So there’s no singing, but the grotesque and the bizarre mixed with the comic is how I’ve finally come to see HBO’s most popular new series, True Blood.
The season finale on Sunday came with a heavy dose of ridiculous, soap opera-like melodrama: Marianne (the horned god worshipper) has planned a wedding, complete with white dresses, the local townswomen of Bon Temps as her bridesmaids and Sookie as her maid of honor (and of course, the all-important outdoor “meat tree” festooned with body parts, both animal and human–the latest in wedding decor). Sam, the shapeshifter, is to serve as her sacrifice that will call the horned god to Marianne, who will then stand in as her groom.
This less than heavenly wedding is evocative of Catholic nuns and priests who, through their vows, pledge themselves as brides of Christ, but the True Blood version is, in keeping with the show’s regular insanity, so depraved, disturbed, and ultimately over done that it is impossible not to get a kick out of it.
So my verdict: True Blood is really a dark comedy with a dash of the chivalrous romantic thrown in here and there. I’ve long been on the fence about whether to continue watching the show, but seeing it through this new lens helps. I’m curious: what do you think? Can you see the comedy all over this series, especially its finale? And for you Twilight fans, can you stomach True Blood? Or is it too beyond the romantic for your taste?