no difference in these paths, caras and nikkis paths are the exactly same, only the location is different (nikki will go to the beach with the MC instead), thats a big dissapoinment too... Even most of the dialogues are the same. They say the same and so on... thats felt kinda lazy to me. But yeah... her comebacks are completly wasted. (the visit on the beach is a little bit more fun to watch though)Perhaps Nikki's path will be better, but what's the point of adding this sort of plot twist if the game won't let us actually deal with resulting fallout?
The whole episode is kinda "one way" doesnt matter wich girl you chase before, in this episode it makes no real difference... yeah totally a filler episode with slim to none progress, really. Maybe its the quiet time before a storm... hopefully in episode 10 there is much more progress and more going on.
The cliffhanger is kinda harsh, and it can be asumed its erryn, maybe got abused, beaten or raped. But my gut feelings tell me, its not erryn behind the trash we can see... Just a cliffhanger on purpose to make us cringe. I would think, there is not much major impact behind this. The worst would be... another new character and potential LI. But my feelings tell me, its not Erryn.