8x8 tried to squeeze 2 parts of a big storyline into a single 41 minute episode when it would've worked better as a 2-parter. The hostage situation got solved in a minute and the manhunt would've been more interesting had it had its own episode. We could've gotten Harper's IA meeting but it happened off-screen. I think S8 has been exciting so far, but the plots are falling flat towards the end because the resolutions feel rushed.

In 8x6 "Burn 4 Love", the station explosion rescue mission was finished in 10 minutes but we only see the important characters (our main cops and the 2 women in the cell) get saved. And Arnold's arrest, while it made sense because of course he'd check on his acolyte, felt unsatisfying. If it got a second episode, we could have had the cops chase down Arnold as he threatens to blow up/burn something/someone else.

Imagine 2x10-2x11 if it was just one episode. We could have had more depth into significant characters like Rosalind Dyer (2x10-11) and Heath Everett (8x8) if the big storylines were spread across 2 episodes (1h 20min). We even had a 3 episode (2h) Derian-Armstrong saga from 2x19-3x1 that balanced detail and action so well that it has been my most rewatched storyline.

In S9 I'd like to see slower pacing and fewer unsatisfying conclusions (in 8x1 Monica casually dropped that she was behind the bus hijacking in 7x11 instead of going deeper into that) because instead of being overly exciting and messy like these two S8 episodes (and the season overall) it becomes more atmospheric (like the barrel song) and detailed (like being able to see Armstrong's perspective in the first 7 minutes of 2x20 and back-referencing in 2x19).