"True Blood" Hopeless (2012)

Director:

Daniel Attias

Writers:

Alan Ball (creator)
Charlaine Harris ("Sookie Stackhouse" novels by)
(more)

TV Series:

"True Blood" (2008)

Original Air Date:

15 July 2012 (Season 5, Episode 6)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Having found Russell Edgington, the former King of Mississippi is taken prisoner and is put in a cell at the Authority...

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Louisiana | Waitress | Homosexual | Long Title Sequence

Cast

Anna Paquin	...	Sookie Stackhouse
Stephen Moyer	...	Bill Compton
Sam Trammell	...	Sam Merlotte
Ryan Kwanten	...	Jason Stackhouse
Rutina Wesley	...	Tara Thornton
Alexander Skarsgård	...	Eric Northman
Christopher Meloni	...	Roman Zimojic
Chris Bauer	...	Andy Bellefleur
Kristin Bauer van Straten	...	Pam De Beaufort
Lauren Bowles	...	Holly Cleary
Valentina Cervi	...	Salome Agrippa
Nelsan Ellis	...	Lafayette Reynolds
Scott Foley	...	Patrick Devins
Janina Gavankar	...	Luna Garza
Lucy Griffiths	...	Nora Gainesborough
Todd Lowe	...	Terry Bellefleur
Joe Manganiello	...	Alcide Herveaux
Michael McMillian	...	Steve Newlin (credit only)
Denis O'Hare	...	Russell Edgington
Jim Parrack	...	Hoyt Fortenberry
Carrie Preston	...	Arlene Fowler
Deborah Ann Woll	...	Jessica Hamby
Alfre Woodard	...	Ruby Jean Reynolds
Dale Dickey	...	Martha Bozeman
Louis Herthum	...	JD
Kelly Overton	...	Rikki
Lindsey Haun	...	Hadley Hale
Christopher Heyerdahl	...	Dieter Braun
Peter Mensah	...	Kibwe
Carolyn Hennesy	...	Rosalyn Harris
Tina Majorino	...	Molly
Jeffrey Nicholas Brown	...	Corbett Stackhouse
Jenni Blong	...	Michelle Stackhouse
Giles Matthey	...	Claude Crane
Emma Greenwell	...	Claudia
Camilla Luddington	...	Claudette
Stephen Taylor	...	Prisoner Jimmy (as Stephen Monroe Taylor)
Ted Welch	...	Joe Bob
Todd Giebenhain	...	Junior
Brendan McCarthy	...	Nate
Chloe Noelle	...	Emma Garza
Jayden Lund	...	Doug
Alissa Ford	...	Prisoner Kate (as Allisa Ford)
Kiva Jump	...	Nurse Hastigan
Jonathan Kells Phillips	...	Male Paramedic
David Atkinson	...	Unsavory Vampire
Lockhart Brownlie	...	Dancer
Colleen Craig	...	Dancer
Cody Green	...	'Tie' Faerie
Nick Lanzisera	...	Dancer (as Nicholas Lanzisera)
Rachael Markarian	...	Dancer (as Rachel Makarian)
Cassidy Noblett	...	Dancer
Genise Ruidiaz	...	Dancer
Jillian Schmitz	...	Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jennifer Amorelli	...	JD's Werebitch (uncredited)
Andrew Anderson	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Mary Kate Koons	...	Faerie Cocktail Waitress (uncredited)
Paulette Patterson	...	Female Paramedic (uncredited)
Cristofer Sanders	...	Fangbanger (uncredited)

Directed by
Daniel Attias

Writing credits
Alan Ball		(creator)
Charlaine Harris		("Sookie Stackhouse" novels by)
Alan Ball		(written by)

Produced by
David Auge	....	line producer
Alan Ball	....	executive producer
Brian Buckner	....	co-executive producer
Bruce Dunn	....	producer
Gregg Fienberg	....	executive producer
Mark Hudis	....	co-executive producer
Christina Jokanovich	....	co-producer
Luis Patiño	....	associate producer (as Luis M. Patiño)
Marlis Pujol	....	line producer
Angela Robinson	....	co-executive producer
Gianna Sobol	....	associate producer
Raelle Tucker	....	co-executive producer
Alexander Woo	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Nathan Barr

