I am a Johnny-come-lately to this show. I can say, however, that I have spent the last few weeks living and breathing True Blood. It is engaging from the word go, though I was introduced to it in the second season. It has one of the coolest opening sequences I have seen–my wife contends that the putrifying fox is overkill. Perfectly married to the intro is Jace Everett’s jangly, theme song. I actually only figured out recently that it isn’t Chris Isaak singing. I’m not saying that the song is a total rip-off of Isaak, but . . .well . . .yes I am.

The show blends horror and humor with such beautiful balance that it feels a bit like real life even though it has many fantastical elements. What makes the show so great is that it really isn’t about vampires. Like any good art, it appeals to much more universal themes. In this way, I feel it is more like Dark Shadows than it is like Twilight. It’s Dark Shadows meets Twin Peaks with a dash of In the Heat of the Night (movie, not show). Of course, the true terror lies in the interaction of the two societies: vampires and non-vampires. With overt overtones of racism, and the fact that the show is set in a very disturbing and gothic–William Faulkner would love this show–South only adds to the conspicuousness that the vampires represent the “others.” The clearest comparison would be the racial tensions between blacks and whites in the same South decades prior.

One of the most interesting characters is Eric. He is seductive, yet crude. He retains a youthfulness that Bill does not but is much, much older. He is the stereotypical vampire that the prejudice non-vampires loathe and use as confirmation of their prejudice. The aformentioned Bill is a caricature of the tortured soul(less) damned to appetites of slaughter while devoted to morality. He does it with a certain gusto while remaining a southern gentleman. He is the voice of reason, balancing out Sookie’s kindness and exhuberance will a stern severity.

Maryann casts a dark shadow on the small Lousiana town. She is a deadly Dionysus, casting her orgiatic spells and laying waste to any semblance of order, commanding her minions to gyrate and rub against each other exstatically, almost religiously. Her lure is great. Her parties are legendary, and she is very, very evil. Great casting in Michelle Forbes. She has comes off like an experienced yet dignified strumpet, something akin to Lana from Three’s Company, seriously.

My review may not be the most impartial. My relationship is new enough with the show that its like when one first starts dating someone and they mold themselves into what they think that person’s ideal them would be. I feel that True Blood and I are there. It hasn’t shown me its unattractive side yet. It still gets up before me in the morning to brush its teeth so I won’t know that it gets morning breath. It definitely won’t pass gas in front of me. We haven’t run out of things to talk about yet. I am truly enjoying the show and all it has to offer. The scary, the ridiculous, the seductive, and the subtext.