Not really a new thing - Ghost did the same until Benkei appeared (then there was a little break until Boost), and I'm pretty sure Gaim and Drive did too.
It's kinda more noticeable though, since it's a multiple Rider show where each Rider gets a power up.

Drago Knight Hunter Z will almost definitely debut in episode 9 - it's titled "Dragon assault!". After that I'm guessing there'll be a break until Double Action, just like Ghost. Meanwhile, maybe each Rider using Drago Knight will be spread out over a few episodes.

Okay, so the level 3 suits are still just as awful as the level 1s and 2s. Everything else about this episode was great. Both the goofy level 1 fight and the more serious Brave vs. Graphite fights were really well done and the backstory for Hiiro was engaging and interesting. I'm continuing to be completely won over by this series.

Sometimes I don't get why level 1 can still fight the bugster. They take lots of time still to henshin. So are Hiiro and Graphite meant to fight each other forever or is it Taiga and Graphite.

Actually, Level 1 forms are physically stronger than 2 according to official stats

Overall, I enjoyed this episode greatly, although a couple of things rubbed me the wrong way:

- WOW, this show spends a lot of time on the stock transformation sequences. We got Gekitotsu Robots twice in one episode.
- I was disappointed that Brave managed a Game Clear on DoReMiFa Beat without actually succeeding at a rhythm game. That felt like a missed opportunity.

Still, I felt it was a relatively strong episode, even if I'm getting hungry for an episode that doesn't introduce a Rider or a power-up.