New book analyzes the True Blood phenomenon with a collection of funny and insightful essays.

The season finale of True Blood is barely a week old and already I’m experiencing Bill-and-Sookie withdrawal, as I’m sure are most of my fellow Truebies. Well, if rewatching the episodes from this past season isn’t enough to satiate your appetite for some fresh Bon Temps-themed bon mots, there’s a clever book that you might want to pick up and I don’t mean one by Charlaine Harris. A Taste of True Blood: The Fangbanger’s Guide is an unauthorized collection of insightful essays that ponder the fascination the world of True Blood holds for Truebies around the world. Although Charlaine’s books are mentioned, the focus is more on her tale as interpreted by Alan Ball on HBO, and the writings, from a diverse group of contributors that includes authors, media pundits and even a psychotherapist, are as thoughtful and passionate about True Blood as are the show’s fans. No topic is left unexamined as pithy ruminations are made on the sociological significance of the show’s characters and plotlines, ranging from the class wars waged among the economic rubble of Bon Temps, to Bill Compton’s seemingly fading heroism, to a Freudian analysis of the dynamics of Bill and Sookie’s tortured romance. It’s all good fun and makes for a thought-provoking read without drifting into dullsville. The book includes an episode guide for the first two seasons with call-outs of the most memorable quotes from each episode. To ensure accuracy, although the authors clearly seem to be Truebies themselves, the publisher consulted with the popular True Blood blog The Vault. At just over 270 pages, it’s a breezy read and makes a good gift idea.  Here’s a link to their site.

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True Blood introduces Joe Manganiello as werewolf Alcide Herveaux.

Will Alcide fall for Sookie's irresistible charm just like all the other True Blood hunks?

Enter Alcide

June 27: Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) jumps in front of Sookie’s bullet so that he can keep the biker wolf alive long enough to find out who he works for. The biker gorges on Eric’s blood and won’t identify his master, so Eric kills him in a very messy way. He buries the body and warns Sookie that he won’t be able to protect her when she decides to travel to Jackson, Missisippi to search for Bill after reading the wolf’s thoughts. Eric does the next best thing and sends a hunky werewolf named Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello) to look after Sook. Alcide spooks Sookie (Anna Paquin) when he shows up at her place but later proves very helpful at a werewolf biker bar in Jackson where Sookie picks up on the memories of one of the pack members who kidnapped Bill. When the werewolf gets rough with Sookie, Alcide springs into action and a brawl erupts. The bar’s bouncer breaks it up and tells Alcide that his ex-gal pal Debbie is engaged to Coot (Grant Bowler). Alcide still has a thing for his former flame. Maybe Sook will help him get over her as their search for Bill continues. Sam (Sam Trammell) gets his own surprise when the Mickens family shows up at Merlotte’s and dips too deep into the sauce, making a scene. An episode of Family Ties this ain’t. Later, Sam’s office is ransacked by a bird. The question is whether it was baby brother Tommy or mama Melinda. Tara (Rutina Wesley) gets up close and personal with Bon Temps’ newest vamp, Franklin (James Frain), who gives her an eye-rolling romp in the sack. When he starts getting too personal the next morning, her intimacy wall goes up and she scrams. Sookie pays for a funeral for Eggs, so Tara agrees to move back home, where she later gets a visit from Franklin, who glamours her into inviting him in. Franklin is pumping everyone for information on Bill (Stephen Moyer), even Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll), whom he helps with her little victim problem by hacking up the body in return for the scoop on Mr. Compton.

Why is Franklin (James Frain) investigating Bill's history?

Twisted Sister

In other Bon Temps news, Sheriff Dearborne abruptly quits upon discovering the hacked up corpse of Jessica’s mistake. Arlene (Carrie Preston) learns her pregnancy is too far along for the baby to be Terry’s but she stays mum when he joyously assumes it is. Who did Arlene screw at Maryann’s many orgies last season? Eric gives Lafayette (Nathan Ellis) a hot new convertible. Jason (Ryan Kwanten) decides to become a cop, but his guilt about killing Eggs continues to manifest itself in visions of people with bullet holes in their head, which proves awfully distracting.  Back in Jackson, Bill experiences painful flashbacks to 1868 when his little boy died of smallpox and his heartbroken wife Caroline recoils in terror upon learning of Bill’s vampirization. Lorena (Mariana Klaveno) allows him to wipe Caroline’s memory clean of the tragedy and tells him that loving humans only brings pain and destruction to them. In the present, Lorena unfortunately survives Bill’s firebomb and is rather miffed when His Royal Toupee (Denis O’Hare) spares Sookie’s life after Bill decides to sever ties with his life in Bon Temps and remain as sheriff of Mississippi. At least she gets screwed in a better way when Bill later attempts to literally bang her to death, biting her and twisting her head around like a pretzel, which only enhances her pleasure. Bill can only scream in frustration upon realizing that he only proved that Lorena is truly a twisted bitch.

