Pam, Lafayette and Jessica our season picks so far, True Blood season four a go

By April MacIntyre Jun 22, 2010, 1:01 GMT

Pam is the resident jaded cougar, killer vixen in Eric\'s camp. Courtesy of HBO

Today's major HBO news: "True Blood" is picked up for season four, no surprise there.

HBO will laissez les bon temps roulette encore for a 12-episode fourth season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.  The steamy, sweaty tongue-in-fang series was created by showrunner Alan Ball (Six Feet Under), who took the Charlaine Harris' penned Sookie Stackhouse novels and breathed larger than life characters in the fictional Louisiana town, where the folks all have interesting secrets and skill sets.

Even Snoop Dogg got to serenade lead actress Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), whose talent is the ability to "hear" people thinking. Her beau is the Southern gent, 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), whose season two finale kidnapping kicked season three into high gear.

The major players include the always delicious Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) whose Nordic buns of steel are Valhalla for gay men and straight women, and the dimwitted but hunky Jason Stackhouse, a mesomorph of the highest order, and like Eric he is blessed in the derriere department too.

For Monsters and Critics, the best players on this Sanguine potboiler are not mentioned as often as Sookie or Eric, but make the show such a no miss event we would be crushed if they were killed off.

Nelsan Ellis, courtesy of HBO

Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis)

Oh lord we love us some Lafayette! Happily Ball and Co. have seen fit to write this side-eye shank artist some more meaty lines! He is the juice in every scene he is in, even with sex God Eric.

Lafayette's signature glam pirate look is priceless, and even he is rocking a fine physique like the other male leads. Please Alan Ball, never ever kill off Lafayette.

Great season two quote: "Don't get it twisted honey, I'm a survivor first, a capitalist second, and a whoooole bunch a otha' shit after that, but a hooka' dead last, so if I got even a 'Jew at an Al-Qaeda pep rally' shot at gettin' my black-ass outta this mutha' fucka', I'm takin' it; now whatch'choo wanna know?"

Deborah Ann Woll as Jessica, courtesy of HBO

Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll)

First off, she has the most amazing natural hair we have ever seen, thick and a shade of red that doesn't make us think of Cynthia Nixon's wife, Bozo or Prince Harry. Lustrous locks! Her hapless virginal vampire act is gold, and she nails all the awkwardness that one would expect from a gal who is not savvy in the ways of menfolk. She has golden comedic timing and her back and forth with Hoyt's mama was hilarious.

Jessica quote from season two talking about True Blood, the drink: "Less like ass than the A positive, but more like ass than the B negative."

Pam (Kristin Bauer)

Pam is the resident jaded cougar, killer vixen in Eric's camp.

She hates kids, sweet gestures and do-gooders. She loves lipstick, debauchery and dispensing great advice like 'sniff poopy diapers' to get over a feeding frenzy bout. If Patsy (Joanna Lumley) from 'AbFab" were cast in "True Blood", the two would be fast friends on a coke and Jack bender. 

Pam quote from season two: "That's for the boys to figure out. Right now, what you need to do is change out of your clothes. There's vampire in your cleavage.
Sookie: [looks down and gasps] Okay. Eeww!
Pam: Allow me.
[takes the bloody piece out] 
Sookie:  Thank you.
Pam: I'm beginin' to understand the fuss everyone's makin' over you.