1) I think I would have liked the Hippolyta episode more if I hadn't loved the book version so much. They're very different, partly in Tic's involvement (he does not appear in the book version at all; in fact, no other main characters even ever know about her extra-terrestrial adventures) and partly in everything that happens with and inside the portal. Hippolyta isn't small in the book to start off, see. She finds the portal and chooses to step through and have adventures. She doesn't need rescuing, and she doesn't need building up to save herself. She's always got that agency and adventurous spirit. And making the woman she meets on the other side of the portal inhuman and not part of the main plot is an odd choice.

2) Tom Ellis is awesome! He's such a weasel as Michael. But no spoilers!