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True Blood poll results: Yes, it's all about Eric


True Blood was the talk of the summer. It certainly kept me talking. Mostly about Alexander Skarsgard's character, Eric. How popular is Eric with the fans? Inquiring minds wanted to know. Okay, I wanted to know.

So I posted a "discussion poll" on my True Blood Yahoo list during the month of October. I asked ten questions, and specified that people confine their responses to the series only. Twenty-five people posted responses. Some were a surprise; some weren't. And there were lots of great comments; I included a few below.

1. Who is your favorite female character? (Remember, series only!) Sookie ran away with this one: 44% of the respondents chose Sookie as their favorite female character. Tara got 20%, and Pam 16%. Jessica and Adele (Sookie's Gran) each got a vote. The rest were either "all of them" or "none of them."

[comment] "It's refreshing to see that [Sookie's] not the usual 'damsel in distress' type ... if she has to fight, take a stand or whatever she doesn't wait around for rescue if she can figure out a way to deal with things." (Deborah)

2. Your favorite male character? Yeah, like I have to tell you. Eric obliterated the competition with 76% of the vote. Lafayette came in second with only 12%... BUT interestingly, many voters also said that Lafayette was their second favorite male character, after Eric, so Lafayette has a lot of fans, including me. Bill got a paltry 8%; sorry about that, Bill. Sam got 4%.

[comment] "I love the way [Bill] says "Soooookay...." Damn, that's sexy! In the second season, they have him in pasty-faced make-up with red around the eyes. Not so sexy." (Kay)

[comment] "I liked Bill and hated Jason in Season One but now think Bill's boring and Jason's hysterical in Season Two. But overall, Eric rocks and Lafayette comes in a close second!" (Lee)

[comment] "Eric is the ultimate badboy & gorgeous too, and would be a much more entertaining partner for Sookie. However if I were looking for a guy for myself it would be Sam, who has an honestly nice side, while being a real heart throb as well, in a sweet shaggy kinda way." (Deborah)

3. Who's your favorite couple on the series? (Doesn't have to be a romantic couple; you could pick Jason and Andy, for example.) Responses to this one was all over the map. Sookie and Eric won with 36%. Sookie and Bill came in second with 16%. Lafayette and Tara, 8%. And there were single votes for an assortment of others: Eric and Pam, Pam and Lafayette, Sam and Tara, Sam and Sookie, Eric and Bill, Jason and Andy, Hoyt and Jessica, Eric and Lafayette. I was surprised that star-crossed Hoyt and Jessica didn't get more of the love there, since their storyline has been so popular this past season.

[comment] "Eric and Pam...love their little comments to each other." (Tracy)

4. Which character in the series is the most like you, and why? Sookie took this one with 20%. The reasons why were pretty consistent: she's a strong woman, helps others, has lost people like I have, and so on. Jessica came in second with 12%; Pam, Eric and Bill each got 8%, and Lafayette, Tara, and Gran each got a vote. "Not sure" or "none" got the rest.

[comment] "Eric, because I've been told that I can be evil and conniving, and only out for my own self. According to my soon to be ex hubby." (Rachael)

[comment] "I would have to say Jessica cause she fights for what she wants and I would do the same thing! Also, she complains a lot! Haha." (Logan)

5. Fellowship of the Sun plot in season two: good, bad, somewhere in between? Good news for Steve and Sarah: 48% of the responses were positive, and 28% thought it was okay. Only one respondent thought it was bad, and there were a few who had no opinion.

[comment] "Honestly, I loved it!!! Loved it because it included Godric...and he is my second most fave male character." (Tracy)

6. Maryann plot in season two: good, bad, somewhere in between? Not so good news for the Maryann plot, though. Only 20% thought it was good, while 44% thought it was bad. 32% were ambivalent. Many said it was okay at first, but it just dragged on too long.

[comment] "Ick." (Lee)

7. Anna Paquin as Sookie: love her, hate her, or are you in that amorphous in between area? Good news for Anna Paquin. 20% said they outright loved her, and 72% either liked her, thought she was okay, or were in that amorphous middle. However, not one respondent said they hated her, and that's always good to hear. To put this in perspective, Sarah Michelle Gellar was cordially disliked by a *lot* of Buffy fans, and we all know that William Shatner was despised by many fans of the original Star Trek series. See what I mean about it being good news for Anna Paquin? No one said they hated her. Everything is relative.

[comment] "I love Anna as Sookie. I can't picture anyone else as her." (Courtney)

[comment] "Love her! She's me!" (Kay)

[comment] "Liked her much better in season two." (Adrianne)

8. Team Bill, Team Eric, Team Sam, or no team at all? When I came up with this question, I honestly thought that Eric would win, but that Bill would come close. I was wrong; it wasn't close. Team Eric got 76%. 76%! Team Bill and Team Sam each got 4%. A few couldn't choose. And several said that if I'd asked at the end of season one, they would have said "Team Bill", and that they've since switched teams.

9. Which season did you like better, one or two? I thought season two would win handily, but again, I was wrong. 32% chose season two, 28% season one, 24% both, and 8% couldn't choose.

