True Blood Season 4

This is a fun show but the critical praise is laughable.  The preview was just dumb.  Stick to Eric, Pam, Jessica, Hoyt.  I'd say Layafette but I fear the witches storyline will be very bad.

Sookie and Bill have to some of the worst lead characters I've seen.  Annoying and dull.

Agreed, while I enjoy this show a lot, it's pretty bad in both the writing and the acting (mainly due to the horrible accents).

But it does have some good violence and sweet T&A and I will be tuned it to watch!

That preview reminded me more of a scene out of an episode of Star Trek: the Next Generation.  People running around in the California desert while other people wearing heavy prosthetic makeup glued to their faces are raining  laser beams down on them  that kick up brief explosions with lots of smoke and sparks . 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel 

This is a fun show but the critical praise is laughable.  The preview was just dumb.  Stick to Eric, Pam, Jessica, Hoyt.  I'd say Layafette but I fear the witches storyline will be very bad.

 

Sookie and Bill have to some of the worst lead characters I've seen.  Annoying and dull.

Jesus Christ, THIS.  Sookie is the biggest Mary Sue this side of Bella Swan, and if I never see Bill again it'll be too soon.  Have Pam be snarky.  Have Jessica be precious.  Have Eric and Alcide naked and fucking someone.  This ain't rocket science.

A baby taking the heads off dolls.  I hope this is the antichrist for next season.

And Tara went all Ryan Atwood from The O.C.  OK Jessica and Hoyt on.  better be good.

I liked certain bits, but mostly I wasn't impressed.  That entire opening sequence was shark-jump territory, even for this show.  Andy and Jessica were my VIPs.  Here's hoping Jess goes off the fucking rails this season.  I figured that Eric or Bill bought the house, so that ending wasn't a shock to me.  I laughed out loud at the Budweiser horses going out for a spin, and not in a good way.

"You owe me a plaque!"

Ep 2 rips off Buffy a bit.  They shouldhave had James Marsters do a walk by.

And the ending was bad.  Bad soaps do waht they do to this character.

And for you Alcid fans  :(

Some nice nudity though.

My wife was obsessed with this show after Season 1. Seasons 1 and 2 were pretty good, but Season 3 was awful. The problem is that the show constantly feels the need to up the stakes, and does so by adding more and more paranormal characters and creatures. In the first season Bill was pretty much the only non-fully-human main character. By the end of Season 3 the only one was Tara, and she has voodoo dreams, is a vampire's bride, and is supernaturally annoying. 

Episode 2 was far better than the premiere and Eric looked hot as fucking hell.  That's all I'll say until everyone else sees it.

But I hate that Tara is now a lesbian.  They do this "shitty relationships with men, whoop, time to go gay" thing a lot in the media and it feels like it sort of trivializes homosexuality.  It's like it makes it less of a legit institution and more of a willy-nilly choice that people make for shits and giggles.  I could buy it if there was some indication before now that Tara was interested in women, but it just feels cheap to me.

Tara's a lesbian. ha

I watched the 1st 8minutes of the 1st episode online. Reminded me how awful this show is. Why the hell did HBO put that online? If I were them, id be hiding/burning it..

Im dropping this show. Its either gotten much worse or the novelty has worn off, or both. Nudity alone cannot sustain me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon West will kill Again 

At least they're going with the hot girl-on-girl stuff instead of the cringe-worthy guy-on-guy stuff for a change.
 

 

What exactly is cringe-worthy about the guy on guy stuff? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleyQuinn22 

I liked certain bits, but mostly I wasn't impressed.  That entire opening sequence was shark-jump territory, even for this show.  Andy and Jessica were my VIPs.  Here's hoping Jess goes off the fucking rails this season.  I figured that Eric or Bill bought the house, so that ending wasn't a shock to me.  I laughed out loud at the Budweiser horses going out for a spin, and not in a good way.

 

"You owe me a plaque!"

This opening episode is what I have expected from this show from season 1, up until now I have been pleasantly surprised by the show due to its superior acting and writing which tended to transcend the banality of the shows raw make up.  I knew Eric bought the house as soon as Sookie found out it had been sold to some mystery corporation, the opening sequence jumped the shark or shat the bed depending on your preferred analogy. The horses were lame. The only bits I liked was still evil Tara and Jason exhuding some competence. I dont hate the witch storyline yet, but give me time...

Damn, I am a  fountain of negativity tonight, guess I am going through game of thrones withdrawl...at least I have a bit of Treme left.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleyQuinn22 

But I hate that Tara is now a lesbian.  They do this "shitty relationships with men, whoop, time to go gay" thing a lot in the media and it feels like it sort of trivializes homosexuality.  It's like it makes it less of a legit institution and more of a willy-nilly choice that people make for shits and giggles.  I could buy it if there was some indication before now that Tara was interested in women, but it just feels cheap to me.

Yeah, this really bothered me.  I mean, I suppose it's possible that Tara's bisexual and we just never saw her with a girl before/she never acted on it, but it really reinforces that whole "gay girls just haven't found the right guy" stereotype, however unintentionally.

