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Following the hedonistic reign of terror of the redoubtable Maryann, the residents of Bon Temps are once again trying to pull their lives back together. For Sookie Stackhouse, events are complicated by the disappearance of her vampire lover Bill Compton, the emergence of a bunch of werewolves on the scene and the machinations of the vampire King of Mississippi. Meanwhile, Sookie's brother Jason pursues a new career in law-enforcement, Sam Merlott tracks down his real parents and Jessica, now broken up with Hoyt, embraces her vampire side more freely. Meanwhile (again), Lafayette gets a boyfriend called Jesus (True Blood? Controversial? Never!) and there are some meth-dealing hicks around causing mischief. And there's this werewolf called Alcide who fancies Sookie and spends a fair bit of time with his shirt off. And Tara gets emotionally abused (yet again) by Thomas Cromwell from The Tudors. And a whole ton of other stuff happened which I'm forgetting right now.

True Blood has always been a nutty, camp, somewhat trashy but always resolutely entertaining show, but its third season is nothing less than a sustained, full-scale assault on the viewer's senses and sanity. Learning from the pacing problems in Season 2 (where the latter part of the season degenerated into a tiresome parade of filler orgy scenes for no discernible plot reason), Alan Ball has massively overcompensated, packing every single instant of this season with surprising plot revelations, new characters, surprise reappearances of old characters (including dead ones), new ideas, new races, new concepts and, indeed, the kitchen sink. It's certainly not a dull season, but it is one that is overloaded to the point of near-incoherence.

If it's possible to pick out a central thread from this anarchic and demented tapestry of pure chaos, it's the attempt by the vampire King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington, to reverse the policy of appeasement by vampires towards humans and have vampires seize control of the world. Edgington is as barmy as a box of frogs on ecstasy (but still a long way from being the craziest character on the show this season) but is extraordinarily entertaining, played with scene-chewing relish by Denis O'Hare. His lover Talbot, played by Theo Alexander, is almost as amusing. This storyline, where Eric and Bill pretend (or do they?) to defect from the Queen of Lousiana's side to Edgington's and political machinations unfold at his stately home, is the definite highlight of the year, despite the presence of a number of extremely cheesy actors playing 'evil' werewolves who are allied to Edgington.

The werewolf storyline otherwise doesn't really go anywhere, despite the pre-season hype touting this as 'the werewolf season'. We do get a promising new regular character in the form of 'good' werewolf Alcide (Joe Manganiello) who manages to remain likable despite inexplicably being attracted to Sookie, who is at her most annoying this year. Hopefully he gets more to do next year.

Other storylines range from the mind-bogglingly inane (the meth-dealing hillbilly plot is almost breathtaking in its utter lack of enjoyability) to the compelling (Jessica and Hoyt continue to have the most believable relationship and best chemistry of any pairing on the show). Tara gets emotionally and physically abused and manipulated again to the point where the viewer is in severe danger of losing the last vestiges of sympathy and respect for the character. This story is somewhat saved by James Frain's completely bonkers performance as mentally unstable vampire Franklin Mott (who makes the King of Mississippi look like a stable and reliable fellow), but the writers need to stop using Tara as their emotional punch-bag, especially since they relent with her cousin Lafayette and give him a reasonably happy storyline, complete with a new love interest (which was great up until the hippy-trippy voodoo vision stuff kicked in).

There's also a series of plot revelations that hark back to the beginning of Season 1 and earlier, particularly retconning the backstories and motivations for Sam and Bill. In the former case this is laughably unbelievable, whilst the latter works better. Whilst Sookie is rather unlikable this year, Stephen Moyer's performance seems to improve once Bill is given more layers and made into a more duplicitous character than we first thought he was.

Overall, this season of True Blood is watchable, but also often headache-inducingly overwrought. The 'Arlene's baby' storyline is unnecessary and tedious, as is the story about Jason's latest romance. The less said about the introduction of the Fae (supernatural beings who apparently dwell within the mystical realm of a Timotei advert) the better. However, we also get a lot more screen-time for Eric and Pam, which is great, and we also get one of the most gloriously demented TV cliffhangers of all time (you'll know it when you see it).

True Blood's third season (***) is a cataclysmic explosion of sleaze, storylines and characters, some of which are compelling and some of which are barely watchable tedium. Sorting the good from the bad is hard work this year, but the show is never less than watchable, if also frequently achieving far less than its potential.

