Finally this episode finds direction! As much as I've been loving Legend of Korra, it lacked the overlaying motivation that the war with the Fire Nation gave the original series. Right from the beginning, the war gave Aang motivation, as well as gave him real threats in each village his visited. Korra has kind of dragged its feet, with the secret conspiracy you know little about being about as compelling as the secret conspiracy you know little about can be. Instead, Korra has focused more on politics and pro-bending, neither of which has provided the conflicts - both personal and physical - to make the show really seem like it has momentum. Thankfully this episode takes care of that problem, and starts really moving things forward.
Now, on to speculation!
[spoiler]I'm wondering why Korra hasn't done an avatar state yet, even when she was in very imminent danger from Amon. The flashbacks in this one showed Aang coming out of a brutal avatar state, and I wonder if that has a connection. Perhaps he did something to severe it?
Also, this episode makes very little reference to the shipping episode last week. The fact that Bolin is just taking this all in stride just shows why he is the best character.
And finally, I don't think Amon's ability to take bending away is as solid as he claims. In the ATLA finale, chi-bending was a huge thing that came with a Pink-Floyd-At-the-Lasertarium light show, and took instructions from the Lion Turtle to figure out how to do it. Amon's just seems so... lackluster. That and the enigma over who paid off the refs suggests that Amon be running a longer con than even the Equalists know.[/spoiler]