Agreed, The Distractor was definitely upgraded this year, very happy with it. It also made a nice diversion from all the other holes this year being strictly crossing obstacles.
I think I've found a few reasons why this season doesn't feel quite as special as the last:
1. There's less character in most of the holes. Last year we had the pirate, the judges and even some guest hosts. This year we do have the knight, but his character is basically just riding the horse and not talking, so it's not quite the same.
2. Several of this year's holes don't allow for too many hard falls. Things like Parcade, King Parthur's Court, Donut Hole and Holey Matrimony all have their moments, but most people just kind of fall straight into the water/blocks. I like them all and King Parthur and Holey Moley both provided exceptions to the rule last night, but there are just more misses than hits on them.
3. The weeks off. I assume y'all know, but we have three weeks until the next episode :( This season also had the break last week and started a couple of weeks later (plus episode 3 was delayed where I live because they did a special on the building that collapsed), so it's been a lot less stable than last year. At least it'll go well into the Fall this year anyway!
While we wait, any speculations on what Holeywood will entail? Trap-Tee-Ze looks good as well, but I hope they're not just saving it for the final. I still feel they made a mistake holding a regular hole (Clowning Around) to only be featured in the finale last year. They should save Big Foot Wedge as the ultimate round and use the others in the main season!