The big story that I think could be axed is Jason's. I'm reasonably sure I know where it's going (spoilery hint: watch Jason's webisode) and so I get how it fits. I'm just finding it tedious and irrelevant. I was thinking the same thing about Sam's story, but tonight I felt it gel a lot more, thanks to Tommy's interactions with Jessica and Lafayette. The brothers watching animal documentaries was awesome.
The problem is that all of the action is going on in Mississippi, and almost nothing is going on in Bon Temps. To keep (especially) Jason and Sam on the show, we're getting these stories that don't advance the overall plot much at all. It's reminiscent of how dragged out the Maenad story was last season. Of course, that's a fundamental problem stemming from the show being an adaptation of the books - they don't happen to be involved in this story. Fine for books, not so much for television shows.
I'd rather we get one or two scenes of the Bon Temps stuff, and use the rest to flesh out what's going on in Mississippi. At the very least, flesh out the characters a little more, or the world. For example, how does Alcide/weres feel about Sam/shifters? Are there other were-creatures? Why haven't they been discovered or revealed themselves now that the vampires have? There was a lot of that in the first couple of seasons, but now it's sadly missing.
Regarding Fast Learner's list, I'm betting we (the audience) find out what Sookie is in the next episode. It seemed to me that the King recognized what Sookie was, even if she doesn't. Given the emphasis on family this season, I suspect it's something familial, and not unique to her (what about Jason?). That would wrap up the last big mystery from the first season.
All that said, I thought the episode was pretty awesome.
