Introducing "True Blood's" Fresh Meat

Pop Wrap at New York Post gets everyone all together in one nice article

Hello once again to all my fang bangers. Oh, how I have missed you in a months since our beloved "True Blood" went underground. It's been so hard getting through Sunday nights without trips to Merlotte's, no? Well I felt it was time to take a trip back down to Bon Temps because there has been casting news a go-go in recent weeks, and I think it's high time we talk about what their addition means for Sookie, Sam, Jason and Tara.

Let's start with Preston Jones, who was just officially added to the cast today. He will be playing ... well, we don't know what character Preston will be, but since everyone else that has been added to the cast is playing some sort of "good guy" (we'll talk about them after the jump!), I am going to assume Preston is evil.

He's got the fair skin of a sunlight-a-phobe, but since creator Alan Ball teased that, "there's a new creature in town that is unlike any other. Nobody knows what this creature is, I'm not sure if it will be entirely explained in the show -- it's not a werewolf," I am going to pretend, for now, that is what we're looking at here.

Let's break down the rest of "TB's" newbies after the jump.

Next up is Ashley Jones. She is moving in to Merlotte's as Daphne, the joint's new waitress. Given that the bar has a higher staff turnover rate than the midnight-6 a.m. shift at Denny's -- Amy, Dawn, Lafayette? -- it's no surprise she's only booked for six episodes right now.

Alan also teases that Sam gets a new love interest in season two, so perhaps it will be Daphne who puts a little 'zoinks!' into the shapeshifters slacks in Tara's absence.

This season Jason Stackhouse will continue his religious redemption at The Fellowship of the Sun. It is at one of the church's excursion camps that Jason meets Luke, another worship-e that inevitably looks like he spends all his non-church time doing crunches at the gym.

Luke will be played by Wes Brown for at least half a dozen episodes. And given the fact that Wes looks like a lesser Chris Evans, I think you can all understand my hope that this kid gets the Stackhouse-treatment from the producers quick and frequently.

Speaking of Fellowship of the Sun, we've previously met Steve Newlin, the head of the church, and with the addition of Anna Camp we will soon be meeting his better(?) half. The actress will play Sarah, in a casting announcement that continues to reaffirm my belief that the Fellowship will become a major presence for the show's second season.

Jason will also be getting some more loving -- shocker! -- this season. So I can't be the only one concerned that the combination of his insane body and lack of scruples will lead to a little illicit loving with Mrs. Newlin, can I?

Up next is Todd Lowe, who plays Terry, the PTSD cuz of disliked Andy Bellefleur. Perhaps he will continue to simply be a presence at Merlotte's as he was for most of last year, but then again, we should not forget his season finale declaration that everyone should start listening to him because he knows things.

Finally, there is the most controversial addition to the cast -- Jessica, Bill's newly minted vamp. The scared little girl we met rapidly turned bratty and bitchy once she became a vampire and moved in with Bill. Obviously her presence is going to test Sookie and Bill's love, but will it test the audience's patience too? Looks like we'll have to wait a bit to find out -- season two is slated to return this summer to HBO.

Read on http://blogs.nypost.com/popwrap/archives/2009/01/true_blood_new.html