This season started off with a fantastic bang, but as it progressed the episodes became increasingly stupid and disappointing. The third season's main plot point is the exciting kidnapping of Bill by the King of Mississippi who has a pack of V-addicted werewolf henchman. Naturally, Sookie does everything she can to save her man with Eric both preventing and/or helping her in her endeavors. However, this season bombards the viewers with too many new characters and subplots. There are literally more than a dozen new characters, and most of the already established characters (Layfayette, Sam, Tara, Jessica, Jason, Arlene, etc) seem to have their own subplots going on. Some of the characters rarely have any interaction with each other, but only with the new characters in their own personal story. In fact the subplots take up so much of the show that I often feel like I am watching 4 or more shows at once. Along with new characters there are several new "supes" (supernaturals) that are introduced in this season including werewolves, werepanthers, fairies/"fae", and witches. I also find it strange that a good amount of the "supes" are backwater, dirty hicks who don't even look classy enough for a trailer park. Some cheesy and downright stupid scenes make viewers feel that perhaps True Blood is going in the direction of every other vampire show, book or movie, which is mind-numbing stupidity. Possibly the worst part about this season was the finale, which was a horrible episode, nonetheless horrible season finale. In fact I think it was probably the worst episode of True Blood I have ever seen.

However, this is not to say this season did not have some great twists and turns to keep viewers on the edge of their seat. So in light of lots of criticism I will highlight some of the best parts of Season 3.

1. Background about Eric's life as both a human and vampire

2. We learn "what" Sookie is and why she can read minds and shoot light from her fingertips

3. Eric and Pam's maker-progeny relationship is presented in a deeper and more meaningful manner

4. We learn more about vampire hierarchies and politics

5. Jessica's adjustment to her vampire identity and struggling with her relationship with Hoyt

6. We see a darker side of the gallant and gentlemanly Bill

7. We see a lighter side of the cold and cruel Eric

8. Some amusing one liners (ex: "His cheese done slid off his cracker!") But they best be careful with this lest they put too much effort into "funny" lines and not meaningful dialogue

9. Some awesome fight scenes

10. Russel Edgington

I love to curl up and watch as the scenes unfold.....Sookie and Bill....Sookie without Bill....Sookie and Bill...Hey Sookie,Take a good look at Alcide! Hot actors, engaging story lines...FUN FUN FUN! People relax...enjoy...stop making it SERIOUS....we have hard bodied guys for us ladies, and hot bodied women for the guys...add a touch of the obscure and you have this wonderful hour of nothing to worry about...Another HBO great! Thanks

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1.0 out of 5 stars Review of the actual blu-ray
This blu-ray (Season 3) is the glitchiest compilation yet. Upon inserting disc 4, the only way to access the actual episodes is to display all 12 episodes and then chose. Read more

Published 7 hours ago by Miki P.

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay Season, Frustrated By the Finale
Unfortunately, endings make the difference in TV seasons, and this one ends with seven distinct soap-operatic cliffhangers. I counted. Read more

Published 20 hours ago by Kevin L. Nenstiel

4.0 out of 5 stars Good quality presentation
The shows are crystal clear. I'm a hardcore Trueblood fan and cant wait for the new season to start in a few weeks ! Read more

Published 22 hours ago by Daniel

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST ONE YET!!
This season by far has been the best yet. It is great seeing the characters growing and becoming each their own. Seeing into Sam's still shady past was nice. Read more

Published 1 day ago by Mary A. Burns

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading & Watching this series: MORE STORY
I think so many issues and side plots are fun, but I may have to do some outlining yet. I keep wondering if I am remembering all of the book plots in enough detail. Read more

Published 1 day ago by Dupree

5.0 out of 5 stars Ball of a hit show
I came to TrueBlood a season late. I just wasn't insterested in riding the vampire "Tween" bandwaggon of movies and shows, but this one really is in its own category. Read more

Published 1 day ago by J. Burgos

4.0 out of 5 stars Getting more out there, but still very good :)
I'm a hardcore Trueblood fan! I love the first 2 seasons, but this one keeps you on edge too! I wasn't thrilled about the season finale, but I can't wait to see what's in store... Read more

Published 1 day ago by Princess_Sparkle

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
True Blood is anyones Guilty plessure I love this show the people in this show are so Hot....
Better than anything else on tv this summer. Read more

Published 2 days ago by mimi

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Series
Initially, with all the hype about True Blood, I wasn't sure if I wanted to bother watching the series, I'm not one for believing the hype about the latest fad. Read more

Published 3 days ago by Nonsequiteur

5.0 out of 5 stars Great show, continues to improve *NOTE Verified Purchase!
Please note this is a AMAZON Verified Purchase, today is release date. I have not watched all the discs yet, as I usually like to watch the whole season in a couple days, then... Read more

Published 3 days ago by SAMIAM

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