The seasons of True Blood have been as unpredictable as Star Trek movies: They seem to alternate good and bad. Season 1? Spectacular. Season 2? Eh. Season 3? Much better. Season 4? Disaster.
Last season? A bloody mix, with no interesting new villain (save a smoke monster — and Lost beat them to that by almost a decade), just recycled drama among vamps (led by Denis O’Hare), werewolves, fairies, shifters and humans. The season felt compartmentalized, taking place over the course of barely two weeks; it felt more soap opera than ever, with the blessing of Joe Mangianello very frequently naked. Even the cliffhanger ending, where Bill (Stephen Moyer) became SuperVamp, made you wonder: Have they run out of ideas?
The first three episodes of Season 6, the first of which debuts Sunday, hints that maybe they are winding down. Luna is killed off in the first thee minutes, Bill is acting godlike, Sookie (Anna Paquin, pictured right, with Ryan Kwanten) is deplenishing her fairy powers. And the governor of Louisiana (new castmate Arliss Howard) has declared war on “fangers.” The way characters spit out the word “fangers” always sounds vaguely like “faggots,” which has a lot to do with the ethos or True Blood as an idyll on gay rights. This season, there’s even an activist who wants Sam (Sam Trammell) to “come out of the closet” as a shifter. Can’t miss that message.
You’re not meant to. There’s still lots of nudity, still lots of gay humor (including my fave, Nelsan Ellis’ drag diva Lafayette, who announces, “That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen on TV … and I watch Dance Moms”), a lesbian plot with Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) and Tara (Rutina Wesley).
Has it jumped the shark? Best not to look down and confirm it; just keep soaring and hope for the best.
— Arnold Wayne Jones
True Blood. Two-and-a-half stars. Debuts June 16 at 8 p.m. on HBO.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 14, 2013.