# True Blood. S05/Ep01. "Turn! Turn! Turn!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757 "2012-06-10T21:03:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/21 "2012-06-12T14:23:32Z")
I skipped last season, had my fill of blood I guess, and just happened to catch this one. Damn, things move fast there. Too many characters, too many story lines. The preacher rising from the dead in pursuit of sweet vampire gay love from Jason was the final silly straw for me. The are some fun charaters we would like to watch but the wife and I can’t make it through the boring, confusing parts anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/22 "2012-06-12T15:11:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yeah, I’d like to see them narrow the story down and focus on something more specific. I mean, last season we had this little detour into FairyLand, and then basically never revisited it. Or the week Jason thought that he was going to become a were-panther and then…didn’t. Or the ghost baby. Or that one time Tara became a lesbian kick-boxer for fifteen minutes (in the future, everyone wil be…nvm), or everything that happens to Sam, or most of the werewolves stuff or fat-cops V addiction, etc. The show is just full of side-plots that are never tied together, and in some cases just kind of fizz-out. One or two a season wouldn’t be bad, after all, you need to give the actors that aren’t part of the main-arc that season something to do, and most seasons need some padding anyways. But last season was averaging more then one new story-line an episode. It just turns into a mess. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/23 "2012-06-13T03:23:15Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Last season was terrible. But apparently they have a new show runner this time out, so I’ll give this season a chance. Alan Ball is still the showrunner this season, but this is his last. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/24 "2012-06-14T02:15:36Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > For some reason they decided each cast member needs their own subplot every season. The result is a bunch of disconnected, rushed, under-developed story lines crowding each other out. +1 What I was thinking throughout the entire episode: “pick a story line and stick to it”. Seems the writers have developed ADD. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/25 "2012-06-14T03:32:20Z")
Yep. Characters like Hoyt and the redheaded waitress and the sheriff were better as background color, flavor, whatever. They don’t need their own plots. Plus, after seeing what Chris Bauer did in _The Wire_, you just wanna cry for him in this show. It’s like Olivier doing a guest shot on Two and a Half Men. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/26 "2012-06-14T13:44:16Z")
The show has definitely lost it. The “Previously” intro dragged on and on. And I didn’t remember most of it, I apparently had stopped paying too much attention last season. Very little “progress” actually happened in this episode. Most of it was merely touching bases with the bloated cast. They killed off a couple people late last season which is a chance to cut things down, but they instead turn around and promptly add even more folk. (Plus they showed the concrete entombment, so guess who’s coming back soon.) There has to _one_ overriding story and it needs to move forward significantly in each episode. They really blew it by adding too many ghoulies: werewolves, shape-shifters, elves, witches, etc. Who needs all that? There was at least a mention of True Blood in this episode. That’s a rarity lately. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/27 "2012-06-14T13:49:02Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The show has definitely lost it. > > The “Previously” intro dragged on and on. And I didn’t remember most of it, I apparently had stopped paying too much attention last season. Heh. I spent half the episode trying to remember who shot Tara. Even when they mentioned her by name I couldn’t remember who she was or what her connection to the rest of the cast was until werewolf guy showed up looking for her. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/28 "2012-06-15T05:28:36Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > They really blew it by adding too many ghoulies: werewolves, shape-shifters, elves, witches, etc. Who needs all that? They really jumped the shark with underage inbred rapist werepanthers. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/29 "2012-06-18T00:19:56Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > A bit of a snoozer, this episode. I did see it coming from a million miles away that Tara would wake up at the last minute. I am wondering though if the “brain damage” will be amnesia of some sort. I’m hoping it causes mutism. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/30 "2012-06-18T09:51:56Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Well, the A factor anyway. It was quite annoying the way she kept her bra on when they were fucking. > > Not to mention that nekkid werewolf babe with her hair strategically placed over her breasts. What the fuck? This is True Blood, where’s the titties? I’ve also notice Jessica always keeps her hands awkwardly covering her titties whenever she bangs Stackhouse. I notice things like a lack of titties. It’s not Game of Thrones I guess. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757/31 "2012-06-18T14:36:02Z")
Last night was just plain awful, with a couple of exceptions. The were-puppy in pj’s got a solid laugh from me, as did Jessica and her my daddy is the King line. Steve Newlin dancing was a gas. Pam was also funny with her I am doing something, I’m laughing line and I’m your maker … I order you to not bite these two humans. Oh and stay inside. The authority is cartoonish, Tara is now an insufferable angry vampire who now has ties to Pam for all eternity (could be funny but I’m guessing it won’t be), Russell being shown with limbs strewn about like chicken wings was a bit much (wonder who dug him up?), and all the sub plots is wearing thin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/true-blood-s05-ep01-turn-turn-turn/624757.md?page=1)