Anyone who's read Bram Stoker's Dracula or pored over it for an English exam will know that vampires make solid and occasionally unsubtle metaphors. True Blood initially seemed to be continuing this tradition in positioning vampires as a minority in society, then veered off the deep end into a world which includes faeries and were-creatures. Tune in for an episode and you can't be sure whether you'll get a heartbreaking moment of pathos or total insanity, or both at once. The current season has been hit-and-miss, with the impending conflict between protagonist Sookie and her would-be lover Warlow fizzling out and the incredibly messy season finale undoing its good work with its earlier storyline about captured vampires. True Blood desperately needs some direction soon or just to be put out of its misery, but the first few seasons are an accomplishment and deserve a place in the history of the vampire legend.
