The ratings for True Blood are as good as ever, but I’ve heard from more than a few fans that they are not enjoying season four of the show. At this point in the season, I’m afraid I have to count myself among them. Last week’s episode had some good forward momentum with the big bad, but ultimately I found Antonia’s spell to be a laugh fest. Watching all of the vampires on the show writhe and moan on their beds yelling “The Sun! The Sun!” like a freshly turned zombie shouting for brains had the unintended effect of making me laugh. Hard.
In any case, I think True Blood is far from being a lost cause. Heck, even this season could turn around, and I have a few thoughts on how it could.
Have the characters talk to each other: Remember when the characters on this show at least pretended that they knew each other? Sookie and Tara used to be best friends. They’ve barely spoken all season. There are so many plot lines happening this year and very few of them are intertwining. I would love to see some of the characters actually interacting with each other instead of all these new folks. The show is just getting overcrowded.
Stop making Sam such a dick: Remember during the first season when Sam was the super nice guy that you secretly hoped Sookie would hook up with instead of “Captain Charisma” Bill? What happened to that guy? In the last couple of seasons he has turned into a complete jerk. I would love to see the old Sam that was an actually likable guy. There have been flashes, but overall he’s still taking up residence in douchetown.
Find something for Tara to do: Poor Tara. The character has seemed a tad superfluous this year. At one point in this show she was a confidante and shoulder to lean on for Sookie. Now she just seems to be an add on to the witch storyline because there’s nowhere else to stick her. It’s not fair to the character or to Rutina Wesley.
Increase the sense of danger: It’s hard to take a threat like Antonia’s spell seriously when you know she isn’t going to take out Bill or Eric or probably anyone else of any importance on the show. It doesn’t help that there is a series of books that continue to prove that these characters will live to see another episode. The first season did a great job of raising the stakes with the death of Sookie’s grandmother, but since then there have been very few shocking deaths. With the characters in “peril” so often, it feels like it’s time for the other shoe to drop.
Give the vampires some fangs: The vampires in True Blood used to be mysterious and dangerous. Remember those crazy vampires in the mansion during season one? Or how Eric was unpredictable during season two? Or Russell and Franklin’s antics last season? This season the vampires just seem tame… and dare I say boring? Thank god for Pam, who’s at least still attacking some folks.
So, what do you think about this season of True Blood? Are you loving it? Do you have some other ideas for improvements?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Aug 11, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
I like the progress that Bill, Jason, and Jessica are making, and Pam getting more screen time is always a good thing.
Numbers 1-4 could be solved with two simple acts: killing Tara off would solve number 3 and 4, and restoring the Sookie-Sam relationship to something more resembling season 1 would solve 1 and 2 (though I could do without him pining for Sookie). As for number 5, taking Eric away from his shipper-servicing amnesia would go a long ways to fixing that.
I completely agree this season needs to be turned around and like the suggestions here. I would be happy to sacrifice Tara to increase the element on danager on this season. Also can we eithter kill Tommy or scare him out of town for good?
I was thinking of Sam and season one the other day and realized that Sam has become more of a bad ass than Bill (coldly disposing of his mother – I kind of liked that) – how ironic. Oh Sookie – you chose the wrong man if you were really looking for dark and dangerous!
We will likely see Eric regain his memory only to try to hide it from Sookie and then end up loosing her to the lies – which is fine because then she can finally be with Alcide and give us gals what we have been waiting to see all season.
I agree you could solve 3 and 4 by killing Tara off. I used to like the character when she was the badass, wise cracking barmaid, best friend of Sookie, but I feel like she has gone downhill since the whole Menad (sp?) storyline. She lost her edge and now she seems superfluous to the story, I was actually hoping that Pam would kill her last week.
I agree with 1 too, there is far too much going on in the show, so much so that you feel like nothing has happened after an hour. I could do without were-Panthers and possessed babies thank you (although I do find the latter story funny especially the way Arlene reacts to it).
Also, Eric how long have I been waiting for this! That being said it would have been nice if Sookie had fallen for the good in Eric as he was not the neutered version we have at the moment.
I disagree, I have watched the series since the beginning and I have been enjoying this season better than the last one. It’s true that we could do without some characters or storylines, but c’mon! You have to give them credit for not having vampires killing people around and still make it interesting. On a side note, I completely love what they have done with Lafayette.