Warner Home Video's promo literature for True Blood: The Complete Third Season claims it's "best-selling TV on DVD series for the past two years." Given the wickedly fun writing, exceptional performances and smorgasbord of extras packaged in this Blu-ray, it's easy to believe the hype.
While the Third Season was bloated with too many story-lines and monsters (in addition to the already-established vampires and shapeshifters, we now get werewolves and faeries), Alan Ball's HBO series about vampires coming out of the coffin is a true guilty pleasure. It has tight plotting, sharp dialogue and copious sex and violence.
HBO's True Blood: The Complete Third Season Stars Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Rutina Wesley
How plot-heavy is this series? Starting right where the Second Season ended, we have brooding vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) getting kidnapped by werewolves on behalf of Russell (Denis O'Hare) the Vampire King of Mississippi. His seemingly human fiancée Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) immediately contacts Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) for help but he has problems of his own: the Vampire Authority apparently doesn't like vampires dealing V (vampire blood), which Eric's been doing for the cash-strapped Queen of Louisiana (Evan Rachel Wood). Instead, Eric summons werewolf Alcide (Joe Manganiello) to help Sookie infiltrate the werewolf community of Mississippi. Of course, Alcide's life isn't exactly free of drama either . . .
Add Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) learning more about his family, Eric's thousand-year quest for revenge, Tara (Rutina Wesley) dealing with an undead stalker, Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) dealing with a corpse that won't stay still, a complex love affair for Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) and Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) falling for a mysterious girl, you can see why fans started to wonder what the hell was going on.
Thankfully, it all makes sense when packaged on Blu-Ray, and the 12 episodes move at a breakneck pace. True Blood isn't the most cerebral show on television, but there's no shortage of great dialogue (the scene where Sookie finds Eric occupied with an Estonian dancer is priceless), taut plotting, thrills and chills plus serious amounts of sex and violence. Speaking of sex, HBO's clearly has no problems with this show having a hard-R rating, and it even pushes the ratings envelope: the scene where Bill sodomizes his maker Lorena (Mariana Klaveno) while snapping her neck is very creepy . . . even more disturbing is that she apparently enjoys it.
It helps that the cast is flawless. Paquin keeps on proving her worth as a leading actor and her scenes with real-life husband Moyer sizzle. Fan fave Skarsgård gets a lot more face time, and it's understandable why female fans swooned for Manganiello's werewolf and his six-pack abs: so much so that Ball's promised Alcide will return in Season 4.
But Denis O'Hare's deliciously evil vampire king steals the show: alternatively flamboyant and menacing, he's an ambitious killer with plans to establish vampires as the master race. It's a wonderful role and O'Hare takes full advantage.
True Blood Complete Third Season Blu-Ray Extras
Once again, Ball and the gang have packed in the extras. Here's just a sampling: in addition to the entertaining and informative audio commentaries, there are Character Perspectives: inserted commentary from Jessica, Andy, Tommy and Alcide. Flashback/Flash Forward allows viewers to review pivotal moments or see the future significance of a certain scene. Vampire histories and character bios fill in various characters' prior histories and there are no shortage of trivia, hints and clues.
True Blood Complete Third Season Blu-Ray a Great Buy
Commentators claimed that True Blood's third season jumped the shark. That's not the case, but with so many plots and characters flying around, Ball is certainly tempting those fins. But for now, True Blood is one of the more thrilling shows on television, and there's way too much good stuff packed in here for a week-long rental.
True Blood The Complete Third Season Blu-ray gets a 4.5/5.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
Join the Conversation