True Blood season 4 episode 1 review: She’s Not There: season premiere

4.1 She's Not There

We're finally back in Bon Temps after an agonising wait. And as it turns out, we weren't the only ones anxiously awaiting a return. Having left the disaster -prone Sookie literally away with the fairies last season, our fave psychic encounters disaster almost immediately, after stepping foot in the fairy ‘realm', seeing through the Garden of Eden allegory almost as quickly as we do.

Like pretty much every supernatural being in the greater Louisiana area, the fairies want Sookie for good, and she narrowly escapes with a little help from her long-lost grandfather. Her gramps has also literally been away with the fairies, but for over twenty years, and his appearance presents us with the first shock of the season. Sookie is related to Jack Killian, The Midnight Caller himself, otherwise known as Gary Cole, who rolls into True Blood for the briefest of periods, delivering Sookie safely back to Bon Temps before swiftly dying.  Goodnight, Grampa Stackhouse, wherever you are.

Of course, returning to Bon Temps is never straightforward for any of its residents, but at least this time, there's little to no horrific death involved as yet. No, this return has, in fact, been over twelve months in the making.  It turns out those tricky fairies create some sort of time distortion, and rather than having spent a rather unpleasant evening at what looked like the dullest party ever, Ms Stackhouse has actually been gone for more than a year. And thanks to Jason, she no longer owns her house.  Apparently, he decided to forego the customary seven year cooling off period.

Once all the ‘we thought you were dead' nonsense is over with, we can see that everything has changed in Bon Temps. Everything and nothing. Through the course of the episode we discover that Sam did shoot Tommy, but in the leg, and other than a limp and Hoyt's mother, is perfectly fine. Laf and Jesus are still witching it up, although Laf is less than impressed with the whole thing. Bill and Eric are still bickering like children, but also glad-handing the locals, and cosying up to the media. They're clearly up to something, a suspicion re-enforced by the fact that in the twelve months since Russell's concrete overcoat, Bill has stepped in to fill the power vacuum. Whatever his original intentions where when he rocked into Bon Temps three years ago (hinted at last season), his agenda is clearly still in play. Can't imagine Eric is too happy about this particular turn of events, though.

Then, of course, there's poor Arlene. The demon baby has arrived, and despite Terry's best efforts, it was always going be Rene's kid. The doll beheading might have been a little heavy handed, but hilarious all the same. It'll be interesting to see if this particular titbit plays into anything significant this season, or is kept for comic effect.

And then there's Tara. Last seen driving into the sunset with a new ‘do, these days she's a champion cage fighter and lesbian called Toni. Which is, frankly, completely understandable. Franklin's peculiar brand of psychopathy would be enough to turn even the staunchest straight woman to the other side. But this is one of those incidences where everything has changed. Even the news that Sookie is alive and back in town isn't enough to bring Tara home.

Premiere episodes are tricky things. Setting up a season's worth of storylines, while simultaneously keeping the action up is an incredible balancing act, and She's Not There manages to keep that balance for the duration of the show. Yes, the ‘surprise' revelation that the mysterious new owner of Sookie's house is Eric was in no way a revelation, but there was still plenty of intriguing titbits. What's up with King Bill? What's with the dead-alive-dead again bird? Where did Sam find his new shifting pals? And will Jason ever get out of the freezer? Only the rest of the season will tell, but let's hope he does.

So, as premieres go, She's Not There was pretty spot on. Apart from the fact that it's fabulous to be back in Bon Temps, any show that Gary 'Lumbergh' Cole graces with his presence has got to be worth a look. Welcome back, True Blood. We missed you!

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‘True Blood,’ Season 4, Episode 5, ‘Me and the Devil’: TV Recap

Poor Tommy is still getting jerked around (literally) by his evil father Joe Lee when finally, on the verge of being strangled to death, he fights back. Sorry Mickens family, but Tommy is just doing what viewers have wanted to do to you for two seasons. In another creepy wooded clearing, Marnie tells Jesus, Tara and Lafayette she was “taken over” by the spirit. The old “I-was-possessed” defense doesn’t work with vampires, Lafayette tells her in his Lafayette way. They abandon Marnie in the woods…because let’s face it, she’s boring while not possessed.

