"Return from L1!
Is not the same in energy terms as return from LEO."

True.

"You need either an energetic transfer equivalent to LEO-Geostationary, or a damn big heat shield."

I would suspect that the lowest needed delta-v from GEO for de-orbiting would be using the Moon for a gravity assist though this would a take longer amount of time. In any case I think it would require more energy to transfer from GEO than from L-1 to an orbit that intersect Earth's atmosphere.

"Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall...
Humpty Dumpty's Heat Shield got F*#%ing hot!!!"

The modern Soyuz spacecraft is an offspring of the vehicle designed by the Russians to go to the Moon. It's possible that the current heat sheild has been redesigned in order to shed weight (I don't know). But it doesn't really matter since the energy that needs to be shed from LEO to Earth surface is around 2 times higher than energy from L-1 transfer to LEO. You can call this "bouncing" from the Earth atmosphere or an aggressive aero-capture (like what two the two current Mars orbitors did/doing). Using two passes I think it "might be possible" to have less heat load than a re-enter from LEO- if first braking transforms the orbit into a sub-orbital trajectory.

Maybe, Gary would like to give his expert opinion- I don't claim to know very much about this.

"Next year, watch a Leonid vs a Perseid... "

I missed it this year, but saw it the year before. Of course, these objects are traveling at a much higher velocity (+30 km/sec).