海角大神

The intent of this episode is to find who or what Bill (Stephen Moyer) is now but the actual story and its focus is, as one now expects from this series, unnecessarily complex and disorganized, so much so that the question it鈥檚 looking to answer is once again muddied by the relentless, unforgiving nature of the numerous storylines that True Blood attempts (and mostly fails) to juggle simultaneously. But even though the mess of plots and subplots continuously to feel unnecessary, as if it鈥檚 a weakness of the series, there鈥檚 something about this amalgamation which tempts you to tune in, year after year, episode after episode 鈥� and season 6 is no different.聽

The premiere picks up where the left off, with Sookie (Anna Paquin) and company escaping from the Vampire Authority as Billith was born from blood. This, itself, is a bit of a conundrum for those tuning in, as you鈥檙e required to piece together fragmented memories from over a year ago in order to understand what鈥檚 going on. This has largely been the case since True Blood began, but since season 5 and season 6 storylines are essentially one, being able to remember everything from last season is now a bit of an unfortunate necessity. And though the series has been on the air for six years now, it seems as if you need to continuously remind yourself that this show is, for all intents and purposes, a vampiric soap opera, as season 1 was the only time the series could have been considered a streamlined drama.

Still, True Blood keeps pushing forward, moving more and more away from the source material, into whatever theoretically logical storyline can hopefully encase its enormous 鈥� and ever-growing 鈥� cast of characters. Now it鈥檚 time to witness (canonically speaking); the shortage of Tru Blood; the reign (or lack thereof) of Billith; humanity鈥檚 turn on vampire allegiances; Andy Bellefleur鈥檚 (Chris Bauer) rapidly growing fairy children; and Sam Merlot鈥檚 (Sam Trammell) single father woes 鈥� and that鈥檚 just in the premiere episode, where no story really feels fully serviced.

But with longtime series scribe Brian Buckner taking over as showrunner for season 6, and Raelle Tucker, who penned the terrific season 1 finale, taking on the first episode of the season, there鈥檚 a real reason to be intrigued and excited about what the premiere, as well as the season, has in store for its characters. Such encouraging and hopeful feelings are quickly squashed, though, as True Blood finally reveals itself for what it is: a self-working machine, where writers and directors are really only there to continue progressing what鈥檚 already been established. Typically, what鈥檚 already been established would be series formatting, character personalities, visual styles, etc. But in the case of True Blood, what鈥檚 already been established is its proverbial cornucopia of characters stories, with an open-ended seasonal storyline to boot.

Now that鈥檚 not to say that what True Blood currently is, in and of itself, is a bad thing, but it does limit the avenues that creative minds, like Tucker, are able to take with their given episodes. Additionally, with the episode count being cut from 12 episodes to 10, the inherent structure in which Tucker, as well as every other writer on the show, are typically used to have shifted, so there is a 2-episode storytelling gap that needs to be filled, even if many believe there鈥檚 already too much storytelling going on already.

What we鈥檙e left with, essentially, is a 鈥渂all鈥� that鈥檚 been rolling for quite some time, and the only thing Tucker can do is maintain the series with the season 6 premiere 鈥� but, again, that鈥檚 not necessarily a bad thing. As True Blood has aged, it鈥檚 the supplemental characters, like Eric (Alexander Skarsg氓rd), Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) and, yes, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), that have risen to the top, as their characters have the weight and intensity to break through the melodrama of its main characters, to consistently elevate each scene beyond its operatic structure. But at the same time, characters like Terry have, sadly, been pushed aside and are now used as a comic relief or, like with Alcide, are given completely unenticing storylines to follow.

At six years of age, True Blood has already defined itself as a series, so any complaints of its complicated, disorganized structure are a bit of a moot point, and there鈥檚 no real opportunity for anyone 鈥� even the showrunner 鈥� to change that. And it shouldn鈥檛 change, really.

Because no matter how numerous or ridiculous the storylines, no matter how operatic the series itself is, there鈥檚 an undeniable allure to its madness which leads you to continue tuning in. There鈥檚 a reason why soap operas were so successful on television for so long, and True Blood has, for better or worse, successfully made use of such elements. Will this be one of the best seasons of television you鈥檝e seen? Not likely. But you鈥檝e got to give credit to a series that can get you to watch it on its terms where even if, at times, you鈥檙e frustrated, you鈥檒l tune in next week.

Anthony Ocasio blogs at .