True Blood (HBO)

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perkana
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#221 Post by perkana » Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:15 pm

Now I'm going to feel a huge void. I don't have a show that made me complain so much. Also, the book series were done last year and I just read the last book a couple of weeks ago.
Just saw that Boardwalk Empire last season is going to be next (at least here in Latinamerica). Haven't seen much of it, but guess it won't be hard to follow.

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crater
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#222 Post by crater » Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:42 pm

I don't understand how they couldn't give Lafayette, who in my opinion, was the only consistently amusing/interesting character left on the show a single line during the final episode. Not. One. Line.

Just a half a second appearance at the very end? Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

I didn't exactly hate the show like a lot of people here seemed to, but I hated the final episode.

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Artemis
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#223 Post by Artemis » Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:56 pm

crater wrote:I don't understand how they couldn't give Lafayette, who in my opinion, was the only consistently amusing/interesting character left on the show a single line during the final episode. Not. One. Line.

Just a half a second appearance at the very end? Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
I was disappointed about that too. He was one of my fave characters. I was happy that they finally wrote in a love interest for him, kinda late in the series to develop it though.

Who is the father of Sookie's baby? I don't know if I missed something or it was meant to be left open for speculation.

I liked the show too, just the last couple of seasons went downhill for me.

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Pandemonium
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#224 Post by Pandemonium » Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:04 am

Artemis wrote:Who is the father of Sookie's baby? I don't know if I missed something or it was meant to be left open for speculation.

I liked the show too, just the last couple of seasons went downhill for me.
I think it was Will Riker from Star Trek Next Generation:

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The fact you only saw him from behind was clearly intended to be an open mystery.

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perkana
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#225 Post by perkana » Tue Aug 26, 2014 9:09 am

Yeah, she just moved on with an Alcide lookalike :noclue:
Lazeedivee told me the author of the book series had a cameo. Now I have to watch it again :mad:
In the books Sookie ends up with Sam.

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Jasper
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#226 Post by Jasper » Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:04 pm

I caught up on three episodes, and I'm pretty sure there's only the finale left! I'm so proud of myself. I just want to finish what I started.

I wish the finale would be all of the vampires dying. They're all vicious murderers and richly deserve it, and it's pretty bizarre how they're held up as heroes (or even victims) after all of the lurid evil they've committed. We're just supposed to forget about it again and again. The people who are painted as yahoos for wanting to fight the vampires are actually correct. Even sweetie-pie baby vampire Jessica is guilty of multiple cold-blooded murders, never mind the likes of "good guy" Bill. Godric was right. Incidentally, I hope Godric makes one more appearance, but that's probably being too optimistic. The scene where he first turns dying viking Eric Northman is one of the best in the entire series.

Maybe after I finish this I'll somehow find the will to watch the rest of the last season of Louie.

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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#227 Post by Jasper » Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:54 pm

Finished it. It was pretty meh. I always imagined Sookie and Bill would be together at the end of the series (which would have made a stronger ending, honestly).

The show was colorful, and it was sometimes fun. The sets were usually pretty good. The writing and directing was often terribly aimless and hackneyed. The actors seemed to do the best they could with it. The frequent touchy-feely heart-to-heart scenes with sappy music were cringe-inducing and painful to sit through. All in all it was a gigantic (albeit colorful) clusterfuck. I read an interview with the creator of the show, and he sounded just as lost and uninspired as you might expect from the meandering narrative of the series.

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perkana
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#228 Post by perkana » Wed Aug 27, 2014 8:28 am

I think you read too much into it. I just thought it was a cheesy tv show and the actors seemed to have fun doing it.

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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#229 Post by Jasper » Wed Aug 27, 2014 12:55 pm

If it were better maybe there would be something to read into, but ultimately I only want something to be good for what it is. It was a show that had potential to be goofy, gory fun, but often fell completely flat. Stupid fun escapism can be good in small doses, but when the fun disappears and stupid is all that remains, it's a problem.

Most damning is the fact that it was initially great. Inability to maintain the good stretches dogged them all the way through.

