Oh yes, HBO's True Blood series episode two (First Taste)has plunged me into the fiery depths of THE CRUSH.

It's strange. I don't so much crush on people. I crush on a particular song, or a particular relationship within a show, or a series of books that creates a particular world or feeling (as I've discussed before.)

With this series, its the give and take underneath an outward repression of emotions, a formal dance where characters trade small talk while love and hate seethe below the everyday words.

It's fascinating to me in the same way watching the formal English manners of Room With a View, or Remains of the Day, or Pride and Prejudice makes me feel things keenly because they are not fully expressed.

Now don't get me wrong, there is a HUGE difference between True Blood and those other movies. For one thing, True Blood contains quite graphic violence and sex.

But the graphic parts aren't what get me. Those aren't the parts that make me hold my breath.

It's the parts where two characters are dancing around eachother (conversation wise), leading up to some kind of emotional intimacy, and you just want them to let go of their fear and just jump in head first.

There's a kind of terror-laced beauty in it.