That subplot also let us know that the games have been happening for 30+ years, and introduced the VIPs, but none of that went anywhere and could have been handled with a quick mention.

I read in an article somewhere that the policeman subplot wasn't in the writer's original draft from 2009, so maybe they added it to make the season longer. Which gets back to my point of episode 6 having been better positioned as the penultimate episode before a finale in episode 7.