True Blood Season 6 (Update)

Update 6/11: So it appears that Sookie's love interest in season 6 will not be the sexy Quinn, but rather a fairy named Ben Flynn. Perhaps you tried to get witty with the rhyming, True Blood, but not cool. Not cool at all. In the short story "Gift Wrap" in A Touch of Dead Sookie has a Christmas Eve one night stand of passion with a fairy named Preston. Nothing else really came from it. Chronologically, this story takes place after book 8 in the series but hey, what the heck True Blood? Since everything else plot-wise is out of whack let's throw this random Ben Flynn plot in, too. 

If you keep up with my blog then you know that I’m a huge fan of the Sookie Stackhouse novel series. It’s no surprise then that when the show True Blood started 6 years ago, I was immediately hooked. The series started off keeping close to the plot of its predecessor novels, representing each season, respectively. However, as the seasons have progressed, the show has gone off the tracks and has become a new beast entirely (no pun intended). I understand the need for minor plots, storylines and characters on screen, but too many and it’s overkill. That’s how I feel about True Blood now; somewhere between seasons 4 and 5, for me, the show seems to have lost its raison d’être. 

Therefore, I may be one of the only fans of the HBO series who isn’t that excited about this upcoming season and may not tune in consistently, opting to check out new summer programing and catching the replays. I wasn’t too thrilled with season 5 which had a cluster of fairy hybrid babies, an acrobatic birthing sequence, fire/shadow monsters, multiple personalities of Lafayette (which is always acted to perfection, but was all over the place plot wise) and vampires on what seemed like steroids. Also, if we reference a connection to its respective novel, Definitely Dead, there looks to be no Quinn, no Amelia, no Pelt family revenge and kidnapping (which was one of the pinnacle points of Definitely Dead’s plot), no reason to go to Louisiana, because Hadley is in fairy land, and the queen is already definitely dead, so no crazy violent ball brawls. Jason still isn’t a werepanther (a plot line eliminated which I’m still begrudging), although he did tap into his inner Van Helsing. There does, however, look to be a lot of running from uber-vamp-Bill, now imbued with Lillith’s blood, vampires being hunted by mortals…again, and a whole lot of Alcide shirtless. We’ll see how the shortened season (12 episodes down to 10) goes. You can be sure I will be blogging some feedback as the season progresses.

 

Are you excited about the premiere of True Blood next week? What are you hoping to see or not see?

Dead Ever After

It's official fellow Sookie Stackhouse fans!! The thirteenth and final book in the Sookie Stackhouse novel series is due for release on 

May 7th 2013: DEAD EVER AFTER 

I can hardly wait! I can also hardly take the fact that this will be the final book! What are we going to do come 2014? After 13 years of waiting for Charlaine Harris awesomeness and Sookie Stackhouse adventures, this final novel is bound to be amazeballs! 

 

True Blood: "Use It!"

“USE IT!...USE IT!” This is a line from the lackluster final installment of the Blade trilogy, Blade: Trinity. (This was also the first of 3 comic book heroes Ryan Reynolds would play. Sigh.) But I digress. Blade repeats this to Whistler’s daughter when she feels hopeless after losing her friends in battle. This is the line I have been quietly chanting since season 4 as I watch, what I feel are, discombobulated episodes of True Blood. Throughout this blog I’m sure you’ve seen my fanatical love for all things Sookie Stackhouse Novels oriented, including seasons 1-3 of HBO’s hit series based on the novels, True Blood. As I quietly chant, “USE IT!” I am sincerely hoping that Alan Ball and friends can hear my plea for them to stop taking lame creative liberties and use the core plot of the novels for the respective seasons. This includes not diverging into a realm of subplots grasping for life on screen but filled with the stuff of Twinkies, and pushing characters who snap the audience back into attention and truly shine (Pam, Lafayette ) onto the backburner for 15 seconds of screen time. Does every major and minor character need to have an individual plot? No thanks. By the end of the episode, which seems to get shorter and shorter every week, my head is spinning with visions of smokey fire monsters, leather-clad Bill and Eric bopping along, and just all around “bad juju” (as Lafayette would say).

