True Blood has one thing going for it — a very attractive cast … that undresses often. How hot was Alcide? Wow. And, Eric wasn’t too bad either. Other than that, I don’t have much positive to say about this season. That is overly harsh, but the show is covering too many characters with independent storylines, causing the potentially good stories to be left undeveloped and slow moving.
I want to know more about Eric, his condition, what is causing it, and watch his relationship with Sookie develop. Or, should Sookie be with Alcide (yeah, he is with Debbie, but how long will that last?). When Sookie was on the screen, I was intrigued, whether she was helping Eric, befriending Alcide, or manipulating Bill. True Blood should be centered around Sookie and her circle of friends and family, not the peripheral characters.
I haven’t been a fan of the Jason and panther story so far this season. As much as I liked Crystal with Jason initially, I have hated her since. She’s crazy! During the time jump, Jason matured to a point where it is a shame to see him trapped with the backwards panther pack. Though … now that Jason has killed Cooter, I do see some potential in this story. Jason was able to take care of Hotshot while Crystal was gone, could he really help them turn their backwards ways around as their “true” leader? I’m not convinced that he will turn into a panther though, hopefully either his faerie bloodline or Jessica’s vampire blood will prevent the shift.
Other thoughts:
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Jul 18, 2011 @ 02:03 EST5EDT
Why do you think the current plot threads are separate stories? It seems clear that a lot of these stories are intertwined in ways I look forward to discovering later in the season. The books got really wretched around this time and I like the way Ball & co. are braiding the best parts of fundamentally incomplete novels.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’ve never read the books, so I don’t know how they played out there. It’s definitely possible that eventually they will tie together, but we are already on episode four and they are only 8 episodes left. That doesn’t seem like a lot of time to tie together so many storylines, but it could happen.
I think I would enjoy the show more if there weren’t as many things going on. And, things that whether they are independent or not — appear to be independent.
I have read the books, the Tommy storyline is not in the books at all, among several others. But the Tommy storyline has been an unlikable and unnecessary add-on to give the Sam storyline more time. Sam was a regular, but minor, character in the books.
Agreed!! Too many storylines–still. I thought they would have learned their lesson after last year’s criticism. Show is still pretty bad once you leave the Sookie/Eric and vampire storylines. I may start watching via dvr.
the books sucked ass…the tv show way better..awesome…freakshow