Review of HBO’s True Blood Series: Where’s Charlaine Harris’ Plot?

Here’s the video trailer for the new HBO series “True Blood“:

Here’s my take on the series:

First let me explain that I’m a BIG fan of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery series written by Charlaine Harris.  The books are entertaining, well written, funny, and totally engaging.  So it was with great anticipation that I awaited the first episode of “True Blood”, the new HBO series that’s based on this urban fantasy book series.  I was so excited – I got my errands done early, had a great meal, cleaned the TV screen, and sat in front of the set with a glass of wine.  I was ready.

Too bad the series wasn’t.

About halfway through the premiere episode I started thinking: did these guys read the Charlaine Harris books?

Let’s start with Sookie:

I envisioned her as having a similar body type as Anna Paquin, the actress portraying Sookie in the series, but I never thought she’d have a deep Southern accent.  Yes, the books take place in a town called Bon Temps, Louisiana, but as someone who was born and lives in the South I can tell you there’s a noticeable difference between a Louisiana accent and a southern states accent.  Sookie has a southern states accent. And why can’t American actors do decent southern accents?

Bill Compton:

Bill is more swarthy than I pictured and seems much, I don’t know, SLOWER, than the Bill in the books.  He also has a southern accent but what annoys me about him is he’s so . . . SLOW.  Vampires are supposed to be creatures that move fast and are quick thinkers.  Bill seems like he’s on Prozac or something. If I had to engage in more than a 5 minute conversation with him I’d fall asleep of boredom.

Tara:

It’s great that they decided to use an African American actress for Tara’s character but again, did those guys read the books?  The Tara in the books isn’t at all like this character.  This Tara goes out of her way to be rude to those around her. This Tara insults EVERYONE.  The Tara in the book (who isn’t introduced until the 2nd book by the way), is a sweet engaging young woman that supports Sookie and her lifestyle choices.  I’m not sure why the writers decided to make Tara such a shrew but it detracts from the main storyline.

Jason and Sam:

Now here’s where they got it right. Jason is as womanizing, sly, dumb, and egocentric as Charlaine Harris describes him.  And Sam is the patient and cautious bartender I’d imagined he’d be.  Kudos to the casting director for making these choices.  These guys really bring the book characters to life.

The Sex:

Say what?  There’s a scene in the premiere episode where Sookie gets up one night to find Bill standing outside her home.  She goes outside and greets him, and Bill IMMEDIATELY starts taking off his clothes.  Even more surprising: Sookie follows suit and states “I never thought I’d be having sex with a vampire.”

This scene isn’t in the book and there’s no reason for this encounter between Bill and Sookie to have occurred so early on.  Sookie Stackhouse is a virgin who, over the course of time, comes to love Bill and as such, has sex for the first time with him.  I don’t know who this HBO Sookie is because the one in the book would never do that.  What really irks me (and puzzles me as well) is the abruptness of Sookie’s actions.  It’s shocking to see her immediately begin taking off her clothes.  This is totally outside Sookie’s character.

UPDATE: Since writing this review I’ve come to realize that perhaps this represented a dream, because in Episode 2 there’s reference to Sookie’s virginity and Episode 3 shows a similar scene: Sookie and Bill are about to have sex and then Sookie wakes up alone in bed.

Overall, I found the first episode to be somewhat annoying because of the numerous “creative liberties” taken by the director of the series.  People who have never read the books might be okay with it but I’ll wager that most of the viewing audience is comprised of people like me that are fans of the books.  Here’s hoping the next episode is better.

See also: The Complete Listing of Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse Books