Yea, I agree that the flying was a bit... much. But it was a nice tie-in to Last Airbender. When Aang was trying to unlock his chakras, he never managed to unlock the final chakra - he couldn't let go of what ties to him the material world, namely Katara. Zaheer achieved it.
It was totally expected. They give a name to a random captain all of the sudden in the last episode of the season, as dark foreshadowing tune plays.