True Blood - Spoilers and Speculation

[rkgardner2003]

Anyone else feel that the show has "lost its mojo." Oh, it's an enjoyable, escapist hour, but it's nowhere near as good as the first few seasons. Feels like the series is suffering a slow decay.

I just finished season 5 the other day, wasn't one of my favorites, but better than the season with Marian ... they almost lost me for good, may have been season 2? If we get some bad a*$ fae next season, it may turn around! (I haven't gotten HBO to start season 6 yet!)

[rkgardner2003]

Not sure if anyone else has been watching this season. I'm almost caught up, just this week to watch . I have to say , I am enjoying this season so far.

Spoiler:

All I can say is what the heck Alcide?! Poor Terry!! And I hope someone eats Sarah Newlin.

[Brother Freyr]

Anyone else feel that the show has "lost its mojo."

Perhaps I spoke too soon. Big improvement, last couple of episodes.

[mr_kennedy]

Perhaps I spoke too soon. Big improvement, last couple of episodes.

Really? this weeks episode was kind of a drag

[fems]

The show seems to be getting worse every season. The funeral episode was awful and the funeral itself was completely dragged out and should have taken no more than ten minutes instead. Fast forwarding wasn't a real option either considering they kept switching between the funeral and the research facility, sometimes at the most inopportune moments!

Bill's plan sucked as well and I still don't understand why it took him episodes to actually go to the research facility to "save vampire kind", because he didn't really do anything special this episode that he hadn't done in the previous ones where he just kept hanging out in his house and whining about Sookie/Warlow.

Are spoilers needed in this thread? I'll use them just in case for the specific moments of yesterday's episode I'm about to mention...

Spoiler:

I still don't understand why Bill couldn't just open the door of the sun room and let everyone out and felt the need to let them all feed off him! He was obviously inside the room long enough to explain what his great plan was before Eric found him and the others and by then the roof had hardly opened. Newlin hadn't been able to drink from Bill and yet he survived until Eric held him in the sun, so everyone could have just left via the door and waited until nightfall (like all the other vamps wreaking havoc in the facility) to escape.

I also thought it was odd how there were suddenly unknown vampires dancing around in the sun with them outside, after Jessica and James had gone to help Bill. Those were vamps we've never seen before (maybe in passing) and they weren't in the sun room, so how did they get Warlow's blood from Bill?

But the strangest thing is how Bill's blood was still capable of protecting him and the others from the sunlight. It has been days since he drank the teeny tiny amount of Warlow's blood that was in the vial! It should have worn off already and he certainly shouldn't have been able to feed everyone else there. Never mind how everyone except Eric (and Bill) was high at the end of the episode, even though Eric had fed from Adilyn (sp?) and nearly drained Warlow! Now, if it was Lilith's blood that got everyone high that's understandable since they drank from Bill, but Jessica also got high when she drained the three faebies and nearly killed Adilyn too. So, either way Eric should have been affected by the faerie blood other than being able to walk in sunlight.

And I don't believe drinking Warlow's blood makes them permanent daywalkers because if that was the case then Lilith would never have died when Warlow used his light to make an opening in the 'roof' of their cave, causing the sunlight coming through to kill Lilith.

I'm just getting kinda bored with the show and the writing has become so lazy (far too many plotholes and retcons, like Nora's age and circumstances of her turning) that I'm not sure I'll be tuning in next season.

Maybe if Niall comes back I can be persuaded but they seem to have forgotten about him and he was the only really interesting character of late.

[Brother Freyr]

The show seems to be getting worse every season.

I agree that's the general trend. Maybe there was an uptick somewhere along the way. (Unsure.)

The funeral episode was awful and the funeral itself was completely dragged out and should have taken no more than ten minutes instead.

I liked

Spoiler:

Terry

, so taking the time for a slow, sweet goodbye was fine with me.

Spoiler:

I still don't understand why Bill couldn't just open the door of the sun room and let everyone out and felt the need to let them all feed off him!

Well, even if they didn't need his blood that very second, drinking the special blood was necessary, to escape the facility during daytime. We can grant dramatic license for the timing, to provide the setting for the sunbathed crucifixion iconography. Obviously the scene was about more than a simple rescue.

Spoiler:

But the strangest thing is how Bill's blood was still capable of protecting him and the others from the sunlight. It has been days since he drank the teeny tiny amount of Warlow's blood that was in the vial!

Yeah, that stretched credulity (and did so through all of the previous episode too), but then again, the entire series is a cartoonish fantasy/horror indulgence. It always was.

Don't get me wrong, fems, I agree that quality's declined substantially. Viewers who are really bothered by the decline should stop watching the show. For me, it's still a fun hour of crazy.

