The Show
True Blood The Complete Second Season. manages to capture the unique drama of being a vampire (or a shape-shifter, or mind-reader, or...), but incredibly it also manages to do so with a sense of humor that differentiates it from all the other angst-ridden bloodsuckers out there. (Do the dreamy, maudlin vamps of Twilight suffer from "fangst"?) Throw in the cannibalistic, orgy-loving, zombifying "maenad" that is taking over the quirky Southern town of Bon Temps, and you have a slow-cooker recipe that reaches a full boil by season's end.
The premiere picks up right where we left off, in the aftermath of a vicious murder. The Fellowship of the Sun is continuing to recruit pure souls for their righteous stand against the vampires, but their own nasty secrets are soon exposed. The season also gives fascinating insight into the history of certain characters, while noble Bill (Stephen Moyer) is doing his best to raise a precocious teenaged vampire "daughter." Fraught with teases and full-blown revelations, these twelve one-hour episodes wrap up most of the loose ends before cliff-hanging us for the soon-to-start Season Three.
The Picture
A faint film grain combines with video noise for a less-than-perfect 1.78:1 image. The noise in particular is fairly common, sometimes severe, although every once in a while we can see a shot that is strikingly crisp. Blacks are not as strong as they could be, raven-haired characters can start to disappear into the backgrounds, a pity because this is often a dark show, visually. Backgrounds typically have a slight mushiness to them, but overall True Blood is above-average for TV on Blu-ray.
The Sound
The exploitation of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is rather ambitious for a weekly TV show, particularly in its use of the rear speakers. There is ample environmental noise; chirping crickets and tweeting birds and such in the bayou, sometimes quite subtle but still definitely there; and freaky sonic moments like the voices inside Sookie's (Anna Paquin) head or multichannel evilspeak. Characters are at times placed discretely around the soundfield, off-camera action can be quite specific, or a vague crowd might be murmuring behind us, and a vampire takeoff can exhibit a nice, bassy whoosh. Music is well-recorded and thoughtfully mixed.
The Extras
A total of seven audio commentaries are spread across six episodes. (The season finale is packing two separate commentary tracks.) Participants include actor Nelsan Ellis and director Michael Lehmann; writer Raele Tucker and director Michael Ruscio; actors Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgård and director John Dahl; actors Ryan Kwanten and Sam Trammell; actor Rutina Wesley, writer Alan Ball and director Daniel Minahan; actors Anna Paquin and Michelle Forbes; and writer Alexander Woo and director Michael Cuesta.
The four-mode "Enhanced Viewing" option on every episode takes advantage of Bonus View technology on Profile 1.1-and-later players. These modes offer "Character Perspectives" from Hoyt, Pam, Karl and Steve Newlin; "Flashback/Flash Forward," a very handy feature which reminds us how past scenes affect current moments; "Pro/Anti-Vampire Feeds," "live" propaganda from both camps; and "Hints/FYI" trivia tracks which reveal details we might have missed. The Character Perspectives are presented independently as well, two hours and two minutes when watched straight through.
"Fellowship of the Sun: Reflections of Light" presents four different in-character clips, 12 minutes total. And "The Vampire Report: Special Edition" (24 minutes) is a faux news program about life in this vampire-outed world. These are in addition to a three-minute Season 1 Recap and episode previews. All content here is in high definition.
Final Thoughts
There's no other show quite like HBO's True Blood, inspired and uncensored, and this second season is a worthy continuation of the supernatural exploits. This set looks about as good and sounds even better than expected, while the multiple commentaries and all-episode Bonus View assure bon temps for all.
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