This story contains season five spoilers.
Before he handed the True Blood showrunner baton on to Mark Hudis and pootled off to work on Cinemax thriller Banshee, Alan Ball chatted to TV Guide about Bilith, Warlow, returning for the next series finale, and why two episodes have been cut from season six…
“It’s still True Blood.” That’s the message Alan Ball left fans with after departing Bon Temps, LA (well, he’ll have a Consulting Producer credit and return for the season six finale) for pastures new.
Ball says yes, he’s satisfied with where the characters were left at the end of the last season, “The last thing you want to do with a show that lives as long as this one is to repeat yourself. I don’t think we did. I really liked seeing a secular vampire government being taken over by crazy fundamentalists" he said, jokingly adding, "I’m not saying there are parallels in our own human world."
Though much of season five diverted from Charlaine Harris’ novels, Ball intimates that “…later seasons of the show” (note the confident-sounding plural) will address some of the content of Harris’ later books.
The Bill, Sookie, and Eric triangle hasn’t gone away entirely, he suggests, quoting the fairy elder’s words to Sookie, “There’s a reason you give your heart out to every fangster you meet”, and adding “That’s going to be very interesting to find out why.”
What else is planned for season six? “We will definitely see Warlow. Whether or not we have met him already, I will remain mum.” Ball admitted being “…interested in a Bill who is really evil” and revealed that the vamp’s story in the next season will revolve around his plan to use humans as a food source, “The question for me is has he lost his humanity entirely or will it just have to fight harder to come out.”
Finally, owing both to “economics” and Anna Paquin’s pregnancy, True Blood will have only ten episodes in season six, rather than its usual twelve.
Find out what Ball had to say about Russell's death, Tara and Pam's relationship, and Jason's murderous parental visions by reading the TV Guide interview in full, here.
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