Game of Thrones - "Lord Snow"

Littlefinger's (Aiden Gillen) intentions are misunderstood by Ned Stark (Sean Bean)

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Game of Thrones'
Season 1 - Episode 3
"Lord Snow"

While defined plans have not been concretely laid out after three episodes, there is still a feeling that sharks are circling their prey. The thing is, not all the sharks and prey are aware of their roles. Some characters are just now realizing their true potential.

Game of Thrones - "The Kingsroad"

Beware of smiling Lannisters (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), young Jon Snow (Kit Harington).
Photo Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Game of Thrones'
Season 1 - Episode 2
"The Kingsroad"

The premiere had to do the heavy lifting of introducing the viewers to this fantastic world as well as the many faces that populate and shape it. This week, "The Kingsroad" gets to stretch its legs a bit and start the work of pushing the story. As a result, a few characters began to show some interesting growth and potential. However, others need to be deepened.

Game of Thrones - "Winter is Coming"

Lord Ned Stark (Sean Bean) deals with a deserter.

Photo Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Game of Thrones'
Season 1 - Episode 1
"Winter is Coming"

I remember when 'Deadwood' premiered on HBO several years ago. The very first scene ended with lawman Seth Bullock holding an angry group of men, hellbent on killing his prisoner, at gun point while he performed the hanging himself, lawfully. That was a hell of a way to kick off a show. Then again, HBO can do things that other networks can't.

True Blood - "Evil is Going On"

Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Sookie (Anna Paquin) still have issues.

Photo Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'True Blood'
Season 3 - Episode 12
"Evil is Going On"

'True Blood' has never been highbrow television. Honestly, if it were not for violence, sex, and the beautiful people causing the violence and having the sex, I really don't think this show would be the sensation that it has become. At times, 'True Blood' has felt like 'Heroes', a tangled mess of too many characters and unrelated plot threads. This wouldn't be so bad if most of those character arcs were either interesting or had some sort of natural progression.

True Blood - "Fresh Blood"

Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and Russell (Denis O'Hare) have an unconventional method for hitching a ride.

Photo Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'True Blood'
Season 4 - Episode 11
"Fresh Blood"

This is the first time all season that I was actually in Arlene's subplot. The main problem before is that she would get a scene or two every other episode and they were usually the same business of her fretting over the possibility of giving to birth to a homicidal baby. If that wasn't the case, she was usually snarking at Jessica or Tara or Tommy.

True Blood - "I Smell a Rat"

Arlene (Carrie Preston) may have just provoked Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) one time too many.

Photo Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'True Blood'
Season 3 - Episode 10
"I Smell a Rat"

After a couple of weeks of action and developments, this week's 'True Blood' felt like a bit of a time killer until the final two episodes of the season. Certainly, this wasn't as much of a wheel-spinner like some of the later season two episodes, but compared to the rest of this really fun year, this past Sunday's 'True Blood' just lacked something. There were a few revelations, but for some reason they felt anti-climatic or out of nowhere.

True Blood - "Everything is Broken"

Nan Flanagan (Jessica Tuck) knows how to make an entrance.

Photo Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'True Blood'
Season 3 - Episode 9
"Everything is Broken"

Wow. In one bold move, Russell Edgington completely transformed the landscape of this entire series. Outside of a few snippets of Nan Flanagan conducting interviews on the behalf of the vampire civil rights movement, 'True Blood' has mainly stayed locked away into the southern states of Louisianan, Mississippi, and Texas. Edgington's savage on-camera murder of a newscaster followed by his proclamations of vampire superiority is certainly going to put every vampire on this show on the defensive as the species will now be considered public enemy number one by most humans.

True Blood – “Night on the Sun”

Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) realizes that a shotgun is more reliable than glowing hands.

Credit: HBO

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘True Blood’
Season 3 – Episode 8
“Night on the Sun”

The third season of ‘True Blood’ continues to be the strongest of the series. The first was engaging due to the newness of the show and a season long mystery. The second season felt clumsily cleaved in half; a stronger half about the Fellowship of the Sun and Godric gave way to the disappointing resolution of the Maryann plot. Despite a few subplots that I’m less invested in (I’m still looking at you Jason Stackhouse and Arlene Fowler), this season as a whole has felt tighter conceptually than the previous two.

True Blood – “Hitting the Ground”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘True Blood’
Season 3 – Episode 7
“Hitting the Ground”

Wow. That ending certainly took the title of the episode literally. While vampire politics took a backseat to the perils of Sookie Stackhouse this week, their implications are certain to have a dramatic impact on this series moving forward. Edgington’s extremely bold power play at the end could result in a civil war amongst the vampire establishment. Given his age and power, plus an army of daywalking werewolves at his disposal, this could get nice and messy.

True Blood - "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'True Blood'
Season 3 - Episode 6
"I Got a Right to Sing the Blues"

I can finally say that I'm more invested in Sam's arc now that the nature of Tommy's abuse has finally been revealed. I didn't see it coming, but it makes a great deal of sense, given the details that trickled out over this season. To tell you the truth, I started to warm up to Sam's little brother last episode when he extended what appeared to be genuine kindness to Jessica. While Tommy's parents have been fairly cliché rednecks, especially Joe Lee, there might be some promise in keeping the younger shapeshifter around.

True Blood – “It Hurts Me Too”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘True Blood’
Season 3 – Episode 3
“It Hurts Me Too”

True Blood – “Beautifully Broken”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘True Blood’
Season 3 – Episode 2
“Beautifully Broken”

True Blood - "Bad Blood"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

True Blood
Season 3 - Episode 1
"Bad Blood"

Last season's 'True Blood' started off strong but really fell apart during the sprint towards the finale. I love Michelle Forbes, but the Maryann plot got repetitive rather quickly and had very little to do with any of the more interesting vampire politics of the first half of the season. There was a few really empty scenes with vampire queen Sophie-Anne, but they were weakly played by Rachel Evan Wood. The last episode of the second season at least delivered a number of enticing cliffhanger and subplot elements that made me hopeful that season three would be more exciting than the end of the second.