Arlene is convinced Rene’s “ghost hands” scrawled the creepy “baby not yours” on their living room wall, but that would assume that Rene was literate. Terry wants a preacher to come by to conduct an exorcism and cleanse the evil out of their nice little family. (Maybe when he leaves, Satan can take Arlene’s camouflaged faux Juicy Couture sweatsuit with him.) Sookie is sleeping soundly (don’t ask me how) when Eric creeps in to get a good look at her. That’s when Godric appears and proposes that the two of them go to town and drain Sookie. He tells Eric he’s damned and can’t be saved. How has Sookie not woken up yet? Oh, wait. It’s all a dream and Eric is safe in his cubby and ultra-long athletic shorts. The guy is 6’4”. How long do those basketball shorts have to be?

Jessica and Hoyt are nursing Jason back to health. Hoyt is so grateful Jessica saved his best friend’s life but now she’s acting all weird. She goes to bed and they have another passive aggressive Ronnie-Sam moment. I am now seeing the Bellefleur genes in Portia. Never mind that she’s a staunch defender of incest, but she really doesn’t know when to take a hint. After she tries to seduce Bill he glamors her, like any great-great-great-great grandfather would do. Sookie assures the utterly lovable Eric that he’s not evil. They cuddle and she gently strokes his hair exchanging sweet stories about Godric. She lets him spend the night in her bed as long as he promises not to hurt her. Poor disfigured Pam whose face is rotting off by the second wants permission from King Bill to torture and kill Marnie. But he’s way too law abiding for that. He suggests some cosmetic surgery, perhaps extra lipstick? Jesus and Lafayette are going to Mexico to stay with Jesus’s granddaddy who is a grand brujo. Tara says she’s going back to N’Orleans. Please, go Tara, don’t look back! Jesus tells a story about a childhood birthday present.  His grandfather gave him a goat. But this is no pet goat. Grandpa then made him sacrifice it and lick the blood off his knife. (I was thinking a tres leches cake would’ve been more appropriate, but this is Jesus we’re talking about.) And still Lafayette who gets the Stupid Award this episode, agrees to go to Mexico with the guy. Tara’s girlfriend finds some mail with her real name and is not happy. Maybe no N’Orleans after all? Tommy stops by Sam’s trailer with their parents’ corpses in the back of his van. Oh, so now you appreciate your brother, Tommy, huh?

At Merlotte’s Jason is opening up about his rape to Hoyt. He reckons dozens of women forced themselves on him. Hoyt interrupts to confide that Jessica seems distant…because when your best friend is confiding in you about a traumatic rape and kidnapping, the best thing to do is to turn it back to yourself and your moody girlfriend. Jason hears it’s a full moon and freaks out a little. Jury is still out on whether he’s going to become panther-man. Sookie, serving eggs with aplomb, suddenly realizes her brother hasn’t been around for a few days. Terry and Arlene let Tara’s mom (now the preacher’s wife) and Rev. Daniels in to exorcise the baby.

Sookie wanders into the Moon Goddess Emporium and begs Marnie for a reading. Suddenly, Sookie’s beloved Granny communicates through Marnie. She tells Sookie to run like the wind. Tommy is having a breakdown over possibly bludgeoning to death his terrible parents who, let’s face it, deserved it. Then, Andy Bellefleur, the most incompetent cop in the history of TV cops, shows up. In a fantastic twist, Tommy has shifted into a terrifying live alligator. (I almost jumped back with Andy…which reinforces my opinion that CGI is nothing compared to the, well, bite of a real-life Hollywood animal. Remember the first time we saw that panther? The wolves last season? It’s all better than one digitally-enhanced fairy creature. Thoughts?) Bill’s armed forces come in and arrest Marnie. Tara confesses to Sookie that she has a girlfriend and lied about her identity in New Orleans. Sookie tells her to just be honest and fight for the relationship—as she lies through her teeth about Eric living downstairs. He comes out of the shadows all mopey and vulnerable.  Tara freaks out, calls Sookie a hypocrite and ticks off all of the old Eric’s previous sins. (Yes, he locked Lafayette in a basement but was he really that evil?)

