True
Blood: Season 6 (2013/HBO Blu-ray set)
Picture:
A Sound: A Extras: B+ Episodes: B+
HBO
continues to rule the television market with incredible productions
that push the boundaries and give us exciting characters and
production value. True Blood, one of the channel's most
successful shows, comes to us on Blu-ray in this collection of the
Sixth Season that arrives in an incredibly collectable package
that is ideal for any fan of the show or the horror genre. This
season is ten episodes-long instead of the typical twelve, due mainly
to the real-life pregnancy of lead actress Anna Paquin. This season
also is the only one to not be based on the novel series The
Southern Vampire Mysteries but instead takes elements from
multiple books in the series.
WARNING:
SPOILERS
In
Episode One - Who Are You Really?, Sookie, Eric and the others
flee the Authority compound after Bill's reincarnation. Meanwhile,
Louisiana Governor Burrell declares war on vampires. Eric says he is
no longer Pam's maker, and she no longer follows his orders. Upset,
Pam goes to Fangtasia with Tara, when some S.W.A.T. troopers arrive
and shoot Tara, after announcing all Vampire businesses are closed.
Jason hitchhikes and is picked up by an old man, who he believes to
be Warlow after the old man says "Nothing can keep Warlow from
Sookie." Jason shoots at the man who disappears, while the
faerie blood contract promising Sookie to Warlow starts to glow. Sam,
Luna, and Emma escape from Authority headquarters, though Luna dies
from her injuries, entrusting Sam to take care of Emma. Jessica is
called by Bill, who is somewhat normal but more powerful. He is
nearly staked by Eric and is staked from behind by Sookie. He
demands they all leave, except Jessica. Meanwhile, Alcide is about
to have sex with a young woman in the pack when Rikki comes, and they
have a threesome, although Rikki insists she is Alcide's number
one bitch as they have sex. In Bon Temps, Andy tries to take
care of his faerie kids, who age fast. Eric signs Sookie's house
back over to her in his blood, while she takes back his invitation.
Nora insists Eric is in love with Sookie. Bill talks to Jessica in
her room, but hears noises as he leaves. Returning to his room, he
sees Lilith, who appears to enter his body.
Episode
Two - The Sun - Sookie and Jason meet a long-lost relative.
Eric strives to thwart Gov. Burrell's plans. Sam encounters a zealot
and talks to Alcide and Martha about Emma's future. Bill considers
his heightened powers. Episode Three - You're No Good gives
us Eric - who is Irate over Burrell's blatant aggression
towards vampires and takes matters into his own hands. After
dangerously testing the limits of his powers, Bill enlists a TruBlood
innovator to synthesize a new type of blood - but has difficulty
finding the right donor. Sookie begins to learn why Warlow is after
her. Sam receives unexpected help from Nicole and her Vampire Unity
Society (V.U.S.) associates. Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) finds
his past ideals turning into a current nightmare.
Episode
Four - At Last - is where Sookie confronts her attraction to
Ben by inviting him to dinner. Eric counters Burrell's brutal
anti-vampire initiatives by hitting him where it hurts the most.
Andy's faerie daughters keep dangerous company. Bill gives Takahashi
the task of synthesizing a new kind of blood. Episode Five - Fuck
the Pain Away - Sookie gets Lafayette to summon her dead parents.
Warlow revisits some painful memories with Lilith. Eric and Tara
resort to drastic measures to rescue Pam. Sarah reconnects with
Jason, Andy picks up the pieces of his ravaged family, and Jessica
seeks atonement.
Episode
Six - Don't You Feel Me - is where Bill travels to another
plane and seeks Lilith's advice on the escalating crisis between
humans and vampires. Eric, Pam, Nora, Jason and Jessica get an
inside look at Vamp Camp. Sam tries to make the best decision for
Emma's future. Andy names his remaining faerie daughter. Eric
discovers the truth about TruBlood's resumed production. Meanwhile,
Sookie says she's a danger whore and has sex with Warlow,
after discovering that it was him who saved her from her parents, and
not the other way round as she had always believed. Bill attacks the
Governor's residence, killing him and uses his powers to force the
guards to kill each other.
