The Film
Season 3 of HBO's sexy vampire series a darker turn than the comedy of the previous season. Between the Maenad and Jason (Ryan Kwanten)'s time with the Fellowship of the Sun, Season 2 had plenty of comic relief to balance the darker realities of vampire life. Expect fewer moments of humor this time around. Darker themes surround the season where Sookie (Anna Paquin) risks her life to rescue Bill (Stephen Moyer) after he's kidnapped.
Werewolves are introduced in True Blood the Complete Third Season. With the introduction of those who are men by day, and a hairy pack of wolves in the full moon -- or any other time of their choosing -- looking for Bill seems all the more perilous. That just brings in another candidate in the growing love triangle surrounding Sookie. Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) orders Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello), a lone wolf to take Sookie to Mississippi to find and rescue Bill. The attraction is instant. Things get messy and characters are conflicted leaving the audience in "will they or won't they?" wonder.
The Picture
The rich, dark color palette of the HBO show is nothing less than stunning. On Blu-ray, the 1080p picture carries the television series perfectly. Every detail is pristine, whether day or night. Rich colors, especially reds, pop on the TV screen. Skin tones appear realistic, including the very pale tones of the vampires in the show.
Special effects such as people shifting into werewolves and other animals, or the speed of a vampire moving from one point to the next, look quite natural to those adjusted to the world of Sookie Stackhouse. The effects are integrated into the scene and don't look jarring or unnatural. No other technical glitches appear in the Season 3 box set that I could detect.
The Sound
HBO's True Blood gives all your speakers a workout, including the rear and certainly the subwoofer. The series excels in its dialog, action, sound effects and music. Nothing is skimped here in this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 presentation. You hear the action, and know exactly where it came from in the perspective of the characters. If a werewolf approaches, you hear it from the appropriate side in the sound field.
Quiet moments are handled just as well as blood-lusty action like when vampire battles werewolf. Whether you can believe it or not, there are plenty of quiet moments in this season filled with action.
The Extras
The list of bonus materials are plentiful in the Season 3 package of True Blood. One of the more enjoyable is "enhanced viewing," a sort of "pop-up video" way of watching each episode. In particular scenes, character perspectives pop up in a picture-in-picture format. Jessica, Andy, Tommy and Alcide each get time to comment on the scenes that they can provide insight, or color on. Jessica speaks to scenes about vampires, and protests that Bill hasn't taught her all the skills she needs to be a good vampire. And by "good" I mean effective, not "good" like Bill demonstrates in that he doesn't feast on humans.
In addition to the character perspectives, Enhanced Viewing also provides "Flashback/Flash Forward" sequences that let you see that origin or conclusion to certain topics occurring in the episode. In a scene where Sookie clashes with Bill's maker Lorena, you can Flash Forward to see the resolution, but you can choose to wait to see the resolution a few episodes down the line. The same viewing mode also offers vampire histories and character bios, which gives almost too much backstory detail on secondary and even background characters in the show. Find out when and where someone was born (or made), and their motivation for their actions. One last feature in Enhanced Viewing is "Hints/FYIs" that don't necessarily tell you the answers, but cues the viewer in that there's more to what's being said. When Sookie is in a coma, for instance, there's hints to her "dream" that it's more than a dream and she's really in an alternate world, but what kind of world?
There's a plethora of extras in addition to the Enhanced Viewing. True Blood Lines is like the family tree, but for vampires. Post Mortems are bonus shorts that aired after episodes in Season 3. Hip Hop artist Snoop Dogg even makes an appearance in the box set with his video "Oh Sookie."
Final Thoughts
There's much more to True Blood: The Complete Third Season than what appeared originally on HBO. It's a Blu-ray box set worth having on your shelf. The 12 episodes are enhanced greatly by the bonus materials.
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