True Blood: thumbs up so far

[annathepiper]

I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse books for quite a while now. As I've posted before, I kind of fizzled out a bit on them for fear that they were about to cross into the territory of too much sex, not enough story; I'm behind by three books at this point, I think.

However, now that I've seen the shiny new show True Blood, my affection for the earlier books may have been rekindled.

Here's the thing... the show gets the overall vibe right, not only of the books in general, but also of the South. I've seen complaints that the accents are too over the top, but, speaking as one who's lived among those accents, they really rather aren't. In fact, after mamishka showed me the first couple of episodes, my Kentucky came roaring back with a vengeance, so hard that it shoved me almost down to Tennessee. This quite startled poor solarbird, who jumps every time she hears a renewed drawl coming out of my mouth. *^_^*;; Even the credits seem to establish the proper mood. I like the overall look of them, and the song played over them works too.

But more importantly, characters and plot. Anna Paquin is pretty much nailing Sookie, and the gentlemen playing Bill and Sam and Jason are all solid. I've seen complaints that the guy playing Sam looks too young, but for Meems and me, after a while he actually doesn't--he's a little grizzled around the edges if you look closely enough. Tara is not a mouthy black chick in the books, but I'm liking her implementation so much in the show so far that I don't care. Grandma Stackhouse absolutely rocks.

There's more sex than I care for--but hey, it's HBO, so this hardly surprises me. And in actuality, there doesn't seem to be more sex in this version of the story than there is in the books; it's just that as a writer, Charlaine Harris tends to cut a lot of fade to blacks. Whereas on TV, it's all right on camera. I also note that the on-camera sex we've had so far all involves Sookie's brother, not Sookie herself, and it's actually contributing to the plot and the characterization of Jason (which is to say: horny little idiot ;) ). So I don't particularly mind this, so far.

I'm really appreciating that the show so far seems to be following the initial book fairly closely, taking its time to build the tension of what's going on. A different show might have tried to cram a lot more action into each episode, but for me, the way they're doing it really works. It gives them time to increase the atmosphere and the general creepiness of dealing with vampires. We as viewers are getting into it an inch at a time, right along with Sookie. And since this is yet another show about vampires, it helps a lot to remind people that OH YEAH THIS is why these creatures are scary.

Keep it coming, HBO. I'll be checking the site regularly now that I know the episodes are getting streamed up there. And I think I'll re-read the earlier books again, too.

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

What, ah say, what is wrong with a Tennessee drawl? (he says in something that's actually patently very deep south, probably Mississippi, which is very different from my native Upper Tennessee Valley.)

That's really cool that they got the accents *right*... that was what impressed me about "Walk the Line", was that either the director or Reese and Joaquin knew the difference between Johnny's Arkie/West Tennessee drawl and June's hillbilly twang and got it right... nowhere near over the top (it's pretty subtle to begin with if it's done right) but...

This sounds like something to check out. Correct Southern accents, sex with a point, and a good vampire yarn? Pleeeeeeeeze, Miz Elf, don't throw me in dat briar patch! :)

[annathepiper]

Well, let me clarify: what I mean is that they sound right to my ear, but keep in mind that my ear was raised in Kentucky. :) And the story is set in Louisiana. That said--there's also a character with a Cajun-sounding accent as well and he sounds right to me, though somebody with more experience with NOLA may be able to say better whether he is actually nailing the accent.

Heh, if you want to check out the show you can watch the streaming episodes, as I mentioned--they're here.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I actually liked it better than I thought I would. The only bit--which I gather is from the book anyway--that doesn't ring true to me is how Sookie can be such an evident innocent when she can READ PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS. Aside from that, though, yeah, I'm enjoying it. :)

[annathepiper]

That is from the books, yeah. Though I suppose that one can handwave a bit and say that there's a difference between overhearing stuff in people's heads and actually seeing it in front of you... and also, Sookie does actively work at all times to not overhear people, so she doesn't get a constant barrage from everybody. But indeed, you'd think she'd be a little more worldly. :)

[agrimony.livejournal.com]

I could do a bit less with the Jason sexcapades, really.

And boy do I shudder at what they've done with Lafayette. Otherwise, I'm liking it. :) Where are you finding the stream? I find HBO's show site to be utterly useless.

[annathepiper]

mamishka brought me the episodes on disc. I think further watching will have to rely either on local friends who have HBO, or else I'll just have to hold out until HBO decides to put the episodes up for sale on iTunes. (I'm given to understand that they won't until the season is finished airing.)

I've been poking around looking to see if it's streaming anywhere; I'd thought that the episodes were streaming on the main site but only realized after I started playing with it that they're streaming the episode trailers, not the actual episodes. Bah.

However, somebody on the site's forums pointed at watchtrueblood.net so I'll keep an eye on that.

[agrimony.livejournal.com]

*shiftyeyes* I might possibly know of a way. Kinda. Maybe. Not that I'd do anything naughty, of course. I never would. Just something I overheard somewhere you know. like that. :)