So it finally happens. After building up the obvious conclusion of Kirei's character arc with Gilgamesh since episode 6, he finally decides to take the step to remove Tokiomi from the equation. I think everyone saw this coming, but what is more interesting is not that he has killed Tokiomi, or that Tokiomi is dead, but rather what this means for Kirei as a character. The change in Kirei's expressions and behavior is probably one of the more interesting and deliberate character development arcs I've seen in animation. Everything from script to character design to animation has been subtly changing since his first interaction with Gilgamesh. To finally see him break into moments of facial expression, and to see him take independant actions in the episodes leading up to this is very fascinating. The payoff for audiences here imo, is seeing Kirei's total release in emotions at the end of the episode, not so much a master being eliminated. Finally seeing him smile and feel "free" to express emotions of his own is both satisfying and also rather creepy. The pacing of the episode seems to also reflect Kirei's hesitation towards finally acting out his intentions, and as such, that could explain the deliberate nature of the slower second half of the episode.
As for Gilgamesh, I think it is also very intriging to see what a seductive bastard he is. Out of all the Servants he is definitely the one with the most arrogance and deviousness, and he's not even afraid to let people know that. If only Tokiomi was more attentive and less trustworthy with regards to his grand plan, he would probably have caught on. It's hard to feel that there is a loss of a character here today, since Tokiomi was hardly a participant as far as the narrative was concerned. So caught up was he in his own world that he was really oblivious to all around him, and it reflected him as a boring and uninterested individual. He will not be missed. I do have to question though, why Gilgamesh would feel so confident and willing to form a contract with Kirei knowing that he has also inherited all his father's Command Spells. That seems to be the one weakness that Gilgamesh has. Does he really feel that Kirei is interesting enough a person to risk this contract? Their relationship should get even more exciting from here on out.
Other than the above comments, there really isn't much else to say about the episode. The other scenes don't really give us much more information that we didn't already know, but it does set up a possible conflict very soon with Team Saber being caught off guard by these developments. Saber's V-MAX looks pretty cool though. The CG work on it is definitely more detailed than the Benz 300SL. Kiritsugu should consider sending the car for an overhaul.
Oh, one last comment, that CG camera spin on the stabbing scene was kinda interesting. It was done in a very striking way, which makes it memorable. It also tried to make the scene more "exciting" than it really was, and as Gilgamesh said, it's a pretty boring way to murder someone as it is. Perhaps the scene was intended to reflect Kirei's mindset at that time, where this is the MOST EXCITING THING he has done in his entire life. In that sense I feel it is successful. It's definitely better than the first person moving CG background in Hyouka ep1 anyway!
