It's a small thing, but in the American film, when Mikael barges in on Salander's apartment and demands to know how she hacked his computer, Mimmi asks if Lizbeth would like her to stay, the implication being that she would protect Lizbeth if Mikael tried to hurt her.
The dedication of Mikael's book exposing Wennerström reads: "To Sally, who showed me the benefits of the sport of golf."
We don't see it in the book, though we do in both film adaptations: the reunion between Harriet and Henrik.
Lisbeth telling Mikael that she likes working with him and him responding in kind. Aside from the major breakthrough that such a declaration must be for her, it's sweet to see the genuine mutual respect and admiration each have developed for each other.
A moment cut out of the movies: Blomkvist tells Berger that Salander is the person who saved him from being killed. Erika glomps Lisbeth.
The Girl Who Played with Fire:
When Mikael writes a message to Lisbeth promising that they can solve the case together, she writes back "Thank you for being my friend." Also doubles as a Tearjerker, considering that she's about to head out to what would have been a fatal confrontation with Zala and Niederman, and thus this was her way of saying goodbye.
Lisbeth may have Jerkass moments, but she treats her various boyfriends and girlfriends well.
She runs into a hurricane to save her lover George Bland, and saves an abused woman from her Abusive Husband Dr. Forbes.
Miriam Wu, aka "Mimmi" serves as her Morality Pet, given how Lisbeth apologies to her for vanishing for a year. No wonder Lisbeth goes into "Terminator Mode" when Mimmi gets attacked.
The Swedish film adaptation adds a scene towards the end where Salander visits Mimmy in the hospital to apologize after her encounter with Niederman.
Lisbeth's relationship with her previous guardian, Holger Palmgren, who is one of the few she truly trusts.
When she finds out he is alive she starts visiting him regularly and sets him up with a physical therapist.
Before his stroke, Palmgren had learned the story of how Salander got committed and was planning to challenge her incompetence status. He considers it My Greatest Failure and does what he can to help.
Lisbeth inherits a rather small amount of money after her mother passes away—a mother who was crippled by brain aneurysms and often could not recognize Lisbeth at all, nor tell her from her sister Camilla. She donates it to a trauma center for women: "She wanted to spend the money on something that would have made her mother happy."
When Officers Bublanski and Modig read Björk's report, they are as shocked as Blomkvist was and understand why Lisbeth tried to kill her father. Bublanski adopts a Papa Wolf attitude, and Modig acts like any person would've done the same in her place.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest:
Mikael plans to talk to Dag's family about his book, to ask what they want to do after it's published. Becomes Harsher in Hindsight with how Stieg Larsson's family handled the Millennium Trilogy.
The doctors and nurses treating Lisbeth like a person during her stay at Sahlgrenska Hospital. Considering how doctors like Teleborian have treated her before, it's quite touching and Lisbeth recognizes it.
Dr. Anders Jonasson, the surgeon who saved Lisbeth's life, tries to get her to open up by asking about her dragon tattoo but not pressing her for details. He doesn't allow her many visitors but also takes the amount of stress on her system into account, allowing her to see her lawyer for an hour each day until she's out of danger. Stieg Larsson based Jonasson off a real surgeon who was his friend.
After Teleborian makes a surprise visit, planning to bypass the "red tape" that surrounds Lisbeth's (mostly) solitary confinement, Jonasson not only refuses to let him see Lisbeth without proper clearance but confirms with the hospital psychologist that Lisbeth doesn't fit Teleborian's profile of a "manipulative sociopath." Lisbeth has even asked for scientific journals on genetics and thanked the psychologist for obtaining them.
Blomkvist later meeting Jonasson presents a different picture of Lisbeth, as a victim of a government coverup who needs to fight back. Jonasson is convinced that Blomkvist is Salander's friend and assists by delivering her laptop to her. Their meeting over coffee, in contrast to Teleborian's surprise visit, is such a sweet contrast.
Bubblanski joins the Knights after Sonja Modig threatens to leak Björk's report to the media after Prosecutor Ekström puts Faste in charge of the Salander investigation. It's partly his Papa Wolf attitude towards Lisbeth, whom he feels the government has wronged, and towards Officer Modig, who could lose her career and credibility, that spurs him to action.
Blomkvist smuggles a tablet to Salander so that she can connect to the Internet, where she is warmly reunited with the Hacker Republic. After hearing about how she got shot, one of the hackers cheerfully tells her to keep the hole in her head warm.
Although Lisbeth doesn't like Erika Berger for having a relationship with "Kalle Fucking Blomkvist," she helps Berger identify a stalker at SMP Peter Fredericksen and invokes a Trust Password to get into the SMP system.
Erika's bodyguard Linda takes down her stalker and retrieves all the private photos and documents that he stole. Erika and her husband not only demands that they get billed for Linda's hours, but they plan to buy her an expensive Christmas present.
Gianinni's takedown of Teleborian also has several sweet and awesome moments:
Allowing and probably mandating that Lisbeth dress as an exaggerated version of her "rebellious teen" style, invoking Be Yourself and showing she has nothing to hide.
Gianinni reveals that Lisbeth was tortured as a child under Teleborian's care, but the nurses and staff not only filed complaints after Lisbeth was strapped to a bed for more than a year, but also sneaked her food at night so she wouldn't starve. This disproves Teleborian's suggestion that Lisbeth has anorexia, and shows that she wasn't completely alone while at St. Stephan's.
Holger Palmgren as a Surprise Witness makes note of the fact that he talked to Teleborian's medical superior after a year of said brutal treatment, and they agreed that Lisbeth would do better with a foster family than with psychiatric care.
Said superior, while sad that Lisbeth refused to talk to any more "crazy doctors" as she puts it, respected her decision and made note that she was calmer without psychotropic drugs and restraints.
Palmgren serving as legal counsel for Lisbeth, despite not fully recovered from his stroke, also a Moment of Awesome. He was a good man, we see why Lisbeth trusts him.
Lisbeth finally getting her happy ending and having her declaration of incompetence rescinded.
When Mikael and Lisbeth reconnect.
Armansky, Blomkvist and Erika celebrating at the end.