King Bill interrogates Marnie (who hallucinates that she’s back in 16^th century Spain) through a combination of Skype and an air-conditioning vent. He tells her to reverse the spells she cast on Pam’s face and to help him locate Eric. Of course, Marnie has no idea how to un-cast the spells since she didn’t cast them in the first place. (What is with Bill’s unfortunate choice in ties?) Please, Marnie, un-cast the spell on Pam because she used to be so pleasant to look at and now she is all Latex and Halloween makeup and it’s killing us. Jesus’s grandfather looks kinda like a homeless person but he speaks perfect English. Que bueno! A weird biker dude shows up at Alcide’s house. It’s the Shreveport werewolf welcome committee. The town’s pack master isn’t happy that Alcide hasn’t registered with the pack, and it doesn’t look like he’s going to, at least not voluntarily. Tommy and Sam undergo the brotherly task of disposing of their parents’ bodies in a swamp. Let’s just hope they’re really dead, Tommy, and move on. In an effort to console his brother, Sam confesses that he’s killed two people. And now we learn the little-known fact that alligators love marshmallows. Farewell Mickens family.

Arlene and Terry are getting busy in white satin sheets. They’re making street pillow talk and we just know something creepy, terrible and probably life-threatening is about to happen. As they cuddle, a matchbook on a nearby dresser just lights itself. Jason wakes up with Jessica on top of him (or at least dreams she’s on top of him). You would think gang rape would’ve turned Jason off of wet dreams, at least for a while, but he can’t help it after drinking so much of Jessica’s blood. All of the sudden Hoyt is on top of Jason. He wakes up in a sweat. (Can we all start saying “Oh my gravy!”?). Eric now knows what a bad seed he was. Sookie says she always knew there was decency in him. (Um, really?) She says she knows in her heart that he’s changed and she likes the new Eric. They hug it out. And then finally, our girl Sookie heeds our plea and embraces Eric body, mind and, yes, body.

Bill meets with some vampires to discuss the worsening witch situation. Necromancy is a rare but real phenomenon, they say. During the Spanish Inquisition, La Girona, Spain, a sorceress named Antonia was being burned at the stake. She cast a spell to wake up all the vampires within a 20 mile radius. Vampire priests and nuns came out into daylight and burned. Vampires used to maintain covers in powerful establishments like the Catholic Church. Today, Bill says, it’s Google, Fox News. Pam gets all huffy. Even with half her mouth decayed off she manages to say too much. She tells Bill that Marnie erased Eric’s memory and blabs that he’s staying at Sookie’s house. Bill rushes over with jealous rage in his eyes.

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True Blood Season 4, Episode 3 “If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin’?” – Review

Alcide is Back and Eric is “Gone”:

“I know what I am, Snooki.”

Whew. After his initial monologuing, Amnesia Eric was a delightful surprise. Finding Debbie in Alcide‘s pretty new house? Horrible surprise. But more on that later…

I’ve seen/heard a few complaints that this season “isn’t as good” or “it’s gotten weird.” Let me just say – #1, We’re 3 episodes in, haters! Don’t judge a season so quickly. And #2, I just have to plain disagree. Season 4, so far, has been at least on par with previous seasons. And I’ll tell you why.