Photos copyright 2010 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. 

 

Joe Manganiello (Alcide) will be the hot new star on True Blood.

I may be risking the wrath of a lot of Eric fans when I say that I think Joe Manganiello is going to make a big impact as Alcide Herveaux the werewolf on True Blood. Believe me, though, it’s a good thing. I looked him up on IMDB after seeing the shot of him looking like a lumberjack as Alcide with Sookie (Anna Paquin) in Entertainment Weekly and realized that I’d seen him on the CW Network romancing Sophia Bush on “One Tree Hill.” He looked a lot more clean-cut in the role of Owen Morello, but no less hot. I’m guessing Alcide will fill a spot somewhere in between Sookie’s supernatural suitors; i.e., he’ll be more rugged than Bill (Stephen Moyer) but not as polished as Eric (Alexander Skarsgard). Time will tell. Still, there’s no denying his sex appeal. A scene I found on YouTube showing him as some sort of commando in a 2009 movie called “Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia” reveals that Joe is going to be one buff werewolf who’s more than capable of handling any action scenes that may come his way. Check out the scene here.

New True Blood minisode showcases Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll)

The thing I love most about the minisodes HBO is leaking to promote the new season of True Blood is how true the scenes are to the characters we know and love so much. Last week’s bit with Eric and Pam so captured their respective traits — Eric’s brooding air of danger and seduction, Pam’s acidic, snarky humor — and this week’s (R-rated) installment follows suit with a showcase for Jessica. Our favorite teen vamp, played by the luminous Deborah Ann Woll, has a surprising encounter with a self-righteous, Bible-thumping geezer and things don’t go as we might expect. The scene combines two central elements of Jessica’s story: a heartbreaking glimpse into a new vamp’s journey into self-awareness and resigned acceptance combined with the suspense of an impetuous savagery that can explode at any moment. Deborah Ann Woll’s baby-doll beauty masks a terrific bad-girl soul that hits all the right notes in this inspired subplot by the True Blood writers. I didn’t expect Jessica to be a major character when Bill turned her. I assumed the scene when he was forced to do so had more to do with his love/hate relationship with being a vamp, but I’m glad the writers had more in mind. Jessica’s story is one of my favorite parts of the show. Click on the image above to view the clip at YouTube. Kudos to Deborah Ann. The men of Bon Temps had better watch their backs.

YouTube footage copyright 2010 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.

TV Guide gets first look at Alcide’s werewolf form in True Blood.

The new issue of TV Guide got the scoop on how Sookie’s hunky new buddy Alcide (Joe Manganiello) the werewolf will look as his lupine alter ego. Check it out on page 10. It turns out that the True Blood producers opted to use real wolves rather than CGI effects. It should be interesting to see how well-trained the show’s hairy costars turn out. Werewolves have been a big pop culture trend recently and the approaches to their depiction have varied wildly. I liked the CGI wolves the Twilight movie series unleashed in “New Moon” and Benicio Del Toro’s updated tribute to the old-school Lon Chaney interpretation of “The Wolfman” was pretty chilling. I just hope True Blood at least gives us some cool transformation scenes. Sam (Sam Trammell) morphs into his dog form pretty seamlessly, but I personally like those messy man-to-wolf transitions that involve good-old-fashioned howling, stretching snouts and extending fangs and claws. Kind of like this scene from the ’80s classic “An American Werewolf in London.” Beware, it’s pretty intense!

Scanned content copyright 2010 TV Guide Magazine. All rights reserved.

Did Queen Sophie-Ann and Eric kidnap Bill on True Blood’s season finale?

 

Maryann finally had her heart broken, literally.

