THOUGHTS ON “THE LEGEND OF KORRA” EPISODES THREE AND FOUR. (MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!!!!) “EPISODE 3: THE CORONATION” Reading over what Ive got below, its kind of heavy on the nitpicks. But this was mostly a good episode. You can guess how much I enjoyed the focus on Prince Wu early on. When the twins showed up, I was like, “Thank you! Please save me with your dry humor!” Eskas line “Boss. Girlfriend. I dont see the difference,” was funny, but it occurs to me that if a male character said to his ex-girlfriend, “Boss. Boyfriend. I dont see the difference,” wed all be horrified. Whats up with that double standard? When Kuvira stole Prince Wus suite and said, “I always get what I want,” it seemed like tipping her hand a little early. Maybe at that point she knew nobody could stop her, but from an audience perspective it telegraphed what was coming at the coronation. One commenter said that was their favorite line, but complained that she didnt like it when she threatened Zaofu - “It makes me less sympathetic to her cause.” Well, no kidding...SHES THE BAD GUY! Its scary how many budding fascists there seem to be in the audience. Speaking of which, I gotta admire the writers ballsiness in have nice guy Bolin basically become a Hitler Youth. It echoes how he was lured into working for the Triad gang in Book One. Its also interesting that he sees Kuvira as a sort of replacement Korra, making his situation another consequence of the Avatar being out of the action. But he IS already questioning Kuvira, so Im sure hell break away before too long. I picture that hell be asked to lava bend a city off the map or some such thing and hell refuse. Theres still hope for him, Casey! :) Im kind of surprised Raiko didnt have some kind of contingency plan in case Kuvira didnt step down. If nothing else, hes usually politically savvy. Brother against brother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law – its all the civil war drama we DIDNT get in the civil war plotline of Book Two! (Well, of course the drama is more effective when the war isnt just a red herring...) I wonder if the writers originally intended Suyin to take over the Earth Kingdom, but then realized that was too obvious and wrote Kuvira into Book Three at the last minute. Anyway, its that theme of unintended consequences again, with freedom-loving Su inadvertently inspiring the dictator who is now threatening her city. Casey, you predicted correctly! – it looks like the prince will have a character arc. His comedy later in the episode was a little better. I dont find stupidity inherently funny. A nervous breakdown in a themed buffet, on the other hand, is kind of amusing. Meanwhile, the decline and fall of Mako continues: Book One – Male lead Book Two – Abused love interest Book Three – Supporting characters cheerleader Book Four – Comic relief straight man That spirit vine experiment looks ominous. Is it going to be some sort of super-weapon to attack the Avatars spirit directly? Or a spirit-powered nuke? Speaking of plant life – isnt it odd that both this and the OTHER “Avatar” franchise feature a special tree that connects the entire world? “EPISODE 4: THE CALLING” Once again, there are a lot of nitpicks here. But this time, I think theyre deserved :). I liked the stuff with Korra and Toph that was basically the conclusion of the previous episodes conflict. And the other plotline...was OK. Yeah, Im talking about Tenzins kids. I think Id rather have spent half an episode with almost any other character (except Prince Wu). Its not that theyre bad characters, its how the story was handled...When I mentioned catching up with Jinora in the previous post, I thought it would be about how she was handling her role as a rising leader of the Air Nomads. Instead, this episode is kind of like a cross between a Cutie Mark Crusaders episode of “My Little Pony” and a Jan episode of “The Brady Bunch”. “Grandpa Aang and his friends were around our age when they traveled the world,” Ikki points out to her mother. But for some reason, these kids get a “Junior Edition” plotline. Maybe its because now we have 20 year old protagonists, so the writers see the kids as more kid-like by comparison. Or maybe its because Tenzin and Pema are alive and well, and therefore would look like terrible parents if they sent their kids on a dangerous mission that was actually dangerous. Or maybe this is just a breather for the kids in the audience, whom its easy to forget are watching this, what with all the international politics and psychological trauma. The episode also missed having proper villain, like Kuvira or Dark Korra. Instead we get two bungling guards who dont even seem to care that their captive can slip in and out of her bonds whenever she feels like it. Well, this is a good time to mention that I like the sleek new Airbender uniforms. They show that this is once again a living, evolving culture. Korra bending the poison out of herself was well animated, and a nice visual metaphor for letting go of the horrors in her past. When the metal poisoning was revealed in Episode 3, someone commented, “The same metal that Korra was so desperate to learn to bend is now preventing her from getting in touch with her spirit. It just goes to show how sometimes the things we want the most are wrong for us spiritually!” Well, first of all, Korra learning to metal bend had NOTHING to do with Zaheer poisoning her. And second, (as I suspected), Korra needed to bend the poison out herself, which means that if she hadnt been “so desperate” to learn it, shed be kind of screwed right now. It just goes to show that sometimes the things we want the most are EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED. Take that, random internet person! On Toph calling Aang a pain in the butt...They seemed to get along fine on the original show. The tension was between her and Katara. But theres a comic called “The Rift” thats supposed to focus on Toph, so Im guessing there was some sort of rift between her and Aang after the original show ended (also suggested by their less-than-cordial exchange from the “Korra” Book One flashback). TOPH: “Finally, some peace and quiet.” ME: “Um, Toph? An evil dictator is about to use the bending art you invented to take over your daughters city.” TOPH: “So, whaddaya want from me?” ME: “Um...youre the worlds greatest metal bender, and you kick ass?” TOPH: “Eh, let the young whippersnappers take care of it. Im over 80!” ME: “King Bumi was like 111 years old when he reclaimed Omashu.” TOPH: “Yeah, well get back to me in 30 years. Maybe Ill feel like doing something then!”
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 10:31:17 +0000
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