True Blood has been loved from the very beginning for its soapy-meets-campy tone. Fluffy meta moments lighten up the drippy drama of a faerie living in a vampire hierarchy. Hence, Sookie reading a Charlaine Harris novel. Look, whenever a series throws in new characters, or changes characters drastically – either temporarily or permanently – fans are always quick to turn on their favorite show. All I’m saying is give it time before you start trolling comment threads. You can’t judge a whole season until it’s over. And I don’t know about you, but I’m in no rush.

Rant over. On to the good stuff –

Eric’s newly innocent state has proven to be the most adorable thing ever. I know I said that last time about his wooing Sookie with appliances, but I mean it even more this week. Between his apologies (“sorry”) and the ever-so-sincere tone when he asked Sookie “Would you like to be mine?”- sigh.Alexander Skarsgård did an outstanding job making Eric vulnerable without being too ridiculous.

Pam was quick to panic when she learned the news, and now she’s all uber-suspicious of Bill. Is it really possible that Bill would set up Eric like that? True, he already tried once. And yes, Sookie did ask Bill for help with Eric’s home-owning situation. But Bill’s angry voicemail makes me think otherwise.

Jessica and Hoyt are having relationship issues, yes. And while it was nice to see Jess reunite with her maker, the scene felt a little awkward. Seeking relationship advice, Bill and Jessica’s talk didn’t feel “father-daughter” “brother-sister” or “best friends.” It just felt weird. Although it did garner one of my favorite quotes from the episode: “Vamp up.”

What about that doll? It freaked me out the first time we saw it on the floor of Jess & Hoyt’s new place, then seeing Hoyt holding it was a whole other level of creepy. At least Baby Mikey seems to be enjoying it.

So Tommy wants to steal from the woman who has taken him in. Charming. I liked Tommy best when he worked at Merlotte’s – he had great chemistry with Jessica and he could be involved without some contrived storyline. Now, Tommy’s character just seems lost.

Bill and Portia, huh? Like her or not, you got to respect Portia’s bluntness. Girl knows how to get to the point.

I’m not sure why, but I just can’t get into Lafayette and Jesus. I’m bored when their wiccan ways are discussed. Sure, Marnie is fascinating and I’m curious to see if the spirit will accept her sacrifice. But otherwise, eh.

Poor Jason! For real, that boy just can’t win. His entire storyline was disturbing this week. That scene with all the girls watching? Yikes. I hope Jason gets to spend an episode not tied to a bed soon.

Finally, Alcide. I was so happy to see him. He and Sookie are all cute and then who walks in, but former V-addict/Russell Edgington dog Debbie. Blindsided by that one. Clearly, Sookie wasn’t thrilled, either. Totally ruined her plans. Where will that relationship go?

Sam and Tara had a cute moment. It’s nice that they’re still friends. That’s really all I have to say on the matter.

So Eric drained Claudine, huh? I was a little confused – did Eric appear because he heard Sookie yell at Claudine or just because he smelled her or something?

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True Blood: Season 4, Episode 2 – ‘You Smell Like Dinner’ – TV Review

This week, “True Blood” is all about adjustment. We accompany Sookie as she comes to terms with all the changes in Bon Temps, although some are certainly easier to handle than others. While the season premiere offered a series of character-focused vignettes featuring the show’s protagonists in their new situations, this second episode drives forward with more of the juicy plot for which we’ve been waiting all these long months. HBO delivers the goods and then some, leaving this particular Truebie extremely satisfied.

The Players:

• Director: Scott Winant
• Writer: Brian Buckner
• Cast:Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Nelsan Ellis, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley, Deborah Ann Woll

Episode Title: “You Smell Like Dinner”

Jason gets more than he bargained for while taking care of Crystal’s clan; Eric makes an interesting offer to Sookie; the origins of Bill’s new position are revealed; human/vampire relations continue to deteriorate, hitting close to home for Hoyt and Jessica; Andy lets his addiction to V cloud his judgment; Sam and Luna start something new; Arlene sees odd behavior coming from her new boy; Tara comes home to see Sookie; Bill sends Eric after a coven of dangerous witches.

