TV Review: True Blood 1.6 – Cold Ground
Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 13, 2008
True Blood, HBO, Airs Sunday 9pm
Episode: Cold Ground (Season One, Episode Six)
Synopsis: After Gran’s unsolved murder last week, Sookie (Anna Paquin) finds herself overwhelmed with two-faced well-wishers, two men competing for her affections, and a brother hurtling off the deep end once again. Meanwhile, Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Sam (Sam Trammell) further explore their complicated relationship, Tara’s mother confesses to being possessed by a demon, and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) is yet again on the wrong side of the law.
Review: An emotional episode to be sure, with each of the characters displaying dizzying highs and lows of emotional range. We meet Sookie’s grand uncle, who hasn’t been part of the family for years. There is clearly a mysterious, possibly violent, backstory to him that will most likely come to light in the future. The episode utilized an as of yet unseen motion blur technique that was pretty cool and the cinematography got a little bit crazy with Jason’s withdrawal symptoms from V to good effect. If you’re not on board with the show by now, odds are you probably aren’t going to be. The show has established its pace and style and is sticking with it, with each story ending on a cliffhanger and the slowly expanding relationships of all the characters involved.
As always, the acting is strong, which is good considering this has probably been the most demanding episode yet in terms of performances. The character of Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) continues to impress – he doesn’t get much to do, but what he does is funny and I had previously written him off as a clichéd throw-away character. I also have to admit, I’m partial to Sam’s character, as we can all relate much more to the average (or not so average, if the Sam-dog connection pans out) guy fighting something larger while struggling with unrequited love than we can to an all powerful, mystical being.
True Blood also remains sexy this week, if you were worried. Early on there are a pair of naked butts, then nothing for almost forty minutes before the show explodes with sex. A little light on violence, but I’ll let it slide. With its mix of old world vampire stylings, re-envisioned vampire rules, and a complex set of personal relationships, Alan Ball’s latest series remains on the must-watch list for another week.
Up Next Week: Bill’s less than savory vampire friends return to town, raising tensions at Merlotte’s as Sam becomes increasingly anti-vampire with each passing episode.
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Did you watch True Blood this week? If so, feel free to discuss below.
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