HBO’s Sexiest Show Will Always Be This Horror Series

The Big Picture

• True Blood celebrated sexual freedom through its characters, pushing boundaries with wild sex scenes and love triangles.
• Sookie losing her virginity to Bill was a momentous event that marked her sexual liberation.
• The series featured a season-long orgy and blurred the lines between sex and violence, creating a groundbreaking and daring show.

TV sets were steaming up all across the country when True Blood premiered in 2008. The vampire obsession was already in full force thanks to the HBO show’s debut alongside the release of Twilight that same year. Starring Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and Alexander Skarsgård, the Louisiana-set vampire fantasy series raised temperatures and broke down barriers — with lots and lots of sex scenes, among other wild moments. Paquin plays local waitress Sookie Stackhouse, whose disinterest in men changes when the dark and handsome vampire Bill Compton (Moyer), walks into the bar where she works. The attraction between Sookie and Bill is immediate, and from then on the series oozes with sexuality. Vampire fever was at its peak in 2008, and the HBO series banked on it by leaning into wild sex scenes and sultry love triangles.

Part of what makes True Blood such a groundbreaking series to this day is that it celebrates sexual freedom for its characters. HBO’s mega-smash hit The Sopranos had just ended, and True Blood was primed to become the network’s next big hit, particularly striking a chord with a female audience who felt represented on-screen by the variety of characters on display. The series birthed several sex symbols, including the introduction of the relatively unknown Skarsgård as bad boy vampire Eric Northman. From a season-long orgy in the backwoods of Bon Temps to blood-soaked sex scenes, True Blood remains HBO’s steamiest show.

Sookie Losing Her Virginity in ‘True Blood’ Was a Big Deal

One of Season 1’s main focuses is the fact that Sookie is a virgin — a consequence of her mind-reading abilities turning her off from intimacy with anyone — but that quickly changes by Episode 7, “Burning House of Love.” Sookie having sex for the first time was a monumental moment in the series, and it notched up the sexiness on True Blood, especially given all the tension leading up to the main event. Sookie doesn’t just lose her virginity to Bill; she gains sexual freedom. It’s not something to mourn, it’s something to be celebrated.

Of course, while Sookie decides to lose her virginity to Bill, that isn’t the only first-time experience she has with her new love. This is first and foremost a vampire series, so the show satiated audiences with Bill drinking from Sookie’s neck for the first time too. From there, Bill and Sookie’s sex life only gets crazier. Who could forget the events of Season 1, Episode 8, where Sookie takes flowers to Bill’s graveside and he crawls straight out of the dirt to have sex with her right then and there? Sorry, Saltburn, but this graveyard sex scene takes the cake.

‘True Blood’ Also Features a Season-Long Orgy

In True Blood, Sookie and Bill aren’t the only ones who get to have all the fun. Every longtime fan remembers when the town members of Bon Temps became possessed sex fiends during Season 2. When the maenad Maryann Forster (Michelle Forbes) waltzes into town, she embarks on a mission to take over Bon Temps by getting everyone to participate in a massive sex party, one by one. Progressively possessing more and more people, Season 2 hits a climax when Maryann finally gets the townspeople to partake in a group orgy in her backyard. An evil, demonic sex goddess in her own right, Maryann undeniably remains one of True Blood‘s most iconic antagonists. She is an in-control woman, entertaining gluttony and debauchery, and also gets to be one of the baddest villains in the show. Before all of Maryann’s machinations are revealed to be part of her devotion to the ancient god Dionysus, the sexcapades the town embarks on have become a defining moment across all seven seasons of True Blood.

Jessica and Jason Get It On to a Taylor Swift Song

Break-up sex set to an angst-filled, sad Taylor Swift song in the back of a pickup truck is a thing to behold. Sookie’s brother, Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten), is a favorite among fans, and he breezes through sexual partners by partaking in a high percentage of True Blood‘s graphic lovemaking scenes. While he’s initially living a dedicated bachelor lifestyle, that all changes when he meets the newly-turned, naive vampire Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll). Jessica and Jason had an opposites-attract chemistry going on.

When Jessica is turned into a vampire by Bill, she dies as a virgin, so every time she sleeps with someone it feels like the first time all over again. Initially, this puts a bit of a damper on her sex life, but later on, she learns to embrace the pain alongside taking control over her own pleasure, and Jason more than contributes to her growing libido. Jessica and Jason getting back together in his pickup truck while the Taylor Swift track “Haunted” plays over the scene remains one of True Blood‘s iconic moments. It’s over-the-top, campy, and corny, but a perfect encapsulation of everything fans loved about the show.

Sookie, Bill, and Eric Have a Dream Sequence Threesome

While many fans fell in love with the relationship between Sookie and Bill instantly, many jumped ship as soon as the seductive Nordic vampire Eric Northman appeared. Eric is considered Skarsgård’s breakout role, and for good reason. His irresistible charm and refusal to follow the rules is instantly enticing, and viewers across the country immediately began wishing for a Sookie/Eric relationship. Sookie’s initial disdain for Eric only fueled the fire of their forbidden love more.

As Sookie fights her growing attraction to Eric, it leads to a fan-favorite moment in the series: Sookie dreaming of having a threesome with both Eric and Bill. With both vampires sinking their fangs into her neck, it became an iconic moment for the steamy love triangle and fooled many fans who didn’t realize it was a dream at first. Longtime Sookie/Eric shippers finally got their wish with one of True Blood’s most memorable sex scenes in Season 4, when the two finally sleep together in the woods. It also has the distinction of being a more tender love scene within the series, compared to the frequent blood-sucking, rougher ones.

‘True Blood’ Often Blurred the Lines Between Sex and Violence

Though the majority of the sexual liberation for True Blood‘s female characters is positive, the series often blurred violence and sex countless times — pushing boundaries in a way that sometimes worked, and sometimes fell closer to exploitation. Ultimately, it was still a groundbreaking series that dared to be different, and it’s difficult to look back on a series like True Blood and not pick up on the fact that sex scenes on film and television aren’t always willing to go there anymore. What makes True Blood HBO’s sexiest show is the fact that it was willing to celebrate pleasure in all its forms — and at the hands of any creature. No series may ever beat the thirstiness the characters in True Blood possessed — whether they were craving blood, lust, or love — and TV is better for it.

True Blood is available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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