The Good:

• Punk Bill: You really have to watch this episode in order to understand just how awesome this is, but imagine Bill Compton as an English punk – spiked hair, leather, and all – in a UK punk club. Yes, it happens, in a flashback to 1982. It is a wonderful scene to behold, and one pregnant with details relating to Bill’s appointment to the kingship of Louisiana. I can’t wait until the show is available on demand just so I can re-watch that scene over and over and over again…
• Tying up loose ends: Relating to the above, we finally learn of what came of Bill and Sophie Anne’s showdown, among some other cliffhangers from last season. Questions are being answered, which means, besides the obvious fact that information is being conveyed, that the show really respects its viewers and isn’t pulling a “Lost” on them.
• Pushing the plot forward: This episode did just what I expected and hoped for with moving the plot forward after the premiere established the new “True Blood” universe, one year after the events of the third season. True to the usual “True Blood” form, plenty of intrigue is introduced in the last twenty minutes of the episode, so be sure to watch every second of the last half of the hour. You won’t regret it.
• Jessica: May I say that Jessica is becoming a total bada** this season? Although I mourn her crumbling relationship with Hoyt, Jessica is really coming into her own as a strong, sexy young woman grappling with her vampiric powers. I look forward to seeing what becomes of her as the season progresses.
• Tommy and Sam: I wasn’t too interested in Sam’s subplot with his new found shifter friends, so I was thrilled when Tommy came back into the picture late into the episode. My hope is that the third episode explores just what happened between the time Sam shot Tommy and the present; there are just so many lingering questions begging to be answered.
• Line of the night: Nan Flanagan takes the cake: “Now go clean yourself up. You’re covered in queen.”

The So-So:

• Arlene’s demon baby: Last week, Tara supplied the show’s weekly dose of melodrama. This time, Arlene takes a turn with the fuss surrounding her new baby boy, whom she believes is possessed by the devil or some such thing. This subplot would be far more compelling if the baby actually did something remarkable. All he does is allegedly cause a blood vessel in Arlene’s eye to burst and make her freak out whenever the subject of the child is brought up. Furthermore, Carrie Preston, who plays Arlene on the show, may benefit from toning down her performance and express Arlene’s paranoia with a bit more subtlety.
• Jason and the panthers: I have very little interest in Jason’s story this season. Perhaps it is because Crystal’s character has seemingly done a 180 without much explanation. I don’t want to spoil the details here, but her loyalties have made an odd change that needs to be clarified.

Overall:

“True Blood” does not disappoint in its second episode of the fourth season. It has everything for which the show is beloved and a whole lot more: it’s steamy, it’s riveting, and it has a healthy dose of that Bon Temps humor to temper the drama. Don’t miss this episode! (At the very least, watch it for Punk Bill.)

Rating: 9/10

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True Blood Season 4 episode 3 Trailer

True Blood Season 4 opener: too slow or just right? (spoilers)

On Sunday 26 was the premiere of True Blood’s first episode for season 4, one of twelve.
A lot of time was spent in this episode establishing where the characters are, introducing new characters and catching us up. The show dragged in parts, but the last fifteen minutes were very well done and included many promising plot twists for the coming season.
This episode opened with a very dumb sequence featuring Sookie in fairy land. We’ve already seen the first eight minutes as they were released by HBO online, and they were disappointing. In that sequence she reunited with her grandfather, a fairy, and when the two of them escaped from the fairy realm Sookie’s grandfather died shortly after re-entry. There was a lot of melodrama as she watched him pass away in the cemetary. (Update: read Sofiel’s comment below. It’s not the case that this was the same fairy grandfather character from the books, it was supposedly her real grandfather stuck in fairy land.) 
This varied quite a bit from the books in that 1. she never knew this man as her true grandfather until he told her he was and 2. he used to flit in and out of the fairy realm and visit her. From what I remember there was no big death sequence, at least not this early on, and he was a very likable recurring character that used to help her out. It’s too bad they went this route with the series.


