What's On TV: True Blood

I had previously mentioned that I would talk about the stuff I've been watching on television in recent weeks. Today I'll start with the show I've just picked up last week. The subject: vampires.

Vampires have been talked about so frequently and featured in entertainment many times, yet the idea never gets stale. We've learned so much about them, but the air of mystery still surrounds their existence, and I think that's why making a story out of them always seem to work.

We've seen vampire stories revolve around teen angst and the collision of good and evil (Buffy, Angel), pure action and violence (Blade), tales of love and immortality (Interview With The Vampire) and modern day sleuthing (Moonlight). Vampires have also been portrayed as sleek killing machines (Underworld), campy bloodsuckers (From Dusk Till Dawn) and vegetarian types (Twilight). Though the last one isn't really about vegetarian vampires, it's a teen love story between a vampire and a mortal.

Which brings us to True Blood. What if vampires were allowed to live among us? That's the background of this series, where the Vampire Rights Act has been passed, which puts vampires on equal terms with humans. This is possible because the Japanese have successfully created a synthetic version of human blood, called Tru Blood. So vampires need not feed on people anymore, they can just buy this stuff at the store.

But of course, like real world racism, just because an act has been passed, doesn't mean the world readily accepts it. There is still debate on the whole idea. True Blood focuses on the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, in the deep south, where Sookie Stackhouse lives. Sookie is a waitress blessed, and maybe cursed by the ability to hear other people's thoughts. Every day she hears the ugly and sometimes demented things that goes through the heads of the people around her. Which is why, when vampire Bill Compton walks into the bar where she works one night, her life changes forever.

See, Sookie can't hear Bill's thoughts, which makes him unique to her. She considers him a godsend, if you will. The two are attracted to each other, and begin an uneasy relationship after Sookie saves Bill from a nasty couple harvesting his blood for medicinal purposes, and he in turn saves her from the same couple a night later. Sookie likes him, but soon fears him when she learns about his darker side, and the things he is capable of doing. At the same time, she has to contend with a serial murderer running around town, since her dumb ass brother Jason becomes the prime suspect.

Oscar winner and X-Men star Anna Paquin puts on a very convincing performance as Sookie, which earned her a Golden Globe. British actor Stephen Moyer is perfect as the brooding Bill Compton. Other key characters besides the above two and Sookie's brother Jason are Sookie's best friend Tara (who is as annoying as hell), Sam Merlotte, Sookie's boss and Adele, her grandmother.

What I like about it is the premise of the show. It presents a different view of vampires, and yet seems familiar. The love story might remind you of Twilight, but the whole idea of two different races living together under uneasy circumstances reminds me more of Alien Nation, an old TV series about a race of aliens arriving on Earth and living among humans, creating prejudice towards themselves for their differences.

Trying to get used to watching the Southern way of life on TV might be tough though. Southerners are portrayed to be loud, brash, unrefined and nosy in this series. But I think that setting is just the right one for the vampire-human premise. Sookie herself isn't that likeable to begin with, but she grows on you after a while.

Watching this hasn't been easy, since it comes on at the same time with some of my other favourite shows. Catching the reruns haven't been easy either, but so far I've been keeping up as best I can. If you have this show in your country, give it a try, especially if you like dark stories.