Tara was correct last night when she said that, “the more things change the more they stay the f*ng same!” Because although Tara is now a vampire, she is still angry and bitter with the world and the people in it. Thanks writers. (Insert sarcasm here) Just as I was beginning to like the new season 4 MMA, kick ass Tara , she comes full circle to the Tara who was trying to break away from Bon Temps all along. Plus side? It looks like she can hold her own against a vampire 2 years older than her. And speaking of things staying the same, Jason is still a guilt-ridden sex fiend with a kind heart and good intentions but who is not a werepanther. He spent so much of last season and the beginning of this season chasing after Jessica like a love-struck puppy that I found myself resenting the writers for not using his werepanther storyline from the novel. Honestly at this point in the show, that would probably just be one more supernatural creature added to a roster that is currently bubbling over in the show, but has no where to go. 

What do you think?

 

True Blood Season 5

**Possible Spoilers if you haven't yet seen Season 4 of True Blood...

Excuse the big Target sticker. I love to save. :)

Last year I wrote on the pros and cons of the season 4 premiere of True Blood. While I ended up enjoying the season simply because the amazing acting coupled with magic and the supernatural creates an awesome 50 minutes per week, with the premiere of season 5 tonight (based on Dead As A Doornail), I am both excited and a little wary because of the creative liberties Alan Ball and his team have taken with the show. The Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse Novels, which the series is loosely based on, is a fantastic literary series; each season of the show follows a book in sequence. It's so fantastic, that while I realize a 12 episode season can't contain everything a 300+ page novel can, I have had my share of disappointments of veered plot lines and some missing characters.

For instance, Claudine was drained and killed by an amnesiac Eric in season 4 when she's supposed to be around to protect Sookie for about 5 more books/seasons; Jason never turned into a werepanther; Bill is king and a bit of a d-bag; Russell Edgington is still the big bad. Many of my pros have centered on the additions of some characters who add to the dynamic and some plot twists I didn't see coming. So let's see what this season has in store for us! But I tell you, if Quinn (the sexy, tall, bald, purple-eyed, strong, weretiger who also happens to be my book-boyfriend;) doesn't show up towards the end of this season, I might have to write an angry-toned letter. But also, the dynamic of Quinn also hinges upon who is chosen to play him. I always find it interesting that True Blood is filmed each year and the vampires are supposed to maintain this timeless, un-aging look. If the show follows the 13 novel timeline, 8 years from now, Bill and Eric may be looking a bit rough. Haha.

Deadlocked

So today I finished Charlaine Harris' latest Sookie Stackhouse Series novel, Deadlocked, and I have one word: AMAZEBALLS!! Honestly, by the time you've read this post I would have started reading it again. It's. That. Good! If you've kept up with my blog, or even Google searched something in the realm of "Sookie Stackhouse" "True Blood" or "Charlaine Harris" then my poll or post probably popped up in the search. Why? Because I'm obsessed; obsessed with the heroine, fantastical creatures, action, romance, humor, and the skillful and creative way Harris has turned this series into its own beholder of magic. Honestly, I have NO idea what I will do this time next year when the thirteenth and final novel in the series comes out. I've already read the series in its entirety three times while waiting for the next novel. Whew!

Insanity n. - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ~Albert Einstein

So, thank you, Ms. Harris. I will now be considered officially and, most likely, clinically insane. Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that Deadlocked ties up many loose ends and brings some storylines to an end...or are they? ;) I'm just going the throw my final novel guess in there and say that I believe Sookie and Sam will be together in the end. I was always rooting for Quinn, but too much negative has transpired between them. I do agree with his acknowledgement that Sookie was unfairly hardest on him because, for me, Eric (in his non-amnesia form) has never truly proven that he would choose Sookie over power. And Bill...well, that history is all kinds of complicated. My reasoning for Sam + Sookie:

1. They've known each other for about six years.
2. They trust and know each other's secrets.
3. They've protected and saved each other countless times. Sam in lion form? Awesome! 
4. Sookie posed as Sam's girlfriend at Sam's brother's wedding. 
5. Sookie stood with Sam and his family against two-natured discrimination and violence. 
6. They have chemistry and have shared some hot moments of passion throughout the earlier parts of the series.
7. Sookie chose Sam. (Note the ambiguous bold font ;)
8. They can grow old together without Sookie having to become a vampire. 
9. They can have babies.

*Well, I guess we'll all have to wait until next year for the final installment to see who, if anyone, Sookie chooses. I can barely wait!

Sookie Stackhouse Series Poll

What are your favorite "Sookie Stackhouse" series novels?

Thank you for voting! :)
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