Episode
Seven - In The Evening - begins when Eric makes a last-ditch
attempt to save Nora by pledging allegiance to Bill. Hearing the
news of Terry's death, Sam ignores Alcide's warning and returns to
Bon Temps. Jason breaks-in to the vamp-camp to save Jessica,
where he runs into Sarah. With the Governor out of the picture, she
vows to get revenge on Jason. Jessica shows her gratitude to a
fellow prisoner. Sookie and Warlow move to their special hiding
place. She gives Warlow her blood, she takes his blood - they have
sex. Warlow wants to get married, Sookie isn't so sure.
Episode
Eight - Dead Meat is where Eric decides to take the vampire
fate into his own hands after the death of Nora. Sookie struggles
between staying human/fate or letting Warlow turn her to save Vampire
kind. Meanwhile everyone in the vamp-camp begins to drink the True
Blood tainted with Hep-V. Reverend Newlin accidentally lets slip to
Sarah that they know about the tainted blood, after which she locks
up all the vampires who refuse to drink it in the white room, in
accordance to Bill's vision.
Episode
Nine - Life Matters - is where Sookie and Bill clash over
Bill's desire to use Warlow's blood. Eric arrives at Vamp Camp,
releasing its captives and starting a massacre by leading all into
attacking the human staff. Sarah Newlin escapes, however, and opens
the roof of the White Room in order to burn the trapped vampires
inside. Bill arrives to prevent this, offering the vampires his
blood so they are immune to the sunlight. Eric intervenes when Steve
Newlin tries to get his share, however, forcing Newlin into the sun
and to his death. Bill, weakened by his blood loss, is visited by
Lilith's sirens before being rescued by Jessica. While Eric starts
destroying the infected TruBlood bottles, Jason decides not to kill
Sarah Newlin and lets her go. In Bon Temps, a funeral takes place
for Terry Bellefleur, and the town inhabitants take turns telling
stories about Terry.
Finally,
Episode Ten - Radioactive - begins when Bill discovers that
salvation comes at a price. Due to excessive feeding from his blood,
Bill loses his powers inherited from the blood of Lilith. Sookie
tries to talk Warlow into dating her rather than marry her just then
and there. Warlow turns violent and holds her captive. Bill
releases Takahashi, but is grievously stricken for the way he behaved
with Sookie. Jessica encourages Bill to save Sookie, and they take
the help of Jason, Violet, Andy and Adylin. Bill saves Sookie, but
Warlow soon overtakes everyone and just as he is ready to take Sookie
with him, her Grandfather appears and holds him while Jason puts a
stake through Warlow's heart, killing him. As soon as Warlow dies,
the power of walking in daylight is also taken away from all other
vampires who inherited the trait. Far away in Sweden, Eric also
loses the power which causes him to burn. Six months later, things
come back to normal in Bon Temps: Bill has become a writer, Sam
Merlotte is the new Mayor, Arlene has taken over Sam's bar and
renamed it Bellefleur's, Sookie and Alcide are in a
relationship and so are Jason and Violet. However, the Hepatitis-V
virus has spread around the country and infected vampires run amok.
While a search for a vaccine is ongoing, Sam and Bill offer that each
citizen pair with a healthy vampire as protection. Jessica asks for
forgiveness from Andy and Adylin and promises to protect them; Andy
almost shoots her, but Jessica mounts guard anyway. Tara's estranged
mother, Lettie Mae, offers herself to Tara to nourish her in
an attempt to make up for her neglect of Tara while she was growing
up. In the final scene, during the pairing meet at
Bellefleur's, a horde of infected vampires gather around the building
and are about to attack.
The
transfers are fantastic in 1080p high definition, preserving the
original 1.78 X 1 aspect ratio of the original broadcast with MPEG- 4
AVC codec. The audio is comparable in lossless DTS Master Audio 5.1
and pushes your home stereo system to the maximum, making you feel
part of the action. Subtitles are also available in English SDH,
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and
Swedish.
As
I mentioned, HBO has done a fantastic job with this release, giving
us a very collectible fold out slipcase featuring the main characters
and discs. Extras include Audio Commentaries, Inside the Episodes,
Vamp Camp Files, and True Blood Lines which is an interactive
character tree that maps out the humans, vampires, werewolves, and
other supernatural characters in Season Six. Recommended.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart
