'True Blood': Undead On Arrival

More often, the ability comes in handy, as when she meets a fellow protagonist whose arrival seems inevitable: the Mysterious Drifter, distant relation to the puzzling hunk who turned up in the first season of "Desperate Housewives" (Ball seems to enjoy playing with genre components). The drifter, named just Bill and played by Stephen Moyer, is supposed to be 173 years old but doesn't look a day over 37.

"You're something more than human," he tells Sookie -- it's meant as a compliment -- during a long scene in which they become acquainted. "May I call on you sometime?" She's anything but resistant, an apparent vampirical virgin who is more than mildly curious about the possibilities.

It is unfortunate that the first episode ends with an insanely brutal beating in Merlotte's parking lot. It goes on and on, the victim being kicked repeatedly while lying helplessly on the ground. And it continues into the beginning of Part 2 -- which is just cruelly extreme. On the other hand, the victim gets a vampire-style transfusion, which is almost elegant in its bloody excess.

To become a fan of "True Blood," viewers will have to call upon or develop a considerable case of sang-froid in the most literal sense. I felt my knees weaken a few times -- and heck, I made it through "Hostel" with little trouble. But then "True Blood" is not a horror film and is more likely to be after a knowing laugh than a cheap shudder. Paquin keeps her character teetering on a very provocative edge, so that even a simple line like "I'll get you some ketchup" seems wickedly witty in context.

As Sookie's brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten), frequently divested of his clothes, is the randiest non-vampire in the area; he lets his jeans do his thinking. And Rutina Wesley, as Sookie's best friend, does a ferocious variation on the perpetually angry, even enraged, character played by Wanda Sykes on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Self-indulgently, the first episode includes references to HBO's "Real Time" (Bill Maher can be seen on a TV screen) and to someone watching "a scary movie on HBO."

That's kind of tacky -- but then "True Blood" isn't meant to be an exercise in good taste. Just a romp and a wallow -- and a bloody good one.

True Blood (one hour) debuts tomorrow night at 9 on HBO.