Stage is set for Evan Rachel Wood on HBO's "True Blood"

Last Sunday's rather bizarre B-movie inspired episode of "True Blood" set the stage for the entrance a highly-anticipated new character: Sophie-Ann, played by Raleigh native Evan Rachel Wood.

Wood has long been a fan of vampires and of "True Blood" in particular, she recently told the New York Daily News, and had asked "True Blood" creator Alan Ball to keep her in mind if a guest part ever opened up. That part is of the telepathic bisexual Vampire Queen who just happens to be 1,100 years old, but who is fortunately preserved in the young body of Wood. 

Ball said when Wood was cast that her character, Sophie-Ann, "has more than one secret agenda," and that more will be revealed in Season 3. So it sounds like Wood will have a nice little run with the part.

Wood told the Daily News that since pretty much everyone else on the show has had to get naked at some point, she suspects she will too. She says it would depend on the context, but she'd probably do it for Ball. 

The article also notes that Wood's father, Raleigh theater actor Ira David Wood, once played Dracula, and that her mother read her Anne Rice novels when she was a little girl. 

The end of last Sunday's episode, which one WarmTV reader described to us as "one of the most dreadful hours of television" he has ever seen, ended with vampire Bill arriving at Sophie-Ann's mansion, but all we saw of her (or one of her victims?) was a foot with some blood trickling down.

The episode took some odd turns, even for a show about Vampires who coexist with humans in rural Louisiana. The Los Angeles Times recapper wrote that it "careened into batty territory" and  noted its "B-horror-film level of nuttiness." A writer for The Examiner wondered exactly what made sense about using "sex zombies" as henchmen.

Whether it was just plain awful or awfully campy fun is open to debate. What is not open to debate is the show's popularity. Last week's episode brought HBO its highest ratings ever (for a non-Sopranos show), with 5.3 million viewers. That's up about 20% from the week before. When you factor in the popularity of pretty much anything these days with a vampire and all the black-eyed fornicating on the show's current season, that isn't surprising. 

The show has only two episodes left, including this weekend. However, the finale will not be on September 6. HBO is taking Labor Day weekend off and showing the finale on September 13. 

"True Blood" airs Sunday night on HBO at 9pm.