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nebroadweOkay, here we go: live-commenting the two-part Legend of Korra season finale as downloaded from iTunes! (Okay, and subsequently editing the comments to actually say something coherent, rather than just Wow! Eek! Nnngh!)
"Skeletons in the Closet" -- that's not an ominous title or anything.
Does anybody else feel sorry for The Lieutenant because he never gets a name? And why is Hiroshi Sato making the speech? What's Amon up to?
Hey, did the taller of those two figures just bend that rock? [rewinds] Nope, just a perspective thing; the following scene shows Korra at Mako's right hand. Phew.
Korra: NOT PATIENT YET.
Hurray for the return of Sparkly Sparkly Bush Man! The lack of interest in the revolution by the truly dispossessed is a nice touch; Amon's followers have all been middle and upper class, by their dress and character. I'm reminded of the remarks of the title character about the French Revolution in Scaramouche (the novel, not the film, though both are worth investigating). The "wise and noble hobo" who notes that the dispossessed know how to live together in harmony strikes a problematic note for me -- then again, he's a comic character and the "wise and noble" thing comes from Bolin (who immediately follows it up with a compliment on the quality of the street gruel, heh), so perhaps we're not meant to take it all that seriously.
Oh, good grief, Mako -- I get that you're finally coming to terms with your feelings and all, but this is hardly the moment for romance, even under wartime now-or-never conditions. Thank goodness Korra puts the kibosh on it. And snuggles up with Naga instead. Aw.
So that's why Hiroshi was speaking: he's managing the political consolidation while Amon takes out the benders. Which I suppose is a reasonable division of labor, but won't it eventually tire Amon out? That's a long line, there.
Aaaand here comes the cavalry ... who are smart enough to realize that it's quiet. Too quiet. Oh, boy, this can't be good [gnaws nails]. Eeek! Mines and ... biplanes?! (I guess someone took pity on Joaquim dos Santos, who reportedly never wanted to draw another pointy-tipped airship ever again after the ATLA finale. Wonder how he feels about biplanes now?) My, the enthusiasm of the animators for the action stuff just leaps off the screen at you, doesn't it? Great lampshade from Bolin: "Where does Hiroshi find the time to keep inventing evil machines?" The guy is a worthy adversary -- he even leads the attack again. My money is on him surviving and escaping to bedevil our heroes in a future season, possibly because Asami can't quite bear to finish him off. Boy, this sequence has a massive Pearl Harbor vibe going and the futility of Korra's intervention recalls Aang's attack on the Fire Nation fleet in ATLA's season one climax ("I'm just one kid!"). But hey, she saves Iroh! Phew.
Okay, that's one well-organized set of hoboes; they've even got a tap into the telegraph system. And hey, Bumi is a commander in the United Forces! (I wonder whether we'll find out what Kya is up to; probably heading up some kind of waterbending school or medical facility, to judge by the public-spirited careers of her siblings.)
And now, the plan, which recalls ATLA's season three climax in the way it splits up our heroes into Team Alpha and Team Beta to deal with a two-headed problem. I like the way it's the two women who have nemeses here and the men are back-up. Mako's with Korra, of course. At least we resolve the Asami/Mako hypotenuse with a little honesty and maturity. I guess we're growing up, though, honestly, I'm not enjoying the shipping as much as I usually do. Sigh. Maybe it will improve on repeat viewing. (Having rewatched "The Spirit of Competition" yesterday, I find it still makes me giggle.)
Okay, so let's get into the temple Amon has just left and wait there to ambush him when he returns! Except ... what if he doesn't return, guys? Perhaps you haven't thought this through?
