True Blood: The Complete Second Season

Reviewed by Drav3n

Format: Blu-ray

Release: May 25, 2010

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 720 Minutes

The Movie:

Don't be fooled by the Twilight craze or even that other vampire show on network television "The Vampire Diaries." True Blood isn't a show that's just aimed at the female audience.

True Blood: The Complete Second Season returns viewers exactly where the first season left off. You immediately find out whose body it was that was in the backseat of Andy Bellefleur's car. Sookie's life has become more dangerous than ever now that she is needed by Eric to go to Dallas and investigate the disappearance of the Sheriff, who happens to be a 2,000 year old vampire. Tara is in love, but also under a spell caused by Maryann, who possesses a power that enables her to control almost everyone in town. Jason has joined the Fellowship of the Sun, the anti-vampire church. And Newly created vampire, Jessica finds herself a boyfriend in Hoyt, only there is something that keeps getting in the way of their relationship.

The second season has two main storylines: The first involves finding Godric, the missing 2,000 year old vampire and the second storyline involves Maryann and her using her powers to control the town.

While the first season had great character development and an excellent storyline (including the excellent finale), season two is much stronger and wastes no time in getting everything started. Even the new characters that get introduced this season (Godric, Rev. Newlin and his wife, Luke, Hugo, Stan, Daphne, Eggs, and more) all are able to carry themselves quickly. Normally, you don't see a character get introduced and a few minutes later you seem to know everything about their past. For a show that only has 12 episodes a season, they find more than enough time to make sure the viewers know who the characters are and where they come from and still are able to continue the storyline without any interruption. Everything that happens, does so for a reason in this show. There are no "filler" episodes (as of yet) with this series.

The character relationships have grown even stronger in this season as well. Eric and Sookie, Jessica and Hoyt, Tara and Eggs, Andy and Jason, Bill and Sam, Maryann and Sam, Arlene and Terry, and the list goes on. Everyone has great chemistry with each other, never leaving viewers with a dull moment. Plus the tension between some of the characters is always a great reason to keep watching.

This isn't a show about sparking vampires. If anything, this is the "mature" version of Twilight that most of these little girls aren't allowed to watch yet. Yes, there's plenty (heavy emphasis on plenty) of sexuality throughout the show leaving, both male and female, viewers of this show satisfied. The storylines are great, and are excellent at setting up what's going to happen next.

As someone that has currently read and enjoyed all ten of The Southern Vampire Mysteries, I hope HBO keeps this show going for a while and allows Alan Ball to end this once he feels its right. I like the fact that Ball follows the books to an extent, but also adds a few different things as he goes along. For those unaware, Alan Ball is responsible for the movie American Beauty (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture) and the highly-successful HBO series Six Feet Under. I look forward to the introduction of werewolves in the upcoming third season, and am intrigued to see what Alan Ball does with this season and future seasons.

If you haven't checked this show out yet, and you are a part of this vampire craze, all I can ask is "What are you waiting for?" This is easily one of the best shows on television right now. Go out and buy the first two seasons now and get yourself caught up for the June 13 season premiere. There is not one person I know that has seen an episode of this show that hasn't been hooked.

Presentation:

Just like with the release of the first season of True Blood, the second season of True Blood looks just as great, if not better. For the most part the image is very clear with a lot of fine image detail that really brings the fictitious Bon Temps to life. But then there are a few soft scenes in every episode that don't stand out as well. One complaint with the HD presentation is that the image looks so real and clear at times that the wounds on the characters look completely unrealistic. Grain is present but more noticeable during the softer scenes. Colors are strong and stand out, and black levels are deep. Up close facial shots show an incredible amount of detail. If you were pleased with the presentation of the first season, than the second season will not disappoint at all.

Audio:

HBO releases on blu-ray have yet to disappoint when it comes to the audio. And this release of True Blood: The Complete Second Season follows suit with delivering an incredible sounding 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track for each episode. Audiophiles will praise this release. During the scenes at Merlotte's and the parties thrown by Maryann, everything is able to be heard crystal clear with no issues. The sound effects sound amazing as they add so much more depth to what's going on. There is alot going on in each episode, and having the lossless audio really is able to provide this show with the best presentation as possible.

Bonus Material:

• Enhanced Viewing Experience - Just like on the blu-ray for Season 1, this feature offers a PiP for each episode. These PiP's pack more trivia, story details, flashbacks and more. Easy worth turning this feature on for a good recap or to learn more about the characters.
• Audio Commentaries - There are seven commentaries for seven episodes.
• Character Perspectives (1080p, 2:02:00) - The characters discuss their time in Bon Temps
• Fellowship of the Sun: Reflections of Light (1080p, 12:00) - Rev. Newlin and his wife host four short seminars.
• The Vampire Report: Special Edition (1080p, 24:00) - Another in-character feature that shows fake news reports.

Bottom Line:

As the show continues on, it just keeps getting better, and the word of mouth for this show is increasing rapidly. This is probably the best show on cable (right next to Dexter and Mad Men), and if you give it a chance, you will clearly understand why. The show is fantastic, and the blu-ray release is given the proper treatment it respectively deserves. The special features really give excellent replay value between the audio commentaries and the Picture-in-picture tracks. Highly recommended!

Here's the official trailer for the third season of True Blood, which premieres on June 13.