OK attempt number 3......
First up, this ep almost flat out stopped me from watching the show altogeather. (not a good way to start.) True Blood is rated R in Australia, which means restricted to 18yr+ and damn does it earn it. It has loads of fairly full on sex scenes in this ep so if you offended by sex on TV, this may not be the show for you. Also, the language in it is fairly full on as well, as is the violence (hell the whole show is full on!!) so fair warning if you are thinking about getting into the show. Having said that however, I'd say 80-95% of it, does serve the characters and the storyline and is not just for the "shock value"
What I've decided to do in these reviews is to concentrate on the storyline itself and less on the individual "scenes".
S1 Ep1- Strange Love.
As you would expect for a pilot ep, this one serves to introduce the main characters and the setting of the story and our main characters are:
Sookie Stackhouse: Sookie is a waitress in the local grill house (Merlotte's) and also a "receptive telepath" (something few people know). She is also quite innoccent in alot of ways and is always trying to think the best of people, even when she knows better.
Jason Stackhouse: Snookie's brother. Unlike Snookie, Jason is a "male slut", hitting on nearly any woman with a heartbeat. He does however have some kind of moral centre, however.
Tara: Sookie's best friend. Tara is a extremely bright woman but has little tolerance for idiots and tells them so in true umm, "Low rent" style.
Lafayette: Lafayette works with Jason during the day on the council works group and is the cook at Merlotte's at night. He is also unashamadly gay/bi.
Sam Merlotte: Sookies boss and owner of the roadhouse. He has a huge crush on Sookie.
Bill Compton: Bill is the towns first resident vampire. as yet we know very little about him except that he seems to enjoy the company of mortals.
Main Plot:
In essense, the first episode is the begining of a muder mystery. One of the local women that Jason spent the night with is found murdered in her apartment. The local sherrif comes to question Jason as unknown to him, she has vidiotaped thier sex and this makes Jason the prime suspect.
In Sookies world, Bill comes in to Merlotte's and she immediately senses that he is a vampire. She talks to him for a while and whilst she is the local "drug suppliers" who are sitting in the next booth overhear them and try to get to know Bill better. The two druggies don't want to get to know Bill however, they are attempting to get him to go with them as they want to drain his blood as "V" as it is called is a highly potent drug when drunk by mortals that increases their healing and sex drive. Snookie picks up on this and warns Bill not to go with them.
Bill leaves with the Druggies and Sookie runs off to find him. Out in the "parking lot" the druggies have laid a silver chain over Bills arms and neck which seems to render him unmovabe but concious and they are draining his blood. Sookie attacks the man with a steel chain she has taken from a a ute and he pulls a knife on her. Sookie then throws the chain at him that wraps around his throat and begins to strange him, seemingly of its own volition. Sookie grabs the knife and threatens the woman who backs off and they drive off. Sookie then removes the silver chain which we now see has burnt into Bills skin, allowing him to move. It's also at this point that Sookie realises that she cannot "hear" Bills thoughts. Bill makes a half hearted "threat" to Sookie about being out alone with a now hungry vampire and Sookie waves it off and wraps the silver chain around her neck. Bill tells her she has other "tasty arteries" and he himself is "fond of one in the groin". Sookie verbally slaps him down and insists that he treat her like the lady that she is and a bemused Bill agrees to.
Sookie then goes home (after being rousted by her boss) and we meet Sookie's Grandma who has raised Sookie and Jason since thier parents died as children. Gran is happy that Sookie has met someone (even if it is a vampire) and asks Sookie to ask Bill if he was in the Civil war and if so could he talk to her Civil war history group.
The next night Bill comes back to the bar and asks if he can "call on her". Sookie agrees an they agree to meet at 1:30 at the bar after she finishes work. During the exchange, Sookie realises that if she touches Bill, not only can she not hear Bill's thoughts, but anyone elses either.
The ep ends with Sookie waiting for Bill to arrive, but as she is waiting she gets "jumped" by the 2 druggies and is getting the crap kicked out of her (not pretty)
Sorry, its a bit all over the place but I think I got all the major plot points. Each ep is 57-60 minutes long and generally only covers a few days (this one was only 2 days in story-time). and are packed with lots of nuances, some subtle, some not so much
. I'll try to get ep 2 done today (kid depending) as they run directly togeather.
