Avatar 3x16-3x21
Mon, May. 14th, 2012 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterCB marathoned S3 of Avatar over the weekend, and I realized I had never written up the final bits!
I had completely forgotten about Katara's trip with Zuko, and I very much like that they don't make the former general someone who has learned the errors of his ways and repents and is now a kindly gardener. He says he deserves it, yes, and then he offers up his mother wtf!!! And so, Katara gets to make her decision about revenge and vengeance and killing without having to weigh in repentence; she makes the decision for herself and not for him. I also forgot I like the Zuko-redemption arc not only because Zuko is a giant dork, but also because it doesn't skimp too much on the apologies and recognizing when sometimes you can't actually make up for the past. You get the feeling that the Gaang has by and large forgiven Zuko by the end, but Zuko is trying very hard to not let himself forget what he's been capable of before.
The Ember Island Players are still hilarious, although I am a bit sad as to how annoyed Aang is by the genderswitch. And although I laughed at the Katara/Zuko shipping in the play, I do get annoyed whenever the writers try to play up or down whatever ship they like or don't like. It always feels like it unbalances the show a bit, especially when the show doesn't focus that much on romance to begin with. Frex, I found Aang's (a)angst about Katara a little OOC. Also, it doesn't help that the writers are really not great at doing romance, aside from Zuko/Mai. Also, I LOVE how much Toph loves her play!version!self. And I also love how you get to see them doing the special effects on stage. I really liked the way they did bending with the colored ribbons.
And then you can so tell that the show needed another season to wrap up. Alas. Azula's breakdown happens much too quickly and without enough foreshadowing, Zuko's whole "Oh btw Ozai planning on wiping out Ba Sing Se, what I didn't tell you?" is a bit ludicrous, and I wanted more foreshadowing for Aang's ethical and moral dilemma as well. Still, I love that they find scary assassin lady to track down Aang and then Iroh, and I very much do like that Aang has a moral dilemma. I think teenage!me would have thought the ending a cop out for not forcing the hero to make Tough Moral Decisions, but older!me likes it much more that you can find ways out.
Also, I want to see Ozai on trial for war crimes.
Still sad the White Lotus Society didn't have prominent awesome women, although I do love all of them taking over Ba Sing Se, this time so that Iroh can burn down the Fire Nation emblem. And AWWWWWW, Iroh and Zuko's reunion! That is really one of my very favorite relationships on the show, and I also love Katara reassuring Zuko before he goes in. It is such a Katara thing to do. And all the episodes make me want to start a giant epic about post-war reconstruction and textbook editing and language reclamation and dealing with the effects of genocide and colonization and internalized colonization and economic rebuilding and etc. Hopefully with Toph and Iroh traveling together, the Kyoshi warriors being awesome, and Zuko being stuck with a lot of paperwork.
And argh. I know the writers ship Katara/Aang, but ending on the kiss just felt so OOC for the series. I think it would have worked better woven into some of the final scenes, but making it the very ending gives an emphasis to the romantic dyad that I think the bulk of the series really doesn't support. Also, because so much of the romance is from Aang's POV, it feels a bit too much like "reward the hero with The Girl" in a way that very much overlooks every other way Katara has been great in the story. I very much wanted the team bonding in Iroh's tea house to be the final shot, because that, to me, really captures the essence of the series.
I had completely forgotten about Katara's trip with Zuko, and I very much like that they don't make the former general someone who has learned the errors of his ways and repents and is now a kindly gardener. He says he deserves it, yes, and then he offers up his mother wtf!!! And so, Katara gets to make her decision about revenge and vengeance and killing without having to weigh in repentence; she makes the decision for herself and not for him. I also forgot I like the Zuko-redemption arc not only because Zuko is a giant dork, but also because it doesn't skimp too much on the apologies and recognizing when sometimes you can't actually make up for the past. You get the feeling that the Gaang has by and large forgiven Zuko by the end, but Zuko is trying very hard to not let himself forget what he's been capable of before.
The Ember Island Players are still hilarious, although I am a bit sad as to how annoyed Aang is by the genderswitch. And although I laughed at the Katara/Zuko shipping in the play, I do get annoyed whenever the writers try to play up or down whatever ship they like or don't like. It always feels like it unbalances the show a bit, especially when the show doesn't focus that much on romance to begin with. Frex, I found Aang's (a)angst about Katara a little OOC. Also, it doesn't help that the writers are really not great at doing romance, aside from Zuko/Mai. Also, I LOVE how much Toph loves her play!version!self. And I also love how you get to see them doing the special effects on stage. I really liked the way they did bending with the colored ribbons.