Hey, I watched the whole thing, so obviously I got some enjoyment out of it. :noclue:

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perkana
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#230 Post by perkana » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:08 pm

Yeah, what does that say about us? :neutral:

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Pandemonium
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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#231 Post by Pandemonium » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:11 pm

Jasper wrote:If it were better maybe there would be something to read into, but ultimately I only want something to be good for what it is. It was a show that had potential to be goofy, gory fun, but often fell completely flat. Stupid fun escapism can be good in small doses, but when the fun disappears and stupid is all that remains, it's a problem.

Most damning is the fact that it was initially great. Inability to maintain the good stretches dogged them all the way through.

Hey, I watched the whole thing, so obviously I got some enjoyment out of it. :noclue:
I'm of the same opinion. The show was never going to achieve Sopranos level of greatness, but early on and in scattered episodes through the rest of the series, it was at least entertaining and had some genuine excellent moments. I think my single biggest complaint is how they utterly wasted the talents of Rutger Hauer putting him under that goofy wig.

My go-to horror show is now The Strain. It had kind of a rough patch of a few episodes but moving the focus towards Eichorst, the former Nazi/now vampire has made the last few episodes really good.

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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#232 Post by Jasper » Thu Aug 28, 2014 5:15 pm

It was interesting that they had Eric sort of come full circle, back to where he was when we met him, sitting on his throne in Fangtasia, and torturing humans in his basement.

Maybe we were supposed to think she deserved it, but it was really strange to see that final scene with Sarah Newman in a show which isn't subtle in its social justice agenda. Despite all of the ways they intended to portray her negatively - Christian, opportunist, anti-vampire bigot, and lunatic with delusions of grandeur, she's still a woman essentially being made a sex and torture slave. Were we supposed to cheer? I really couldn't divine the intent. Further, the show's allusions to vampires representing gays is utterly bizarre. As I mentioned before, the vampires are, to an individual, mass murderers who victimize all of humanity. What a horrible analogy.

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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#233 Post by Jasper » Tue Sep 02, 2014 2:05 pm

I've got "Thank You" stuck in my head because they played it in the finale (which must have cost a pretty penny).

When I get something stuck in my head it REALLY gets stuck in my head. All day long, in my dreams, etc. The only way around it is to play other music, after which it comes right back. The record might be something like 2 1/2 weeks straight, maybe even longer. I remember having The Cure's "Close To You" playing internally for a frighteningly long time, but there have been other especially resilient ones. It doesn't have to have words or anything either. I had a Debussy piece (La Soirée dans Grenade) endlessly looping in my head earlier this year.

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Re: True Blood (HBO)

#234 Post by Artemis » Sat Jul 08, 2017 2:26 pm

Sad news...Lafayette died. One of my fave characters from the series.


http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la ... story.html

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Nelsan Ellis, the actor best known for his portrayal of Lafayette Reynolds on HBO’s “True Blood,” has died. He was 39. The reported cause was from complications due to heart failure.

Ellis burst into popular consciousness in 2007 when he was cast in “True Blood” as Reynolds, a flamboyant and outspoken gay short order cook at Merlotte’s in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Lafayette brought pointed humor to Alan Ball's acclaimed vampire drama that many considered an analogy for the gay rights struggle.

As news of Ellis' passing quickly spread, a scene where he marches out from behind the griddle to confront a trio of homophobic diners was widely circulated on Twitter.

In a statement, Ball called Ellis "a singular talent whose creativity never ceased to amaze me. Working with him was a privilege.”

HBO echoed Ball’s sentiments in its own statement, “We were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Nelsan Ellis. Nelsan was a long-time member of the HBO family whose groundbreaking portrayal of Lafayette will be remembered fondly within the overall legacy of True Blood. Nelsan will be dearly missed by his fans and all of us at HBO.”

Most recently, Ellis joined the season five cast of “Elementary,” playing Shinwell Johnson, a former drug dealer (and former patient of Lucy Liu’s Watson) trying to make up for his life of crim. Shinwell, who was named for a character that appeared in the original Sherlock Holmes story, “The Illustrious Client,” died this season after infiltrating a gang known as the South Bronx Killas.

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