You certainly need more context to understand these episodes... the flashbacks work in time, and when it's all over you've grasped it, but it also feels so much more fragmented than 'the original'. Not as easy to understand. Not as obvious with the lack of words, either, whereas the first arc had that part down perfectly.
I do love the atmosphere though, the moments, the characters... intriguing to see where this leads, and I guess I'd best watch it from the first episode onward rather than jumping in mid-series...
-cd-