This has to be the only show I watch where I actively dislike the leads.  I'd be perfectly happy if Bill and Sookie died in the next episode, and I could watch a show starring Eric and Pam instead.  I couldn't believe Sookie was already showing remorse for kicking Bill to the curb.  Ugh.  Jason as a competent cop was actually likeable, but I hate the whole Hot Shot storyline.  The witch thing has me interested, for now.  And I'm curious to see where Jessica will be going this season.   As always:  needs more Alcide.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon West will kill Again 

Um... the fact that its guy on guy?  lol.
 

...wow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grace 

...wow.

 

I know.  That's exactly what I suspected.

To be fair to Tara, she did go through a rather traumatic experience with Franklin. Regardless though, every time she's on screen I just roll my eyes, look for the lip quiver then pray she's off the screen as soon as possible.

Can someone explain to me how this show jumped the shark in the first episode of the season? I feel that term gets thrown out at the drop of a hat lately. The show's always been trashy, and it revels in it, I always thought that was the appeal.

Tara has always been the one character I wish they would kill off. She's terrible and annoying as fuck.

How does revealing the dull-as-piss faerie folk as fugly shit goblins jump the shark? And then continue with an extended sequence of them glitter-bombing the landscape. That shit was awesome.

Pity to lose Gary Cole so soon of course.

Gary Cole can't be gone, can he? You don't hire Gary Cole and give him nothing to do but flee!

Anyone else get a Xena or Hercules vibe during the goblin-fairly sequence?

Big props to Simon West for adding "lol" to his point to make it seem even more immature. Bravo.

Can a show jump the shark if it's always been terrible?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Matchstick 

Gary Cole can't be gone, can he? You don't hire Gary Cole and give him nothing to do but flee!

Am now picturing Cole being dragged off the set screaming "THIS IS EGREGIOUS....EGREGIOUS!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mangy 

Big props to Simon West for adding "lol" to his point to make it seem even more immature. Bravo.

 

Can a show jump the shark if it's always been terrible?

The show has its tacky, cornball moments, but that whole opening sequence was a step too far for me.  Episode two is much better, but I hope we don't spend much more time in fairy world, because it did not work.  They clearly didn't have much a budget to pull it off, because the background looked horribly fake.  I spent the whole time thinking "soundstage, soundstage, soundstage".

Fairy world was horrible, the glitter bombs were horrible, Xena had better production values, superman flying in the 50's had better special effects. It looked awful and Anna Paquin looked embarassed at the goings on.

This show was at its best when in delved into the characters wants and needs, not when it revels in its absurd setting and mythology. Science fiction and fantasy can be used effectively to pointedly portray situations that comment on the human condition. 

Sam's gallop off with his friends if done correctly could comment on being different and finding comfort and camraderie with those with a shared experience. Instead it was done quickly and stupidly and ended up embarassing to watch.  Sam's storyline with his shifter family was done far better.

I am not arguing that the show has ever been objectively good, but I will say that for pulpy crap it was well executed and creatively done.

And jumping the shark is the pitch perfect reaction to that fairy world crap.  It stank of desperation and a lack of good ideas, and came off lame. Oh look fairy world of light, oh look there is grampa....oops dont eat the fruit, runnnn!!!11111111 jump in the cheezy cgi pit....oh gary cole gone and the writers and producers have escaped the fairy world trap they set for themselves at the end of last season.

The pacing and editing was weird for the entire episode. This was the first time I felt a little embarrassed watching True Blood, for as much shit people give it.

As for the guy on guy, I'm a straight male and I love it. The trashier this show is, the better.

Could not give less of a shit about any of the werepanther stuff. Crystal is a dead fish of a character.

One of my main concerns for S4 is that they're carrying over characters and stories from S3 that I could not have cared less about.  I don't give a fuck about Crystal, and Jason could be put to better use.  I don't give a fuck about Tommy, and Sam could be put to better use.  After seeing episode two, I'm very interested in seeing what happens to a certain character, but my excitement for that character's journey is tempered by the fact that I'll have to trudge through scene after scene filled with people who bring things to a screeching fucking halt.

Now that everyone without HBO Go has seen Ep 2, let's discuss!

Eric is so damn hot.  Bill remains a twat.

With that out of the way, I'm really excited to see Jessica's story unfold, but she did overreact to Hoyt's "that shit" comment.  He clarified what he meant, and his reasons for not drinking the blood were justified in my opinion.  That relationship is doomed to fail because she's a teenage girl, and she's going to be a teenage girl forever.  Combine that with vampire urges and you've got a walking talking time bomb.  She's got no business living with Hoyt.  I stopped caring about Sam a while ago and I don't see that changing soon.  Arlene's demon baby business is funny, I guess.  And how convenient that Eric has a cubby hole built into Sookie's house right as he gets his brain wiped!  Her reaction to it was pretty damn funny, though. "Motherfucker!"  Sucks to be Jason right about now, huh?

