shipperx | Do You Get The Impression That She's Just Discovered Fandom? (Reply)

I had to giggle at reading this question in TVGuide.com's "Ask Matt Roush" column:

I have recently discovered True Blood and spent the summer watching seasons 1 and 2. Alan Ball and company did all the right things to get me to invest completely in Bill and Sookie. So much so that now I physically hurt at the thought that things might not work out for them. (Kudos to them for getting that kind of response for fictional characters.) I know that things aren't following the books exactly, which is fine by me, since I haven't read them. However, I am getting a little worried about the book fans and their demands for an Eric hook-up and their constant reviling of Bill. They don't seem to want to go with Alan's version of Bill being a better, er, person. Anyway, do you have any idea of what percentage of the True Blood audience has actually read the books? Or are they just louder fans than those of us who only watch the series? Do you think that Team Bill fans will have their hearts ripped out a la Maryann? — Dana

I kind of want to pat her on the head and say "Welcome to shipping flamewars." Although, personally, I know I'm a bit of a broken record in saying that True Blood has yet to inspire me to invest in either Sookie-ship. But that's just me.

Oh. And Matt Roush's response

Haven't a clue how many True Blood watchers are also readers of the Charlaine Harris books, but I've done both and find each experience satisfying in its own way (although I wasn't crazy about the most recent book). They are just different enough—kind of like the Dexter books vs. the Showtime series—that I find myself enjoying them for their differences. And that includes the way the Sookie-Bill-Eric triangle is playing out. (This season complicated by the arrival of Alcide; insert wolf whistle here.) I don't know exactly where Alan Ball's version is headed, but I would expect a major upheaval between Sookie and Bill before long, just to keep things interesting. [MILD SPOILER ALERT] Whether any estrangement will be as long-lasting as what happens in the books, I don't know, but I would doubt it—mostly because of the on- and off-camera chemistry of the leads and because it's probably not in the show's best interest to marginalize Bill over the long haul.

Whatever happens, and I'm still rooting for the show to tackle the fourth book at some point (with a very strong Sookie-Eric story), I'm betting True Blood will give both Team Bill and Team Eric opportunities to win and lose a few along the way. And while it's fun to take sides, my advice as always is to take all the fan noise from either camp with a pinch of salt—or in this case, garlic.