I think you're being a little hard on Irving. Something tells me he knows more than he's letting on and that's the real reason he's letting Abby and Crane work together. I got that vibe when he told them to keep things hush( after the Doctor jumped) because he didn't want things to turn into "The Twilight Zone."

" So many things happened in this hour that if we did see Stefan giving Elena back the cure, would most people have really remembered it during that fight?"

Beautiful is the word. I was in tears. Unreal finale. What about the montage of characters at the end with Andy closing it out?

Disagree with your view on Tiberius. Even in his initial battle (when he was told to just observe) he more than held his own. Here he speared Crixus from behind and slashed Agron from the side while passing.

Banshee is awesome, but it is NOT better (IMO) than Strike Back.