Whoa, Tarrlok? What's he doing here? "I'm Amon's brother": HOLY [CENSORED], I didn't see that coming! Though by golly it makes immediate sense out of the way Amon shook off Tarrlok's bloodbending. And why Aang kept trying to tell Korra the story of his encounter with Yakone: he wasn't warning her about the B-plot, but the entire plot. Nice. Here's the brotherhood theme again (set against Mako and Bolin's story) and the fatherhood theme (set against Asami's story). The idea that the vices are virtues gone sour is one that I set great store by, so it's nice to see that Amon's passion for "equality" is Noatak's desire for "fairness" twisted out of true. "I had no stomach for manipulating helpless animals" -- but manipulating people, Tarrlok? I guess your training came back to haunt you anyway. So Yakone managed to raise both his sons to conquer Republic City, but not in the way he imagined. And, dude, you should have known it was a bad idea to give your kids a weapon they could turn on you, but guys like you never imagine that your authority has a limit, do you? Good thing you're in a kids' show or your son would have killed you.
All this plot exposition is kind of slowing down the narrative. But hey, I just realized that we have one less loved-one-dead-of-firebender in this show! Amon must have borrowed the idea from Hiroshi. Phew. Parallels I like; triplets are much trickier to manage.
Okay, back to the action. Except for Naga and Pabu: "Stay." (Yeah, right, like that's going to work.)
Fenceposts, but no fence? You really think that Hiroshi Sato is going to have unfinished defenses around his airfield? Sigh. Team Beta picks up the Idiot Ball to make an own goal.
Not that Team Alpha's plan is much better: tell everyone the truth! As if the audience has any reason to believe Korra, the embodiment of everything they've just fought a revolution against. No wonder Amon is willing to let her speak. On the other hand, her tale evidently pokes The Lieutenant somehow; maybe, having fought her so many times, he knows she's too straightforward to come up with such an elaborate lie? And under the mask -- makeup or actual scars? I wouldn't put it past Amon to have really gotten zapped by a firebender at some point and be putting the consequences to use, canny villain that he is. Hmm. (Again I'm reminded this is a kid's show -- prime-time t.v. would be showing much worse facial damage.)
Come on, Bryke! Offstage capture of Tenzin and family without even a hint of continued airship pursuit or something in a previous episode is JUST NOT FAIR. I'm not shocked; I'm annoyed.
Naga to the rescue! (Called it.) Asami takes a mecha-tank -- and of course she's driven a forklift. She's just that awesome. General Iroh is pretty awesome, too, but of course he's never flown a biplane. He picks up the basics pretty quick, though.
"I told you I would destroy you." Now that's what I call an act break!
Not only can Iroh fly a plane -- he can fly himself with firebending! That's so awesome I don't care if it violates any laws of physics. Another nice combat sequence. Way to knock the mask off Aang's statue, too. General Iroh, total BAMF. :-)
Polar-bear dog beats tanks, of course.
Here's Asami vs. her father in the mecha-tanks: she's got the moral advantage, but he's got more experience and therefore the upper hand. Until the cavalry comes over the hill with its Sokka-esque battlecry: "Mr. Sato, you are a horrible father!" Bolin, polite even under combat conditions. I can't wait to see what kind of character development he gets in book two. Asami does capture her father, but I still don't think jail is going to hold him. Somebody will bust him out. Or he'll get a really good lawyer ...
Even the Avatar isn't immune to Amon's schtick? This is really, really bad. [gnaws nails] Here's the payoff to The Lieutenant's moment of doubt earlier: he really does believe in the cause and is not happy to discover that he's been had. Beware the Well-Intentioned Extremist. "You served me well, Lieutenant" -- man, he doesn't even get a name in his epitaph. Brr.
Big Damn Hero moment for Mako! Yes! (Hey, I like the guy, really; it's just the way the narrative dealt with his love triangle that irked me.) But the bad guy always comes back. Uh, oh. [gnaws nails again] BUT KORRA CAN AIRBEND! YES! Amon must not be shutting people's ability to bend down at the source. I still want to know how he's doing it. Eep, he's not finished yet, but Korra is just good enough to knock him out the window. Ha! Evidently Hiroshi Sato hasn't gotten around to inventing waterproof make-up -- and Amon's survival instincts betray him into a public reveal as a waterbender! Well, that should be enough to convince most of his followers that he's a fraud (in a kids' show, anyway. Though if we don't still have some kind of nonbender rights movement in season two, I'll be very disappointed.). Oops, no body ... and Amon/Noatak escapes with Tarrlok. Well, maybe they'll be back to bedevil us later as well ...
