Why does it feel like it has been forever since I have done a Villain Spotlight? Probably because it has. Welcome back my favorite little heathens! It is I, your favorite purveyor of the undead and blood filled monstrosities that haunt the night, Arthur Harkness, and today I am going to be delving into something I promised myself years ago I would not touch. When the show True Blood first came on the air, I was intrigued. It seemed like something I could get into, and something that could potentially be right up my alley. I waited patiently for the premier, and sat down on that fateful Sunday to watch this new show about Vampires and Werewolves and wereidiots and other supernatural beings that inhabit the city of Bon Temps LA. Popcorn in hand, and other devises of enjoyment in the other, I dove in….and immediately dove out. Goddamn Anna Paquin. If any of you have listened to our podcasts, you know I have a hatred for her and a few other choice actresses, and couldn’t bear to see her on screen for longer than 5 minutes maximum. I vowed never to watch it again.

But how did we get here? How is one of the characters from this show being featured in one of my articles? Well, it’s pretty simple. I was wrong. The show is actually pretty addictive, no pun intended, and it just takes a few episodes to finally reel you in. My main gripe when reattempting to get into this show was Anna Paquin, but it soon donned on me that she isn’t as bad as I originally made her out to be, but she is still far from the most entertaining character on this show (Lafayette, why are you so awesome? Plus, Alcide, Eric Northman, shit even Bill is fucking awesome.) I originally hated this show for all the wrong reasons, but I will gladly say that I am now a fan, and I have a higher tolerance for Anna Paquin then when I originally checked this show out. Now, all of that aside, its time to get down to business. In a world of vampires and everything else that inhabits Bon Temps, it takes a pretty serious disposition to be feared by nearly everyone, and so far, only a few have done so. ladies and gentlemen, I give to you the former King of Mississipi and king of your hearts, Russell Edgington!

In the world of True Blood, the power of each vampire is essentially equivalent to their age. For example, Eric Northman is a very powerful vampire, having lived over a thousand years, he has earned quite a reputation. There is rarely anyone able to challenge him, not even Bill who is only a couple hundred years old maximum, but Russell is 3000 years old for fuck’s sakes. Older than Jesus, older than your mom, and older than nearly any other vampire on the planet. This makes him a force to be reckoned with, especially when he decides he no longer wants to be a part of the blending in process. He doesn’t want vampires to coexist with humans…..he wants them to be nothing more than food and to understand their place in the food chain. The worst part about this, is that Russell is a charmer, and you kind of want him to win. I know most people may disagree with me on this one, but it’s true. He may be an asshole, but that accent just makes him sound like such a gentleman. It’s hard to say not to that. But, much like everyone who seems to good to be true, once he lets his true intentions be known, shit goes downhill real fast with him, Even going so far as to shatter the image that the Vampire authority had been trying to produce for the general human public. A large number of vampires wish to coexist with everyone else, but some just plain want to watch the world burn. Hence….Russell Edgington.

Russell sets in motion a series of events that set the whole True Blood universe into hysterics with his plays for power. Due to his immense strength and speed generated from being such an old vampire, nobody is really around to oppose him in any fashion. Bill and Eric are invited by him to join up with his cause, and both seem to go along with it, that is until Sookie becomes involved. Once she gets her nose stuck into this business, shit gets real for Bill and Eric, who are both in love with her. Eric hadn’t admitted to it yet at that point, but Bill was all about it, and he was a huge catalyst for bringing down Russell in the end. The thing is, much like most villains, Russell is an asshole, and he sets up plans and schemes to help him get his way, but what he wasn’t aware of is that he is not the only schemer in the area. This is going to be spoiler heavy right now, so if you haven’t watched it, I suggest you skip the next few lines…..coward. Eric, who prior to being turned witnessed his family being murdered on the orders of Russell, but he didn’t know it was Russell at the time. We see some flashbacks of Eric and Russell working together, but Eric still had no idea that it was Russell who gave the order to have his family eaten. In an attempt to woo Russell’s lover, Eric seduces him and in a moment of realization, sees his father’s crown in Russell’s trophy case. Well, I think you can guess what happens next, which is Eric stakes the FUCK out of Russell’s lover, and since vampires are connected to each other of they have drunk each other’s blood, feels that his lover of over 400 years is dead, and flies into an uncontrollable rage. Such Fun!!!!!!

Now, the last thing you want when you are trying to keep a clean public image is a 3000 year old super powerful vampire who is pissed as fuck that his loverboy just got staked. This leads him to reveal himself on public television, by ripping the fucking spine out of the newscaster on live television, then proclaiming that mankind’s days in the sun are numbered, and that he is there to let them know that all vampires want out of humans, is their blood. He is not one to mince words up it seems. As you could possibly tell, this causes a huge shitstorm amongst the entire population as people are understandably pissed at this, but Russell just does not give a fuck. This calls Eric and Bill into action, and in a plan that is half genius and half madness, wind up tricking him and binding him in silver and concrete, never to be released or killed, so he can sit there and deal with his grief and madness. That is fucking brutal, right? I was half upset and half ecstatic because Russell seriously fucked everything up, but he did it so stylishly. Now, it is not to say that this is the last time we will ever see him, but I won’t go too far into those spoilers as I am just about half way done with season 5 now, and some pretty tasty and awesome things have happened since Russell was put away. I won’t officially say what happened, but trust me, its pretty sweet.

Russell Edgington, barring a few other characters, is hands down one of my favorites on this series, mainly because of how badass he is and how many fucks he just doesn’t have to give. It’s nice seeing someone play the villain, and it makes it even more awesome when he’s actually endearing. I honestly never would have thought in my life that I would recommend or spotlight a character from this show, but we all have made mistakes in the past. All we can do is learn from it. Do yourself a favor and check this show out. If Arthur can be proven wrong, even though I am infallible, then maybe you can too if you made a similar decision as I did back when this show first started. The final season starts sometime next year, and it only took me the entire series before finally becoming addicted to it. It’s Breaking Bad all over again. Enjoy!!

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