When Sookie got back to her house it was under construction. Her brother Jason returned to tell her that she had been missing for over a year and he’d sold it to some company that had been doing renovations. Sookie told him it felt like she’d been gone for just 15 minutes, and conveyed the message from their grandfather. Jason said “I believe you, but if you start telling people that you time traveled to a land of fairies, they gonna put you away.”
Bill came right at dusk and told Sookie he thought she’d died after he didn’t feel her presence for over a year. She was a little cold to him, and later said that to her it felt like just an hour ago that he’d broken her heart.
Eric showed up with his snarling hotness to say that everyone else had abandoned Sookie when they thought she was dead, but that he never gave up hope. “I knew you weren’t dead. I’d never lost hope… understand this. Everyone who claims to love you, your friends, your brother, Bill Compton. They all gave up on you. I never did.”
Then Sheriff Andy showed up to lighten the mood. He was unintentionally funny as hell and scolded Sookie for disappearing for a year. Bill covered for her, claimed she was on official vampire business and promised he would pay back the search efforts. Andy got upset and yelled at Sookie “For 13 straight months I’ve had that open case on my books. If it weren’t for you, this years Louisiana’s safe streets plaque would be on my wall and not f’ing Webster Parrish. You owe me a plaque!”

In the police cruiser, Jason busted Andy for using V. I just wanted to include the screenshot above. I love Jason.
Lafayette and his boyfriend Jesus then went to a witches circle although Lafayette protested about it. The dead vampire that Jason’s ex girlfriend killed, Eddie, talked to Lafayette through a witch and freaked him out, causing him to leave.
Then we saw Jessica and Hoyt having typical domestic issues. They fought over the fact that Jessica never cooks for him. She angrily served him up a bunch of broken uncooked eggs and he ate some of it. Then they laughed over it.
The next scene was one of the best in this episode, and involved Eric doing a PSA for vampire relations while Bill attended a ribbon cutting ceremony at a Bon Temps retirement home. Eric croons to the camera “Who would you rather trust, a vampire or a politician?” This scene also introduced (spoiler for future episodes) Portia Bellefleur, Bill’s future love interest in the books. She’s much prettier on the show than she’s described in the books.
We then saw that Tara has moved to New Orleans, where she is involved in some kind of underground women’s fighting ring. She’s in a relationship with the woman she was fighting with, and they made out outside the venue. The other woman called her “Tony” and in a later scene revealed that she thinks Tara is from Atlanta. It’s clear that Tara lies to her girlfriend and has fabricated a lot of her past.
Sookie went to Merlottes to catch up with everyone. She learned that Arlene and Terry got married and had a baby, and that Tara moved away and sends postcards sometimes. Sam told Sookie that the vampire business must have been really important to keep everyone greiving for a year. He gave her her job back part time.
Jessica and Hoyt went to Fangtasia, where a hot fangbanger tried to pick up Jessica when Hoyt had his back turned. Jessica ran into the bathroom to clear her head, which is when Pam came in to confront her. This was another excellent scene.

Jessica said “Me and Hoyt, we moved in together.”
Pam countered “That tree with the plaid shirt, it has a name? He seems sweet and all if you’re into that sort of thing, but if you’re making him bring you here, I have a hunch it’s not enough.”
“It was his idea, like a date night.”
Pam goaded her “The way you’re eye f’ing fang bangers from across the room, that’s especially romantic. You have no reason to feel guilty, you’re a hunter. You’ve never been on your own, you live with a human. Monogamously. [laughs] Sorry, it’s just so ridiculous.”
“Don’t you think if all I wanted to do was kill and f*ck that I’d be out there doing it right now? I don’t know what you saw or what you think you saw, but when I go home tonight I’m going home with the man I love. I’m just sorry that you never had that.”
Sam got drunk at a dinner party with two hot women and a man. They talked about anger management issues. Then they all got naked and a bunch of horses ran out in the night. I guess it was a shapeshifter gathering. I thought it was going to be an orgy at first.

