Already Torn
Banned
I don't know about tepid, but she came out way stronger in this last one than she did in the first two. An easy thing to point at is that she changed "Trumped up trickle down" to "trickle down on steroids". She seems more genuine, seemed to be less on the defense, and of course managed to goad Trump into dropping those headline-making lines that allowed her to strongly win the past two debates in retrospect. I would say that the stuff about the Clinton Foundation was the only point when she didn't seem genuine and in control. That's definitely a first.Her first two debate performances were anything but tepid, but for people who just wanted her to go out there and be an attack dog, I can understand how you might feel that way. But debate isn't as simplistic as mauling your opponent over and over, and Hillary did 100% what she should have done in all three debates.
I'd say that's the reason why this was her best debate. Trump did a little better than he did in the first I suppose, but she did soooo much better.