True Blood Season 4 Jumps into the Future

The start of True Blood Season 4 was spoiled days ago. Although fans waited all year to see Sookie's visit to the land of fairies, they saw it on the Internet well before the Season 4 premiere aired Sunday night. But what happened afterward put True Blood on a whole new path, as it became the latest show to reinvent itself with the "flash forward" technique.

Warning: Spoilers follow

Although Sookie's trip to meet her fellow fairies only took up a few minutes of screen time, she didn't come back to Bon Temps until a full year later. In that time, a Sookie-free Bill has succeeded Russell Edgington as vampire King of Louisiana, a coven of witches are on the march, and Tara has found a surprising new love interest.

With all of those twists and more, Bon Temps has become a different place for Season 4, at least somewhat. The usual gore, sex, satire and other trademarks are still there, but Alan Ball and company hope they will be fresher with this time jump.

The idea has become fairly commonplace on television lately when shows need to reinvent themselves before getting too stale. Lost pioneered this strategy in recent years, its flash forward revelation at the end of the third season rejuvenating the struggling series.

Over time, shows like Desperate Housewives, One Tree Hill and more jumped ahead by a year or two -- or more -- to shake things up as well. In fact, Showtime's Weeds is jumping ahead by three years in its seventh season premiere Monday, after its lead character is released from prison.

But no matter how far a show can jump ahead, and no matter how much its characters change in the meantime, it still has to remain the same somewhat. If a series is still as formulaic as ever aside from the new twists, then flashing forward can only work as a temporary distraction for so long.

For True Blood, fans aren't eager for the show to change that much, although those worn out by the series might welcome some fresh wrinkles. But this is a brand new idea for the saga, since each season has only encompassed a few weeks at a time, making this the biggest leap forward in series history by far.

Yet the viewing experience may still be the same, as those who give into it are bound to be addicted, while others may be worn out before long. A lot of things may have changed while Sookie was away, but Season 4 still promises the same blood, sex, allegories, magic and supernatural madness that have delighted some and exhausted others.

The new order in Bon Temps will further unveil itself every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

Sources

TV Line- "True Blood Premiere Post Mortem: Series Creator Alan Bal on Tonight's Major Twists!"

TV Guide- "True Blood Episode Recap: She's Not There"