True Blood, Season Two (2009)

Our rating: 1 out of 5

Rated: TVMA

Reviewer: Charity Bishop

The second season of HBO's popular vampire series introduced a host of new characters and in many ways improved on the first offering from the blood-and-sex-saturated network.

Bodies are somewhat common in the small town in the deep south where Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) lives, but she will never become accustomed to finding them -- this time she innocently opens a car door and there lies the body of the woman who assisted her best friend Tara (Rutina Wesley) in "exorcising her demons." Her heart has been torn out. The police are suspicious, but have no concrete leads. Sam (Sam Trammell), the owner of the bar where Sookie works, is angst-ridden not only over the unwanted publicity from the murder, but his discovery that Tara is staying on the estate of a woman by the name of Maryanne (Michelle Forbes). Sam and she have "history" and he knows she is not what she appears to be -- something that becomes even more evident when all around her people start engaging in strange and unnatural behavior. In the meantime, Tara is dealing with her attraction to one of Maryanne's other "street strays," Eggs (Mehcad Brooks), who feels equally drawn to her but is reluctant to share the details of his past; Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) has gone missing and what no one realizes is that Eric (Alexander Skarsgård), the "deputy" of the local coven of vampires, is keeping him for questioning pertaining to the disappearance of a local provider of vampire blood -- which is the next big hallucinogenic drug amongst the trailer trash fraction.

Eric also has an invested interest in Sookie -- something that her immortal boyfriend Bill (Stephen Moyer) finds problematic, but then even he is in over his head attempting to babysit newly turned Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll). And then there is Sookie's younger brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten), who has undergone a "religious" experience and chosen to join a church devoted to the destruction and persecution of vampires...

For some unfathomable reason, the characters on this series are likable in spite of having absolutely no redeeming qualities or morals (or at least, redeeming qualities in the way most of us would imagine them -- many of these characters are ruthless, ancient, and brutal vampires!). The audience has no trouble becoming lost in their relationships and eagerly watching to see what will happen next -- but at the same time is unfortunately inundated with profane amounts of foul language, nudity, and explicit sexual content. I have learned to keep the remote control handy for the latter but there's not much one can do about the bad language. F-words are common even among those who are considered "classier" than the rest (Sookie even resorts to it now and again), as is abuse of Jesus' name and other coarse terms such as s**t. The violence is somewhat amped up this season -- in the second episode, Eric is infuriated when someone attempts to burn his face with a silver cross and literally rips them apart. We do not see the actual event but we do witness the aftermath -- which includes sinew-laden body parts lying around in a pool of blood (another human digs the metal joint out of one of the severed legs and uses it to break his shackles). Flashbacks involve violent and profane vampire behavior -- an ancient vampire slicing his way through innocent bystanders; a more stomach-turning scene involves Bill and his former girlfriend dining on two screaming individuals after a dinner party (they are so "turned on" by the gush of blood that they proceed to engage in lovemaking on the bed beside the corpse). Vampires are burned by sunlight (one commits suicide) and singed by silver; internal organs and buckets of blood stain the walls of a club after a bomb has gone off; blood drips from fangs and runs in streams; we see hearts being ripped out on several occasions -- both in humans and immortal beings. While possessed, Tara and Eggs consume one that has been baked into a soufflé.

Bill and Sookie continue in their sexual relationship -- their initial encounters is very risqué and involves nudity and movement; after drinking Eric's blood (without meaning to), Sookie begins to have sexual fantasies about him that usually involve upper nudity on her part; Jessica loses her virginity to a human (complete with sensual sounds) -- and then discovers that due to being a vampire, her body parts "heal," thus meaning she will be in immense pain each time she attempts to sleep with her boyfriend. Jason has an immediate attraction to the pastor's beautiful blonde wife, who responds with lust to him -- she initiates a sexual relationship, assuring him that God means for him to be "rewarded" for his faithfulness and that He will not condemn them for it. (Their encounter, interestingly enough, is not explicit.) Sam begins an affair with the new barmaid; several occasions show them with partial nudity (behind and upper). The Vampire Queen informs the audience through her behavior and comments that she is bisexual, with a lesbian leaning. Maryanne instigates orgies wherever she goes, so there is an enormous amount of nudity, drunken revelry, and copulating going on in the background of several episodes. In a word: yuck, especially with Tara and Eggs involved (one of their encounters in particular is very graphic). Sookie is almost raped while held captive in the church basement (he gets as far as threatening her and tearing her dress).

One other thing that might insult Christian audiences is the depiction of Christianity as a narrow-minded, hate-filled religion. The camp Jason goes to in order to hang out with fellow believers is very hokey -- intentionally so, granting us a glimpse into how Christianity is viewed by outsiders. (The always-smiling, handsome young minister and his peppy blonde wife, the cheesy sing-along on the bus, etc.) Deliberate parallels are drawn between the Church's determination to prevent vampire-human marriages and their objection to same sex marriage. Churchgoers turn out to be little more than terrorists when all is said and done -- they kidnap vampires and humans in order to thrust the former into the sunlight (burning them alive), then set off a bomb in a vampire club where humans are also in residence. They justify their bad behavior with references to Jesus and scripture -- some of the comments made are profane or downright offensive (Jason innocently suggests that Jesus may have been a vampire, since "He arose from the dead"). The pastor turns out to have a foul mouth when riled up. There is something of a distinction, however, drawn between his church and churches that other characters attend -- ones that "do not teach hate."

Supernatural elements run high, obviously, between shape shifters, vampires, mentions of werewolves, and psychic abilities both in Sookie and Bill and Eric (having each had her taste their blood, they have a supernatural "connection" to her that permits them to know when she is in peril). And then there is Maryanne -- she is revealed to be a goddess of sorts, a creature who can change shape (on one occasion, she morphs into a creature with the head of a bull and sharp talons instead of fingers) and arranges for human sacrifices. She intends and almost succeeds in butchering Sam to appease her god. In the end, the only way to kill her is to make her think that the god requires her life -- she is gored by a bull in graphic fashion and then has her heart ripped out. This series is not for the faint of heart -- and I do not recommend it. Half the young people I know are hooked on it, and admittedly I have a weak spot for it as well, but in the face of such obscene content, I hate to admit it.