After a couple of seasons where the show and its mythology have grown increasingly crazy and outlandish, True Blood returns on somewhat surer footing, with a couple of key cast additions and driving storylines to bolster the serialized drama.
While True Blood remains wildly and bloodily inventive--and will certainly remain a huge HBO hit--there's still an overwhelming sense that deja-vu-all-over-again has set in.
The show could use a return to what made it great in the first place: [Sookie and friends] battling monsters with the help of benevolent, attractive bloodsuckers.
Unwilling to really shake things up, the writers have instead drained the life out of their own series, and what's left is merely a desiccated reminder of something that was once entertaining.