Long ago, when the series first started airing, people were busy comparing the romantic content of the manga compared against the anime, the general consensus being in the anime, Haruhi is shown to have more of an appreciation for Tamaki than she did in the manga, where after seven volumes, after all the pluses and gag effects canceled each other out, little to no headway was made in the way of serious romantic development.
The chapter shown in episode 17 was one of very few chapters in the manga up till this point in which potential for serious relationship development was featured; the only others being the beach episode/chapter earlier on and the recent episodes 16.
The significant beach episode (Haruhi-Kyouya, Haruhi-Tamaki) and the Karuiizawa episode (Haruhi-one of the twins) did very well in retaining the original's advancement of Haruhi's understanding of the respective host club members. The tension, atmosphere, all brought out very well.
However, the alternations to this Kyouya-Haruhi chapter significantly decreases the veiwer's impression of the mutual-understanding and positive feelings which Kyouya and Haruhi gain for each other in the manga.
Spoiler for episode 17 deviations:
1) As mentioned above, the element of Kyouya standing up for Haruhi after she was accosted by the dishonest buisnessman was removed.
2) Haruhi's interest level in Kyouya's personality and behavior was also greatly reduced, as compared to the manga, where she was far more engaged.
The following link shows the manga's scene where Haruhi asks Kyouya just what he means by "Interest/profit/merit." (Scroll down towards the bottom a bit) Instead of asking whimsically, she runs after him and grabs him. (Ignore the text if you understand Chinese, as that has been roughly translated and shopped.)
http://cal-reflector.livejournal.com/26279.html#cutid1
3)Likewise, Kyouya was also portrayed as far more passive in his engagement with Haruhi, as is apparent in the images above.
Conclusion: Unlike the beach and the Karuiizawa episode, the emotion and atmosphere of episode 17 has been toned down tremendously, which is why this episode gets low marks from me. The menacing Kyouya, and how images of the Red Devil appear everytime DemonKing!Kyouya appears was a nice touch though.