Jason delivered food to the kids in Hotshot. They talked about how “aunt Crystal” is gone. Then a guy tricked him into looking into a standing freezer, pushing him in and locking it, trapping him inside.
At the witches circle with Lafayette and Jesus they brought a bird back to life for a moment, surprising everyone.
One of the witches is a spy, and we saw her walking to a heavily guarded mansion afterwards. She sat down in front of a regal looking desk and then addressed “your Majesty,” and it’s Bill! I guess he’s taken over somehow.In the final scene, Sookie got naked at her house to get ready for bed, and all of a sudden Eric was there, grunting sexily. “Such a strange sensation when the reality matches what you’ve pictured in your mind so precisely,” he purred.

She asked him if it was a dream and he said “it’s not a dream, I assure you.”
“Then how are you here? I rescinded your invitation.”
“You don’t own the house anymore,” he said, holding up the keys, “I do.”
“Why would you do that, why would you buy my house?”
“Because I always knew you were alive, and if I owned the house, I would own you.”
Then he bared his teeth and walked toward her, “Sookie, you are mine.”
That was it. We won’t be doing these long recaps every week, but I have to say I really enjoyed that episode, especially towards the end. There were plot twists that were stupid, namely the fairy business, but I’m intrigued by the witches, I like that Tara has a whole new life and background she invented, and I love the potential romance between Sookie and Eric. She has to want it, though, it can’t be forced. Eric is going about it the wrong way but he’ll surely be successful in the end. And it will be hot as hell.


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Joe Manganiello On His Sexy GQ Photoshoot With Half-Naked Models

"True Blood's" Joe Manganiello chats with GQ about how he went from delivering packages to starring as a ripped werewolf
There's no denying it: Joe Manganiello looks good without a shirt. This fact has not gone unnoticed by HBO, for whom he frequently flexes as an oft-nude werewolf on "True Blood." Ask him about his physique, though, and he'll insist he's just following the script: "If Alcide was described as weighing 300 pounds with a comb-over and missing his front teeth, that's what I would look like." Luckily for Manganiello's career, he's not playing a guy with a gap-toothed smile. It's his He-Man physique that helped turn a six-episode stint into a regular gig, raising his profile high enough to audition for Zack Snyder's Superman reboot. "He and his wife are huge fans of 'True Blood,'" Manganiello explains. While Snyder ultimately went another way, Manganiello, 34, isn't complaining. A few short years ago, he was paying his bills working as a roadie and as a delivery man for a masonry company. As for the new season of "True Blood," spoilers are as hard to come by as clothing on-set. So, any inhibitions left at all? "Once they yell action," he says, "you're a werewolf and you're not thinking about it. But before, there's a boom guy crouched behind you at ass level." Who says werewolves don't blush?

"True Blood's" Joe Manganiello is showing off his fashionable side in a sexy spread for GQ magazine's July issue.

"We shot that in Santorini, Greece last September," Joe told Access Hollywood at the "True Blood" Season 4 premiere in Los Angeleson Tuesday night of the pictorial. "The pictures just came out... They came out amazing."

In the series of photos  Joe posed with a host of sexy models. When asked if his fiancée, actress Audra Marie was jealous at all about her hunk posing with the beauties, the actor told Access , "a little bit."

And Joe has another lady he'll be spending time with this season on "True Blood" - Anna Paquin.

Joe is one of the three men - alongside Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgard - looking lustily at Anna as Sookie Stackhouse in the show's promotional posters.

"A love square perhaps," Joe responded when Access asked if it was a love quadrangle. "Yeah, we're all vying for her attentions."

While there's been talk of Sookie-Eric action already, Joe said his character, Alcide, is ready to get in there.

"There was some tension last year. Alcide was in a really difficult place and so was Sookie and I think if he would've gone there, he would've been taking advantage of her in that moment. This year, you'll definitely see him going after her."


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