I'm with Mulley on this one. It also helps that I think Richard is possibly the coolest character in the series. Finally, it would be a sham to not have him have his backstory told, and it makes sense that it would take 90% of one episode as otherwise it would take 20-25% of four episodes, which would probably be far more worthy of being labeled 'dragging things out'. Richard has had pittance when it comes to airtime in comparison to far more boring characters such as (urgh) Jack.