Geek Culture: Season 3 of True Blood premieres. Were you bitten?

June 17, 2010 - By Jacinta C. Baca

Did you watch the season three premier of True Blood this past Sunday? If not, you are among the few who television viewers who didn’t. The world’s vamp phenomenon experienced a major blood spewing explosion this past weekend that created a frenzy that overwhelmed even the stars of the show.

I watched a few minutes of the red carpet premier prior to its start, and the amazement on the faces of the cast made me feel as if they were floating on this cloud with me. Ryan Kwanten, the actor who plays Jason Stackhouse, mentioned how awestruck he was regarding the difference between the premier of the first season and that of the third. The satisfaction was written on their faces. It was like watching graduates cross the stage to receive their diplomas after working hard and wishing for success in the television business. I was happy for them. Shoot, I was happy for me, because I was a part of it.

I want to note that I didn’t have HBO until the day before the series started. I only ordered it so that I could watch True Blood (and maybe a little Entourage. Love me some Ari). When I called my cable company to pay the ridiculous $15.95 for a channel I’m only going to watch once a week, the customer service lady immediately knew why. She said, “Is this for True Blood?” I answered, YES! And we continued to have a 5 minute conversation about how excited we both were for the new season. I loved her, up until the point where she tried to sell me telephone service. After that, our relationship was over because she’d brought business into it.

So, the show is starting. The absolute best television title sequence ever commences. We start off in the restaurant where Bill was kidnapped. We see that Sam had fled like he said he was going to do. We see how everyone is dealing with the death of Tara’s boyfriend, Eggs, at the hands of Jason. Eric is trying to get himself out of trouble regarding selling illegal V, and Jessica is up to her newborn shenanigans.

The entire show is a recap of where we left off with brief snippets of what is going to happen next. Unlike every other True Blood episode I’ve watched (and I’ve seen them all), this one feels like the third book of a series of novels that has suddenly become popular, and the writer is just trying to get the bandwagoners on the same page. It seems flashy, and the writing is not as witty. The camera shots have now become Peter Jackson-esque, and we are way too close to the character’s faces.

BUT, I’m in no way knocking this show. I understand the pressures of going from a cult phenom to… the new Seinfeld or Sopranos of television series. I know we have to let the bandwagoners get up to speed by watering down what our sophisticated vamp palettes are used to digesting. I can say, though, that I’m not giving them more than one more episode of this. I want to see the True Blood I’m used to…with quick wit behind every corner and dungeon wall, jaw dropping twists, and an awesome cliffhanger at the end of every episode. Bring it on!