I do believe that people might be dissatisfied with this because the majority of this episode is relatively calm. Although I can understand that to a certain degree, I think this episode further demonstrates the loss of faith and humanity that is sinking into the minds of the people in this world.
I do like what the show is doing when it's not focusing on the games. It tackles an ethical issue and I like how it showcases that through the various characters we get to meet throughout the series. I don't think it's unnecessary when we're shown backstories of certain characters because it just shows you how they coped with the new reality there faced with and how've they managed to deal with it.
Obviously this isn't a great episode. I wouldn't argue if anyone said this was better or worse than what I've given it. This was an episode where you just needed to take the idea it gave you because it will carry over to the next episode where it might expand on that.