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nebroadweWell, that was appropriately epic.
Say what you will about anything else in this series, two things stand out: the gorgeous background paintings and the fantastic action choreography. I thought for sure that Air Temple Island was going to fall under the Equalists' initial assault, but whoa, Nelly! The White Lotus manage to slow the first wave down, Lin Beifong rocks the world, and the last Airbenders live up to their grandfather's legacy in style. (Or down to it, in Meelo's case -- I'm surprised it's taken the production team this long to invent fartbending, honestly.) Lin's later heroic sacrifice was a fantastic callback to ATLA's season 3 finale (which I think I must rewatch this week) and her capture and "equalization" were very hard to take. The production team is either extremely brave to permanently depower one of the most compelling figures of season one ... or Amon's little trick isn't permanent. Hmmm. I can honestly see this one going either way. A "Lin comes to terms with her disability" storyline in season two could make for some fantastic television, done right, but from the first I've been betting that Amon is not using the same technique to debend people as Aang. And I'm still waiting to discover what Amon's deal is -- his resistance to Tarrlok's bloodbending is as much a poser as his other talents ...
On the shipping front, I admit that I'm finding Asami's reaction to Mako and Korra having kissed (once! one time!) a bit off-key. I have to keep reminding myself that a) this show is directed at 12- to 15-year-olds (kiss == one-night-stand, effectively) and b) there's been no filler to deepen character relationships (kiss == an entire, otherwise largely subtextual potential romance). Also, over the past three episodes Asami lost her father, her home, and her position in society; now that society itself is collapsing under Amon's assault. The "threat" to her romance, the last pillar of personal stability in her world, is going to hit a lot harder right now than it might otherwise do. That I have to remind myself of these things, though, strikes me as a mild failure of art. I stand by my earlier opinion that the writing team seems unused to pacing a twelve-episode series; this season recalls the way season 4 of Babylon Five collapsed two years' worth of story into one. The plot hung together, but the character arcs were all foreshortened and there was a lot of relational telegraphy going on.
On the other hand, Mako's behavior this week and last, which seems to have received a fair amount of criticism from the fandom, I find much easier to justify. He's got (to paraphrase Hermione Granger) a taking-care-of-people thing due to his early Promotion to Parent with Bolin. So of course his latent attraction to Korra gets a boost when he thinks she's in danger or sees her injured. One notes that this coincides with Asami revealing that she's capable of taking care of herself, previous nestlings against Mako's manly chest notwithstanding. (Which I don't fault her for: strong person indulging a dependence fantasy? Totally realistic.) If I wereKing of the Forest Bryke, I'd be making this a character development point: neither of Mako's potential romantic partners needs him as a protector, so if he's going to have a future with either of them, he'll have to find a way to deal with them in love as equals, not dependents. (Bolin, by contrast, doesn't have the maturity to pull off a relationship with Korra, but he's got the right attitude: "She's strong; I'm strong! She's fun; I'm fun! She's beautiful -- I'M GORGEOUS!")
Oh, and that fangirlish squeal of delight you heard when General Iroh spoke from the bridge of his ship? Totally me. I'd forgotten that Dante Basco had mentioned he had a role in the series -- and, frankly, if I'd been going to guess, I'd've thought it might be as Zuko in a flashback. This is both unexpected and GREAT.
Next week, the finale ... [pads chair against tenterhooks]
Say what you will about anything else in this series, two things stand out: the gorgeous background paintings and the fantastic action choreography. I thought for sure that Air Temple Island was going to fall under the Equalists' initial assault, but whoa, Nelly! The White Lotus manage to slow the first wave down, Lin Beifong rocks the world, and the last Airbenders live up to their grandfather's legacy in style. (Or down to it, in Meelo's case -- I'm surprised it's taken the production team this long to invent fartbending, honestly.) Lin's later heroic sacrifice was a fantastic callback to ATLA's season 3 finale (which I think I must rewatch this week) and her capture and "equalization" were very hard to take. The production team is either extremely brave to permanently depower one of the most compelling figures of season one ... or Amon's little trick isn't permanent. Hmmm. I can honestly see this one going either way. A "Lin comes to terms with her disability" storyline in season two could make for some fantastic television, done right, but from the first I've been betting that Amon is not using the same technique to debend people as Aang. And I'm still waiting to discover what Amon's deal is -- his resistance to Tarrlok's bloodbending is as much a poser as his other talents ...
On the shipping front, I admit that I'm finding Asami's reaction to Mako and Korra having kissed (once! one time!) a bit off-key. I have to keep reminding myself that a) this show is directed at 12- to 15-year-olds (kiss == one-night-stand, effectively) and b) there's been no filler to deepen character relationships (kiss == an entire, otherwise largely subtextual potential romance). Also, over the past three episodes Asami lost her father, her home, and her position in society; now that society itself is collapsing under Amon's assault. The "threat" to her romance, the last pillar of personal stability in her world, is going to hit a lot harder right now than it might otherwise do. That I have to remind myself of these things, though, strikes me as a mild failure of art. I stand by my earlier opinion that the writing team seems unused to pacing a twelve-episode series; this season recalls the way season 4 of Babylon Five collapsed two years' worth of story into one. The plot hung together, but the character arcs were all foreshortened and there was a lot of relational telegraphy going on.
On the other hand, Mako's behavior this week and last, which seems to have received a fair amount of criticism from the fandom, I find much easier to justify. He's got (to paraphrase Hermione Granger) a taking-care-of-people thing due to his early Promotion to Parent with Bolin. So of course his latent attraction to Korra gets a boost when he thinks she's in danger or sees her injured. One notes that this coincides with Asami revealing that she's capable of taking care of herself, previous nestlings against Mako's manly chest notwithstanding. (Which I don't fault her for: strong person indulging a dependence fantasy? Totally realistic.) If I were
Oh, and that fangirlish squeal of delight you heard when General Iroh spoke from the bridge of his ship? Totally me. I'd forgotten that Dante Basco had mentioned he had a role in the series -- and, frankly, if I'd been going to guess, I'd've thought it might be as Zuko in a flashback. This is both unexpected and GREAT.
Next week, the finale ... [pads chair against tenterhooks]