OK, trying this again with the "pointless/endless babbling" part of my brain mostly under wraps, and all apologies for the last attempt. I shouldn't be allowed on LJ without adult supervision sometimes, I swear. Take 2 -
That's an excellent point about finales, and S3's finale probably wasn't all that strong; I think I have fonder memories than are probably really deserved because the only bits of it I can seem to recall are Eric's scenes. :)
It would be kind of nice if Tara weren't permanently dead...but then again, would Tara as a chronically-victimized member of the undead be an improvement? Hmm. I will say that alarms went off in my head when Arlene said "zombies are the new vampires"; it's not only true - if potentially outdated by now - but smacked (in my head at least) of foreshadowing. And why not? Zombies are cheesy fun, and what else has True Blood really been lately?
I think the show may have potential, but I'm not seeing how they're going to be able to maintain - or, to be honest, regenerate, at this point - much steam among viewers for more than another season. Eric/Askars no longer has the shiny newness that drew us all in, I don't think Alcide/Joe has really had the staying power producers might've hoped, and we're not seeing any new faces on the horizon - going back to the old ones, actually. I know you were more interested to see Steve than Russell, but to me Steve was only as interesting as his followers (and his wife), while Russell's hilarious crazy knows no bounds, so I guess I'm a bit more excited about that, personally. :) But we'll see. I think HBO's sort of moved on from True Blood, and in light of excellent new shows like Game of Thrones, it makes a certain amount of sense. Advertising dollars are going toward that these days, and unless True Blood can bring in some serious ratings and/or DVD & BluRay revenue next summer, I would honestly guess its days are numbered.
I've never been a big fan of reviving old villains, myself; I have to admit, I'm not the most well-rounded fangirl out there, and have never actually seen an episode of either Buffy or Doctor Who. The closest and most recent things I can compare it to are the two latest and most ridiculously- (and tragically-) short-lived Whedon series, Firefly and Dollhouse. Firefly didn't really exist long enough to have a repeat villain (can we really count Badger or Saffron as villains? to me, he was always more cause for comic relief and maybe an obstacle but not enough serious threat to be a villain, and she was...different, but not necessarily a villain?) and on Dollhouse, I would actually groan "not another Alpha episode" - and given how much love I have for Alan Tudyk, that's saying something. But I'm probably more the exception than the rule, given how often many shows seem to feature recycled baddies, and therefore am not really a good gauge of what it could mean for the series.
In any case, we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully season five brings pleasant surprises for us both. :)
Never apologise for babbling on my journal! Not that many people want to have in depth discussions with me about True Blood! I am pretty slow replying to things at the moment, so sorry I didn't get to it sooner.
When I saw Alan Ball on the weekend he said they weren't going to do zombies because he doesn't like them, and The Walking Dead already covers it. Though I'm not sure I like his alternatives. When he was spouting off a list of supernatural creatures he said angels alarmingly high, and I'm like, that's not on your mind, is it?! Also, I heard Rutina's contract has been renewed, so she will be back in some capacity...
I'm about equally excited for Steve and Russell - they have been my favourite characters on the whole show, I can't lie. I've been thinking about it though, the show's longevity, and I do think you may be right, one or two more seasons will probably be the limit. but they do have a lot of source material and their ratings are pretty big, right? I think the lack of advertising could be natural for a show this late in its run.
(You must watch Buffy or Doctor Who at some point. Must! *pushy fangirl enabling*) To be fair Dollhouse was a shadow of Whedon's other shows, but I agree I groaned when he showed up too. I imagine Firefly would have got there if it had been allowed to go on (sometimes I think it's good that it was cancelled, because it was allowed to stay perfect... then I can't believe I thought such a thing)
Hopefully, hopefully. It's a long wait, in any case. And maybe it's good they killed Eric/Sookie for me for now, because I don't think I could have taken the nine month suspense if I'd cared.
Eh, I was mostly concerned about my unfortunate tendency toward self-centred rambling, to be honest; I've got my own journal for when I really can't help descending into that. But I was a bit worried that you'd think I was posting because you hadn't replied, which wasn't the case (just my neurotic self-censoring, rather); no need for you to apologise. :)
It's good to hear that they won't be going down the "zombie" road, I must admit. Angels...well, from bookverse, that's basically what fairies are striving to become, so maybe they'll introduce some warped version of that, now that fairies are back? o.O Tbh, as long as they don't go the "angels are dead humans" route, angels aren't an automatic squick for me, but it's not my first choice. The fact that Rutina's contract's been renewed is definitely a good sign, in any case.