[comment] "I think I prefer season one, but I loved Eric and Godric in season two." (Naomi)

10. What would you like to see in season three? (And remember, NO BOOK SPOILERS! You can be vague, though. Like yay, werewolves. Or I want to see more Eric, etc.) Yes, 60% said they wanted more Eric in season three. (Did I stack the deck there with my question? Nah.) To add to that 60%, 16% more asked for more Sookie and Eric, or more of the Sookie/Eric/Bill love triangle. 20% wanted werewolves and/or more shifters. 12% wanted more Pam, which I think it pretty significant. There were a smattering of other requests, like more of the Queen, more Lorena (mostly so that someone would kill her), more about Sookie and Bill, more Arlene and Terry. Yes, that's more than 100%. Some people mentioned more than one thing.

[comment] "I would love to see more intimacy between Eric and Sookie. Hopefully Bill will stayed kidnapped long enough for that to happen." (Katie)

[comment] "Werewolves, shifters, fairies.... I'm ready for any of 'em. Bring 'em on!" (Kay)

[comment] "A lot more of Sookie and Eric hooking up!" (Naomi)

[comment] "More Eric. Pink spandex." (Pam)

[comment] "More Eric because he is so hot hot and HOT." (Tara)

Clearly, despite his minimal screen time, Alexander Skarsgard's Eric has made a strong impression on the fans. Okay, mostly female fans. Alan Ball, please take note.

What do I want, personally? Glad you asked. Eric, Eric and Sookie, Eric and Pam. Generally, Eric. Personally, I'm deeply into the books... could they skip over book three and go for book four? No, I liked book three. But I don't think I can wait another year and a half for book four.

It's not just all about Eric with me, truly. I like Sookie; she's a strong lead, and I'd like more about her mind-reading abilities. I like Lafayette, Tara and Sam, and I'm interested in Sam's background. I like Jessica and Hoyt, our star-crossed virgins. I hated Jason in season one, but I like him now.

And since I'm making requests, could we have a real finale, not half a finale plus set-up for the next season?

Billie

10 comments:

  1. Hahaha :-D What a great read. I didn't know about this survey Billie so it's really interesting to read some of the choice responses.

    Surprises:

    I thought Maryann and Godric might get at least 1 vote each for favourite characters. They both stood out for me as exceptionally well drawn and consistent characters despite the small amount of screen time. But yeah, of course Eric, with Lafayette close behind.

    In terms of originality though, Lafayette highkicks across the finish line first. I've never seen such a unique character on a TV show and I Reeeeally want to see more of him as well as more Eric in season 3. Lafayette could be utilised in any of the other characters season 3 storylines, could be used to explore many of the shows main issues such as race, sexuality, drugs, dangerous relationships and 'the other' and Nelsan Ellis just gets the performance perfect every time.
    My reasons for wanting more Eric are (just a little) more straightforward. Yes please, lets go straight to Book 4. NOW.

    I have to say my favourite couple is Jessica and Hoyt :-)

    Anna Paquin is the embodiment of the books Sookie to me. I can see the scenes that she's in playing out in my imagination when I'm reading the later books. Perfect casting.

    ARRGH why can't season three start now!!!!

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  2. Maryann and small amount of screentime in the same sentence is funny. :)

    Otherwise i agree with the above. Bring on season 3.

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  3. this is a great blog!! I,m SO waiting for season 3 to start.. Anna is the perfect sookie!! And Alexander is "My perfect guy" :O) LOL.. Thanks for every comments.. good readinf. and again.. Great blog!! A "viking-hug" from Norway.

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  4. Interesting survey. Agree with most of the results.
    Eric!!!
    I also would have expected Godric mentioned somewhere.
    Eric!!!
    I would love more Eric, much more, in season 3.
    Eric!!!

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  5. yeah, to be 100% honest with you all, Eric is the main reason I watch this show.

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  6. yep Erics da bomb (but dont try explaining that to the hostess if your watching the show midflight they dont seem to have a sence of humour)i agree with most of whats been said the show has some great characters but the best has to be Lafayette the character has so much depth for a side character im realy impressed with the acting (he has even done well in the online polls in the southern states which i find halrious (a black, bi or gay not sure, drugdealer in luisianna ha lol) but you also gotta admit that both jason and andy have improved in likabilty alot

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  7. Interesting results, according to your pole, people tend to like Eric and Sookie more than Bill and Sookie. But i like Bill and Sookie together. The characters are as popular as the show is. i just love to watch True Blood.

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  8. I actually really liked the idea of Erics character having such a " younger" "maker" but not really younger. And as Eric being my favorite male character , it was exciting to see Godrick come out of the shadows I was kind of let down that he wasn't in the show for very long.

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  9. Eric played the best vampire I've ever seen on tv. I loved his character ! As well as everyone else I see, but also as a non vamp character I did really like Sam's storyline and his acting was great the switch from good guy to ahole I'm a couple shows was fun to see ! Eric is sexy AF. But so is Sam but in totally different ways !

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  10. Lafayettes character was also brilliantly casted & he played the part perfectly. He deff deserved the spotlight truly as well as Eric & Sam for malez

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