Marital Madness

TV shows have a tradition of featuring weddings as season finales, but what went on at Miss Maryann’s freak fest on True Blood Sunday night was a doozy. Poor Sookie was drafted into service as Maryann’s maid of honor and had to stand by while the maniacal maenad, dressed in Sookie’s grandmother’s wedding gown, plotted to set the stage for Sam’s sacrifice to the god Dionysus. Things were looking pretty bleak when Jason and Andy showed up to save the day, only to be overpowered by Maryann’s zombie rednecks and recruited into her fold. Bill, meanwhile, forced Sam to face the music and brought him to Maryann, who had him strung up for an awaiting Eggs to remove his heart. Bill and Sam, however, had other plans. When an angry Sookie “zapped” Maryann’s meat obelisk, tearing it to the ground, the bride was NOT happy. Sprouting her beastly claws, she took after a terrified Sook, only to come upon a ghostly ox that distracted her from administering a fatal blow to Bill’s special girl. Maryann assumed the horned beast was her bullish bridegroom Dionysus and dangled in rapturous delight from its majestic horn, thinking her release from eternal life was finally at hand. When the ox shifted to its true form Miss Maryann realized she had been duped by Sam, who pulled out her black heart and crushed it, killing her instantly. Serving up some poetic justice, Sam and Bill cleverly used her own mythology against her, finally turning the predator into the prey. 

Does Lorena still have a hold on Bill?

All Choked Up

At Queen Sophie-Ann’s lavish lair, the Yahtzee-loving retro girl lambasted Eric for letting Bill discover that Eric was involved in V juice dealing. When the sexy Viking vamp pointed out that Bill still didn’t know that Queenie was supplying him the juice, she bared her fangs. Threatening to remove his cute canines to make new earrings for herself only seemed to turn him on as he eagerly accepted her teasing nibbles. Eric promised to personally make sure Bill wouldn’t spill the beans on her. Something tells me these two may have an office fling next season, if they aren’t having one already. With Miss Maryann reduced to maenad mud, Queenie is poised to be Bon Temps’ new lethal lady and Sookie will no doubt be her number-one target if Bill and Eric continue to compete for her heart. That’s if Bill is still around. The swoons of millions of True Blood fans were almost audible when he proposed to Sookie, who revealed some deep-set doubts about the practicality of marrying a vampire. Sook excused herself to the ladies’ room to ponder his offer. “What’s there to think about?!!,” wondered millions of female viewers.  She returned only to find that Bill was missing. Who swiped him? Whoever it was had to be strong enough to overpower him with silver chains. Did Eric make good on his promise to Queenie? Did Queenie do it herself? I think not. My theory is that it was that annoying Southern belle who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer: Lorena. Consider that the last time we saw her, aside from Sookie’s hot dream about Eric, was when Bill escorted her out of Godric’s lair before it was attacked by the suicide bomber from the Brotherhood of the Sun. Bill told Lorena he would never see her again and she said she wished he had never said that. Her tone was menacing in a Fatal Attraction “I will not be ignored” sort of way. We already know that as Bill’s maker she’s stronger than he his. Trust me, he’ll wake up next season chained to a bed in her boudoir with her prancing around in a lace teddy and marabou slippers to win him back. Until then, Biting Remarks will be taking a break, unless our True Blood favorites do some fun stuff worth posting about before the new season starts up next year. Be sure to visit me again then and if you’re a Melrose Place fan, check out melroseagain.wordpress.com. I recommend it. Wink.

Photos copyright 2009 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.

Will True Blood’s Maryann sacrifice Sookie instead of Sam?

A Gay Old Time

Is it just us or was Sunday’s episode obsessed with gender bending? First we see Eric wearing Tara’s mom’s dress in Lafayette’s vision, then the cross-dresser who Sookie interrupts while he’s trying on a new outfit at Maryann’s lair. And then there was our first gander at Queen Sophie-Ann (Evan Rachel Wood) snacking on the thigh of her female human companion, who turns out to be Sookie’s cousin Hadley (clearly this thing for the undead runs in the Stackhouse genes!). A centuries-old vampire who was made in the flower of her youth, Queenie is a retro gal with a penchant for old-school tunes and ‘40s pinup style. Her line delivery, however, came across more like snarky Gossip Girl than world-weary royal. Still, it was good for a laugh and it’s nice to know there’s someone around who’s as cool-as-a-cucumber as Miss Maryann. Much more provocative was Queenie’s anything-goes sexuality.  Bill obliges her when she insists he snack on one of her male pets, but draws the line at having sex with him. A tickled Queenie shares that she likes to watch two men go at it and even suggests Bill and Eric get horizontal to resolve their struggle to be top vampire in Sookie’s heart. Looks like Queenie will be stoking the flames of that fire next season. 

It's good to have Lafayette back in action.

