Over the past several weeks, HBO has been airing
True Blood minisodes online. If you're into the show, you should definitely watch them: the
HBO site is horribly unwieldy, unfortunately, so I'd recommend checking them out on
YouTube instead.
These 3-5 minute minisodes have been fleshing out the end of S2 with little moments that happened off-screen, preparing us for the
in media res beginning to S3. I think they're doing more than that, of course: I think they're also invoking themes that will be important throughout the new season.
Fair warning: spoilers for the minisodes are uncut since I'm discussing them. Watch them at the links before reading. There are spoilers for S2, the very beginning of S3, and book-spoilers behind the cuts.
"Eric and Pam"If the show were tied more closely to the books, you'd expect Eric and Pam to be interviewing new bartenders: Fangtasia does tend to go through them once Sookie becomes a regular feature of their (un)lives. Instead, they're interviewing dancers and this seems largely designed to
( spoiler ).
"Jessica"The intentions here seem pretty obvious: the minisode comforts us that Jessica is still a good person inside, softening the rawness of seeing her
( spoiler for end of S2 ). It also highlights her mischief, pointing out that, good or not, she's still going to go astray.
"Sookie, Tara, and Lafayette"I really hate it when they show Sookie and Tara fighting: it tends to get pretty damn ugly. Sookie's touchiness in response to Tara's questioning of Bill's finances (and the part of his life that secures those finances) possibly foreshadows the discovery of a whole side of Bill Compton that she knows nothing about. This would jive with the novels, considering
( spoiler ).
"Sam" Here we see Sam desperately trying to destroy the symbol of the Maenad's power, before finally desecrating it in puerile fashion. Well, given he's a shifter, I suppose it's not that puerile: it is how a dog marks his property, after all. In any case, I think this emphasizes Sam's need to take control of his fate, and that slots in nicely with the trailers that suggest he's seeking out his birth family.
"Bill"This was the best minisode, hands down: it is
hilarious and eminently quotable. I think it slightly invokes more consideration of those shadowy sides of Bill by depicting his willingness to glamour a human for such a relatively simple benefit. As much as I resented them downplaying Eric to play up Bill (as compared to the book characters), I'll be sad to see them tear Vampire Bill down even a bit.
There was one last minisode released just last night about Jason, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I'll make another post reflecting on it and the trailers sometime this weekend, after I've had a chance to finish my re-watch of S2.
For those of you who've watched all the minisodes: thoughts?
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