Avatar 3x08-3x11

[oyceter]

Whoa! That was much plot!

Anyway, I loved the puppetmaster episode, which was truly creepy. I wish the show had done more with the medical stuff you could do with bloodbending (strokes! heart attacks! clots! gah!) and less with the puppetry, but I guess that's what fic is for ;).

I'm a bit amused by both Aang and Sokka's crises of confidence; do Toph and Katara get any later?

I was also wondering how they were going to wrap up the eclipse storyline; I couldn't really see the show going into peacebuilding and treaty-making, alas. I sort of wish they had... Oh well! I loved all the action, even though I didn't pay as much attention during the big fight scenes. Am less enthusiastic about Katara/Aang, but oh well.

The Sokka and Toph show continues to be awesome, though I think of them in a non-shippy way. It's the age differences! Two years aren't very big later on, but when you're teenagers, it feels pretty big! Maybe it is less big to them because they travel together and aren't in school. But yes, every time Sokka was like, "Toph! What would we do without you?" I cheered in agreement.

I also loved Azula's manipulation and the fact that she had the foresight to bring earth benders from Ba Sing Se. It was also really cool seeing old one-offs from previous episodes, even though I didn't remember most of them. I especially liked seeing the swamp benders again, given kintail's commentary.

Speaking of which, how exactly is the bending distributed? Via nationality? Race? And if so, what do they do with expats, or multiracial people? My pet idea is that the Avatar must be multiracial; I doubt it's supported on the show, but that would be cool.

And! OMG! Iroh breaks out of prison! Awesome! Zuko SWITCHES SIDES! Zuko, I mock your emo at times, but you have earned a lot more respect from me now. If only you developed a sense of humor...

On a totally shallow level, I am going to miss everyone's red outfits.

But anyway! Zuko! Switches sides! And goes off in an airship to find Aang! This is going to be soooo interesting!

Comments

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Have you read ladylisse's fic "Long Long Time Ago"? She takes the swampbillies and makes them an awesome, complex, beautiful culture, instead of the one-note hicks seen in the show.

As for the bloodbending, I suspect they didn't go into too much detail about all the gruesome stuff you could do with that because it IS still a Nick show for the 7-to-12 demographic. It's really amazing that they get away with as much stuff about genocide and refugees and prejudice against colonials and all the rest of the stuff about life-in-wartime they've done already; I can't blame them too much for being relatively discreet about showing actual injuries and deaths on-screen. (They still get points in my book for Bato or all the Earth Kingdom soldiers in bandages, or showing Song's scarred leg -- even if they're trying not to let the violence get too bloody and scary onscreen, they've still very consistently shown that this is a world where violence has lasting effects, and even magical waterbending healers can't fix everything.)

_{And I was not surprised Azula brought the Dai Li along, as my personal fanon is that after taking over Ba Sing Se she made them into her personal man-harem. *chuckles*}

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Even though I love Sokka & Toph's interactions, I can't think of them as a ship either. I like her little crush on him but Sokka is completely oblivious while he angsts over the fact that his girlfriends tend to meet unfortunate needs. Though I still hold out hope that Suki is still alive! I know Mike & Bryan have to be very discreet about (not) showing deaths on-screen (Zhao and Jet) but I still have hope! Especially since it turned out that Ursa was still alive.

It took me a long time to warm up to Katara/Aang. While I've never been a fan of Zuko/Katara at all, I never really got Katara/Aang either until this S3. Even so, I'm still not into them the way I am in Zuko/Mai but I'd be lying if I didn't expect that this was the direction the show was heading.

I am totally looking forward to seeing more of Iroh as bad ass general. Not that he wasn't always bad ass but he's been kind of quiet about it.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I loved the action and plot lately too and the Sokka-Toph show. And how the show brought back all these details from earlier: it made the two-parter feel very rich in continuity.

Zuko's emo is profound. If Avatar was an anime, I think he would have made a strong showing in the emo awards.

On a totally shallow level, I am going to miss everyone's red outfits.
Me too. I think the Fire Nation has the best fashion designers.

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

The puppet bending episode was THE SHIT. You know, the only thing that made the old master "evil" was the fact that she never went back to break out the other folks from the prison - of course, at that point, I just figured she had been through so much oppression and trauma she stopped caring.

[kintail.livejournal.com]

Eee! Finally got ep 11 here in Canada tonight, and just finished watching it (recorded while out at supper) so I am still not much with the words. Eee!

I was very pleased to see the swampbenders again, and so many other previous characters and loose ends (eg, the firebenders acquiring the crashed proto-blimp) being brought in. There wasn't much time for them, but the fact that they and their unique talents were fully accepted and made necessary in the plan along with all the other cultures that had come together for the invasion, it really helped calm any remaining worries about the "look how weird and funny these people are, they even talk and dress funny, ha ha" uncertain vibes I got from the episode in the swamp.

And I've been really pleased that they've been explaining the non-conventional bending like the vine bending and blood bending, too. I just keep being impressed by how much thought is going into the world building of this show even after I slide back into doubt that any American kid's show could be that deep and complex.

I was really hoping Iroh would be on the beach to let lose a huge forked lightening torrent on the blimps before they could bomb the subs (eee! whale-subs!) but alas. But given everything else they pulled together so skillfully, I am trusting that it's not just that the ran out of screen time, but that they have Something Even Better planned for Iroh's return.

All the previous characters have made me want to watch seasons 1 and 2 again, too.

Okay, found words after all. I hope they make sense!

Also, I still need to acquire a koala sheep icon. Yes. *goes off to look for one*

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

About bloodbending: I don't see why it is automatically considered evil. Sure, it is powerful, and can be abused, but do you think letting a quadriplegic dance again is automatically cruel?