8 Fan-Service TV Episodes Everyone Hated

Now we’ve covered a lot of fan-service in a more general sense so far, but we have yet to encounter it in its purest form: baiting out the horny viewers with egregious sex scenes. What better show to cover that with than True Blood?

True Blood was known for its penchant for explicit, raunchy scenes and for the most part fans loved that. However, in the instance of one season 7 episode, a bit of routine fanservice got the wrong reaction.

The episode ‘I Found You’ opens with a short softcore sex scene that reads like the opening of a midrange porno- even complete with the poor writing and overacting! The scene featured two of the show’s most popular male characters and of course was a sure-fire way to get viewers hooked at the start of the episode.

There was just one problem, however: it was all a dream.

This would’ve been bearable for fans if it weren’t for the fact this wasn’t the first time. Back in season 3 there was an equally (if not worse) uncomfortable almost-sex-scene between two other characters, Sam Trammell’s Sam and Stephen Moyer’s Bill.

What frustrated fans is that the show never quite followed through with giving them what they wanted. They would tease relationships, give the start of a scene or a hook-up and then just as quickly snatch it away.

Writing for the Atlantic, one journalist summarised their frustration perfectly:

“'True Blood' Can't Even Pander to Its Audience Correctly. In seven seasons of this extremely sexual show, full of every conceivable type of cross-creature sexualization, there have only been a handful of same-sex relationships, and almost none of them taken at all seriously.”