True Blood made a big red splash when it premiered on HBO five seasons ago in all its oversexed, undead glory. But even fangbangers who have been following the show with a religious devotion that would put Salome to shame might be inclined to confess that the show has had its share of slips in quality, particularly this season.
So the question at hand is: Has True Blood jumped the Sook? Or, despite some missteps, has it managed to avoid shifting the bed?
We present ten of the most maligned plotlines and debate whether each spelled the end for the Bon Temps crew. Then we ask YOU to weigh in by voting on whether each plotline worked ... and whether any has sent the show to an early grave.
1. The Authority
Season 5 focused on vampire politics in the form of the secret shadow government behind the American Vampire League.
Staking Point! As we all know, people tune into supernatural fantasies to be reminded that they should really be watching C-SPAN.
Turning Point! Dull as it may have been, all can be forgiven thanks to the presence of Chris Meloni in (and out of) a golf shirt.
2. Vampire Tara
The Season 5 premiere found Sookie and Lafayette enlisting Pam to help save Tara by turning her into a vampire.
Staking Point! The show has never known what to do with poor Tara, and she'd have been better off dead.
Turning Point! Vampire Tara is waaaay more fun than gothic damsel-in-distress Tara, witch Tara, and lesbian cage-fighter Tara combined.
3. The Ifreet
One of Season 5's plotlines involved a Middle Eastern fire demon that followed Terry Bellefleur back from Iraq.
Staking Point! With vampires, werecreatures, shifters, witches, fairies and ghosts already fighting for spots at the table, introducing yet another supernatural entity should have been the last thing on the writers' minds. Especially one that looked like a villain from Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed.
Turning Point! It's a big world filled with mythologies from many cultures, and the show's multicultural approach is one that more shows should adopt.
4. The Fairies
One of the most polarizing ongoing storylines involves Sookie's fairy ancestry and newfound extended fairy family.
Staking Point! Sookie herself said it best when she learned the truth about her secret: "A fairy? How f*cking lame."
Turning Point! Giving the central heroine her own power puts her at even standing with the other supes - even as it makes her that much more delicious to them.
5. Warlow
Late in Season 5 they introduced Warlow, the mysterious figure who killed Sookie's parents when trying to get to young Sookie's bloody Band-Aid. He is now stalking her from another dimension that is apparently located in her bathroom.
Staking Point! Another villain? Who apparently has claim to Sookie because of a 200-year-old fairy pact made with her ancestor?! Vampires and shapeshifting bar owners I can deal with, but the murderer in the Carmen San Diego getup is just too kooky...
Turning Point! Warlow may be the key to unlocking Sookie's true powers and potential. And who knows ... he may be more connected to the other storylines than we realize.
6. The Ballad of Hoyt Fortenberry
The show's resident "young lovers", newbie vampire Jessica and sweet, pie-eyed Hoyt were a rapturously romantic couple of innocents. Then things went very bad.
Staking Point! Considering that Jess and Hoyt were the only truly untarnished love affair on the show, having them pulled apart and turn so far against one another (culminating in one of the show's most emotionally complex scenes last week when Jess, at Hoyt's desperate bequest, glamoured him to forget she ever existed) was a bit much. Can't ANYONE on this show be happy?
Turning Point! Hey, nothing lasts forever (except Russell Edgington, apparently), and besides - that goodbye amongst Jess, Jason and Hoyt was television gold.
7. Killing Jesus
In an emotional scene, a possessed Lafayette brutally murders his lover, kindly nurse-witch Jesus.
Staking Point! Finally the show gives us a relatively normal gay relationship (He's a witch - He's a medium - Together they're MAGIC!) and they end it like THIS?
Turning Point! Nobody said it was easy bein' Lafayette. And just look at how many of Sam's lovers have died!
8. Nice Guy Eric
In Season 4, bad boy blond Eric Northman loses his memory, his edge, and - *sniffle* - his heart to Sookie.
Staking Point! For lots of folks who enjoyed Eric's fangier-than-thou demeanor, seeing him transformed to a puppy dog was a total chubby-killer. (Not to mention his and Sookie's Narnia-set sex marathon.)
Turning Point! The plot is one of the most popular from the book series, and many fans enjoyed seeing the softer side of Alexander Skarsgard. (Again with the sex marathon.)
9. The Rape(s) of Hotshot
True Blood's version of fringe werepanther community Hotshot was significantly different from the one in the books, as were Jason's adventures there.
Staking Point! Ugh - did we really need to see Jason Stackhouse get serial-raped by a gaggle of grubby panther women? Many viewers reached for a Fabreze eye wash afterward. Also: Book purists weren't keen on how the working-class community was reduced to a one-note redneck stereotype, or Jason's getting away without being turned half-were himself.
Turning Point! With all the other crazy stuff going on, we really don't need Jason to be turning into a mewling, pussy(cat)-crazed panther-man every 28 days. And as for leaving Hotshot behind, hey - that's what the Shreveport pack's for, right?
10. The Littlest Vampire and The Littlest Werewolf
This season showcased children of two supernatural varieties. And then killed one.
Staking Point! Have we learned NOTHING from Cousin Oliver?! Especially when the terrible tyke above was clearly only introduced so that they could splatter him all over the Interior Illusions Lounge a few episodes in.
Turning Point! Baby werewolf:
'Nuf said.
So what do you think? Has the show run its course? And if so, which of the above developments (or drop your own in the comments) marked the beginning of the end?
