I don’t know how you could write so much. After a handful of comments, I’ve got fuck all to say about this episode.
If ep9, as it stands (minus the embedded flashbacks), was chronologically placed among the usual episode style story that gave us a lot to think about, it would have been fantastic!
But it wasn’t.
As far as the party goes, it was good (unless you just went around trying to tick off tasks), but there’s virtually nothing to talk about or care about that we haven’t exhausted from discussions from previous episodes.
And if there’s nothing to talk about, there’s nothing to keep our interest. I didn’t hate the episode, but my obsession is definitely over after waiting over a year since ep 8 to be served up this empty shell.