Well, a lot of first arcs that don't deal with the origin can be like that, I guess. If this were a regular book instead of a back-up, it woud've been done in two issues with pages to spare, maybe something to ground the characters a little more. This one did burn a lot of page-time on action (which is funny, 'cos i usually end up cutting those kind of scenes when I share a comic).
It isn't exactly personal, sure, but the only thing Renee's been connected to since she has become a cape is the Dark Faith, and with Kate still dealing with them, that might risk reader fatigue (or even further reader fatigue in some cases). This arc seems to me like it's kind of moving Renee back to her investigatory roots, only on a broader scale. Whether that actually takes, we'll have to stay tuned to see.