see Jason go through anything like what he suffered in Hotshot again.  

[LadyJaney]

I've caught bits and pieces of the week long marathon this past week (I am an insomniac, but I also needed to get some sleep along the way).  Things I did recall from the past few seasons, good and bad:

 

• Hated most of the MaryAnn story and the orgy and the pod-poeple aspect of it.  Hated how Tara got hurt in a lot of ways from it
• Eew the werepanthers.  Crystal and gang were gross and creepy
• Alcide is still one of the best addition to that show.  Joe Manganiello does it for me in a big way!
• I know a lot of people loved Russell Edginton, but I just hated him.  he was too OTT for me, I was so glad when he first left, hated his return and was glad when he was finally killed off.
• I still hate that Tara is a vampire
• I did enjoy the Authority storyline, mainly because of Chris Meloni.  I think Roman should have stuck around.
• Eew to Lillith and Billith.
• Liked LaFayette and Jesus.  I miss Jesus on the show.
• Didn't mind the witch stuff to a point, but Marney was a bit much at times.
• Lol to Steve Newlin, loved him.  I did notice in season 1 (maybe first episode) that a "Reverend Newlin" is talking to Nan Flannigan and that it's some older guy.  Did they retcon Rev Newlin with the Steve actor in later seasons or was this Steve's...dad?
• Still don't understand how every man falls in love with Sookie...

[Charlie Baker]

Agree with so much of this, LadyJaney.

 

Chris Meloni was underused. And Lafayette was truly underused in latter seasons. And Tara was excessively victimized. 

 

Let's see how this season goes. I'm in til the end. (Of course I say that now. ;-) )

[blackCatCollins]

Lady Janey- i could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure the original Rev Newlin was Steve's father. part of his hatred of vamps was his belief that they were responsible for the death of his father.

[Chairperson Meow]

Eggs should have stayed. He was hot and I liked he and Tara together. It was like for once a hot guy picked Tara first. Although, I did hope Jason would wise up and love Tara back.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

The best seasons of True Blood were the first and third. 

 

Though I loathed the MaryAnn mess in S2, the Texas arc with Godric kept me watching.

 

 After Russell, the big bads that followed were simply awful.

 

Marnie

 

Vampire BOREthority: Such a waste of great actors like Meloni, Peter Mensah, Christopher Heyerdahl and Carolyn Hennessy. Plus Russell's return was a snoozefest.

 

Warlow: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[ShadowHunter]

I Will Rise Up from Season 2 is still one of the best episodes in the entire series. Its a shame more could not have been like that.

 

I liked the first 3 season's and the start of S4, mid S4- till now the show has not been good.

[Peanut6711]

Still don't understand how every man falls in love with Sookie...

Couldn't agree more. Just finished last season and I'm lost at how Sookie acts but yet they all want her. I liked Sookie in the beginning but now all she does is complain about the very "people" she hangs out with all the time--the people who instead of trying to eat her are always protecting her.  

[roctavia]

Lady Janey- i could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure the original Rev Newlin was Steve's father. part of his hatred of vamps was his belief that they were responsible for the death of his father.

 

Yes, The original Rev. Newlin was Steve's father... Early on in S1 he was killed in a car crash with his wife and baby- Sookie sees it on the news and later says something to Bill about vampires killing "that preacher from the fellowship of the sun church..."

 

Steve brings it up at somepoint too, I think in S2 when he's captured Eric.

I loved S1, since it was such a fun new world, and it was also more intimate, as others have mentioned. The story took place in Bon Temps, at Merlotte's with Fangtasia as the only other main destination outside of people's houses... There were a lot less supernaturals at that point too, which I like. (Which makes me already happy with this new season, since we are back to the main- humans, vampires and fairies, with few shifters/were creatures)

 

S3 was probably my next favorite- I loved Russell as the bad guy in S3. His whole house and Talbot ( I miss Talbot!) There were definitely times and storylines that went off the rails, I have no desire to even hear the word werepanther again.. and the werepack stuff after S3 bored me to tears, despite how good looking JM is. The Authoritaaay was a bit of a let down, but I did love the bromance in the first half of S5... oh to be stuck in that trunk ;)  Despite Warlow being lame, S6 took things in a good direction for me, since it started shutting down lots of the extraneous side stories and bringing things back to the core group. I really liked the idea/execution of vamp camp.

[Avaleigh]

From the s7e9 thread:

They acted like that small group of Hep-Vamps represented the whole of the problem. Now that that small group is gone? No worries, problem solved! Because it's not like there were other vampires in Louisiana, right? It's not like vampires can move really fast from place to place or even fly...

Thank you for this, ITA. It's too stupid. Just another of the thousand dumb and inconsistent things about this season.

Bon Temps is still doing it's vampire human plan, and while they aren't making a big production about it, we see all the time that humans aren't going outside after dark without a vampire with them... unless it's Sookie... but she was wandering around alone at night the same night the H-vamps attacked...

