Plot: What’s it about?
I’ll probably kick myself when I read this review next month or year, but I have to say that “True Blood” is a television show that you can really sink yourself into. There, I said it and I’m not going to delete it. In case you haven’t noticed, vampires are the new “it” thing in pretty much everything with Stephenie Meyers’ ruling the box office to multiple TV shows about our fabled fanged feeders. Alliteration. Nice. Truth be told, there’s really few shows on TV that are more pleasing and/or satisfying to watch and if you’re a fan of vampires, odds are you’ve already seen this show and are no doubt reading this review. If you haven’t seen this show, stop now and go check out the first few episodes of season one. If you like them, you’ll be hooked and if not, it’s only a few hours of your life that you’ve sacrificed. Seeing as how this is Season Two then I won’t bore you with what’s already happened only to say that we pretty much pick up right where we left off. So without further ado…
Sookie (Anna Paquin), Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Andy (Chris Bauer) came across a dead body in the back of a car (this is where the first season ended), but suffice it to say the identify of the body isn’t exactly an extra. Jason (Ryan Kwanten) has become a born-again Christian and is now immersed in the “Fellowship of the Son” bible cult, forgiving his prior ways. And we also meet Maryann (Michelle Forbes), a surrogate mother of sorts to Tara and we see a lot of her this season. Maryann is one of the central focuses of the second season and to tell too much about her would be to ruin the plot and I certainly don’t want to do that. But let us get back to vampires, that’s what the focus is all about anyway, right? We meet some of the higher ups in the vampire world, most notably Godric (Allan Hyde), a vampire so old and powerful that we know he’s got to be a badass despite the fact that he looks like a teenager. Lastly, we see more of the brilliant supporting cast with Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), Sam (Sam Trammell) and Bill (Stephen Moyer).
The sophomore season of “True Blood” showed that the first season wasn’t a fluke. While I wish there were more than a dozen episodes a season, beggars can’t be choosers. “True Blood” continues to deliver on all levels and I assure you that it’s not just another “vampire” television series. HBO has done a wonderful job with the cast, adding new and exciting characters to the show and not all of them will stay around. Even dealing with the undead, not everyone lives to see another day (or night as the case may be). “True” fans of the show will want to snatch this up and at the very worst, loan it to a friend who hasn’t seen it – show them what they’ve been missing. I’d say that “True Blood” for me is only rivaled by “Dexter” as one of the best cable television shows out there. Not everything relating to vampires is of the “Twilight” nature, there’s substance to these blood-suckers.
Video: How does it look?
Just like the first season, these episodes of “True Blood” are shown in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and these look stellar on Blu-ray. The opening credits have a montage of stock photography that really showcases the entire spectrum of what we see on the show. The entire series has a somewhat muted appearance to it, though there are certainly bold, bright colors. An in any feature that deals with vampires, we can be assured that blood will come into play and it does. This Blu-ray looks as good if not a bit better than the HD broadcasts that I watch episodes on and for anyone wanting to have the most pristine version of “True Blood”, well this is it.
Audio: How does it sound?
Again, like season one the second season sports a DTS-HD Master Audio track that, at some points, rocks. While it’s true that a lot of television series aren’t really made for dynamic audio, this one might be an exception to the rule. This uncompressed mix sounds very robust during some key sequences. There are gunshots, fires, fights, car chases and much more that really make use of all 5.1 speakers. Dialogue is as clear as we can expect, though with the series taking place in Louisiana, it’s hard to make out some of the thick accents. This is a good mix and I’d forgotten how good this series actually sounded.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The second season Blu-ray has its share of supplements and if you have the means, get the Blu-ray as it contains all of the special features from the DVD plus a whole lot more (as is the standard with Blu-ray releases). Starting off we have “Fellowship of the Sun: Reflections of Light” with some words to live by, er “rules” if you will, with the leaders of said cult; Steve and Sarah Newlin. As we all know, vampires are very en vogue and we get a “Special Edition Vampire Report” that highlights the biggest stories in vampire news, politics and pop culture. The highlight of the features are the seven audio commentaries by creator Alan Ball and a slew of cast members including Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsg?rd, Michelle Forbes, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell and Rutina Wesley. Moving onto the Blu-ray exclusives we get a picture-in-picture feature on all dozen episodes as well as some “character perspectives” from characters Hoyt, Karl, Pam and Steve Newlin. I enjoyed these and it’s always fun to see these folks do these featurettes in character (hence the name). We also get some “Pro/Anti Vampire” Feeds which are more news updates from the American Vampire League and the Light of Day organization. Lastly, we get some hints with some trivia facts, hints and clues to look for while watching the episodes.
