1616 - True Blood: season four

This is an interesting show in that it doesn't act like any other hour-long cable drama.  It actually feels a bit more like a soap-opera - and I say that in the best possible way.  What this show does better than most, if not all, is their cliff-hangers.  This season actually had a few episodes that left on lovely notes instead of the usual cliff-hangers, which is oddly just as unsettling. 
So this is going to be able the entire season, so expect SPOILERS AHEAD.  If you want a general recommendation then here goes: it's a really good show - and if you're into vampires, werewolves and numerous other types of mythic creatures then you're probably going to love it. 
Okay - now into the meat of it.

This was a really really strong season for True Blood.  It felt a tad meandering early on, but everything came together quite well.  Even characters like Tara (who, honestly, always felt like she could have disappeared and not made any real difference) seemed to serve some purpose this time around.  It appears that each season brings aboard a new creature to deal with, this time around it's the witches, and to some degree the Fae - although that plotline disappeared very quickly, and just barely stuck it's head out here and there.  I assume that it's going to be something sprinkled along for a bit and then will probably feature heavily in the future - perhaps even in the final season (whenever that will be).
Something that True Blood does quite often is leave storylines, Jason and the Panther-Clan seemed to be pretty interesting, but then as soon as the will-he-turn question was answered it was dropped.  Again, perhaps we'll see them all again later (although I much prefer Jason's relationship with Jessica steaming up - let's be honest, what was sexier than her Little Red Riding costume in the finale?).  One thing I was particularly tickled to see was Reverend Steve from the Fellowship of the Sun returning (and as a vampire, no less).  Although as much jeopardy as it seemed that Jason was in, the dude was outside his house and the only way to harm Jason would be if Jason decided to invite him in.  So Jason's pretty safe.  Like usual True Blood wrapped up the central conflict of this season rather early in the episode and spent the rest of the time setting up next season's arcs - like the one I just mentioned.  One of the really fun ones was seeing that Russell had freed himself from his concrete grave (when they didn't give him the 'True Death' it seemed pretty clear that he would be returning at some point).  Tara could be dead - could be alive - I could care less.  And everyone else is in a pretty pickle as well.  This was easily one of the better seasons of the show (who didn't love Eric's amnesia?  delightful! - and it was the first season the Bill became truly interesting), and I really look forward to season five.