"True Blood" Pilot

All ratings are out of 5 coffins.

The pilot for “True Blood” opens from the perspective of a car racing down an empty country road at night. Headlights catch on the gnarled tree branches hanging over the road, dripping with moss. The vampire infested Louisiana of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries is alive on the screen. It's dark. It's rural. It's pulsing with energy. I'm hooked from the first shot.

I'll admit that since HBO gave the greenlight for Alan Ball's adaptation, I had my doubts. No doubt in Ball's abilities, being an avid Six Feet Under fan in addition to Harris' books, but the pilot delivers. I'll break down some of the key aspects, but the bottom line is this: I can't wait for my next taste of “True Blood”.

PRODUCTION VALUE

Having won an Oscar for Best Screenplay, Ball is known mainly as a writer. He proves here again that he is just as talented at directing. From the speeding camera of the opening shot, to the surreal quality of a long, intense Sookie-Bill scene, the visuals are mesmerizing. The aesthetic changes gears drastically from scene to scene, but pulls off a wide variety with great success.

Across the board, the production is top notch. The sets look authentic, warm and lived in. The score adds to the atmosphere: spooky in spots, playful in others. I'd describe the music as a cross between Showtime's “Dexter” and Danny Elfman, nicely suited for the macabre material.

CAST

I bit my nails along with other fans as I pondered the possibilities for the two leads. Sookie Stackhouse in particular, our telepathic Southern Belle of a heroine, needed to be flawless. Pretty and blonde, but not dumb. Innocent, but not naïve. And all of that must be done with a convincing southern accent.

Well, we avid SV readers can rest easy. Anna Paquin nails (or maybe I should say stakes) the role of Sookie Stackhouse with perky perfection. But I was even more impressed with Stephen Moyer as Bill Compton. He's gentle and courteous (unlikely characteristics for most vamps), but with an underlying dangerous quality, essential for making the undead leading man come to... uhhh... life.

The one weak point in the casting was Brooke Kerr as Tara Thornton. Fortunately, the tv gods have seen fit to have her smited and a replacement named in Rutina Wesley.

AS AN ADAPTION

“True Blood” is decidedly adult, which allows it to go places that Buffy never could. The sex scenes in the pilot border on graphic. Despite that, it steers well clear of the melodramatic potholes that many adult dramas find themselves unable to avoid. The atmosphere is dark and even at points a little disturbing, and the sex scenes are unabashedly real, but in either case the tone is never heavy. Always fun.

Overall Rating: