HBO's 'True Blood' has oblique local angle in Hawaii

from Honolulu Star Bulletin

You have to hand it to HBO for its constant stream of fresh, cutting-edge material. "True Blood," a series that will launch its 12-episode second season on June 14, contains a local (sort of) angle. One of the show's regulars is Carrie Preston, who is married to Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus on "Lost," and a part-time Hawaii resident for one more year). Preston doesn't get the screen time of series star Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress who can hear people's thoughts), but when her ditzy, highly sensitive waitress (Arlene Fowler) is on, she often steals the scene.

Like all things vampire, "True Blood" has a rabid cult following with popular online discussion threads. But it's also earned favorable reviews with compelling plot lines, unpredictable characters with humor and depth, supernatural elements, shape shifters (who transform themselves from animal to human and back again!), religious fanatics, vampire news updates and provocative sex and violence -- sometimes intertwined, always with fangs and typically bathed in blood.

It helps to watch some of the first season, which came out on DVD and Blu-Ray May 19, or catch the series recap narrated by show creator Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under"), who explains the characters and plot lines for those new to the serial.

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