It hasn't only been Sookie. I'm just thinking of the family standing by after dark while two high people were assaulting their lawn. I'm thinking of Bridget and Adilyn and her stepbrother. There's just no sense of urgency that roaming Hep-V vamps are a problem. Nor is it entirely clear if Hep-V makes a vampire more dangerous when it comes to attacking humans or not. On the one hand it seemed like the idea was that the Hep-V made vampires more aggressive and more likely to take chances because of feeling like they're going to die soon anyway. OTOH we have people like Bill, Eric, the teacher, and those people in the waiting room of that lawyer who seem like they're easily able to control themselves even though they're suffering from the virus. It feels inconsistent like almost everything this season.
Then of course there's the additional problem of the idea that Sam and Nicole are going to automatically be safe because they've left Bon Temps even though the show has made it a point to show that the dangerous Hep-V vamps are supposed to be all over the place and not just in Bon Temps.

I think they've been clear that this is a world wide problem... sure, it's not been in your face, since the focus has been on the characters we know and that we care about (mostly, Lettie Mae aside)

I'm not even sure I really agree with this. I like the idea of shows that I've been watching since day one focusing on the characters that I've grown to care about but I don't feel like that's coming across all that well this season if indeed that's what they've been trying to do. Tara's story was a mess, a total failure IMO, and I don't feel like it taught me anything new about her or gave her any sort of satisfying closure. I find it hard to believe that the writers would really think viewers would be interested in seeing LM get closure.
With the Jessica/James/Lafayette triangle--we barely knew James so to me the stakes weren't really all that high for me in terms of who James ended up with. I didn't feel chemistry on either side and I don't feel that James has given us much character insight when it comes to Jessica or Lafayette. I don't feel like I got to know either character better this season. Lafayette was especially wasted. Sure he got a boyfriend and I guess I'm happy if he's happy but there wasn't anything interesting or exciting about his storylines this season.
Alcide had been with the show for a long time and I thought his send off sucked as well. I didn't feel that his death brought anything interesting to the table. All it did was make me irritated with Sookie.
With Eric and Pam, we have at least had some fun backstory. These have been among the scenes that I've enjoyed most this season and that's...sad and disappointing because Eric and Pam really haven't been up to all that much. When a flashback of the two of them owning a video store is one of the highlights of the season--IMO that's a pretty strong indicator as to how badly this season has sucked. The Sylvie stuff? IMO it didn't do anything interesting for Eric's character nor did it make any sense to introduce the great love of Eric's life this late in the game. If Sylvie was supposed to give viewers more insight into Eric's character, I think that was a huge failure. I already understood the depth of the Eric/Pam relationship without needing the addition of a cardboard character like Sylvie.
If the plan was to bring back Hoyt all along, I don't think it was well set up and it should have at least happened last season. Also, if this season is supposed to be all about spending time with the characters we've grown to love, I don't understand forcing a character like Bridget into the equation. Why is she necessary to wrap up the Jason/Jessica/Hoyt situation? Instead it comes across like they're trying to wrap everything up in a neat little bow and it's boring as hell not to mention super predictable.
We've spent massive amounts of time with the Yakuza doing practically the same thing every episode.
We had way too much of new character Violet only to have that end with barely a whimper.
For me this just hasn't been a season where I feel like they've been focusing on popular characters who still have interesting stories to tell. Instead it feels like a lot of filler, a lot of recycled and repetitive ideas, a lot of time spent on new characters (but then totally dropping newbies like Willa), and a lot of lacklustre stories for the surviving main characters.
Apart from Dexter I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in a final season of a show and I went into this with low expectations.

 

Edited for all kinds of shit. I hate autocorrect!

Edited August 24, 2014 by Avaleigh

[kieyra]

Rewatching S5 and S6 recently, and it's just crazy how they spend hour upon hour upon hour on Terry's b-plots, including an entire half-episode devoted to his funeral and flashback scenes. While other major characters die this season and...well, you know. I like the actor fine, back to his Gilmore Girls days, but obviously someone behind the scenes was passionately in love with him.

 

Meanwhile, I'll take a moment to point out again how stupid it was that the vampires feeding on Bill in the sunlight room didn't just walk through the doorway Eric came through to escape the sun.

Edited August 24, 2014 by kieyra

[rungirl911]

Streaming from Season 1 on Amazon Prime and loving it all over again! 

 

edited: Gah, season 2 and this Mary Ann storyline is a bit much so I am fast forwarding that part, but it is so fun to watch this all over!

Edited June 13, 2015 by rungirl911

[AndySmith]

Funny enough, True Blood's seasons follow the same structure as Buffy's do for me. Seasons 1 to 3 are great fun, seasons 4 and 5 are hit and miss but still somewhat enjoyable, while seasons 6 and 7 are just ugh horrible.