Steve and Russell have been their better villains, without a doubt. Although (on a total tangent), speaking of cool characters, how awesome was it to see the snarky troll doctor back this season?? "I can make you beautiful again - well, like you were before, whatever you call that..." *loves* /tangent
They do have a lot of source material...but how much of it can they still use? They can't do the wedding, having KO'd the Queen, and dethroned the King (and buried him in concrete, but who's counting? besides, as the finale showed, everything's temporary). Barry's dead, Claudine got slurped up by Eric, Jason's not a scraggly excuse for a werepanther after all, Bill's not inventorying vampires so he's not going to find and settle down with his "sibling". Not that these are all bad things, but they've burned a lot of bridges. And I won't lie, while I loved Quinn originally, when CH decided she was done with him and made him act all OOC, it left a bad taste in my mouth - and besides, the last thing we need is another contender for Sookie (not that she's really doing a stellar job with what she's got), so I hope they won't be bringing him into it. The ratings are big, but I'd bet a lot that they dropped as this season progressed, and I suspect (one thing my coworkers said more than once this season was "why am I still watching this...") they'll drop a whole lot more by next. True, it's common for marketing to fall away as a series progresses and gets its own following - but HBO put more into later seasons of Sopranos than they're sparing for True Blood, and I can't help but feel the show is quickly becoming yesterday's news.
Ok, granted I'm fresh off having just watched the last season and a half of Dollhouse (as in, finished it last week), but I have to say, I actually loved it. I love it and Firefly for totally different reasons. With Dollhouse, I loved the characters & writing, liked the concept, and loved the Byzantine maze (especially toward the end) of double-crosses and conflicting loyalties. Even if it broke my heart and killed off my 3 favourite characters in the course of the final 2 episodes. With Firefly...well. It was Firefly, and I think that says it all. ;) I totally understand what you mean about it being so perfect that more time would have given it too much potential to degenerate into something...less. (Look at what flashbacks and dreams have done to Godric and his relationship with Eric, after all.) It's the same as comparing John Lennon to Elvis; Lennon was taken from us too young, so who's to say he wouldn't have become a bloated parody of what he'd once been? Still, to think what Firefly could have become...*sighs wistfully* And I will probably watch Buffy at some point - I'm definitely hungry for more Joss, and he seems to have abandoned TV for the time being, sadly - but I have so many shows to catch up on (Weeds - 1 season; NCIS LA - 1.5 seasons; Chuck - 1 season; Fringe - well, I want to go back and start from the beginning, so...) that it may have to take a number. And the new season's starting next week for broadcast TV...seriously, what have I been doing with my summer?? LOL
I don't think I could have taken the nine month suspense if I'd cared. Amen. :) Though it's sad to remember how amped up we were for more Eric/Sookie at the end of the last two seasons, compared to now. Maybe there's no place to go from here but up? :)
That's an excellent point about finales, and S3's finale probably wasn't all that strong; I think I have fonder memories than are probably really deserved because the only bits of it I can seem to recall are Eric's scenes. :)
It would be kind of nice if Tara weren't permanently dead...but then again, would Tara as a chronically-victimized member of the undead be an improvement? Hmm. I will say that alarms went off in my head when Arlene said "zombies are the new vampires"; it's not only true - if potentially outdated by now - but smacked (in my head at least) of foreshadowing. And why not? Zombies are cheesy fun, and what else has True Blood really been lately?
I think the show may have potential, but I'm not seeing how they're going to be able to maintain - or, to be honest, regenerate, at this point - much steam among viewers for more than another season. Eric/Askars no longer has the shiny newness that drew us all in, I don't think Alcide/Joe has really had the staying power producers might've hoped, and we're not seeing any new faces on the horizon - going back to the old ones, actually. I know you were more interested to see Steve than Russell, but to me Steve was only as interesting as his followers (and his wife), while Russell's hilarious crazy knows no bounds, so I guess I'm a bit more excited about that, personally. :) But we'll see. I think HBO's sort of moved on from True Blood, and in light of excellent new shows like Game of Thrones, it makes a certain amount of sense. Advertising dollars are going toward that these days, and unless True Blood can bring in some serious ratings and/or DVD & BluRay revenue next summer, I would honestly guess its days are numbered.
I've never been a big fan of reviving old villains, myself; I have to admit, I'm not the most well-rounded fangirl out there, and have never actually seen an episode of either Buffy or Doctor Who. The closest and most recent things I can compare it to are the two latest and most ridiculously- (and tragically-) short-lived Whedon series, Firefly and Dollhouse. Firefly didn't really exist long enough to have a repeat villain (can we really count Badger or Saffron as villains? to me, he was always more cause for comic relief and maybe an obstacle but not enough serious threat to be a villain, and she was...different, but not necessarily a villain?) and on Dollhouse, I would actually groan "not another Alpha episode" - and given how much love I have for Alan Tudyk, that's saying something. But I'm probably more the exception than the rule, given how often many shows seem to feature recycled baddies, and therefore am not really a good gauge of what it could mean for the series.
