TV Weekend: Another Bite for True Blood

I'm definitely looking forward to Season 2. I just saw S1 recently, and have convinced Mr. Shara Says that we need to get cable ASAP when we move into our new house (which will also hopefully be ASAP...) just so we can watch True Blood.
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I have a different set of complaints/observations about the show. I'm pretty easy to please, when it comes to TV, so most of the stuff mentioned in this post just didn't bother me in the slightest. Here are my chief complaints:
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1) Some of the accents are really hard to listen to, specifically Bill and Sookie's. Lafeyette, Tara, Tara's mom, Sam, and Jason have servicable accents. Maybe its that they're native accents are so different, or whatever, but at times their accents make the show nearly unwatchable, IMO. Particularly (as Mo Ryan and others have mentioned) Bill's pronunciation of "Sookie" (Suck-eh and similar variations) is laughable and my resulting ROTFL really takes me out of the moment. Now, Sookie Stackhouse is a name that sounds kinda cool on paper, but its a freaking ridiculous name when its said out loud, so I'm not sure where the blame should lay exactly... As the season went on, the characters grew on me enough that I could put that aside and just watch.
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2) Bill and Sookie are boring and don't have a lot of chemistry. I've talked to others who disagree with me, but I still say that everything involving the two of them is just plain boring. I love the supporting cast and didn't feel like anybody else was too flatly-drawn - at least not after the first few episodes. I thought that by episode 4 everything was firing on all cylinders (that was the episode I offically Got On Board the True Blood Bandwagon). Lafeyette, Tara, Tara's Mom, Jason, Sam, Hoyt, Arlene, Adelle, Amy were all, IMO, perfectly cast and most of them turned in some very effective, complicated, compelling performances. Hoyt's Mama was probably the least-well-drawn character, and the most reliant on negative, flat southern stereotypes. But, as a good Southern girl, I promise you that we all know some nosy, overbearing busybodies who love scandal and drama and who revel in other people's tragedies...
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3) Casting issues: I feel like Bill is far more miscast than Sookie - I think he comes off as goofy/smarmy when he tries to lay on the charm, and he is stuck with so much lame expositional dialogue that I still don't have much of a sense of who Bill actually IS. She really started growing on me as the season went on, but by the end I was LMAO when Bill almost got burned up, rather than feeling worried or stressed, because I care ZERO about Bill.
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In terms of the show vacilating between escapism and seriousness, I thought it struck a good balance and that there was a lot going on under the surface that I didn't catch the first time through. The parallels and common themes among different storylines were subtle, but cleverly done, and I definitely appreciated the quality of the direction and writing a LOT more as I rewatched the series (particularly after reading the TWP recaps of the show, which were absolutely fantastic - reading them seriously improved my appreciation for the show by illuminating a lot of the subtext and parallels and themes that had gone over my head the first time).
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James writes: "As it is, the show seems to want to switch between social commentary and hey-it's-just-a-monster-story, depending on what's more convenient at the time." I just found it interesting that they weren't making an unambiguous moral case one way or another - This isn't clear-cut right-vs-wrong and good-vs-evil (and, in that way, actually did remind me very much of The Buffy Approach), I took that as "complicated" and "morally gray" rather than schizophrenic and ineffective. In that world, every single person has a distinct idea of "right" and "wrong", and the way that such radically different interpretations of "right" and "wrong" interface with each other is one of my favorite things about the show. Right and wrong are often in the eye of the beholder, and each beholder is personally limited and flawed (while following their own limited and flawed code), so no side can maintain the moral high ground for long - that was just fascinating to me.
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But, again, I'm easy to please, and generally eager to like what I see (not cut out to be a critic, definitely not!!).

I really don't analyze this show that much. Lafayette was probably my favorite character on television last year. If he is dead and off the show I will be disappointed. Tara is probably my second favorite character.
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The gay rights allegory doesn't bother me too much. What bothers me is that Alan Ball doesn't acknowledge actual gay issues and rights. It seems like everyone on this show, like in Six Feet Under, is okay with homosexuality. It's like Louisiana in a more liberal state than California (and Prop. 8 showed us that they aren't even that liberal). Maybe it's because Ball would rather show the world he wants to see rather than what the world actually is.

the allegory doesnt bother me either. I just dont appriciate it when a writer feels its neccisary to overcompinsate to so discrimination etc... by having those that affirm a certian faith as bigots. Not all that do are bigots. balance would be nice but that would not hit home the theme and elements they want ot convey.