And for the first time in ages, four years of Latin in high school came in handy.  Here's Marnie's chant against Eric, translated:

"Now I command and charge you, O evil spirit!  Depart from the circle, abstaining from all noise, terror, tumult, and stench, and if you refuse I will damn you both in body and soul."

People talked jumping the shark last episode but this one is a better use for that term.  Eric getting amnesia is just dumb.  cheap way to get Eric and Sookie together. 

I don't see how this show could jump the shark.  Yes, the fairy scenes were awful, but it would still imply this show was somehow good at some point.  No!  Let's remember, pulpy piece of enjoyment here!

That being said, liked the second episode.  I think Eric's thing doesn't last long, just enough to establish the power of necros.  Also, I think most of the necros die, except for Lafayette and maybe his boy, they're setting him (L) up to continue to be a character, but not totally enslaved to the vamps.  I'm liking Bill as king, so I think that is short term, can't keep a main character in a position of power for too long, he'll probably lose it doing something dramatic for Sookie and that will get them back together.

Jessica is awesome, but the actress is too good at her role, so she will probably go into nuts territory and it will be a couple seasons before she and Hoyt reconcile.  I like Sam's new friend who was on The Gates, hot Indian chicks rule, so I hope she doesn't die early in the season.

Still haven't seen the werewolves yet, be we know Alcide is signed, so I'm excited for that (because werewolves are awesome!)

For no good reason, I'm betting The Authority turns out to not be a vampire.  It's what I would do.

Amnesia Eric is cute but still a killer.  Much appreciated.  All of his scenes were the highlight of the ep for me.  His tip-toe around the rug, his tickly feet, his "WHO THE FUCK'S SHE! Oh that was rude, sorry" to Pam, and his fearful hesitancy to give her the same details that he gave to Sookie.  Had to laugh at him shoving the shit out of Pam for threatening Sookie.  Alcide showed up but had his shirt on, so fuck that scene.  Debbie was unrecognizable.  Holy shit, there's no way that's the same actress.  That Jason story is just repugnant.  Jess and Hoyt are dunzo soon, and thank God for it.

The Snooki shout-out was actually pretty funny.

I had the same reaction to Debbie. "Who the hell is this girl apologizing."

I really wish I could get just Jess/Hoyt, Pam/Eric, and Lafeyette stories. I kinda like the Maxine Fortenberry's story, if Sam Merlotte had better things to do. Even Evil Baby has the potential to head in the right direction. Tara is a fine actress, just terrible writing. I disliked the werewolf plot, could careless about Jason unless he is infiltrating a church, and wish Sookie's fairy orgasm would light up like Katy Perry's Fireworks and give Bill the true death.

My viewing friends love this. I watch it for kicks and giggles.

Re: Debbie:  None of you people watched The Middleman, did you?  You should be ashamed.  And rectify that immediately.

The last two episodes have been big improvements on the premiere, and I even laughed a few times.  "You killed my fairy godmother!" slayed me.  Alan Ball seems to have some understanding of how stupid this shit is.

wow, an amnesia plot.....next thing you know we will have an evil twin.....bleah

That and and a merely ok premiere to curb is quite the drop off from the Thrones/Treme 2 hours of joy I had gotten used to.

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Originally Posted by Fafhrd 

Re: Debbie:  None of you people watched The Middleman, did you?  You should be ashamed.  And rectify that immediately.

This!

Eric is pretty amusing with his overly-conscientious-killer thing.  I'm also liking King Bill, he's more interesting when not spending all his time moon-eyed over Sookeh.  Jessica is one of the few charactes who's managed to circumvent the shitty writing purely on the strength of the actress invovled.  Is the doll gonna go all Chucky?  Inbred junkie panthers are cringe worthy.  I'd like to see the coven find out the extent of what they did to Eric and start to react accordingly.

There's no shark jumping possible with this show...period.  I'm loving this season so far, though.  Considerably intrigued by the idea of the coven being a real threat to the vampire types.  Something to give a good focus of things to...like Mary Ann in Season 2.

Pam and Jessica are VIPs.  Little demon baby having the creepy ghoul doll belong together.  Tara still needs to die.  Panther shit grinds things to a halt, but what can you do?

Gary Cole needs to be brought back at some point just to class up the place.

Given his stint on Curb this season (and in the past two Entourage seasons), is that Gary Cole's job on HBO?

Worse ways to pay the mortgage.

Additional opinion:  The werepanther girls waiting in the wings while Crystal rode Jason like a stunt horse was pretty damn creepy.  Like, *wrong bad shit* creepy.

Jason and Jessica will be fucking by season's end.  HBO has a real thing for incest lately.  First Game of Thrones, now Bill and Portia.  Oh joy.  Bill not searching Sookie's house just because she threw a hissy was RIDICULOUS.  Clearly Bill doesn't watch Dog The Bounty Hunter, otherwise he'd know that Sook's vigorous protest of a home search in pursuit of Eric would be a sign to anyone with common sense that the culprit is damn sure inside the house.  $10 says the doll or Maury Povich wrote that message on the wall.  Everything else bored me.

Except for Eric.  And Alcide.  And his pubes.