Saw the premiere of this show tonight. We don't have HBO but thank goodness, there was a free preview weekend going on (just enough to get people hooked maybe?)
I will be writing a longer review of this soon, but suffice it to say for now, I think this is going to be one addictive show. Ya know, like it will get under your skin. Keep you up nights. Okay, enough lame vampirism metaphors.
Though the overall tone of this was very different from Six Feet Under, Alan Ball's previous creation, it had the same level of complexity, if not the same subtlety, and there was definitely a sense of Ball's rich visual design elements. I found the acting occasionally a little underwhelming at times (though when it was good, it was very good), and the dialogue a little bit too expository at times, but then the first episode of SFU had a somewhat forced feel to some of the dialogue and acting, too.
Set in New Orleans, with what looks like a first rate (if mostly unknown) cast (kind of like SFU), this story of vampires in a world where vampirism has come to be accepted (if not embraced) is erotic, smart and shockingly violent. Maybe the occasional artificiality of the dialogue will cease to be a problem as the show finds it groove. Maybe I will get used to Anna Pacquin as a blonde. I am really look forward to seeing more of it; it would certainly be worth paying for HBO to be able to watch it!
Oh, and I can already tell, it's anthology worthy...we'll see if the usual suspects slobber all over it any time soon.