Cinematography by
Romeo Tirone		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Louise Innes		(as Louise A. Innes)

Casting by
Libby Goldstein
Junie Lowry-Johnson		(as Junie Lowry Johnson)

Production Design by
Suzuki Ingerslev

Art Direction by
Catherine Smith		(as Cat Smith)

Set Decoration by
Ron Franco		(as Ron V. Franco)

Costume Design by
Audrey Fisher

Makeup Department
Ozzy Alvarez	....	makeup effects technician
Andre Bustanoby	....	makeup effects pre-viz
Becky Cotton	....	makeup artist
Bernhard Eichholz	....	makeup effects technician (as Bernie Eichholz)
Rocky Faulkner	....	key makeup artist
Maria Alejandra Garcia	....	makeup artist (as Maria Garcia)
Connie Grayson Criswell	....	makeup effects technician (as Constance Criswell)
Lana Grossman	....	makeup artist (as Lana Horochowski)
Allan B. Holt	....	makeup effects technician (as Allan Holt)
Kathleen Leonard	....	hair stylist
Todd Masters	....	makeup effects producer
Brigette A. Myre	....	department head makeup artist (as Brigette Myre Ellis)
Dennis Parker	....	department head hair
Dan Rebert	....	makeup effects producer (as Daniel Q. Rebert)
Katherine Rees	....	hair stylist
Cyndilee Rice	....	key makeup artist
Mark Viniello	....	makeup effects coordinator
Daniel Hirsch	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Gregg Fienberg	....	unit production manager (as G. D. Fienberg)
Timothy Stormer	....	post-production supervisor
Ron Cosmo Vecchiarelli	....	production supervisor (as Ronald Cosmo Vecchiarelli)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harmony Gosbee	....	second assistant director (as Harmony Kummer)
Kyle Hollingsworth	....	second second assistant director (as Kyle Allen Hollingsworth)
Gregg Kawecki	....	second second assistant director (as H. Gregg Kawecki)
Libby Minarik	....	first assistant director (as Libby G. Minarik)

Art Department
Manuel Baca	....	assistant props (as Manuel John Baca)
Daniel Bradford	....	lead set designer
Grahame Budd	....	paint supervisor (as Billy Budd)
Thomas R. Cahill	....	property master
Dan Caplan	....	storyboard artist
Terry Corliss	....	on-set greens (as Terence Corliss)
David Craig	....	swing gang (as Dave Craig)
Jorge Dorado	....	toolman
Le'Ce Edwards	....	buyer (as Lece Edwards)
Iram Gutierrez	....	location labor foreman
Ryan Handt	....	mill foreman
Mike Horn	....	on-set dresser
Dea Jensen	....	buyer
James LaBarge	....	leadman (as James La Barge)
Raymond C. Lopez	....	plaster foreman
Luz	....	stand-by painter (as Luz Luz)
Greg Manke	....	first assistant props
Randy Martens	....	greens supervisor
Peter Nesmith	....	greens foreman
Nick Noce	....	assistant props
Dale Riggs	....	location foreman (as Dale S. Riggs)
Carmen Roderique	....	construction estimator (as Carmen Miller)
Burton Sanders	....	swing gang
Craig Schulz	....	swing gang
Maggie Smith	....	art department coordinator
Toby Swinehart	....	paint foreman
Robert L. Thompson	....	general foreman
Macie Vener	....	assistant art director
Robert Webb	....	stage foreman
Mike Wells	....	construction coordinator
Mike Wiley	....	labor foreman (as Michael E. Wiley)
James R. York	....	stand-by painter (as Jim York)