And then you can so tell that the show needed another season to wrap up. Alas. Azula's breakdown happens much too quickly and without enough foreshadowing, Zuko's whole "Oh btw Ozai planning on wiping out Ba Sing Se, what I didn't tell you?" is a bit ludicrous, and I wanted more foreshadowing for Aang's ethical and moral dilemma as well. Still, I love that they find scary assassin lady to track down Aang and then Iroh, and I very much do like that Aang has a moral dilemma. I think teenage!me would have thought the ending a cop out for not forcing the hero to make Tough Moral Decisions, but older!me likes it much more that you can find ways out.
Also, I want to see Ozai on trial for war crimes.
Still sad the White Lotus Society didn't have prominent awesome women, although I do love all of them taking over Ba Sing Se, this time so that Iroh can burn down the Fire Nation emblem. And AWWWWWW, Iroh and Zuko's reunion! That is really one of my very favorite relationships on the show, and I also love Katara reassuring Zuko before he goes in. It is such a Katara thing to do. And all the episodes make me want to start a giant epic about post-war reconstruction and textbook editing and language reclamation and dealing with the effects of genocide and colonization and internalized colonization and economic rebuilding and etc. Hopefully with Toph and Iroh traveling together, the Kyoshi warriors being awesome, and Zuko being stuck with a lot of paperwork.
And argh. I know the writers ship Katara/Aang, but ending on the kiss just felt so OOC for the series. I think it would have worked better woven into some of the final scenes, but making it the very ending gives an emphasis to the romantic dyad that I think the bulk of the series really doesn't support. Also, because so much of the romance is from Aang's POV, it feels a bit too much like "reward the hero with The Girl" in a way that very much overlooks every other way Katara has been great in the story. I very much wanted the team bonding in Iroh's tea house to be the final shot, because that, to me, really captures the essence of the series.
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(no subject)
Tue, May. 15th, 2012 02:05 am (UTC)- I felt Katara's "Field Trip with Zuko"(TM) didn't get to just be her choice -pretty much EVERYONE was telling her, "No, don't go for revenge" which felt super pressure-y.
- The last major choice of complete agency she makes on her own is to say "No" to Aang's holler, and then suddenly they're all together at the end? BLEH.
- I felt like the Azula go crazy and Aang a) Gets the avatar state by violent impact and b) now learns a completely new magical ability, things were big cop outs on consequences- Zuko isn't forced to really have to go all out against his sister, and Aang gets his powers, and doesn't have to choose what to do with Ozai either.
:/
Anyway, grumbling aside! If you ever want to do a gaming night and do some Avatar roleplaying, I am down!
(no subject)
Wed, May. 16th, 2012 11:39 pm (UTC)I don't like the Azula storyline partly for how it's executed but also because of the association with female power and insanity.
I think before I would be more with you on the "making difficult decisions" boat, but right now, I kind of like that the show is offering non-deadly alternatives and that violence doesn't always have to kill. Mostly that is why I want post-series fic about war crimes and trials and stuff.
(no subject)
Thu, May. 17th, 2012 12:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, May. 15th, 2012 07:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, May. 16th, 2012 11:39 pm (UTC)Although I have only seen Korra up through ep. 3 (SO BEHIND I KNOW), so no spoilers please?
(no subject)
Sun, May. 20th, 2012 05:48 am (UTC)So I base my estimate of where the show is going on one simple fact: all the obvious potential story arcs are being given short shrift. The one you've seen resolved super-quickly already is Korra's bending training. She started the series with three out of four under her belt. She's still not optimally trained, but she can already airbend some, unlike Aang who took ages to be able to earthbend at all. Something else that would have taken up a lot more than two episodes in most shows comes up soon and is immediately (if temporarily) resolved. What the hell do the writers have up their sleeve that will take up more than one season?
Well, I think Amon is going to win in Republic City. Korra & co. will have to leave, possibly escaping Amon's final strike at her or possibly not escaping, which I admit I'd be really interested in. I am completely sure that the removal of bending is hypnosis or otherwise reversible, because (although it did occur to me) Amon really can't be an avatar in disguise, and it could be very fertile plot/character ground for badass-from-childhood Korra to lose her powers. (The boys would have to lose theirs too, or we end up with an annoying save-the-princess scenario; also we could then get Pema schooling all the n00b non-benders, which would rock.) If all that happens, they'd probably need to travel around, whether to rally people against the Equalists or just stay ahead of pursuit, and I think that's when we could get to see other parts of the world. The plan might be something else, but the only thing I see against my idea is that it might be too much like the previous series.
(no subject)
Thu, May. 17th, 2012 09:16 pm (UTC)