The pacing does ease quite a bit this episode, but the tension is still high. Our boy Jin is all grown up, and so are his two old friends. His personality does seem more or less the same, but he seems to have a better understanding of the world around him and emotions he was once unaware of.
It was also interesting to see the moral dilemma between Kouga and Jin. Even though it's a hard choice, I think I would've agreed with Kouga, although Jin's way had the best outcome.
Quite a rough cliffhanger, I can't help but watch the next.