Sound Department
Larry Barr	....	layback engineer (as Larry J. Barr)
John Benson	....	supervising sound editor
Lawrence L. Commans	....	boom operator
Scott Curtis	....	foley mixer
Pete Elia	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Peter Elia)
Mark Fay	....	utility sound (as Mark W. Fay)
Dawn Fintor	....	foley artist
Judah Getz	....	adr mixer
Nathan Hankins	....	assistant sound editor
Jason Krane	....	dialogue and adr editor
Stuart Martin	....	sound effects editor
Kevin Roache	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alicia Stevenson	....	foley artist
Roger V. Stevenson	....	sound mixer
Laura Wiest	....	sound recordist
Sal Ojeda	....	dubbing re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Vincent Borgese	....	special effects foreman (as Vincent C. Borgese)
Randy Cabral	....	special effects coordinator
Chris Nelson	....	special effects gangboss
Ryan John Thuotte	....	special effects technician (as Ryan Thoutte)

Visual Effects by
Elizabeth Alvarez	....	visual effects coordinator (as Liz Alvarez)
Tim Eilers	....	compositor
Colin Feist	....	compositor
Barbara Genicoff	....	visual effects producer
John Lindstein	....	compositor
Jon Massey	....	visual effects supervisor
Steven Meyer	....	2D supervisor (as Steve Meyer)
Andrew Orloff	....	3D supervisor
Sean Tompkins	....	visual effects producer
Howard Lin	....	recruiter (uncredited)
Rob Price	....	digital compositor (uncredited)

Stunts
Diane Branagan	....	stunts
Jahnel Curfman	....	stunts
Dan Flannigan	....	stunts (as Daniel Flannigan)
Adam Hart	....	stunts
Loriel Hennington	....	stunts
Tim James	....	stunts
Henry Kingi Jr.	....	stunts
Hiro Koda	....	stunt coordinator
Rick Marcus	....	stunts (as Richard Marcus)
Cassandra McCormick	....	stunts
Dustin Meier	....	stunts
Crystal Michelle	....	stunts
Rene Mousseux	....	stunts
Trenton Rostedt	....	stunts
Monica Staggs	....	stunts
Jake Swallow	....	stunts
Mark Aaron Wagner	....	stunts (as Mark Wagner)
David Wald	....	stunts
Brian Hite	....	stunts (uncredited)
Oliver Keller	....	stunts (uncredited)
Heidi Pascoe	....	stunt double: Anna Paquin (uncredited)
Banzai Vitale	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Joe Allegro	....	librahead technician
Noah Behar	....	company grip
Larry Brecht Jr.	....	lamp operator
Evans Brown	....	chief lighting technician
Derlin Brynford-Jones	....	crane technician
Mike Byrd	....	rigging grip
Jonathan Clark	....	"b" camera second assistant camera
Chris Cotterman	....	company grip
Josh Drew	....	key rigging grip
James Ginn	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Luis S. Gomez	....	"a" camera second assistant camera
Raymond Gonzales	....	assistant chief lighting technician (as Raymond Gonzalez)
David Haeussler	....	technocrane technician
R. Dana Harlow	....	best boy grip (as Dana Harlow)
Mark L. Hartman	....	rigging best boy (as Mark Lee Hartman)
James Hatridge	....	lamp operator
Orlando Hernandez	....	lamp operator
Joe Hill	....	rigging grip (as Joe A. Hill)
Kevin Hites	....	company grip
Travis Huston	....	rigging best boy
Joe Iverson	....	rigging electric
Simon Jayes	....	"a" camera operator
Simon Jayes	....	steadicam operator
John Johnson	....	still photographer
David Leite	....	company grip
Dave Lujan	....	rigging electric (as David Lujan)
Dominic Mainl	....	"b" camera first assistant camera (as Dominik Mainl)
Chris Martin	....	lamp operator
Scott Medcalf	....	rigging electric
Scott Pepin	....	rigging electric
Jessica Plaxton	....	dimmer board operator
Bradley Richard	....	"a" camera first assistant camera (as Bradley V. Richard)
George Santo Pietro	....	"b" dolly grip
David D. Scott	....	video assist
Walter 'Bud' Scott	....	key grip (as Walter 'Bud' Scott Jr.)
Steven Strong	....	rigging gaffer
Noah Thomson	....	camera loader
Maxwell Thorpe	....	company grip
Demian Scott Vaughs	....	"a" dolly grip
Loren S. Yaconelli	....	"b" camera operator (as Loren Yaconelli)

