True Blood: Payback Sucks (Spoiler alert!) The season premiere delivers screams of both horror and ecstasy, and a little restitution.

one of my favorite reviews/recaps from film.com

Whoo doggy, wasn't that fun? There's been so much run-up to this second season of True Blood, I was worried the actual product wasn't going to meet the challenge. The season premiere episode, "Nothing But the Blood," did a good job of juggling all the balls left in the air at the end of last season (dead body in parking lot, the mystery of MaryAnn, Bill's vampire-in-training, Lafayette's fate) while delivering on much of the promise Alan Ball was telling us about last week in interviews. Ball said the second season was going to be "more intense ... a lot scarier (and) sexier." Let's see how he did:
More intense? Check.
Scarier? Check.
Sexier? *Double-check.
I'd say that's pretty good. (Spoilers to follow.)

*Those worried that we'd have to wait for some sweet Bill and Sookie nooky certainly had their concerns put to rest. No Cat Power love this time, but having watched a few episodes, I can tell you that Anna Paquin is no longer as shy about showing off her goods.

Alan Ball claims True Blood is pure popcorn, but forgive me if I go all Cliff Notes for a second. I picked up on a theme emerging amidst the thrills, and it's a circular one of reparation. Jason makes amends for his past by giving himself over to the Fellowship of the Sun cult, but he can't do it until Sookie hands over her own reparations given to her by her diddling Uncle Bartlett, who in turn had restitution forced on him by Bill, who, by episode's end is made to apologize for the action the only way a Southern gentleman knows how -- with some well written romantic flattery. Sookie can't resist, and lays thick her best Scarlett O'Hara: "God damn you Bill Compton, I love you." It's bodice-ripping time!

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