Sam & Ryan at the VH1 Diva’s

Blood Bath: Televisionary Talks to “True Blood” Writer/Executive Producer Alan Ball  (excerpts)

Written by Jace | Monday, September 14, 2009 |

Still have some burning questions about last night’s True Blood season finale? Or anxious to gather some clues about just what creator/executive producer Alan Ball has in store for the residents of Bon Temps when True Blood returns next summer? You’ve come to the right place.

I caught up with True Blood czar Alan Ball this morning to talk about last night’s season finale, deconstruct the second season, and find out about what’s coming up on Season Three of HBO’s addictive vampire drama.

In this exclusive one-on-one interview, Ball hints at what’s on the horizon for Sookie and Bill, new creatures, Sam Merlotte’s quest, Jessica, a possible romance for Lafayette, the Vampire King of Mississippi, Sophie-Anne, and much, much more. Ball also told me that the writing staff had broken the fourth script for Season Three of True Blood already and that shooting is tentatively slated to begin December 3rd on the highly anticipated third season.

So what did Ball reveal about what’s coming up on True Blood and what did he have to say about this season? Let’s dive in, but beware: there are MAJOR SPOILERS below.

Televisionary: Was it difficult juggling the separate storylines in the first half of the season? We do have the cast split up more or less for most of the season.

Ball: You know, it wasn’t difficult. It was definitely different from the first season. But I sort of feel like, you want to do that, you want to shake the show up and do different things. You don’t want to just do the same things over and over and over again. I follow my instincts. To me, they were three really fun, interesting storylines. And then the fact that Jason sort of veered in with Bill and Sookie and then everyone came home and it all sort of came together, I actually thought it was really fun.

Televisionary: Did you realize how much impact Godric’s death would have despite Allan Hyde only appearing in a handful of episodes?

Ball: You know, I did because in the books, it’s really, really powerful and we tried hard to make it as powerful as it is in the books and that was a really tough role to cast because it was difficult to find an actor who looked so young but who could convey centuries of feeling and to be tired of life and tired of being alive and ready to move on. And I always thought that that was a great story and a great character. So I was not surprised; I was very moved myself. When I first saw the cut of that episode, I got a little teary, a little misted up.

Televisionary: In a season filled with heartrending and memorable moments, it definitely stands out as a powerful and profound sequence.

Ball: That whole episode is really wonderful. The episodes leading up to that one have been so filled with adventure and suspense and craziness and then I love that whole episode because there’s not only the scene with Godric and everything that’s going on with him but the Jessica stuff is really starting to heat up. And I love that scene with Jason and Sookie in the hotel, where they talk about Gran and he sort of drops his guard and you see how vulnerable he really is.

Televisionary: In that same episode, Godric’s death also enables us to see a different side of Eric. Was that a way for you and the writers to give Eric an added layer of vulnerability?

Ball: Yes, absolutely. One of the great, fun aspects of the books—and it’s become for the show as well—is the romantic tension between Bill, Sookie, and Eric. And we started off the season and we wanted to make Eric a bad-ass and I think we were very successful with that, by having him shred that guy in front of Lafayette’s face. (Laughs) And then in order to have him be a real, viable option for Sookie, you have to have some humanity there. She may be attracted to him physically, especially now that she’s had his blood, but she’s never going to go with somebody who she feels is evil or at the very least amoral. That was definitely what we were thinking of with Eric.

Televisionary: While Sookie and Bill are our romantic leads, Hoyt and Jessica offer us a very different take on vampire-human love. Did you anticipate such an incredible reaction to their storyline and specifically toward Jim Parrack and Deborah Ann Woll?

Ball: When I saw the scene [in "Scratches"] in the third episode where she walks into the bar and I saw that scene cut together, I did anticipate it. I went, wow! We really have something special here. They’ve just become a major couple on the show. I don’t think it’s going to be easy for them. Nothing is ever going to be easy for anybody on this show.

Televisionary: Season One saw Bill protecting Sookie on an almost weekly basis but in Season Two we see Sookie take a major step into adulthood and stand up for herself. How will their relationship continue to develop in Season Three, especially given with Eric’s influence over Sookie and Bill’s kidnapping?

Ball: I know exactly what’s going to happen in Season Three, because we’ve already started breaking the episodes and figuring the arc of the season. So I can’t really say without giving too much away what I think. But I’ll say this: the love between them is authentic and real, but that doesn’t mean that they will necessarily stay together. But it doesn’t mean that they won’t either, though.

Televisionary: Looking ahead to Season Three, are there are any themes or plots that you intend to employ next season? One of the more intriguing threads picked up in last night’s episode is both Sam and Sookie looking to find their roots.

