TV is the New Reading

Drinking ‘True Blood’:

New vampire drama

takes bite out of HBO

The opening sequence is dark and twisted – country artist Jace Everett’s “Bad Things” dubbed across clips from the height of the Civil Rights movement and ecstatic religious fervor, along with other scenes that would not be out of place in a video by ’90s industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails.

It opens onto storytelling set in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, in a larger international context where there are vampires.

See, in HBO’s new series “True Blood,” the Japanese have developed a synthetic blood that meets all the dietary needs of the Undead. So, no longer having to treat humans as walking juiceboxes, vampires have “come out of the coffin,” so to speak.

In the best tradition of speculative fiction, the fact that there are vampires isn’t really the big deal. While in the context of the show, Bon Temps is only beginning to encounter vampires, the world has known about their existence for a couple of years, now, and there’s even legislation for a Vampire Rights Amendment being debated before Congress.

“True Blood” is a show about vampires in the way that “Alien Nation” was a show about aliens. Indeed, there were aliens and indeed there were ways that they were different from human beings, but the focus of the show was on how people treated those who were different and disenfranchised.

In “True Blood,” we are still only beginning to learn about the strengths and weak- nesses of vampires. They’re super fast, and they’re able to cast a thrall, as well as a reflection. They are incredibly strong, but severely weakened by exposure to silver and sunlight. They heal quickly, and their blood can heal humans who are injured. They can’t enter a human habitation without an invite.

And, as vampire Bill Compton says to intrigued waitress Sookie Stackhouse, “I can bring you back to life.”

Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin, is immune to the charismatic thrall of Compton, played by Stephen Moyer, but she might have guessed why. Although she is telepathic (see, vampires don’t get to be the only cool people in Bon Temps), she can’t read his thoughts.

She is, however, drawn to him, and by more than how well preserved he is – he’s 173 years old but doesn’t look a day over gorgeous. Since she can’t read his thoughts, he’s a comfortable person for her to hang out with.

Despite the fact that she’s holding at least 14 pints of interest for him as well.

The show is developing at a leisurely pace, but that’s fine for something as character-driven as this. Sookie’s life revolves around her friends and family and they have different reactions to her new-found fascination with Vampire Bill.

Sookie’s grandmother, for instance, is delighted by the connection to the past he represents. Sookie’s brother, on the other hand, is already sick of vampires, since it turns out two of his regular one-night-stands have already slept with vampires and gotten themselves bitten, and he feels violated, somehow.

Not least of which because he becomes a suspect when one of them turns up dead.

If you enjoy mysteries, social comment and speculative fiction, or just a great show about vampires, executive producer Alan Ball’s latest creation, based on the Southern vampire series by Charlaine Harris, comes highly recommended. The story carries an MA rating for excellent reasons, and airs new episodes Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO.

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