Episode 11. Houtarou, after realizing that Irisu had been using him all along, flips out on her. Which is a major change from his energy conserving ways.
A villainous one for Irisu as well. As cruel as her plan was, it still genuinely worked.
Irisu's chat room companion, Houtarou's sister?, earns a mention after she completely sees through Irisu's methods and actually puts the cold empress on the defense.
Episode 14, just a tiny detail— but just imagine how much energy it took Houtarou to call out to Satoshi. Not to mention he felt almost uncomfortable doing so while knowing he'd probably catch everyone on that field's attention. The Brilliant, but Lazy protagonist seems to be getting a little less lazy and a bit more awesome, as long as it's for the people he cares about. True to his character, he also, again, complains at how tiring it was.
And, of course, Ibara's last-minute performance during the Cooking Duel.
One for Chitanda in that episode, too. It may be partly her fault that Mayaka was put on the ropes, but just look at the amount of food she managed to cook in twenty minutes. Satoshi even compliments her apparent cooking skills.
Episode 17, Tanabe Jirou's method of sending messages. Just, wow.
And then Oreki not only being able to crack the code, but blackmailing him in the process... It may be conniving, but it's no less awesome.
Episode 21. Houtarou gets so angry with Satoshi, he actually starts manhandling him and tells him in no uncertain terms that if he doesn't like Satoshi's explanation for hurting Ibara, he's going to kick his ass.
