Actually, I’m not too bothered by spoilers myself – however, I didn’t really mean for it to be a spoiler regarding some elf war or other plot point, but rather regarding Sookie’s nature. I mean, I wasn’t spoiled before, but after reading that, it seemed clear to me that she’s some sort of elf, fairy or the like; so I went back and read another spoiler confirming my impression. Personally, I’m just glad she’s not an angel or something, but to my knowledge, fairies and the like haven’t even been introduced in the TV series, right?
Here is my suspicion, with fairly significant book spoilers for Club Dead (roughly this season’s story) and Dead to the World, the following book. It’s just speculation regarding what the series will do, but as far as the Bill/Sookie situation at season’s end, it is highly probable, IMHO:Sookie will find out that Bill sought her out originally on orders from the queen, that the inception of their relationship was total manipulation on his part. That will break them up. (And Sookie will cry and whine and ignore the much graver problems of her friends like a self-centered bitch.) After this season’s plot is resolved, the teaser for next season will be her finding a terrified, amnesiac, naked Eric running down her road.
The head was more… smooshed. I’m guessing the spine has to be separated. In any case, whatever the mechanics of vampire killing involve or don’t involve, we now know - if the vampire hasn’t exploded into a bloody goo puddle, that means it’s not dead yet…
I disagree that there has been any change. True Blood is an HBO show. HBO shows have had the same length season as True Blood going back forever. Sopranos, Deadwood, Rome, Larry Sanders, Dream On, etc…
I think Taomist is speaking of shows in general. With more cable shows airing and a few more mid-season shows popping up, there is more exposure to the 13-episode seasons. I actually like the shorter seasons. They keep shows stories tighter, having fewer filler episodes than the 22-to-26 episodes seasons of many network shows.
As for “cliffhangers” sucking, it’s a natural progression of the larger number of serialized shows that are being produced. Gotta have that hook to keep viewers watching season-to-season!
Someone earlier mentioned that True Blood was actually good about not ending seasons in cliffhangers, at least not for the current season arcs. As I remember it, season 1 resolved the fangbanger murder spree with Rene’s death at Sookie’s hands, then left us with the dead body in Andy’s car to lead to season 2. Season 2’s Maryanne arc finished with Sam killing her, then we see Bill disappearing from the restaurant after he proposed to Sookie. This nice send-off is good, especially if say you had enough of the show. You could finish the season and its current arc, then be done with the show without getting too invested in the small cliffhanger that starts the new story for next season.