Good Help is Hard to Find

Back in Bon Temps, Miss Maryann is up one and down one when Tara breaks free of Lafayette’s lavender fur handcuffs (with the help of her eternally guilty, God-fearin’, booze-lovin’ mom) and returns to the fold. Maryann goes maenad manic, however, when her moronic minions tell her how they were faked out by new best buds Jason and Andy. Luckily she comes upon a rifle-toting Lafayette trying to rescue Tara again. When Lafayette’s shot ricochets off her palm, killing her long-suffering man servant, she remembers that Lafayette can cook. Unfortunately for the snooping Sookie back at chez Maryann, a newly possessed Lafayette joins Tara and Eggs in cooking up what looks like a giant ostrich egg back at the ranch. Did Maryann lay it?

As the big season finale approaches September 13, we offer some final, random thoughts:

Pam's back, bad fashion sense and all!

It’s great to see Pam back, childless and proud. She kind of looked like Fergie in her scene.

Maryann looks silly in her bridal gown. Did she get it at David’s Bridal?

Looks like Eric and Queenie will have a cozy visit.

Best lines of the night:

“A maenad? In Bon Temps? That’s random.” – Queen Sophie Ann upon learning of Bill’s predicament back home.

 “Sometimes you have to destroy something to save it. That’s in the Bible… or the Constitution.” – Jason, explaining why violent action needs to be taken to deal with the possessed townsfolk.

“And you had to settle for a dead man!” – An enraged Tara, defending her love for Eggs to Sookie when she and Lafayette wouldn’t let her try to rescue him from Maryann.

“That man just liked to dance more than a normal man should.” – Hoyt’s ever hilarious mom, continuing the episode’s gay theme with an insinuation that his dad was a closeted homosexual. BTW, does anyone else think that she looks like the evil twin of Doris Roberts from Everyone Loves Raymond?

Photos copyright 2009 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.

A Biting Remarks photo tribute to True Blood’s Stephen Moyer

We at Biting Remarks realize that our recent posts have repeatedly sung the praises of Alexander Skarsgard’s compelling performance as Eric (deservedly so), but that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate the formidable attributes of True Blood’s star vamp, Bill Compton. So as we await next Sunday’s penultimate episode of the season with bated breath, we introduce a regular feature to this blog called “Supernatural Stats,” in which we’ll occasionally examine some personal tidbits about our favorite True Blood stars. We begin this week with a few morsels about the oh-so-sexy Stephen Moyer.

Born: In Brentwood, Essex, England on October 11, 1969 (well preserved, like a true vampire!)

Personal:  Has a young son and daughter by previous relationships and is engaged to co-star Anna Paquin (but you knew that already, didn’t you?)

Career Notes: Cut his teeth with stage roles and TV appearances in his native England; Played the title role in the 1997 film “Prince Valiant” opposite Katherine Heigl and had his big break in the USA Network miniseries “The Starter Wife,” which went on to a short run as a weekly series without him after he had committed to “True Blood.” His absence probably killed the show’s chances.

The Starter Wife screen capture by Sanna_o75. Click on the image to see more great shots of Stephen!

True Blood’s dynamic duo Bill and Sookie bitch-slap crazy Maryann.

August 23: Wall to wall action! 

The Exorcists

Despite having another sexy dream about Eric in his vulnerable state of mourning Godric’s passing, Sookie demonstrated what a great team she and Bill make when they arrived in Bon Temps to discover the town in a state of chaos. Finding her home transformed into an eerie, candle-lit garden of evil, Sookie and Bill confronted Miss Maryann and we discovered that although she’s superstrong like the vamps, and her blood is noxious to Bill, she is vulnerable to an agitated Sookie’s touch, which created a blinding glow when it met the maenad’s fiendish flesh. “What are you?,” wondered a fascinated Maryann, echoing Lorena’s question when she bit the nerdy, telepathic bellhop in Dallas. Could the glow mean that Sookie and the bellhop are Earth-bound angels? Will they figure in Maryann’s defeat? Stay tuned. Fleeing chez Maryann, our dynamic duo tackled the task of freeing Tara from her possession. Sookie and Bill again proved a formidable duo when they combined their powers to liberate Tara from Maryann’s spell.

Friend or foe? Evan Rachel Wood as Queen Sophie-Ann

Bill promptly left town to recruit the help of a royal vampire who just might have the solution to Bon Temp’s maenad problem. Evan Rachel Wood, the beautiful actress who is dating shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, has been cast as Sophie-Ann, the Queen of the Vampires. Will she be good or a total bitch? Will “True Blood” be swapping one villainess for another? 