Casting Department
Monica Kelly	....	casting assistant
Suzanne Smith	....	casting: UK (as Suzanne M. Smith)
Lisa Soltau	....	casting associate
Rob Swanson	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marilyn Basaker	....	costume cutter/fitter
Sarah Basta	....	set costumer
Debra Beebe	....	costume supervisor
Lauren M. Chambers	....	set costumer (as Lauren Chambers)
Laura Frecon	....	assistant designer
Kristine N. Haag	....	shopper (as Kristine Haag)
Nicholas Heinz	....	set costumer
Cynthia Sterling	....	costume cutter/fitter
Sara Walbridge Castro	....	key costumer
Tiffany White	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Matt Belanger	....	post-production coordinator
Chad Gunderson	....	broadcast producer: Technicolor
Paul Hill	....	Inferno artist
Scott Klein	....	final colorist
Ray Miller	....	on-line editor
Peter Ritter	....	colorist: dailies
Scott Turner	....	post-production assistant

Music Department
Gary Calamar	....	music supervisor
Craig Pettigrew	....	music editor
Alyson Vidoli	....	music coordinator

Transportation Department
Jarod Abbatoye	....	driver (as Jerod Abbatoye)
Jim Alfonso	....	driver
Ronnie Baker	....	driver (as Ronald Baker)
Cecil Barba	....	driver
Rich Bennetti	....	transportation captain
Carlos Delatorre Jr.	....	driver
Dre	....	driver
John Falvey	....	transportation captain (as John O. Falvey)
Mark L. Hendrix	....	driver (as Mark Hendrix)
Steve Howard	....	driver
Payton J. Kirkpatrick	....	driver (as Peyton J. Kirkpatrick)
Steve Maytum	....	driver
Douglas Miller	....	transportation coordinator (as Douglas G. Miller)
Tom Neal	....	driver
Charles Newland	....	driver
Tom Provenzano	....	driver
Mark Scruton	....	driver
Jennifer Tabish	....	driver
Randy Tehee	....	driver
Paul Tumber	....	driver (as Paul E. Tumber)
Jorge Vasquez	....	driver
Bobby Williams	....	driver (as Robert Williams)
Melanie Williams	....	driver
Jeff Woodward	....	transportation co-captain
Robert L. Young	....	driver

Other crew
Belinda Alarcon	....	second payroll accountant
Gary Arabia	....	chef
Karla Baeza	....	production secretary
Nathan Bailey	....	stand-in (as Nate Bailey)
Paula Berg	....	assistant location manager
Diane Branigan	....	animal trainer (as Diane Branagan)
Brad Bring	....	first assistant accountant
Khadija Brockington	....	production secretary (as Khadija A. Brockington)
Trevor Brunsink	....	stand-in
Emily Ruth Carter	....	accounting clerk
Andrew Collins	....	stand-in
Michael G. Cruz	....	key assistant location manager
David Damwijk	....	production assistant
Aaron Fairley	....	production assistant
Adam Bjorn Fienberg	....	assistant craft service (as Adam Fienberg)
Liz Forde	....	stand-in
Susan Frontiera	....	accounting clerk
Brett Gantt	....	controller (as S. Brett Gantt)
Alex Garcia	....	medic
Marc Garcia	....	medic
Mary Hastigan	....	payroll accountant
Benjamin Hayes	....	assistant to writer
Amber Henley	....	key assistant location manager
Gabriel Hobson	....	assistant: Gregg Fienberg
Daniel Kenneth	....	script coordinator
Adriana Limon	....	production assistant
Mark Mallorca	....	assistant: Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer
Mikaela Mathern	....	production assistant
Rayan Michaels	....	production assistant
Gerry Needle	....	studio teacher
Steve Peungraksa	....	assistant craft service (as Steve Peungraska)
Marguerite Pomerhn Derricks	....	choreographer (as Marguerite Derricks)
Rebecca Poulos	....	script supervisor
Dina Ramsey	....	accounting clerk
J.R. Regalado	....	chef
Alex Reid	....	location manager (as Alexander Reid)
Christopher A. Rojas	....	key assistant location manager
Rachel Rush	....	production assistant
Leonardo Sciacci	....	stand-in (as Lenny Ciacci)
Alex Sobotowski	....	production secretary
Kelly Stuart	....	key assistant location manager
Yuki Tachibe	....	production assistant
Josh Van Ermen	....	craft service (as Joshua C. Van Ermen)
Lorraine Vos	....	second assistant accountant
Ben Waesche	....	production coordinator
Shawn Weber	....	animal trainer (as Shawn D. Weber)
Jeff Wickline	....	production accountant
Tim Williams	....	animal trainer (as Tim Williams)
Jen Woldrich	....	production assistant
Rose Youmans	....	production assistant
Chad Bennett	....	tactical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Home Box Office (HBO)
• Your Face Goes Here Entertainment

