True Blood Season 3 - "Bad Blood"

How this blog went so long without ever talking about HBO's TRUE BLOOD, I have no idea. Creator Alan Ball's follow-up to his hugely popular show Six Feet Under, True Blood is based on a series of novels by Charlaine Harris, about what would happen if vampires were real and decided to announce their existence to the world. The novels are a mix of romance and fantasy, focusing on the love life of a small-town cocktail waitress named Sookie Stackhouse who possesses the ability to read minds. Ball has chosen to only loosely follow the plot of the novels, and has expanded the show's world to become something unlike anything else on television. The mix of campy plotlines, over-the-top violence, gore, sex, and a healthy dose of gayness make it by far the most entertaining show on television right now. The second season, which aired last summer, is when the show truly found it's audience and grew to become HBO's most successful show since The Sopranos.

The third season of True Blood premiered on Sunday, and I had high expectations. I can't remember the last time I've been so excited for a new season of television. Thankfully, the premiere completely delivered. The episode, "Bad Blood", set into motion the various plotlines that will develop throughout the season, and it did it in a fast-paced, funny, and sexy hour of television.

In addition to being a lot of fun, this episode was possibly the gayest yet, featuring the most homoerotic scene of the series thus far (and that's saying a lot). Early in season one, we learned that vampire blood contains healing properties when drunk by a human. However, there is a side effect when this occurs; a strong bond is formed between the human and the vampire, often manifested in the human having intense sexual dreams about the vampire from whom they drank. Those who have been watched True Blood previously will recall that during last season's finale, a mortally wounded Sam drank a great deal of Bill's blood. Happily, the show isn't afraid to shy away from depicting said side effect, even when the act occurred between two men. Sam's dream about Bill was fantastic and pretty damn hot, if I do say so myself. I've included a clip below, for those who'd like to see for themselves.

Even with that plot twist, which I hope will be further developed throughout the season, True Blood promises to get even gayer this year, with an increased role for the hilariously droll lesbian vampire, Pam, a boyfriend for Lafayette, and a gay vampire king all coming up in later episodes.

New episodes will be on HBO Sunday nights at 9pm, and hopefully I'll be posting about each episode after it airs. So tune in, check back on this blog, and we'll do bad things all summer long.