True Blood's Lure

by Erin Z. Bass

With the finale of Season 3 of “True Blood” airing on HBO tomorrow night, I thought I’d do a short post about why the show has become such a hit with Southerners and viewers around the country. I watched my first episode in October of last year after downloading it from iTunes to find out what all the fuss was about. At first, I was horrified by the backwoods characters and accents, and the fictional name of the Louisiana town Bon Temps didn’t help much either, but by the end of the episode, I was hooked. It was the music, good looks of vampire Bill and something about the character of Sookie that did it. Plus, the show was just fun to watch once you got past the accents and geographical inaccuracies (Shreveport and Monroe are not close to New Orleans or Jackson, Mississippi).

Since then, I still think the theme song “Bad Things” by Texas-raised Jace Everett is one of the best ever, as is the show’s Emmy-nominated intro depicting race riots, roadkill and baptism in the bayou.

I also especially enjoyed the episode featuring Lafayette, Louisiana’s own CC Adcock playing at Arlene and Rene’s engagement party outside Merlotte’s in Season 1. Here’s a link to an interview with Adcock, where he talks about his version of the Howlin’ Wolf song “Evil (Is Going On)” that will be featured in tomorrow night’s finale and was recorded with Everett, as well as the show’s “swamp, redneck vampire” style of music that’s been such a hit with viewers. Adcock’s music is also featured on both “True Blood” soundtracks available on iTunes, and he occasionally performs in his hometown with bands CC Adcock & The Lafayette Marquis and Lil’ Band O’ Gold.

Since the first season, the show has also begun to travel around the Deep South, going to Dallas in Season 2, where anti-vampire church The Fellowship of the Sun is located, and Mississippi in Season 3. The Magnolia State is where the werewolves live, and its state capital of Jackson is the home of Vampire King of Mississippi Russell Edgington – both great plot points for the show. And proof that viewers enjoy watching life with vampires and weres unfold in the small towns, swamps and piney woods of the Deep South is the fact that the series is now HBO’s most-watched since “The Sopranos.”

So, if you’ve heard about “True Blood’ but still aren’t sure whether or not you want to watch, I suggest checking out an episode or getting the first season on DVD. If the characters don’t “suck” you in, the music will. The finale of Season 3 airs Sunday, September 12, at 8 p.m. Central Time on HBO, but turn on the TV at 7:40 p.m. for a countdown to the finale featuring Adcock and the recording of “Evil.”