by Kevin Gaussoin, Editor-in-Chief

True Blood is erotic monster fantasy fiction for adults. Twilight may be pretty, but the heroine is weak,  the plot dull and motivations hard to believe. With True Blood, we get supernatural hotties at their naked best in a show that’s not only gratuitous and well shot, but also well written and acted and always entertaining.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Season Two of True Blood ended with a cliffhanger, as Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin – X-Men, Almost Famous, X2, X-Men The Last Stand) was just proposed to by her vampire paramour Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer – Ultraviolet, Priest), Bill was kidnapped. Season Three picks up right where they left off, with Sookie trying to get law enforcement to find Bill, Tara (Rutina Wesley – True Blood) reeling over her loss of Eggs (Mehcad Brooks – Ghost Whisperer, Dollhouse) gets abused by vampire sadist Franklin Mott (James Frain – The Tudors, Flash Forward, The Cape, Tron Legacy), and Jason (Ryan Kwanten – Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord, Tru Calling, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole) and Andy (Andy Bellefleur – Face/Off, 8MM, Life on Mars) trying to keep their involvement in the season 2 finale a secret.

Billed as “The Werewolf Season”, True Blood Season Three does contain werewolves, but these characters are mostly forgettable redshirts besides the heroic Alcide (Joe Manganiello (who really should have played the lead in Thor) – Spider-Man, Spider-Man 3). The most prominent plot thread is that of Bill and his vampire sheriff Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård – Generation Kill) and their political dealings with King Russell Edgington of Mississippi (Denis O’Hare – The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) and Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq of Louisiana (Evan Rachel Wood – Running with Scissors, Across the Universe, The Wrestler).

Other significant plot threads include Sam (Sam Trammell – Aliens vs Predator – Requiem, House, Medium, Dexter) finding his family, Jason’s interest in a peculiar hillbilly girl Crystal (Lindsay Pulsipher – The Beast, Flash Forward), Hoyt (Jim Parrack – Supernatural, Battle Los Angeles) and Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll – Life, My Name is Earl) trying to reunite, and Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis – The Inside, Veronica Mars, The Soloist) finding love and mysticism with Jesus (Kevin Alejandro – Drive, Burn Notice, Heroes, Red State).

Highlights:

Inter-species erotica

S03E01: “Bad Blood” – True Blood starts their third season strong for the ladies and the gays, first with a homoerotic scene with werewolves feeding off Bill, then with a little Bill/Sam action. Existing fans and new watchers were blown away by these scenes and thus given fair warning of the gratuitousness to come.

S03E07: “Hitting the Ground” – Sure True Blood‘s leading men are all enviable beefcakes, but what about the everyman? This episode, Hoyt Fortenberry shows that in Bon Temps, even a regular guy can be faced with the enviable dilemma of deciding between two sweet hotties: the dangerous ginger vampire “cursed” to be forever a young maiden, or the wholesome yet forward blond country girl (Melissa Rauch – Bernadette from Big Bang Theory) you can bring home to momma. This of course reminds me of 2005.

S03E12: “Evil is Going On” – In the season finale, the Russell plot concludes, Jason follows his heart, and Sookie so done with stupid vampires.

Audio

With 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, True Blood The Complete Third Season is almost as much a treat for our ears as it is for our eyes and our naughty bits. When the theme song hits, you know you’re in for a deliciously good time and the True Blood audio artists make sure of it from every whisper to every scream.

Video

A show as as this must be shot and enjoyed in HD, and thankfully True Blood does not disappoint. Whether we’re watching sunbathing Sookie or dark dark deeds committed in dark dark darkness, everything comes through clearly and beautifully in 1080p resolution.

Extras

I love special features, but you don’t watch True Blood for the extras. With this in mind, what we get in the Blu-ray edition of True Blood The Complete Third Season is pretty damn great. While I preferred the pop-ups in the first season set because they were all hosted by Lafayette, here we have pop-ups by a few different characters this time around. Other extras include:

• True Blood Lines – a “Who’s Who” of the Sookie-verse
• Anatomy of a Scene
• True Blood Post Mortems
• Snoop Dogg “Oh Sookie” video – a fun celebrity fan tribute.
• 6 Audio Commentaries with the cast and crew including Executive Producer and Creator Alan Ball, Anna Paquin (Sookie), Stephen Moyer (Bill), Alexander Skarsgård (Eric), Joe Manganiello (Alcide Herveaux), Kristin Bauer Van Straten (Pam De Beaufort), Denise O’Hare (Russell Edgington)
• “And more”!

Sophie-Anne: Hottest Queen anywhere

Overall

When I was a little kid I loved to watch and write monster team-up stories; after adolescence I preferred more prurient programming. True Blood is the best mash-up of both available today. If you can appreciate some dirt with your hunks and gore with your girls, if you find an abundance of sexy supernatural beings appealing, then you might need to got get True Blood The Complete Third Season right quick. Bon Temps is a good time anytime on Blu-ray, and now’s the perfect time to catch up, ’cause Season Four commences Sunday June 26th at 9pm on HBO.

ComicsOnline gives True Blood The Complete Third Season 4.5 out of 5 lewd lycanthropes.

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