I think the episode portrayed two things very clearly and very well.
First, that though Kazuto's body came back to the real world, his mind and heart is still in SAO and with Asuna. This makes sense and was alluded to in so many different ways throughout the episode. I particularly liked how, in the kendo scene, he was still using his SAO sword-fighting stance and at the end tried to place the "sword" on his back like in the game.
But of course, there are a lot of other ways too, particularly given the fact that Asuna remains stuck in a coma even now that he's free. It was good to see that Asuna's father accepted him at least as a close friend to Asuna, and someone that makes her happy, but I don't think he really understands the depths of their feelings for each other (and it's not like Kazuto alone is going to be able to convey it). Meanwhile, Suguha sees it all too clearly.
Speaking of Suguha, I think she's the second thing that was portrayed very clearly in the anime. I think whatever small feelings she might have had for Kazuto before were certainly amplified by him being stuck in a coma for two years and now coming back. It's sort of like making up for time lost. But the fact that his heart is still somewhere else even though he's finally back is that much more painful for her. I can definitely buy the way she was portrayed in the episode. The mix of present time and flashbacks was pretty well done. (The only thing that was a bit funny at first is that Suguha doesn't seem to really understand what happened in SAO, but they also say later that it's considered bad to talk about it, so perhaps he hasn't yet told her all the stories beyond the essentials.)
Obviously they've setup Nobuyuki as the main villain in this next round... and yeah, he's rather over the top in his villainy. Unlike the last story arc, where the villain was for the most part invisible (at least until we understood what was going on), here we see the villain quite clearly. His little hint that he was keeping Asuna alive along with the image Egil sent to him (hey, I guess he's still around) was enough to put two-and-two together. Of course the big problem is: how the heck does he get her out of this other game she's trapped in, along with the few hundred others still trapped? I guess we'll have to see. I doubt it'll be a straight line like "clear the 100th floor!" again...
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Originally Posted by Clarste
I suppose the real question here is this: in what way is Silica at all like Kirito's sister such that she reminded him of her?
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I think they're both eager, hard-workers despite having a sort of "cute" appearance. I also think that, later on in the episode, the way she got embarrassed by being in Kazuto's bed was portrayed almost exactly like Silica. I think they do have a fair bit in common, actually.