I’d even go further in the surprise aspect because people kind of expected B/K and S/H to be battling for gold, and they were, but M/G did basically a clean season competing the most demanding set of programs of the current era. They were more likely than not going to surprise people anyway.This is true. But Galliamov mentioned in one of the interviews (when asked) that they're upping their content nevertheless. His example was that they improved their death spiral this season and brought it up to a consistent level 4.
It goes along with what Chris said on the B Esp commentary, that M/G were "just ticking the boxes, picking up points all over the place." They've refined and polished their elements until it's the quality of everything they do (plus their base value higher than anyone else's) that made them unbeatable this time. I think this added to the surprise that everyone felt over their win. They sneaked up, passed their competitors rather calmly and rounded the corner before people realized it!
Also, today they really skated like World Champions. I hope they keep this streak.