I'd like to point out "skip" as a topic might be able to explains the whole bad-cutting thing. The "skip" itself meant that the episode would focus on some individual problems and relationships, with which the writes were trying to evolve the relationship angle of the whole show--quite challenging.
Always have been a Reese fan. "4C" was one of my favorite episodes in S3. The Iris storyline is a pretty rough, for a numerous amount of things are unaccounted for and there were even contradicted facts about this psychiatrist. Things like her cop family doesn't really add up to her passion over such an eccentric cop. An implant might be a good explanation, but I don't see it as that. The sensation the arc delivered to me is nothing "suspicious". Also, I think the writers again realized that Reese is supposed to be the POI of all after all.