"At least you unlocked your airbending? Okay, I'll just stand over here. Quietly. In silence." Oh, Bolin. I want to take you home and feed you noodles -- possibly to keep you out of the trouble Uncle Bumi is going to cause. Looking forward to seeing more of him ... except we don't. Drat.
Tarrlok kills himself and his brother? Wow. That's -- that's quite dark for a kids' show. I never saw that coming. Eep. And Katara can't restore Korra's bending? Wow, this is turning into quite the downer ending; our heroine even picks her polar-bear dog over her potential boyfriend, so we don't get a hope spot on the romance front, either. Are we going to have to be patient all the way into book two? At this point I'm honestly nervous enough about whether we're going to be leaving things here that I check to see how much time is left in the episode. Four minutes, phew. Something has to turn up ...
... and it does. Aang! But the resolution does seem a bit truncated again. I mean, I like the thematic points that the dark night of the soul is itself an opportunity for spiritual growth and that you have to get yourself out of the way of your higher power for she/he/it to be able to help you. The scene itself just feels a bit rushed for the importance it has. But yay for the restoration of Lin's bending and a happy romantic ending and everything! (I just still want to know what Amon/Noatak was doing to zap people's bending. If it were a physical process, there's a chance other waterbenders might be able to replicate it; if a spiritual one, not so much, but that leaves the question of what kind of inspirations he received during his own low point ... possibly that trek into the storm? Hmm. Room for 'fic on either count, here ...)
Well, that was great fun! Now I can marathon the whole thing in reruns while I wait for Nickelodeon to schedule season two (and pick up a season three? Please? Please? Not to mention RELEASE A SOUNDTRACK, DAGNABIT!).
"Skeletons in the Closet" -- that's not an ominous title or anything.
Does anybody else feel sorry for The Lieutenant because he never gets a name? And why is Hiroshi Sato making the speech? What's Amon up to?
Hey, did the taller of those two figures just bend that rock? [rewinds] Nope, just a perspective thing; the following scene shows Korra at Mako's right hand. Phew.
Korra: NOT PATIENT YET.
Hurray for the return of Sparkly Sparkly Bush Man! The lack of interest in the revolution by the truly dispossessed is a nice touch; Amon's followers have all been middle and upper class, by their dress and character. I'm reminded of the remarks of the title character about the French Revolution in Scaramouche (the novel, not the film, though both are worth investigating). The "wise and noble hobo" who notes that the dispossessed know how to live together in harmony strikes a problematic note for me -- then again, he's a comic character and the "wise and noble" thing comes from Bolin (who immediately follows it up with a compliment on the quality of the street gruel, heh), so perhaps we're not meant to take it all that seriously.
Oh, good grief, Mako -- I get that you're finally coming to terms with your feelings and all, but this is hardly the moment for romance, even under wartime now-or-never conditions. Thank goodness Korra puts the kibosh on it. And snuggles up with Naga instead. Aw.
So that's why Hiroshi was speaking: he's managing the political consolidation while Amon takes out the benders. Which I suppose is a reasonable division of labor, but won't it eventually tire Amon out? That's a long line, there.
