Most of the stuff with Suou was kind of obvious from the revelation in the car after the credits, so while the explanation was nice, it didn't really have much impact.

Seeing Mao's original body, and the fact that he was an ankle man, was something else, as was the fact that Suou's mother knew that the Gate was coming to Tokyo. That could mean a number of things. That the Syndicate knew already that it was coming and her husband told her, that she isn't quite everything she seems, or something else entirely that I can't even come up with another explanation for.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to me was actually given the most mundane presentation. All of the dolls talk to each other, and do each other favors. It wasn't just July talking to the networked observation ghosts. The twins caught it too, and also agreed to hide Suou and July. So perhaps July decided to assist Suou and help in keeping Section 3 away from her, mostly because she is so nice to him. The same way that Yin gained affection for Hei. When a doll is treated properly, they come off a lot less mechanical. Abused ones or new ones don't really seem to care who they work for, they just do it. Ones that are treated nicely like to stay with a particular caretaker. We saw an earlier version of this last season with the yakuza reject who eloped with one.


More of a side note, but it didn't look like Hei tortured Youko. More like he just drugged her heavily. But when Hazuki and Section 3 found her, she was brutally tortured. Was this censorship earlier, not showing how Hei actually persuaded her to give information (something I'm am positive Hei is capable of, especially for Yin) or did the blond woman take care of Youko after Hei left her dazed but mostly intact?

edit @ bill's post:
It's possible that the Syndicate did it (if Madam Oriele is working as a representative of the Syndicate and not herself). It just seemed odd to see Youko deeply distressed from her session with Hei, him leaving her, and her body being found that brutally assaulted in so short a time.