True Blood News at The Nest

Finally, I have my dark Bill and I only had to beg and plead through two seasons for him. Season one Bill was incredibly sweet with a touch of vampire just below the surface. You couldn’t see much of it but you knew it was there, especially after he threw uncle creepy into the river.

The True Blood staff writes the character of Bill Compton so well that you can watch layer after layer of suppressed emotion wrap around him, enveloping his tragic life like an ear of corn. It leaves you wondering when his usually controlled manner will snap.  I was itching for a dark Bill after the start of season two. I knew the vampire was inside him and damn it, I wanted it to come out and play. Nevertheless, we just added more layers around the corn cob.

Season three hit like an unpredictable tornado and tore through True Blood-land leaving some gaping in utter shock after its wake. Then the critics came. Everything is up to interpretation and opinions run wild in the Internet world. Accusations regarding Bill’s gratuitous violence begin to filter in and I felt myself pushing my own soapbox to center stage not only to defend Bill Compton but the craft of writing as well.

After watching True Blood from the beginning, falling in love with the depth of the show and becoming emotionally tied to Bill Compton, I have an understanding of dark Bill. I have watched this fictional character push down his emotions, endure such heartache as losing his family and being forced to kill to survive until every shred of humanity he had vanished like Godric in the sun.

Struggling for a new beginning Bill crawled back to his human side, went against his maker and was willing to end his life to free himself from the cruelty of his nature.  Finally, he was out; free to make his own choices on how he would feed and how he would protect himself in the vicious world of vampires. This can’t be an easy task for a vampire who desires blood. In season one we see Bill struggling with his choice of food. “Do I pop open a True Blood, or pop open the blonde?” We are glad he did both by the end because, really, why choose?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticizing vampires for being vicious or having blood lust, after all they are vampires. However, what draws me to Bill is that he gives you both sides of the coin. Stephen Moyer’s portrayal of Vampire Bill only makes the character that much sweeter by delivering such emotion that you feel it. This is what makes a good character great and a good TV show addictive.

Dark Bill emerged in season three, leaving fans staring at their televisions in shock and disbelief. However, if you are like me and analyze everything, picking it apart to dissect each action, then you watched with empathy. It left me cold to see more of Bill’s back-story unfold as he mourned the death of his child and let humanity slip away. If I were to place myself inside a fictional character, I probably would have done much worse to Lorena. At least Bill had the strength to stop before he twisted her neck off – I can’t say I would have done the same.

That one little scene with Bill over his son’s coffin threw me completely over the edge. I don’t know one Bill fan who watched that scene and wasn’t screaming at him not to cry, because we saw his emotions building up like a flood against a dam and we knew the dam was about to break. This would blow his, “I’m not dead” cover. This is why I love True Blood and I love Stephen Moyer’s ability to take me to the edge of my emotions, week after week, and test my own humanity.

Read Eric Northman & The Light

Through the years we’ve seen vampires of all shapes, sizes and colors, none of which seem to compare to the likes of Eric Northman … not to many of us at least. With the kind of attitude attributed to the knowledge that all of Valhalla is backing him, their proud son, he is the original Viking Vampire and Sheriff of Area Five in Louisiana.

Yet finally, after a long, almost painful (sometimes frustrating) wait, we’re getting a glimpse into the sensitive side of this thousand year old vampire.

Season one … enter the “King” on his throne in the fiery lair he calls Fangtasia.

His subjects: Vamps, fangbangers and one little waitress/telepath who has captured his attention in a way he hasn’t experienced in many humdrum years.  It was that first scene that my attention too became captured.  His strong presence, prideful demeanor & egotistical attitude had caught my eye and had me scrambling to find out more about this undead prince named Eric Northman. I read the entire 8 books of the series (now 10) “Southern Vampire Mysteries” by Charlaine Harris, over the next four days.  The final outcome was an overwhelming desire to head over to Charlaine’s abode and clean her floors, walk her dogs, whatever needed to be done to alleviate her burdens so she could sit at her computer and quickly finish book nine. That not being a possibility, I continued to watch, my eyes transfixed to the screen, growing more and more hypnotized by the man behind the mane.

Alexander Skarsgård, I would come to find, was born for the role.  I knew he was talented in his craft having first seen him in his prior role of Sgt. Brad “Icemen” Colbert on the HBO mini-series Generation Kill.  This man was handsome and tall such as the character in the books was described.  He was too a “Viking” from the land of Svergie, Stockholm Sweden to be exact, and would throughout the next three years play the dialect coach to the rest of the cast when his native tongue would appear in a scene. So he pulled it off (easily by my account)!  He captured the hearts of many, even winning the 2009 Spike TV Scream Award for Best Villain.  Yet the fans, a greater majority, argued this entitlement.  Eric Northman, the one in Sookieverse (which some like to call it) was far from the  bad guy he was being judged as and made to portray on the telly (ie., the shredding of Royce in the first episode of season 2).  We “bookies” knew he was much more complex than that!

A glimpse of this first appeared in season two’s “I Will Rise Up” when the TV series introduced Godric, Eric’s maker, decided to meet the sun.  Eric’s emotions appeared front and center.  The audience was witness to his respect, loyality and love for another being.  It was uncomfortable for some yet refreshing and long awaited for others.  “About time!”  I said to myself that evening the show aired.  This coming from, as I said before, a loyal bookie who knew what the Sheriff was capable of.

The death of Long Shadow was the first of many missteps into the Alan Ball conspiracy of making Eric the undead villain he had imagined.  There were a few of these instances along the way …

The staking of the thief and traitor belonged to the Sheriff!  Many of us bookies saw that move as the first step onto the long road of what would become the love-triangle.  The second, the re-graveling of that horribly bumpy driveway that led to Sookie’s front door, and strangely enough her heart.  This was also an endeavor stolen away from the Viking vamp in the series.  Most painful was the absence of the friendly, yet mostly perverse, banter the two blondies shared.

