True Blood: The Complete Second Season (2010)

This was the season True Blood not only took off as a TV series that found the perfect balance between terror and comedy, satire and adventure, romance and S&M, but also became a pop culture sensation, probably HBO's biggest phenomenon since The Sopranos. Sookie (Anna Paquin) and Bill (Stephen Moyer) contend with the supernatural shenanigans of Maryann (the marvelous Michelle Forbes); Jason (Ryan Kwanten) joins and rips through a religious sect; and Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) goes through hell. Watching it all one disc after another is better, in my humble opinion, than reading a slew of Charlaine Harris' novels. Not so good are the EXTRAS, which offer a paucity of episode commentaries (only one includes series creator Alan Ball), none of them especially illuminating, and a couple of so-so comic features on vampire life. But seeing the saga on DVD will leave you thirsty for the new season in June.