In any case, we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully season five brings pleasant surprises for us both. :)
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When I saw Alan Ball on the weekend he said they weren't going to do zombies because he doesn't like them, and The Walking Dead already covers it. Though I'm not sure I like his alternatives. When he was spouting off a list of supernatural creatures he said angels alarmingly high, and I'm like, that's not on your mind, is it?! Also, I heard Rutina's contract has been renewed, so she will be back in some capacity...
I'm about equally excited for Steve and Russell - they have been my favourite characters on the whole show, I can't lie. I've been thinking about it though, the show's longevity, and I do think you may be right, one or two more seasons will probably be the limit. but they do have a lot of source material and their ratings are pretty big, right? I think the lack of advertising could be natural for a show this late in its run.
(You must watch Buffy or Doctor Who at some point. Must! *pushy fangirl enabling*) To be fair Dollhouse was a shadow of Whedon's other shows, but I agree I groaned when he showed up too. I imagine Firefly would have got there if it had been allowed to go on (sometimes I think it's good that it was cancelled, because it was allowed to stay perfect... then I can't believe I thought such a thing)
Hopefully, hopefully. It's a long wait, in any case. And maybe it's good they killed Eric/Sookie for me for now, because I don't think I could have taken the nine month suspense if I'd cared.
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It's good to hear that they won't be going down the "zombie" road, I must admit. Angels...well, from bookverse, that's basically what fairies are striving to become, so maybe they'll introduce some warped version of that, now that fairies are back? o.O Tbh, as long as they don't go the "angels are dead humans" route, angels aren't an automatic squick for me, but it's not my first choice. The fact that Rutina's contract's been renewed is definitely a good sign, in any case.
Steve and Russell have been their better villains, without a doubt. Although (on a total tangent), speaking of cool characters, how awesome was it to see the snarky troll doctor back this season?? "I can make you beautiful again - well, like you were before, whatever you call that..." *loves* /tangent
They do have a lot of source material...but how much of it can they still use? They can't do the wedding, having KO'd the Queen, and dethroned the King (and buried him in concrete, but who's counting? besides, as the finale showed, everything's temporary). Barry's dead, Claudine got slurped up by Eric, Jason's not a scraggly excuse for a werepanther after all, Bill's not inventorying vampires so he's not going to find and settle down with his "sibling". Not that these are all bad things, but they've burned a lot of bridges. And I won't lie, while I loved Quinn originally, when CH decided she was done with him and made him act all OOC, it left a bad taste in my mouth - and besides, the last thing we need is another contender for Sookie (not that she's really doing a stellar job with what she's got), so I hope they won't be bringing him into it. The ratings are big, but I'd bet a lot that they dropped as this season progressed, and I suspect (one thing my coworkers said more than once this season was "why am I still watching this...") they'll drop a whole lot more by next. True, it's common for marketing to fall away as a series progresses and gets its own following - but HBO put more into later seasons of Sopranos than they're sparing for True Blood, and I can't help but feel the show is quickly becoming yesterday's news.
Ok, granted I'm fresh off having just watched the last season and a half of Dollhouse (as in, finished it last week), but I have to say, I actually loved it. I love it and Firefly for totally different reasons. With Dollhouse, I loved the characters & writing, liked the concept, and loved the Byzantine maze (especially toward the end) of double-crosses and conflicting loyalties. Even if it broke my heart and killed off my 3 favourite characters in the course of the final 2 episodes. With Firefly...well. It was Firefly, and I think that says it all. ;) I totally understand what you mean about it being so perfect that more time would have given it too much potential to degenerate into something...less. (Look at what flashbacks and dreams have done to Godric and his relationship with Eric, after all.) It's the same as comparing John Lennon to Elvis; Lennon was taken from us too young, so who's to say he wouldn't have become a bloated parody of what he'd once been? Still, to think what Firefly could have become...*sighs wistfully* And I will probably watch Buffy at some point - I'm definitely hungry for more Joss, and he seems to have abandoned TV for the time being, sadly - but I have so many shows to catch up on (Weeds - 1 season; NCIS LA - 1.5 seasons; Chuck - 1 season; Fringe - well, I want to go back and start from the beginning, so...) that it may have to take a number. And the new season's starting next week for broadcast TV...seriously, what have I been doing with my summer?? LOL
I don't think I could have taken the nine month suspense if I'd cared.
Amen. :) Though it's sad to remember how amped up we were for more Eric/Sookie at the end of the last two seasons, compared to now. Maybe there's no place to go from here but up? :)
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