[rkgardner2003]

Don't get me wrong, fems, I agree that quality's declined substantially. Viewers who are really bothered by the decline should stop watching the show. For me, it's still a fun hour of crazy.

I agree also, just enjoy it and don't over analyze the continuity problems, let it be fun!

[fems]

I don't try to analyze the show either but this last season it has just become ridiculous in how they contradict themselves.

Spoiler:

No, you can't turn a fairy, unless you're Lilith and turned one 5000 years ago and end up with the most pathetic faipire hybrid ever. Drinking fairy blood makes vampires high, unless you're Eric and drink from a half-fairy and nearly drain the faipire. Sookie can't read the minds of vampires, unless it's Warlow and even then she's so bad at it that she still doesn't know what he did to her great great great (?) grandfather and Jason. Warlow is pure evil and is coming for Sookie, except he's actually a lovesick faipire hybrid who has loved her for nearly 6000 years even though she isn't even thirty years old yet. Drinking fairy blood gives you brief immunity to sunlight, unless you're Jessica and drained three half-fairies and nearly drained a fourth one because you still have to rely on Billith to save you from the sunroom even though you only drank all that fairy blood less than a few days ago and Billith drank like 10 drops of Warlow's blood and is still immune to sunlight days later.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. All the stupid retcons and ridiculous plot lines are just ruining the show for me. Before, I could just watch with a slight shake of my head and laugh at it but now it has become ridiculous and some of the actors just seem to phone in their lines. I don't even remember if Billith said anything other than a few "Eric"s in an ominous tone this past episode. Oh yeah, he told off the naked blood girls who work for Lilith.

[squirrely1]

WOW Ok I started watching this show on HBO and only caught the first season and like half of the second season then I cancelled HBO....couldn't afford it Anyway I picked up Seasons 1 through 3 on DVD at Buy backs real cheap and was going to start a rewatch and then start picking up the other seasons as I can afford them...but seriously all this talk about the show's decline I'm wondering if I should bother? HELP!!??

[Brother Freyr]

squirrely, definitely watch seasons 1-3. they're a hoot. for me, the decline is pronounced in seasons 5-6 but not enough for me to stop watching. i suggest you decide as you go. when you reach the end of season three, you'll know whether to continue.

[fems]

The first few seasons were entertaining enough but indeed it's the latter few that start to grate. I certainly wouldn't pay money to watch them but at the moment it's one out of four shows a week I watch, so I usually watch the episodes when I get bored and there's nothing else for me to watch.

[mr_kennedy]

Spoiler:

A Timeskip huh? interesting

WOW Ok I started watching this show on HBO and only caught the first season and like half of the second season then I cancelled HBO....couldn't afford it Anyway I picked up Seasons 1 through 3 on DVD at Buy backs real cheap and was going to start a rewatch and then start picking up the other seasons as I can afford them...but seriously all this talk about the show's decline I'm wondering if I should bother? HELP!!??

It's still watchable for the most part ........... if you got nothing else to watch then keep watching I myself keep asking the same question but i will be back for s7 atleast

[fems]

I have to say that was one of the lamest season finales I've ever seen!

Spoiler:

It was like killing Warlow was an afterthought and Niall oh so conveniently showed up through the portal in Sookie's bathroom just in time to save her life, with Jason assisting. Also, why didn't Sookie just use her fairy ball on Warlow instead of being all wimpy even though he was going to turn her into a vampire if she didn't do it.

I also thought Warlow's change in behavior was a bit odd and could have been handled better. I never really believed he was a good guy but I couldn't decide whether it was the writing or acting, but either way his mood change was too sudden and it would have been better if they'd shown him getting impatient and frustrated with Sookie a bit earlier on. Not that I really blame him: like he said, he had held up his part of the deal and now Sookie was going back on her word (after reiterating once more that she never breaks her promise ) and instead suggested he date her rather than her marrying him.

Personally, I would have been sorely disappointed if I'd waited for 5500 years for a bride and ended up with Sookie, so I probably would have given up already but Warlow had a point about them having a deal (besides the marriage contract) and she should have followed through. But no, she'd just seen Alcide again and knew there was still a chance another man was interested in her after both Bill and Eric gave up on her and Sam turned her down because his girlfriend of two weeks (the one he slept with like a day after Luna died) was pregnant...

I wasn't at all surprised to see Sookie and Alcide as a couple after the time jump for that reason, by the way. So lame. They have no chemistry whatsoever and it's like she's only with him because he's the only other available supernatural man. Not to mention that he looks like he's a lot older than she is with his graying hair (although it probably helps that Anna Paquin has been looking so haggard and old after losing too much weight too fast after the birth of her twins and the bad makeup of this season isn't helping) and I can't imagine them having anything at all in common, other than they're both supernatural beings.