Distributors

• Home Box Office (HBO) (2012) (USA) (TV)
• HBO Hungary (2012) (Hungary) (TV)

Special Effects

• MastersFX (makeup effects)
• Zoic Studios (visual effects)
• Digital Kitchen (main title design)

Other Companies

• Bruce's Gourmet Catering  caterer
• Global Cuisine  caterer: "The Lot"
• FotoKem  laboratory services
• Technicolor Creative Services  post-production sound and video
• Joyce's Voices  loop group
• Evan M. Greenspan  music licensing
• Otto Nemenz International  camera
• Eastman Kodak  film provided by
• Pix System  digital dailies
• The Lot  studio facilities
• LA Management  talent management (uncredited)
• Reel Security  Production Security (uncredited)
• Sigloch Military / Tactical  military advisors (uncredited)

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Soundtrack:

Partners in Crime

Disastrous Authority development but Peter Mensah dominates, Alcide + Sookie = LOL² and blossoming secondary arcs

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Where's the fun ? Where's the horror ? I really hope True Blood will get back right on track or else I'll just give up on it. It's so disappointing that all its great characters and performers aren't supported by a better story. Is the novel this season is adapted from that bad ? The ending was atrocious and not surprising at all considering we all knew Salome was up to something. It's so obvious I don't even need to watch the next episode to be sure of it. I also can't believe how easily Roman got killed when he's leader of the Authority and supposed to be an experienced vampire. The worst part is that nobody in the room moved to help him when most of them are surely against Russell Edgington. Eric looked at Bill. "Sharon Osbourne" opened her mouth. As for the so-called super villain he's just an old vampire played by Denis O'Hare who wouldn't even scare Larry Harvey, his character in American Horror Story.

The only thing I enjoyed about the Authority's arc was Kibwe Akinjide. Peter Mensah, the charismatic and complex Doctore in Spartacus : Blood and Sand, makes one hell of a dark vampire and his scene in the bus with all the silly humans was well staged and insanely gory ! What happened on Alcide and Sookie's (Alcookie, Sookide ?!) side was also quite entertaining. The athletic and tanned Joe Manganiello waking up in her pinky bedroom ? Hilarious ! The contrast between the glamored and angry wolf was in the same vein and proved the excellent chemistry between both performers. His decision to become the new pack master really excited me and it seems he'll have plenty of hot brunettes around him to forget our favorite blonde. It leads us to Sam because I have no doubt that at some point he'll team up again with Alcide. I really enjoyed how he convinced Andy to let him investigate the shooting, by enumerating all his shapeshifter surreal abilities. Still let's hope they won't have the insane idea of crossing the show with Fringe even if it could lead to some very funny stories. Last but not least I have finally understood what's going on with Lafayette and Terry. They're both haunted by demons so their arcs are surely connected and will inevitably collide. And if you think about it even Hoyt has to fight a demon, himself !

Note : This review was first posted on Kritikenstein, my weblog.