'True Blood' on HBO has us under its spell

THE SHOW "True Blood"

CATCHING UP

In the funkiest scene on TV last year, vibrating evil maenad Maryann Forrester (Michelle Forbes) was approached by someone she thought was her "god" - a giant Brahman bull - only to learn at the worst possible moment that this was, in fact, Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), who had shape-shifted. Sam gored her, then tore out her heart. End of Maryann, who had hypnotized most of Bon Temps - including Benedict "Eggs" Talley (Mehcad Brooks), who had done her evil bidding. After Eggs came out of his trance, delirious with guilt, he attacked Det. Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) with a knife. Eggs was then shot right through the noggin by Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten). Tara (Rutina Wesley) was crazed with grief over losing the love of her life, Eggs, even if he was a homicidal creep. Meanwhile, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) agreed to marry vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer). A problem arises - Bill gets kidnapped.

WHAT HAPPENS SUNDAY Sookie enlists the help of Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard) to find Bill, and Eric goes to the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood), who also has an interest in this search because - as fans well know - Bill has learned that Eric is dealing vampire blood ("V") through Lafeyette (Nelsan Ellis). That's a no-no in vampireland.

MY SAY As the foregoing clearly establishes, "True Blood" is nuts. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. As conceived by Alan Ball (based on the Charlaine Harris novels), "True Blood" is a high-camp gothic soap that succeeds because it's such full-blown malarkey and not in spite of it. Ball (writing again for the series) rarely plays this for laughs because he knows that would break the spell - of the strange, unholy love between vamps and humans, or the depravity of the Queen and Northman, and so on. Sunday, the spell continues.

GRADE B+