Search result - clicking episodes don't play!

Can you explain a little more? What kind of search are you trying to do? If I search on the iPhone for "The Gist", for example, it gives me "Top Hits: Slate's The Gist." I select that. It opens the Podcasts app and displays the unplayed episodes of the Gist. I press one and it starts to play. That's pretty much what I'd expect it to do.

I search on the iPhone for "Serial" (a podcast I've never downloaded). It gives me several episodes from podcasts I do listen to that talked about Serial; note those episodes aren't actually on my phone. I select one, and the Podcasts app opens to that podcast, with the relevant episode. Again, I press it, it starts to play, with a bit of lag (I'd expect some, seeing as how it needs to access the internet and get the episode). If I want to see the real Serial podcast, searching on my iPhone won't give that to me; I need to go to the Podcasts app.

Or maybe you mean searching within the Podcasts app, using the "Search" pane? If I search for "Mr. Robot", it gives me a long list of Mr. Robot-related podcast episodes. If I select the "main bar", then it takes me to that podcast, not that episode, and yes, scrolling through the list would be a hassle (I believe it was the same behaviour on the previous iteration). But I can also press the little cloud/download icon, and the episode is downloaded. After that it'll be on your phone and relatively easy to find.