| | |  | Other | Home » » » True Blood: The Complete Third Season | | | | | | | Description: | | In Bon Temps, everyone has something to hide. But when new threats emerge, no one can conceal the secrets of their past. After Sookie discovers Bill was kidnapped, she heads to Mississippi, where she becomes entangled in a world ruled by werewolves and a powerful Vampire King. Eric is also drawn to the King’s domain to settle an old score; Jason falls for a mysterious woman; Lafayette can’t avoid love or demons; and Sam uncovers the truth about his birth family. It all leads up to the revelation of the series…Sookie’s true identity. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten | | Format:
| AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| English, French, Portuguese, Spanish | | Number of Discs:
| 5 | | Studio:
| HBO Home Video | | Run Time:
| 720 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| May 31, 2011 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 352 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 352 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
156 of 189 found the following review helpful:
 Good, but definitely not the best seasonDec 12, 2010
By Trixie
"Trixie"
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
275 of 338 found the following review helpful:
Completely and totally barking madSep 23, 2010
By A. Whitehead
"Werthead"
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.
149 of 182 found the following review helpful:
 Nay Sayers Be Gone! Campy,Entertaining and VERY fun(just me time!)Nov 23, 2010
By susan thompson
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
27 of 32 found the following review helpful:
 Best season yetDec 22, 2010
By A. Schafer
I will admit this season had flaws. It did have too many storylines that most people didn't care about (Jason and Arlene's whole storylines for example). However, the plots that were good were really good and entertaining. The Sookie, Bill, Russell, and especially Eric and Pam stuff did not disappoint. Eric's and Russell's arcs were the best of the season. They were not only gripping but left you in agony waiting to find out what happened next. The only other downfall was the Sookie and Bill relationship got tedious being dragged out so long. Sookie began to look like a doormat, and you just wondered how far down the hole she would go. But otherwise, a very good season. If the writers would focus more on the supernatural plotlines and tie in Jason, Sam, and Tara's storylines directly with the more interesting supernatural plot they would achieve the perfect season. But I still say this is the best season because they gave more screentime to the most interesting characters and really focused on character development, which is very important and is something HBO does well and other regular cable shows often lack. Eric is the most captivating character on the show, and it was good to see his character's screentime adjusted in accordance with the books. I have read the books, but I was a show fan first and still perfer the show and I like most of the differences. The main storlyine is still there with changes to add drama. Hopefully Season 4 brings it and I am really looking forward to it!
SPOILER BELOW
Oh and hint to people complaining about the cheesiness of the fairies: that's not what they are really going to turn out like. Remember that was all in Sookie's subconscious. The fairies are going to turn out to be much different and more vicious and primal than what has been shown to us so far. Bill and Sookie, through Sookie's subconscious, saw the fairy world portal. But Sookie knows nothing about what they are really like. This whole thing was a creation of her mind.
And I don't really get the negative reviews calling the show trashy. The whole point of HBO is that they don't have to censor the way other shows do and it allows them to depict the sex scenes and language more realistically. Of course, this is a vampire show, so it's going to be more violent and over the top. But I don't get why anyone would watch this show expecting otherwise. If you don't like fantasy this obviously in not a show for you. T.V. shouldnt be all about reality, it's supposed to be fun and escapism, and True Blood does it in a smart way with underlying themes and messages throughout (that is if you actually bother to look for them at all, which some people obviously don't). HBO is known for pushing limits. Again, can't wait for Season 4!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Loved it!Jul 05, 2011
By M. Leister
I rented all three seasons of True Blood as they came out with the intention of buying them if I liked them. Season 3 was the only DVD set I bought.
First, I LOVED the Sookie/Eric stuff. They have two steamy kisses (one real and one in a dream). I love that he enjoys baiting her and I love that he'd like to care less about her but can't. Eric was inserted in slowly, but perfectly, as the third point of the love triangle and you really see that this is going to be a triangle this season.
Second, I liked how they handled Bill's fall from grace compared to the books. On TV it was treated as too much badness from him all at once and Sookie having enough. Although I still don't get what Sookie was so mad about - he didn't know her when he agreed to spy on her and stopped spying when he fell for her, it wasn't like his love was all a lie (which in the books is how it comes off). Yes, his attack on her in the van was bad, but he didn't do it on purpose (and in the books he raped her too, glad that was left out). In the books, Bill was going to dump her w/o a word to be with Lorena, it wasn't part of a cover to save Sookie (the way it was played on TV), they made Bill that big a jerk to virtually write him out unless they wanted him to make a feeble attempt at an apology (done once a book) so Sookie could yell at him.
Third, I was happy that Sookie was given an active power to use. Yes she's the damsel in distress, but she has a new trick up her sleeve. I actually have the feeling her fate isn't wrinkles and gray hair the way it seems to be going in the books. TV's Sookie might just have a Fairy's immortality too.
Fourth, I felt this season dealt more with vampires. Season two didn't use them much.
Fifth, Eric and Pam are a hoot to watch. More of them PLEASE.
One complaint, and this is my complaint about all three seasons, is that Sookie (lead character of the books) gets so little screen time compared to others. As much as I loved her stuff with Eric and Bill, I felt like they got 5 minutes each episode while I was stuck with other characters for huge chunks of time. From all the merchandising pushing the love triangle (and they are making it a triangle), more time should be devoted to it. I'm not saying it should become the Bill/Sookie/Eric show, but taking 2 minutes from each of the other characters each ep and using it for Sookie and her men wouldn't hurt.
Most improved character goes to Jason. Although still dumb, I like that he was trying to make a life for himself.
Much as I liked the season, there were dark spots:
Jessica, annoying in the first two seasons, was really enjoyable this year, but her story with Holt is BORING. Time for him to go and her to find someone new.
Tara...I'm tired of angry at the world routine because they started her whining long before she had a reason to be so belligerent. By the time she had a reason (Franklin) I was so sick of hearing her complain I had no sympathy for her. And no, it was not an abusive relationship, it was a ONS that turned into an abduction. Tara did what she had to to stay alive and got the better of him. Also sick of hearing her whine about Eggs (worst character name every).
Arlene hates vampires, I get it. Do I need to hear it every ep?
All in all, I'm glad the divided up the story into parts because I can fast forward the parts I find dull without taking from the stuff I enjoy.
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