Also, the 'death' of Eric was so lame not even the full frontal could make up for it! I don't think he's really dead considering he was only set alight and was standing in the middle of the snow so he could have easily dived into a snowbank or something, but I guess TPTB figured it was ambiguous enough in case the actor doesn't want to come back later on.

Bill's vamps were also annoying and I was surprised that it apparently wore off on Pam before any of the others, or maybe the others were just merrier people. Just thought it was odd they would go volleyballing of all things while high and in the sun.

Still not sure what to think of Violet, although she is less annoying (and more helpful) than before but her constant babbling about her monogamous relationship with Jason was boring. Also didn't see the point of the scene where he had to go down on her for the 78th (or whatever) day in a row; the whole scene was pointless other than to prove she was still pulling the strings and insisting on him not having sex yet. They could have done that in five seconds but they really dragged it out just to show some gratuitous sex.

I did like seeing Adilyn (sp?) doing something useful with her powers and wanting to help Sookie. Plus her being terrified was kind of cute, even though I thought it odd that Bill was the one who told her everything she needed to know about her powers. How does he know that? He's only a hundred years old. Or did Lilith give him tons of knowledge atop of her powers too? Just thought it was a strange scene but they probably wanted to show Bill's 'good' side again, since Eric had no trouble getting into the other plane in the previous episode.

Don't understand why Sam is suddenly mayor of the town and why they all need vampires to protect them from the hep-V infected gangs. The government had all these cool weapons and we know Andy at least had access to a lot of them (from when they went after Warlow) so why couldn't the people protect themselves instead of becoming donors to healthy vamps? And are there even enough vampires in the town to provide all the people/families with protection? Thought it made sense for Jessica to offer protection to Andy and his daughter but we all know how useless she is as a vamp when it comes to a fight, so I doubt she's going to be much help. Not to mention that she still has to feed somewhere, which means she'll probably need to protect another family too.

Also thought Sookie was still too into Bill when he was on television. The whole Sookie/Bill thing is getting on my nerves now and it would be nice if it was just over for once.

The whole book by Bill was ridiculous, by the way (not to mention that Lilith clearly stated she wasn't a god but created by God and that he was the only one) and I can't believe he's been writing the last six months instead of saving vampire kind like he kept going on and on about for the entire season. Guess that just meant saving Jessica and whoever else happened to be in the sun room. Pff. You'd think he'd at least try to retrieve the tainted blood or fight those infected vampires, or maybe even set up a new true blood factory (can't believe it isn't operational yet after 6 months) but no, he just wrote a book and went on TV to talk about it...

Oh and where was Niall after the time jump? He oh so conveniently left again after saving Sookie from Warlow? How lame and such a waste of an excellent actor (just like with that guy who plays Alcide's father; terrific actor, bad character and wasted talents).

Anyway, I don't think I'll be back for the next season.

[Brother Freyr]

Anyway, I don't think I'll be back for the next season.

You really shouldn't. Me? I'll be back for more. The show is way too much fun for me to give it up. It's not that I think you're wrong with your criticisms. It's just that they don't bother me, not with this particular series. True Blood delivers what I expect from it.

There are other series with flaws that bother me enough not to return. Revolution and Under the Dome are recent ones. Their weaknesses aren't any worse than the ones you detail for True Blood, but those series want us to take them seriously. True Blood approaches us as if we're all in on the joke. The show-makers and the viewers come together with a mutual understanding that the entire enterprise is ridiculous. We viewers expect the show-makers to alternatively shock us, make us roll our eyes, laugh out loud, or surprise us. A dramatic storyline with emotional gravitas is a secondary or tertiary objective.

Do plot holes and internal inconsistencies matter? Yeah, sure they do. They weaken the series. Do they matter as much for True Blood as they do for a series that postures itself as realistic? Goodness no. So, yes, the problems fems cites would drive me from some other series but not from True Blood.

[fems]

The thing is, the ridiculousness of the show was fun - in the beginning. Because the writing and other stuff was still good enough and there was consistency in overall arcs etc, but now they just seem to have lost the plot.

And I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be disliking the main character - Sookie - as much as I do now. She has just become so pathetic as the show progressed that I really think the girl ought to take a step back and stay single for at least half a season for once. She just jumps from one guy to the next and really is a danger whore (I think she enjoys being one too), and while normally that wouldn't be a bad thing over this many seasons they've made it pretty clear that most seasons only last ten days up to two weeks.

Oh and the same goes for Sam. Totally lost all credibility. So, it's not just Sookie I am seriously disliking. But at least they got Alcide back to his somewhat normal self, I guess that's the only positive thing to have come from the whole werewolf story line.