Like many viewers, I didn't care much for the fourth season of this show; it had little of what made me enjoy it originally and instead it had endless messy threads few of which seemed to come together in any sort of meaningful way and generally there just seemed to be lots of "stuff" going on – most of which I didn't care about and even a major cliffhanger regarding a character I liked really had me going "meh". This didn't change much in the first episode of the 5th season as the events came thick and fast as old plots were tied up, ongoing ones were continued and new ones were put in place. It felt so much like the hollow busyness of the previous season that I was pretty much ready to call it a day and the only reason I didn't was that my partner wanted to watch two episodes back to back.
Doing this meant that I was able to stay with the show as it got all the mess out of its system in that first episode and then settled down (comparatively) to set out its stall for the season with a main plot and a handful of smaller ones that mostly fold into the main one. The result is that this season manages to avoid the total mess that was the fourth season and it does this by virtue of having more focus and fewer things on the edge of the field of vision. The main plot folds in nicely with most of the supporting characters, whether it be the werewolves, the shifters, Terry or Andy, there is at least a connection. This is not to say it is amazing though, just that improves upon the previous season. It is a solid plot line and produces lots of twists and turns – with many of them being the gory or sexual nature, which the show is mostly about delivering in fairness. The religious extremist vampires has some satirical teeth but it does disappoint by not pushing this more, instead it goes for following the narrative which I suppose does at least make sense as a solution to the problems of last season.
Mostly it does work; it provides sex, gore, comedy, action and an engaging plot with betrayals, deaths and other twists along the way. It never really captures that real heat it had in the first season, but it does a solid job of telling a decent story in a decent way and making it entertaining at the same time. The cast continue to do good jobs even as their material gets sillier – although some must feel it more than others. In particular Moyer must enjoy the colour of his character but lament the loss of substance to a certain extent. Paquin continues to do her thing but her character is surprisingly less central. Trammell and Kwanten continue to be good while Bauer is a good comedic character despite the distraction of him clearly having been working out some. Wesley doesn't have much range but her turning early in the season opens up material for her and she fits it pretty well. Ellis is wisely rested once his subplot is resolved – the show didn't use him well last time and as much as I like his character it is better for benching him. Woll, Skarsgard and others all do good work as part of a colourful cast that seem to "get" the tone of the material this season.
Is season 5 a triumph return to very best of True Blood? No, but it is a very solid return from the messy fourth season. The focus on one main thread and the connection of other threads to this central one works well and makes the season more controlled and engaging as a result – allowing it to deliver gore, twists and nudity as it always has. After the first episode I was ready to ditch it, but it settled in and hopefully it can continue this and improve into the fifth season.
