'True Blood' season premiere is too stuffed with storylines
An often action-packed thrill ride through the repercussions of the previous season, the season 5 premiere presents a thoroughly entertaining, though flawed, first installment for the series鈥� new year.
Picking up where the chaotic finale left, much of the premiere follows Sookie (Anna Paquin) and friends through the aftermath of their murderous escapades. Certainly a necessity given the numerous cliffhangers and unfinished stories that were left from last season, a noticeable divide presents itself in the premiere, where with some characters is juxtaposed with new, compelling stories for others.
As Sookie and Lafayette 鈥渢ake care鈥� of Tara and Debbie, Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) 鈥渢ake care鈥� of 聽Nan Flanagan and the Vampire Authority, and Sam (Sam Trammell) and Alcide (Joe Manganiello) 鈥渢ake care鈥� of Marcus and the pack, while Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is kicking things off with Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) and Jessica is trying to 鈥渇ind鈥� herself. Oh, and Russell Edgington (Denis O鈥橦are) is back.
While separate and concurrent storylines aren鈥檛 inherently a poor trait, True Blood聽once began as a single story with many parts. Now many stories with their own individual elements muddle the narrative 鈥� each scene represents its own story with its own characters (which rarely overlap).
Aside from this trait making True Blood a truly active viewing experience (if you want to keep up with what鈥檚 going on), the lack of fluidity amongst the series鈥� many storylines makes it difficult to get an overall sense of what鈥檚 actually occurring in Bon Temps.
That being said, for those able to completely grasp hold of True Blood鈥檚 transition from its聽initial narrative to its current structuring, the season 5 premiere is a mixed bag of thoroughly enjoyable scenes and intriguing character moments.
With many of the best character moments coming from the likes of Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) and Terry (Todd Lowe), many of the other storylines present a more heightened emotional front, which can often become goofy or silly 鈥� while still remaining enjoyable.
Though and other impending challenges were interspersed throughout the premiere, there isn鈥檛 really a clear sense of where True Blood is heading as the season progresses. Having screened episodes beyond the premiere, it鈥檚 fair to say that some will be surprised to see what occurs by episode four. Of course, by now, this should be no surprise for fans of True Blood.
Having experienced previous seasons of Gods and witches, fans of the series should be up to speed with how the series reacts to outside entities trying to enter the story. Fortunately, True Blood season 5 appears to be trying to tell 聽using many of the series鈥� familiar faces. While several new characters are added throughout, their inclusion feels more natural and overall advances the characters鈥� story nicely.
By turning Terra (Rutina Wesley) into a vampire, it certainly provides the series with a way to keep her around. More importantly, it allows the writers to tap into another side of the character. Giving the powers of a vampire to a woman who has largely been abused by the world, it鈥檒l be interesting to see how she takes to her new affinity for the night time.
Finally touching upon Terry Bellefleur鈥檚 military past, the return of former platoon leader Patrick Devins (Scott Foley) presents an intriguing storyline for the typically quiet character. Though Devins鈥� introduction was masked by a confusing introduction that didn鈥檛 even make sense to Terry (let alone the audience), the overall intent of Devins wasn鈥檛 made as clear as it probably should have been.
Trying to incorporate so many聽individual聽storylines into a 60-minute television series is extremely difficult 鈥� something True Blood hopefully learned from last season. So while the聽True Blood聽season 5 premiere is an enjoyable collection of new and concluding story-arcs that, for those willing to give way to its quickened pace of storytelling, represents that beginning of what very well could be a completely entertaining season, that sentiment could unfortunately change at any moment.
Until the true intent of True Blood season 5 is revealed, the safest bet is to take it one episode at a time, because who knows when the next 10-minutes epic fairy war will break out.
Anthony Ocasio blogs at .