Aaaand here comes the cavalry ... who are smart enough to realize that it's quiet. Too quiet. Oh, boy, this can't be good [gnaws nails]. Eeek! Mines and ... biplanes?! (I guess someone took pity on Joaquim dos Santos, who reportedly never wanted to draw another pointy-tipped airship ever again after the ATLA finale. Wonder how he feels about biplanes now?) My, the enthusiasm of the animators for the action stuff just leaps off the screen at you, doesn't it? Great lampshade from Bolin: "Where does Hiroshi find the time to keep inventing evil machines?" The guy is a worthy adversary -- he even leads the attack again. My money is on him surviving and escaping to bedevil our heroes in a future season, possibly because Asami can't quite bear to finish him off. Boy, this sequence has a massive Pearl Harbor vibe going and the futility of Korra's intervention recalls Aang's attack on the Fire Nation fleet in ATLA's season one climax ("I'm just one kid!"). But hey, she saves Iroh! Phew.
Okay, that's one well-organized set of hoboes; they've even got a tap into the telegraph system. And hey, Bumi is a commander in the United Forces! (I wonder whether we'll find out what Kya is up to; probably heading up some kind of waterbending school or medical facility, to judge by the public-spirited careers of her siblings.)
And now, the plan, which recalls ATLA's season three climax in the way it splits up our heroes into Team Alpha and Team Beta to deal with a two-headed problem. I like the way it's the two women who have nemeses here and the men are back-up. Mako's with Korra, of course. At least we resolve the Asami/Mako hypotenuse with a little honesty and maturity. I guess we're growing up, though, honestly, I'm not enjoying the shipping as much as I usually do. Sigh. Maybe it will improve on repeat viewing. (Having rewatched "The Spirit of Competition" yesterday, I find it still makes me giggle.)
Okay, so let's get into the temple Amon has just left and wait there to ambush him when he returns! Except ... what if he doesn't return, guys? Perhaps you haven't thought this through?
Whoa, Tarrlok? What's he doing here? "I'm Amon's brother": HOLY [CENSORED], I didn't see that coming! Though by golly it makes immediate sense out of the way Amon shook off Tarrlok's bloodbending. And why Aang kept trying to tell Korra the story of his encounter with Yakone: he wasn't warning her about the B-plot, but the entire plot. Nice. Here's the brotherhood theme again (set against Mako and Bolin's story) and the fatherhood theme (set against Asami's story). The idea that the vices are virtues gone sour is one that I set great store by, so it's nice to see that Amon's passion for "equality" is Noatak's desire for "fairness" twisted out of true. "I had no stomach for manipulating helpless animals" -- but manipulating people, Tarrlok? I guess your training came back to haunt you anyway. So Yakone managed to raise both his sons to conquer Republic City, but not in the way he imagined. And, dude, you should have known it was a bad idea to give your kids a weapon they could turn on you, but guys like you never imagine that your authority has a limit, do you? Good thing you're in a kids' show or your son would have killed you.
All this plot exposition is kind of slowing down the narrative. But hey, I just realized that we have one less loved-one-dead-of-firebender in this show! Amon must have borrowed the idea from Hiroshi. Phew. Parallels I like; triplets are much trickier to manage.
Okay, back to the action. Except for Naga and Pabu: "Stay." (Yeah, right, like that's going to work.)
Fenceposts, but no fence? You really think that Hiroshi Sato is going to have unfinished defenses around his airfield? Sigh. Team Beta picks up the Idiot Ball to make an own goal.
Not that Team Alpha's plan is much better: tell everyone the truth! As if the audience has any reason to believe Korra, the embodiment of everything they've just fought a revolution against. No wonder Amon is willing to let her speak. On the other hand, her tale evidently pokes The Lieutenant somehow; maybe, having fought her so many times, he knows she's too straightforward to come up with such an elaborate lie? And under the mask -- makeup or actual scars? I wouldn't put it past Amon to have really gotten zapped by a firebender at some point and be putting the consequences to use, canny villain that he is. Hmm. (Again I'm reminded this is a kid's show -- prime-time t.v. would be showing much worse facial damage.)
Come on, Bryke! Offstage capture of Tenzin and family without even a hint of continued airship pursuit or something in a previous episode is JUST NOT FAIR. I'm not shocked; I'm annoyed.
