I watched the episode today and it was wonderful. Definitely the best one of the season. I actually really liked Irwin, which I think was mostly because of Peter Linz's performance, but I wouldn't mind him making a return in the near future. The issue they tackled with Elmo being jealous of Irwin's costume was definitely a relatable one, especially now that we live in the age where so many expensive costumes are everywhere on the internet and cosplay is a thing, so people feel more and more the need to make all of their costumes seem as professional and polished as possible. I'm glad the street story was longer in this episode, it allowed for more fun moments with the characters and the plot didn't feel rushed. Oh, and another thing I liked was Elmo. Elmo has actually been a pretty interesting character lately, between this one and the Christmas special. Sadly, I can't say the same for Abby though. Ten years since her debut and the writers still don't know what to do with her. Besides being a fairy, I honestly can't think of any personality traits that she has that the other characters don't have.
As Oscarfan said, the whole episode flowed very nicely without the Elmo segment taking up half the show and so it's kind of a shame that SW feels the need to bring back Elmo's World.
And has anyone else noticed that a lot of the characters voices have gotten deeper? With Caroll getting older, Big Bird's voice has gotten lower, Zoe's has too because of the performer change, and even Baby Bear's voice sounded noticeably deeper in this one.