True Blood season 2

Plot

Anna Paquin returns as telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, with Stephen Moyer as her vampire lover Bill Compton. At the season's start, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård), Sheriff of Area 5, enlists Sookie and Bill to find his maker, the two-thousand-year-old vampire Godric (Allan Hyde), believed kidnapped by the Fellowship of the Sun. In Dallas, Godric's lieutenants Stan Davis (Ed Quinn) and Isabel (Valerie Cruz) argue over the vampires' direction after Godric's disappearance.

Isabel's human boyfriend Hugo (Christopher Gartin) betrays the Dallas vampires to the Fellowship. Ryan Kwanten returns as Sookie's brother Jason Stackhouse, recruited by the Fellowship at the end of the previous season; he travels to Dallas and attracts the attention of Reverend Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) and his wife Sarah (Anna Camp). In Bon Temps, Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) plans to leave but stays after meeting fellow shapeshifter and waitress Daphne Landry (Ashley Jones).

Maryann Forrester (Michelle Forbes), a maenad, uses her powers to control townspeople, starting with Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley). "Eggs" Benedict Talley (Mehcad Brooks) grows close to Tara and, under Maryann's influence, kills Daphne. Arlene Fowler (Carrie Preston) and Terry Bellefleur (Todd Lowe) also fall under Maryann's sway. Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis) is imprisoned at Fangtasia with Royce Williams (Caleb Moody); after Royce is killed by Eric, Lafayette is shot while trying to escape, then healed by Eric and ordered by Pam (Kristin Bauer) to resume selling vampire blood.

Jim Parrack returns as Hoyt Fortenberry, who begins a relationship with Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll), to his mother Maxine's disgust. Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) loses his badge due to drinking but continues investigating Miss Jeanette's killer, later revealed to be Eggs under Maryann's influence. Evan Rachel Wood appears as Sophie-Anne Leclerq, the vampire Queen of Louisiana, in the final two episodes.

Production

Series creator Alan Ball returned as executive producer and head writer, joined by executive producer Gregg Fienberg, who had worked on HBO's Deadwood. Chris Offutt left the writing staff after the first season to join Showtime's Weeds. Returning writers Brian Buckner, Alexander Woo, Nancy Oliver, and Raelle Tucker each wrote two episodes except Woo, who wrote three including the finale. Script coordinator Kate Barnow and writer's assistant Elisabeth R. Finch co-wrote the tenth episode. Senior editor Michael Ruscio made his directorial debut with the seventh episode. Adam Davidson directed episode ten, and Michael Cuesta directed the finale. Buckner and Oliver served as co-executive producers, Woo as supervising producer, and Tucker as producer. Christina Jokanovich and Luis M. Patiño were associate producers, Bruce Dunn co-producer, and Mark McNair producer.

Reception

The second season received a generally more positive reaction than the first. The New York Post acclaimed the season's violence, stating there was "More Blood! More Torture! More Killing! and More Intrigue!" than the previous season. New York Magazine praised the series as "cable catnip," while Newsday described it as "Silly, gross, soapy, mysterious, intriguing, exotic, erotic" and "even more fun this season." On Metacritic, the season scored 74, indicating favorable reviews, ten points higher than the first season's 64.

Accolades

The second season of the show racked up an impressive list of award nods. It was in the running for Outstanding Drama Series at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, but Mad Men took the prize. The series also scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Drama Series, with Anna Paquin up for Best Actress in a TV Drama. At the People’s Choice Awards, it won Favorite TV Obsession and was nominated for Favorite Sci-Fi Fantasy Show (losing to Supernatural) and Best TV Drama Actress for Paquin (losing to Katherine Heigl).

The Scream Awards gave it nine nominations, including The Ultimate Scream, Best TV Show, Best Horror Actress for Paquin, Best Horror Actor for both Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgård, Best Supporting Actor for Sam Trammell, Best Breakout Performance for Deborah Ann Woll, Best Ensemble, and Most Memorable Mutilation. It won Best TV Show, Best Actress for Paquin, and Best Actor for Skarsgård. The Screen Actors Guild Awards nominated the ensemble for Outstanding Performance by a Drama Series cast, but Mad Men won again.

On the ratings front, the season premiere on June 14, 2009 pulled in 3.7 million live viewers, making it HBO’s most-watched program since The Sopranos finale; adding the late-night replay brought the total to 5.1 million. The tenth episode on August 23, 2009 set a series record with 5.3 million viewers, and the weekly second-season average hit 11.5 million when including repeats.