An inside look at this season of

TRUEBLOOD

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Thirsty yet?With the release of True Blood season 3 on

DVD on May 31, my excitement has built up once again for the most epic rendition of the vampire world.

Based on Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries, Alan Ball put together HBO’s highly-acclaimed True Blood. In the first season, we were introduced to the world of vampires after they “came out of the coffin.” In the second sea-son, we watched a maenad attack Bon Temps, Louisiana. In season 3, vampire politics came to life, along with an initiation into the world of shape shifters and werewolves.

At the previous season’s end, two new species were brought onto the scene. Season 4 looks like one filled with faeries and witches.

Many characters’ storylines are loose ends, meaning that this season’s opener is going to be one with every viewer on the edge of his or her seat.

Let’s just say the inner geek in me took over. That said, the next few pages are devoted to an inside look at what’s going to happen this season on my favorite vampire show. Ever.

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1Politics Season 3’s revelations left us wondering how the system works. Also, how will “the authority” and vampiric society overcome the PR disaster that was Russell Edgington?

Bringin’ in the dogs We’ve officially entered the time of the wolf. Alcide will be back. So will Debbie - the cruelest dog who’s looking for revenge. What does this mean for Sookie Stackhouse?

Witches First the new waitress, Holly, gave us a taste of the world of Wiccan. Then Lafayette’s love interest, Jesus, revealed he was a witch. There’s a storm brewing, I can feel it.

Feuding Let’s not forget the on-going feuds that are sure to continue in season 4. Bill v. Queen? Bill v. Eric? Bill v. Sookie? Pretty much Bill v. everyone on the show. Look out, Mr. Compton.

Relationships May as well state the obvious, right? Can’t wait to see what’s in store for Hoyt and Jessica, Sookie and every good-looking man on the show, and hopefully Sam’s love life will turn around this season, too.

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5 reasons to stay tuned

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SOOKIE BILL JESUSShe may look

dumb, but this girl’s whole life’s been turned upside down.

At the end of season 3, Sookie vanished into the night. Where did she go? And with whom? The newly-dubbed faerie’s strange story is long from over.

Not to mention, her love life is complicated as all heck.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s official: Bill Comp-ton’s gone rogue. We don’t know who he’s batting for anymore.

His loyalty to the queen is out the window. He’s abused Sookie again and again. If he survives the cliff-hanger fight, Bill will have many people wanting him staked.

In case you forgot, Jesus kind of came out of no where last season. Oh yeah, and he declared not only his love for Lafayette, but the minor detail that he is a witch.

Again, who Jesus is playing for remains unclear. One thing tells me he may not be as innocent as his eyes want to make us think.

Characters to watch closely

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TARAThis girl’s been

through it all. Seriously. And she’s finally reached the point where enough is enough.

Tara’s story will be interesting to follow as she tries to leave her life in Bon Temps far behind.

No one knows where she’s headed, but something tells me she’ll be back.

SAM

Suddenly, Sam Merlotte doesn’t seem so friendly.

After the startling revelation of his dark, twisted path, we’re all wondering what Sam’s deal is after all.

This shifter’s got some explaining to do. For all we know, he killed Tommy. Is the rest of his family next? We’ll see.

DEBBIEDon’t fool yourself,

this wolf ’s coming back - and she’s got a serious bone to pick with Sookie.

She may have left angry and bruised, but rest assured, Debbie is going to raise some serious hell when she returns to Bon Temps.

She may even bring a few dumb wolves back with her.

Characters to watch closely

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Faerie important details

Don’t forget that protagonist Sookie Stackhouse somehow managed to vanish at season 3’s finale. This, after uncovering the truth behind her strange abilities.

She reads minds and shoots strange light out of her fingers. When she’s drained of nearly all her blood, she drifts into a strange world where women only wear dresses and the wa-ter glows. But what else do we know about Sookie?

It was recently discovered that Sookie is, in fact, a faerie. Or at least in part. The faerie gene appears to have skipped a generation or two. Her brother, Jason, did not inherit it, but it appears that cousin Hadley’s son may carry the gene, too.

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What you need to know is that faerie blood is highly intoxicating and desirable to vampires. They crave it. This revelation led to the demise of Sookie and Bill. And from this point on, Sookie has reason to believe that all vampires are untrustworthy.

Keep your ears peeled, because every word that comes out of Claudine’s (Sookie’s faerie godmother’s) mouth will be extremely important and most likely vague. Alan Ball is good at foreshadowing, and I’ve got a suspi-cion that we’re going to learn how Sookie’s parents really died.

They’ll both be back. We just don’t know where they’ll be back from . . .

DON’T FEAR

THE WATER. IT WASN’T THE

WATER THAT KILLED THEM.

“

-CLAUDINE

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All about Eric

Eric Northman played a pretty big role in last season’s True Blood. He may have been behind the scenes, in a sense, but he was pulling some major strings.

Politically speaking, he dropped the Queen of Louisiana for the King of Mississippi, only to kill his lover. He then ratted out Russell Edgington to the vampire “Authority,” before teaming up with the ever-so-sketchy Bill Compton to bury Edgington in

cement, meaning to keep him there for hundreds of years to come.

With Russell gone, Eric has surely managed to upset a few wolves under his command. The Queen will have a bone to pick with him, too. That is, after she’s done destroying Bill.

Even though Mr. Northman’s story seemed to be tossed aside at the end of season 3, too many spoilers have indicated that season 4 will be all

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about the lanky blonde. Rumors have circulated about a group gaining revenge on Eric by making him lose his memory.

If this is true, who will be responsible for Fangtasia? Who will look after Eric? And who is responsible for Eric’s memory loss?

Eric has had a die-hard fascination with Sookie fromt he first time they met. Season 3 even revealed that he had dreams about her. My guess

is that season 4 will take Sookie and Eric’s relationship deeper. Something is bound to happen, especially after the two shared a kiss last season.

As for his protege, Pam is going to both reap the rewards from and understand the difficulties of running the bar while Eric remains unsuitable to do his job.

This season is going to be all about Eric, and it’s not going to be as pretty as he looks.

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BOOK TO SMALL SCREENREADING VERSUS VIEWING THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERIES

I got hooked on The Southern Vampire Mysteries in the strangest way possible. After accidentally sitting through season 1’s recap on HBO, I decided to start watching the show.

Halfway through the show, I decided to start reading the books. To my surprise, the two platforms made for completely different experiences. Also surpri sing was the fact that the

books are even more graphic in some ways than HBO’s hit show.

For the most part, Alan Ball has done a terrific job of

staying loyal to Charlaine Harris’ intentions with the books’ plots. The actors have stayed true to their fictional characters, and the setting

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(like Lafayette remaining alive, despite his death at the end of Dead Until Dark), but Ball’s loyalty to Harris is astounding.

That being said, one thing I’ve

noticed is that the writers for the show have started to combine some of the books’ plots in order to quicken the pace of the show. Not that it’s a

bad thing, but viewers should take this into consideration as spoilers go. One example of this the political aspect of season 3 that was brought out several times.

Many characters that viewers have been introduced to are ones that don’t come onto the scene until several books later.

As both a reader and viewer, I like certain aspects of each experience as much as I dislike others. It’s hard to choose which is the better platform.

However, I do suggest that if you’ve stuck with one, go ahead and try the other. When doing both, you get access to key details that other people certainly miss when doing one or the other.

As the fourth book sug-gests, season 4 will be packed with witchcraft, weres and wolfery.

My biggest question is which of the newest characters will have what it takes to receive full-time cast member status.

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