“Hey, our hair’s the same color,” I said, eyeing us side by side in the mirror. (Sookie)

“Sure is, girlfriend.”  Eric grinned at me.  “But are you blonde all the way down?”

“Don’t you wish you knew?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Well, you’ll just have to wonder.”

Needless to say the TV Eric has endured a struggle on his journey into Sookie’s heart and unforgettable dream sequences.

He’s played the ruthless business man, the egotistical smart ass, the sheriff in a town that’s not big enough for two, the beast that easily tore a man to shreds and now we watch as he takes baby steps toward the adorable, almost squeezable, sentimental lover we’ve been waiting for.

However we still want our BAD BOY!!!

Read Dark Bill

DK Filming in Louisiana

DitigalKitchen, the company who brought the memorable title sequence for Six Feet Under, was who Alan Ball trusted for True Blood. The two shows are actually quite similar in terms of content, but the execution couldn’t be more different: “True Blood is a much more wild,  unrestrained ride. Our assignment was to distill the humor, sex, violence and sweaty, sultry vibe of Louisiana – and oh yeah, don’t show vampires.”

DK talks about the various locations and styles used in their amazing sequence, which plays like its own documentary of the weird and dirty South. They also give due credit to the film Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus, which was something of an inspiration. While not for everyone, if you love True Blood‘s opening credits, you might want to check it out.

Due to the thousands of visits we are receiving every day -yeah season 3 waiting is killing us!- we are moving the site to a more powerful server. Moving shouldn’t take more than 24 hours to complete, but during time you may experience some difficulties (comments not updating etc). So we beg your pardon for any inconvenience and we hope that this process will be completed rapidly and without incident for our treasured readers… Thank you!

All you Twitter fans…One of our favorites, SookieBonTemps makes CNN!

@sookiebontemps (“True Blood” character Sookie Stackhouse)

As part of its viral marketing campaign, HBO’s “True Blood” has a whole coven of its characters on Twitter, tweeting away as if they’re real people. (Well, at least as real as people you only know on the Internet).

From Viking vamp Eric to sassy Merlotte’s Bar cook Lafayette, they’re all there. One of the most active is this one, from the perspective of the main character from Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, on which “True Blood” is based.

Followers: More than 12,000

Sample tweet: Pullin’ into the @MerlottesBar parkin’ lot and it’s already lookin’ pretty full for a Wednesday. Tweet y’all once I get settled in.

Source

SookieBonTemps links: Facebook , Twitter

Stephen Root as Vampire Eddie

Stephen Root, who portrayed mainstreaming, Lafayette loving, Vampire Eddie in season one of True Blood and had a cameo appearance in season two, has landed a multi-episode role in Fox’s 24 according to the Hollywood Reporter.

57-year-old Root has been cast to play Ben Prady, a Department of Corrections Officer who is trying to find a missing parolee.

We here at TB-N sincerely hope that locating the missing parolee is an easier task for Stephen than finding his missing stapler.

What’s Going Down In AB’s Town?

And the winner is……..before I tell you, I want to thank everyone for their participation in the Season 2 contest. There were some great speculations & some really, really bad guesses and some of you had me in stitches. But, the person with the most guesses correct is a true True Blood fan. Drum roll please………will RC step forward & claim her prize. Congratulations RC!

I hope everyone keeps their sanity waiting for the next season to start & a good way to do it, is to stay updated here. We’ll have all the new info on season 3 as it comes out. Casting calls, episode info & what all the actors are up to. See you all with the next contest offered.

EJ and Deborah

Many of us were bitten by the charity bug with the Stephen Moyer Brentwood Theatre fund in Essex (UK). Donations came from all over the boards to honor one of their patron Stephen Moyer.

This started our charity addiction. As we hold our certificates in our hands and wait patiently for our bricks the urge to help more still ticks within us. Now our “nests” come together to help EJ Scott who is the beloved boyfriend of Deborah Ann Woll. EJ has a rare eye disease called Choroideremia. This disease runs in his family and has already affected many of his loved ones. Choroideremia (CHM) is a rare inherited disorder that causes blindness due to degeneration of the choroid and retina.

In addition to CHM, EJ has a weight problem and is losing weight for charity. You can sponsor him and help him reach his goal of 60lbs. As an example, when he reaches his goal of 60lbs, a .50¢ per lb sponsorship will make your charitable contribution $30.00 You can read and track EJ progress on his blog site Losing weight for charity and myself Or his facebook page EJ’s Facebook. The donations can be made directly to The Choroideremia Research Foundation by Paypal or check; you can also become a member of the foundation by donation $20.00. For more information please research the foundations site The Choroideremia Research Foundation website.

Imagine seeing life through a straw. As the disease progresses it erodes the peripheral vision, soon EJ and members of EJ’s family will be seeing life through a drink string straw then eventually that small tunnel of vision will close into blackness. YOU, can help stop the progression and save the sight EJ has now. You can ensure his 5 year old nephew Liam is able to drive when he becomes of age.

You can help the future Scott’s not yet born, and many like their family, be cured from this disease right in the womb. Please, donate now.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing from EJ and he is very excited about our charity mission. We will be updating EJ’s progress as well as tracking our donations on our wiki site Bill’s Wiki’d Women. Many new things to come so keep checking back with us and remember, no amount is to small. The Choroideremia Research Foundation was nice enough to create us our own donation button, thank you Cory. So click away and lets see if we can fill their email inbox with donations.

www.choroideremia.org

“Support EJ Scott – Dropping Calories for a Cure!”

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