Ball: Yeah, I think that whereas if we had any sort of major overarching theme for Season Two it was about the power of belief, both positive and negative. I think probably Season Three is going to be more about identity and characters really sort of coming to grips with who or what they are.

Televisionary: It seems almost like a red herring that Eric was behind Bill’s kidnapping last night. Should we be looking at any other potential suspects behind his disappearance?

Ball: I think you should always be considering all possibilities. (Laughs) That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to make the choice that is the one that’s being positioned to look like a red herring. But with this show, you never know what’s going to happen. I try to work with the writers in creating a show that when you buy the DVDs and you watch the season over again, knowing what’s going to happen, you’ll see moments where you’ll say, oh, of course. We tried to structure Season One with Rene’s identity as the killer that way, to never shine a light on it but Michael Raymond-James, who played Rene, knew from the very beginning that he was the killer. So he played it in a very subtle way so that if you watch those DVDs, now you’re like, oh, I see it. But we never want to give that away on the first go-around. I’d have to say it’s a similar situation with [Bill’s kidnapping].

Televisionary: It’s intimated in the season finale that there’s a hidden force that’s supposedly watching over Sookie? Will we learn more about this and is this connected to that dangling plot thread about what happened to the Rattrays in the pilot?

Ball: Absolutely. Certainly, part of Sookie’s quest in Season Three, apart from trying to find Bill and find out who took him, is to figure out who and what she is. And by the end of the season, she certainly will be beginning to figure that out.

Televisionary: One of the most shocking revelations this season was the reveal that Jessica will forever be a virgin, which was incredibly upsetting. Where did this idea emanate from?

Ball: That came from a writer on staff, Raelle Tucker. It was one of those moments where it gets pitched and I sort of go, well, of course. What other show could you do that on? Well, I guess now there are several other shows you could do that on, but at that point… I had never worked on a show where that actually made perfect sense to do something like that. For me, that’s the best part of science fiction or fantasy or genre or whatever you want to call it in that you can put people in situations that most of us will not have to face in life and it’s just really, really interesting.

Televisionary: Jessica’s been through a hell of a lot this season but then she hunts and kills in the season finale. Is this normal teenage rebellion or are we seeing her go to a much darker place next season?

Ball: I don’t think you can say anything is normal teenage rebellion. Basically, all of the events of Season Two take place over eight days. So she’s still a fairly freshly-made vampire. Bill hasn’t been much of a maker and she just had a really emotional experience with Hoyt walking out on her. It’s part of her instincts as a vampire and her need to feed and her not liking Tru Blood because it’s a poor substitute and also she’s just got rage. And she’s got good reason to have rage. She got turned into a vampire against her will and then she thought she’d found a way to make that work and then all of the sudden, it’s been taken away from her. She’s only 17 or 18, so… I wouldn’t call it normal teenage acting out. (Laughs)

Televisionary: One of the more unexpected partnerships that developed this season was Jason Stackhouse and Andy Bellefleur, who offered a bit of comic relief but also a genuine, strange friendship that might be shattered by Jason’s actions in the season finale.

Ball: We’re definitely going to put some tension on them but they will continue to actually be a sort of – I don’t want to call them a team but their lives are definitely going to intersect in Season Three.

Televisionary:  How many scripts have you broken for Season Three?

Ball: We’ve broken four scripts so far.

Televisionary: Are you ever surprised by anything in terms of breaking the stories that you didn’t anticipate?

Ball: This is different from Six Feet Under in that we’re working from source material and one of the reason is that Charlaine’s books are so successful is that they work. We’re starting Season Three with the third book and the books are basically Sookie’s stories because she narrates them and then we try to figure out how to bring the other characters in and keep everyone involved. In Season Two, we specifically decided to send everybody off on their own little thing and then have them reunite at the end but I don’t want to repeat that so I’m really trying to keep Season Three certainly a little more organic with the connection between the regulars.

But, no, we’re working with the source material. Like I said, a lot of Charlaine’s books just work so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. On Six Feet Under, there were always massive shifts in seasons. But again that was more of a blank slate because we weren’t basing them on any existing material.

Televisionary: So, we’ve seen telepaths, vampires, maenads, and shifters all turn up in Bon Temps. Any new creatures we can expect to see in Season Three?

Ball: Werewolves…

Televisionary: Are there any clues for what viewers can expect for next season?

Ball: I can tell you that we will meet the Vampire King of Mississippi and he will have an agenda with the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. We will meet werewolves, some other weres that aren’t wolves but they are not shifters either. (Laughs.) We are going to meet Sam’s blood relatives, we’re going to meet probably the nastiest vampire we’ve met yet and Lafayette might get some action, might have a little love story of his own.

SOURCE: Televisionary (Tack SE! xo-  notice the exclamation point!)