HIGH DEF UNIVERSE

If you haven’t watched "True Blood" before I highly recommend setting your DVR to record the current season and starting back at season one. The world seemed complicated when humans and vampires attempted to co-exist but over the seasons, it’s gotten more crowded than that. Humans and vampires also have shape shifters, werewolves, and fairies to deal with mixed in with all the black magic supernatural things that cause waitress Sookie Stackhouse so many problems.

If you’ve forgotten what happened last season, disc one of the set begins with an optional season five recap. Episodes one is all about Bill (Stephen Moyer) who is a reincarnated God, and the episode happens to be directed by Moyer. There are a lot of changes as Alcide (Joe Manganiello) is now packmaster and Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) is the father to a “litter” of fairies.

The Governor Burrell declares war on the vampires, saying it’s time for humans to bite back! Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) decides to take action in the funniest Eric outfit since the basketball shorts. Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) are trying to determine why Warlow won’t leave Sookie alone. In the process Sookie also learns a lot about their family and how her parents felt about their fairy daughter.

All the fan favorite characters are back including Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), Tara (Rutina Wesley), Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and last but not least Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten).To avoid spoilers there is little I can tell you about what happens in this season. With only ten episodes it shouldn’t take long to watch. I haven’t been a big fan of all the overly complicated story lines of the past few seasons and season six is no different. However, it does contain some of the most touching and heart breaking moments of the series.

"True Blood" is always a visual pleasure on Blu--ray. The show has a very distinct color palette and there is great detail to be seen. Skin tones (of those with a pulse) are accurate and even. Textures in clothing, the environment and especially the blood in its different stages help make all the unbelievable things seem real. In the show’s opening there is probably more detail than most people want to see. The show is presented in 1080p high definition presentation with a 16:9 1.78 ratio.

HBO doesn’t disappoint with the show’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The clarity of the shows opening song is always an exciting way to start the show. The dialogue is always intelligible whether it’s Bill’s breathy commands or Sookie’s screams for help. Subtitles are available in English SDH, French, Latin Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish.

The commentaries are interesting to listen to but the behind the episodes featurettes are much too brief. Additionally the interactive features seem more like time waters and are not easy to leave and come back to. I hope the final season will include more cast interviews and opinions.

The Blu--ray discs contain the following extras:

True Blood: The Complete Sixth Season is very complicated. The characters have a lot of history together. I found it interesting to see Pam as a maker, instead of just acting as Eric’s progeny. With Bill on the rails for most of the season you’re never sure where it’s all going. I applaud the writers for killing of major characters. As a viewer you can never be sure if anyone will survive even fan favorites. I can only hope that the final season finds a way to wrap up the chaos and leave viewers somewhat satisfied. If you’ve stayed on board with the show this long I recommend season six. When I get nostalgic for some classic "True Blood" episodes, I doubt this will be the season I return to. I will only rarely re-watch from start to finish.