Mob Mentality

Maybe we’re crazy, but detective Andy is really starting to grow on us. We love how he’s protecting the adorable Sam, even if he is “an occasional nudist.” After the two were lured to Merlotte’s by a possessed Arlene’s fake distress call, they managed to get themselves locked in the freezer. Luckily, Jason shows up in  a Rambo-meets-the-Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre get up (which nicely showcased his toned biceps, by the way), wielding a chainsaw and a B-movie attitude.

Jason always ends up shirtless. Go figure.

 When Sam surrendered himself to Maryann’s minions, Jason and Andy proved they’re not as stupid as they look by faking the arrival of the “horned god” everyone’s been awaiting. Andy has a second career waiting for him as a special effects guy and Jason, well he looked mighty toned in his shirtless getup as Miss Maryann’s faux demon god. Sam’s shift into fly mode was a stroke of genius and the dumb denizens of Bon Temps bought it hook, line and sinker.

 Best lines of the night:

 “You dirty little monkey,” – Hoyt’s possessed mom, putting the moves on a grossed-out Jason at Bill’s house.

 “At least shoot the cheap liquor. Bottom shelf! Bottom shelf!” – a possessed, but cost-conscious, Arlene to her gun-toting lover man Terry as they struggled to subdue Sam and Andy at Merlotte’s.

 “There’s a new waitress at Merlotte’s?” – a hopeful Jason, anticipating a new conquest before learning of Daphne’s untimely demise.

 “Jesus and I agreed to see other people. That don’t mean we don’t talk from time to time,” – Lafayette to his stunned aunt after completing her prayer to release Tara from her possession.

Photos copyright 2009 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.

Can True Blood’s vampires defeat the maniacal Maryann?

The Party’s Over

Maryann the maenad is royally ticked off. She thought it would be relatively easy to waltz into the Bon Temps jailhouse and “free” Sam from his imprisonment. Lucky thing he was inspired to “fly” the coop through an air vent and promptly showed up at the front door of boozy detective Andy, who didn’t even flinch at the sight of a naked Sam. An enraged Miss Maryann freed the Bon Temps jailbirds, who had been in her recent orgy, in “black-eyed” mode and commanded them to hunt for Sam, who better have a good plan to avoid the sacrificial altar she’s prepared for him. Next week’s previews suggest that the stage has been set for a battle royal between Miss Maryann and the good people of Bon Temps (what’s left of them, anyway) and our valiant vampires.

 

 

Eric’s Treasure Chest

In the aftermath of the suicide bombing at Godric’s lair, Sookie found herself lying underneath Eric (where he’s wanted her to be for a while now). After Eric covered her body from the blast with his well-muscled Viking bod, Sookie had no choice but to suck the bloody silver shards out of his manly neck and chest. Pretending to be on his death bed to fool Sookie into drinking his blood, Eric proved he’s still a manipulative, selfish, horny vamp (the way we love him). Now Sookie is a part of him forever, an understandably disgruntled Bill pronounced. Yuck, says Sookie. Yum, thinks Eric, who later appears in an erotic dream she has, triggered by her blood bond with him. Eric and Sook looked mighty nice in a soft glow, lying side by side in bed in delicious discovery of each other. “Bill who?,” she thought, egged on by that killjoy Lorena (will she NEVER leave?).

Goodbye, Godric

The farewell between Godric and Eric before Godric ends his life by stepping into daylight was heartbreaking with some damn fine acting by Alexander Skarsgard. This actor has many delightful layers that we are eagerly waiting to see revealed in future episodes. Sookie, looking fetching in her checkered dress, stood by Godric as he joyfully ended his eternal life, giving him the human companionship he so craved. We’re bummed to see him go. He’s super cute and interesting. Might he rise again, like a phoenix? Hmmm.

Best lines of the night:

“I can’t breathe. You weigh a ton.” – Sookie, pushing Eric’s hunky body off her like debris after he saved her life in the explosion.

“I simply object to a girlfriend who will kill you and eat you. I think that’s reasonable.” – Hoyt’s prejudiced mom, defending her objections to his dating Jessica.

“You’re a soulless bitch.” – Lafayette, telling it like it is to Miss Maryann before beating the crap out of Eggs and hauling a screaming Tara out of Maryann’s clutches, for now, anyway.

Photos copyright 2009 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.