True Blood: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray Review
Kristy Sturdivant
May 29th, 2012
Season three of TRUE BLOOD was a bit of a cliffhanger so let’s get up to speed. Our heroine Sookie Stackhouse was transferred over into the fairy world by her fairy godmother where she has been hanging out for a couple of hours (or so she thinks). Season four of TRUE BLOOD starts us off at this point and quickly throws Sookie back into our world where we discover that over a year has passed and most of the world has moved on. This is a great way to freshen up all of our characters story lines, such as: Jason Stackhouse is now a Deputy Sheriff, Bill Compton is now the King of Louisiana and Tara (the worst character on television) has ran off and is no longer in Bon Temps.
Back when TRUE BLOOD first aired, it was quite graphic in the sex department as well as the gore/violence. There’s still plenty of gore to go around, but the sex doesn’t seem to be as big of a part of TRUE BLOOD like it was in the beginning. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some sexual relations taking place, but it’s nothing like it was back when Bill and Sookie were together. It feels like TRUE BLOOD has developed the characters enough to where they can just imply relations instead of actually showing it to us on screen.
If you’re a fan of the HBO series TRUE BLOOD then you can rest assured that season four is up to par with the previous three seasons and you won’t be disappointed. If you’re not a fan but have to watch this unwillingly with a significant other then you will probably be mildly entertained but annoyed at this season. As much as this writer enjoys this series, there were a couple of story lines that just got old and have been drawn out too long. There have been complaints made previously about Sookie’s BFF Tara getting too much screen time and that is still true in this season, though her story was overshadowed by the more annoying story of Sam Merlotte’s shapes-shifting brother Tommy. It’s true that multiple stories make for good television, but these two arcs were just too dull compared to the vampires and werewolves running around Louisiana. Hopefully other fans feel the same way and we’ll see less and less of these side stories in future seasons.
Other than particular plotlines, there’s not much to complain about with the TRUE BLOOD series. The dialogue is well written, the production value is superb and the characters are pretty engrossing. HBO really knows how to produce and develop television and they have really changed the way we watch television. Thankfully other networks are starting to follow suit which means we’re getting better TV and less reality. Thank you HBO. If you haven’t gotten on the TRUE BLOOD bandwagon then I suggest you pick up the first season and give it watch, especially if you are into the whole vampire/werewolf thing. Though be warned, this is not something to watch with your parents.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: As with all HBO television shows the video is superb. At times it may look gritty or dark, but that’s just the ambiance of the show and has nothing to do with the quality.
Audio: Fantastic audio throughout the season. The surround sound was utilized appropriately during certain scenes and it was great to listen to.
Audio Commentaries: There are six commentaries available for various episodes and if you are a TRUE BLOOD fan then these would probably be enjoyable.
True Blood: The Final Touches (28:00): This is a really in-depth look at season four with director Alan Ball and other crew members. If you only have time for one special feature this is the one to watch.
Inside the Episodes (55:57): Each episode also has a mini-featurette attached that would be great to watch if you were catching this for the first time on television, but is a bit useless if you are watching these episodes back-to-back (which was the case in my household).
True Blood Lines: This is an interactive featurette that focuses on all the characters in season four.
DVD Copy
Digital Copy
[fbcomments]
