Judging from the previous episode, I though this one would be pretty lackluster, but boy oh boy was I wrong...
Spoiler for Great episode:
Everything was just where it was supposed to be as in the novel, and as an adaptation, JC staff did an excellent job. The first half was standard stuff, but the second was pretty intense, both physically and emotionally. You can almost feel the anguish in Taiga when she realized she did all that work to have Kitamura announce to the whole school that he liked someone else. When she slumped to the floor, you can hear her say, "What the hell was I doing all this while". And finally, some real action scenes, although I would say it stuck a bit to closely to the novel.
Sumire was quite a hit this episode. I'm not a fan of her straightforward ways, but what really got to me was how her brick dam of a face finally broke and gave way to the flood of emotions dammed up inside. Its like how soft plastic will only bend when hit and how tough, fragile glass will shatter.
I feel guilty previously hoping this episode would quickly end and bring the christmas arc; it went way past my expectations for it. Music placement was pitch-perfect, and it really brought out the emotions very well especially at the parts when Sumire starts crying and when Taiga prepares to attack.
This episode deserves a 10/10 for proving how wrong my previous judgment of this episode was.