Why I love FRINGE and TRUE BLOOD

POSTED BY: reginaroadie
UPDATED: Friday, January 30, 2009 16:32
VIEWED: 1389
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REGINAROADIE

Friday, January 30, 2009 1:19 PM

Hey All

Recently I finished a massive 22 page blog that I've been posting in increments at various places. I recently posted September, in which I go on about my two new favorite shows, TRUE BLOOD and FRINGE. I delve into Joss a lot as a sort of reference point. And while I've posted a lot on the FRINGE and TRUE BLOOD threads, I'm posting part of the blog as a way to combine all that I've written about it.

Hope you enjoy and please comment. Because that's the only paycheck I get for writing this.

It was the beginning of the new season on TV that things really moved. The shows I was already into all had stellar premieres (including HEROES with its “Villains” volume. While bashing it is still fashionable, I will defend that show to the bitter end), but I was beginning to fall in love with two new shows that brought new twists into a tried and true genre.

The two shows I fell in love with was Alan Ball’s new HBO show TRUE BLOOD and the latest from wunderkind J.J. Abrams, FRINGE. Both were shows that when they were initially debuted had some mixed reviews and kinks to work out. But by October, both shows were picking up steam and getting the accolades they deserved from the general public.

TRUE BLOOD could not have more unfortunate timing, what with those stupid TWILIGHT books and the dumb ass movie becoming huge successes, thus making it seem like a cheap knock-off. But knowing that this is from Alan Ball, one of if not my favorite current screenwriter working in the industry today, I knew that there would be so much more to TRUE BLOOD than yet another vampire love story. And in the weeks that followed, TRUE BLOOD leaped across its uneven toned pilot and became a riveting neo-realist take on the vampire genre.

After seeing the trifecta of BUFFY/ANGEL/FIREFLY, I am as much a Joss Whedon fan as the next guy or girl. I love his distinct characterizations, the universes he creates out of thin air, and the genre subversion and sense of humor. But he is not a perfect writer as so many people on the internet would claim he is. His stubborn atheism that hinders the worlds he created, the obvious daddy issues, his random killing off of beloved characters for shock value and the occasional overboard feminism are things that I see as major problems in the Whedonverse (“Oh, wow. You actually use the phrase Whedonverse in real life.”) And one detail that always bugged the shit out of me in BUFFY and to a lesser degree ANGEL, was the fact that an entire town was built on a Hellmouth, and yet outside of our cast members, the entire town was oblivious to the high death toll and things that go bump in the night that vastly outnumbered the humans. And I couldn’t buy the “oh they forget easily” excuse in the pilot.

TRUE BLOOD, on the other hand, bases its entire concept on the notion of vampires being out in the open and of people dealing with the fact that the stuff of legend is actually real. That I find a far more interesting and fascinating twist on the vampire mythos than the typical vampire love story that seems to have taken root. While the relationship between Sookie and Bill is a through line, it’s only a minor aspect to the far more fascinating “vampire as minority” metaphor that runs throughout the series and influences all the various sub-plots. If you need more convincing on how great the show can be, watch episode 5 “Sparks Fly Out”, where Bill is invited by Grams to speak at the local church to the town about him fighting in the Civil War and the various reactions the different townspeople have. The moment when the shell shocked soldier from Iraq comes up to Bill and hugs him because he’s finally met someone who truly knows what he’s gone through (“They don’t understand.”) was to me the moment when the show finally found it’s voice. Where it’s goal of having fantasy interacting with harsh reality finally came to fruition.

Also, while vampires may be what get’s people to tune in, it’s the human characters and their glorious contradictions that keep us coming back week after week. Whi

DEEPGIRL187

Friday, January 30, 2009 2:56 PM

I haven't watched Fringe, but count me in as a die-hard fan of True Blood. I came in by way of the novels the show was based on. Where I think the show succeeds the most is how it's taken relatively small or even minor parts of the books and created new characters or new storylines with them. Tara, Jason, Lafayette, and even Sam to a certain extent are given roles and stories that weren't really explored in the books at all (and in the case of Tara, didn't exist at all; her character is vastly different). And surprisingly, there are many aspects of the series that I enjoy more than the novels.

I also enjoy how the series deals with the conflicts between the supernatural and everyday life. To me, one of the things that always set the novels apart from standard fare was the fact that it never forgot the fact that despite the world Sookie lives in, she still has to do things like go to work and pay her bills. With many supernatural-themed series (and I include Buffy and Angel in this), it becomes really easy to go off on a tangent and forget about things like reality. On some series that's the point, but I think for many shows, it makes the assumption that viewers are only concerned about the fantastic world of the show and nothing else. I'm glad True Blood has found a way to resolve and expand on that conflict.

Adaptations like this usually make me edgy, but True Blood has shined where most would have failed, I think. Of course, having Alan Ball at the helm doesn't hurt.

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"This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes ding when there's stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at 30 paces, whether you want it to or not, actually, so I've learned to stay away from hens. It's not pretty when they blow."

DEADLOCKVICTIM

Friday, January 30, 2009 4:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by deepgirl187:
Of course, having Alan Ball at the helm doesn't hurt.

and the fact that it's on HBO.... instead of say... Fox