"True Blood" takes a wacky road toward finale

Is "True Blood" supposed to be a comedy?

If so, that might make some of the recent episodes a little easier to swallow. HBO's mega-hit vampire show by "Six Feet Under" creator Alan Ball has always had welcome streaks of dark humor, but was never as out-and-out wacky as it has been this season.

The wackiness, which reached a fever pitch last week (episode 10), lessened a bit this past Sunday as the show introduced a new character: Sophie-Anne the Vampire Queen, played by Raleigh's Evan Rachel Wood. 

"True Blood" isn't exactly known for being subtle when it comes to sexuality, so it's no surprise that the first time we see Wood Sunday night, she's sucking blood from the thigh of a young woman. Later she entices vampire Bill to "snack" from a young, half-naked man and announces, "I love watching two men." Even after watching what seems like hours of maniacal orgies on the show this season, this still feels like we're being hit over the head with the characters' sexuality.

But back to wacky.

Bill has gone to the queen for advice on killing the maenad, Maryann, but just to keep things ridiculous, Sophie-Anne keeps Bill hostage in her house for awhile. Her weapons? A swimming pool with simulated sunlight and a game of Yahtzee.

The primary reason for the show's sharp left turn into Ed Wood-ville is Maryann (Michelle Forbes). As she and her black-eyed sex zombies have slowly taken over the town, the story has gotten progressively more ridiculous. Last week, to keep the zombies from killing Sam, Jason grabbed a nailgun and a chainsaw and announced to the writhing monsters, "Hey, this party's over." Then he tricked them by putting on a welding mask while someone held "stick" horns behind his head, and pretended to be God. On Sunday, Lafayette kept monsters at bay by throwing pills at them. What the ....

How on earth is this Scooby Doo gang going to kill the invincible Maryann?

Sophie-Anne tells Bill that the only way to weaken Maryann for killing is through mind games.

That's convenient, but I was kinda hoping Jason would pull out the chainsaw again.

The "True Blood" finale airs September 13 (no episode on September 6).