Naga to the rescue! (Called it.) Asami takes a mecha-tank -- and of course she's driven a forklift. She's just that awesome. General Iroh is pretty awesome, too, but of course he's never flown a biplane. He picks up the basics pretty quick, though.
"I told you I would destroy you." Now that's what I call an act break!
Not only can Iroh fly a plane -- he can fly himself with firebending! That's so awesome I don't care if it violates any laws of physics. Another nice combat sequence. Way to knock the mask off Aang's statue, too. General Iroh, total BAMF. :-)
Polar-bear dog beats tanks, of course.
Here's Asami vs. her father in the mecha-tanks: she's got the moral advantage, but he's got more experience and therefore the upper hand. Until the cavalry comes over the hill with its Sokka-esque battlecry: "Mr. Sato, you are a horrible father!" Bolin, polite even under combat conditions. I can't wait to see what kind of character development he gets in book two. Asami does capture her father, but I still don't think jail is going to hold him. Somebody will bust him out. Or he'll get a really good lawyer ...
Even the Avatar isn't immune to Amon's schtick? This is really, really bad. [gnaws nails] Here's the payoff to The Lieutenant's moment of doubt earlier: he really does believe in the cause and is not happy to discover that he's been had. Beware the Well-Intentioned Extremist. "You served me well, Lieutenant" -- man, he doesn't even get a name in his epitaph. Brr.
Big Damn Hero moment for Mako! Yes! (Hey, I like the guy, really; it's just the way the narrative dealt with his love triangle that irked me.) But the bad guy always comes back. Uh, oh. [gnaws nails again] BUT KORRA CAN AIRBEND! YES! Amon must not be shutting people's ability to bend down at the source. I still want to know how he's doing it. Eep, he's not finished yet, but Korra is just good enough to knock him out the window. Ha! Evidently Hiroshi Sato hasn't gotten around to inventing waterproof make-up -- and Amon's survival instincts betray him into a public reveal as a waterbender! Well, that should be enough to convince most of his followers that he's a fraud (in a kids' show, anyway. Though if we don't still have some kind of nonbender rights movement in season two, I'll be very disappointed.). Oops, no body ... and Amon/Noatak escapes with Tarrlok. Well, maybe they'll be back to bedevil us later as well ...
"At least you unlocked your airbending? Okay, I'll just stand over here. Quietly. In silence." Oh, Bolin. I want to take you home and feed you noodles -- possibly to keep you out of the trouble Uncle Bumi is going to cause. Looking forward to seeing more of him ... except we don't. Drat.
Tarrlok kills himself and his brother? Wow. That's -- that's quite dark for a kids' show. I never saw that coming. Eep. And Katara can't restore Korra's bending? Wow, this is turning into quite the downer ending; our heroine even picks her polar-bear dog over her potential boyfriend, so we don't get a hope spot on the romance front, either. Are we going to have to be patient all the way into book two? At this point I'm honestly nervous enough about whether we're going to be leaving things here that I check to see how much time is left in the episode. Four minutes, phew. Something has to turn up ...
... and it does. Aang! But the resolution does seem a bit truncated again. I mean, I like the thematic points that the dark night of the soul is itself an opportunity for spiritual growth and that you have to get yourself out of the way of your higher power for she/he/it to be able to help you. The scene itself just feels a bit rushed for the importance it has. But yay for the restoration of Lin's bending and a happy romantic ending and everything! (I just still want to know what Amon/Noatak was doing to zap people's bending. If it were a physical process, there's a chance other waterbenders might be able to replicate it; if a spiritual one, not so much, but that leaves the question of what kind of inspirations he received during his own low point ... possibly that trek into the storm? Hmm. Room for 'fic on either count, here ...)
Well, that was great fun! Now I can marathon the whole thing in reruns while I wait for Nickelodeon to schedule season two (and pick up a season three? Please? Please? Not to mention RELEASE A SOUNDTRACK, DAGNABIT!).