Posts from Redrikki-land

Time to head to the library!

Things I Liked:

Toph and Iroh's cup of tea.

Iroh and Zuko's conversation about things said and Iroh's attempt to mold Zuko into LuTen.

The appearances by the various Avatars.

The otherworldly feel of the library.

The continuation of Sokka's grief arc. That said, his monologue about being the plan guy was a bit weird given that we haven't really seen him plan anything.

Jet and Katara's library talk.

Things I Didn't Like:

Lighting issues. So. Many. Lighting. Issues. Half of Azula's scenes were too dark for facial expressions and don't get me started on the sinking of the library/kidnapping of Appa scene. Boooooooo.

Things I Don't Know How I Feel About:

This episode is a mash up of the cartoons Ba Sing Se arc, plus Zuko's bandit era and the Painted Lady. Lots of stuff going on, starting with a zippy montage.

Things I Liked:

Katara and Zuko on their parallel vigilante arcs.

Long Feng as Palpatine as opposed to the obvious obstructionist he was in the cartoons. It's a neat spin on his character. I did, however, question Aang's statement about being the only one who got the pressure Aang is under. If he's supposed to be the new Gyosto, wouldn't the relationship be about a space where he can be taken care of in a way which relieves the pressure? Whatever.

Toph and Sokka's haiku battle was great. I really dig the idea of the blackmail arc too.

The complicated boundaries of loyalty and ethnicity it and the Fire Nation refugees raise. Sai and the Beifongs worked with the F.N. to save themselves, while Jeong Jeong deserted to live in squalor and hatred.

Iroh's guilt for more than just his son and how his suicidal ideation freaks the fuck out of the mugger until they become besties. In the cartoon, Iroh is years past his guilt and almost seems to have disassociated himself from his past actions, but here it hits him. He's not the guy having fun in his new life and that's an interesting twist.

Things I Didn't Like:

This episode was a fun mash-up of the OG episode of the same name, plus Zuko's plot from Serpents Pass, and elements of Bitter Work, The Library, Tales of Ba Sing Se, and Painted Lady. It was my favorite episode of the series thus far.

Things I Liked:

The confrontation with the Boulder was a riot!

Toph's everything. Love that girl!

The horror of those tiny cells as a metaphor for the entire city.

The majority of the party. The moment with the woman touching Katara's dress. Everyone trying to marry Toph. Katara splashing drinks into those girls' faces.

Sokka's on going trauma as a character arc.

Katara going all Painted Lady at the same time Zuko is starting his Blue Spirit arc.

Things I Didn't Like:

The shoehorning of classic lines and scenes into places where they didn't quite fit. This also popped up last episode and is a pretty consistent problem.

Things I Don't Know How I Feel About:

This episode is a mash-up of Zuko Alone, Blind Bandit, and The Chase, and unlike the mash-up in the first episode, this one works pretty well.

Things I Liked:

Toph. Fucking Toph! She was great. The actress was great. Her interactions with Aang were great.

Poppy and her being the shrewd businesswoman head of household and not the husband was a neat touch.

The guy who played the Boulder was just the right amount of camp.

Sokka's anxiety about his ability to protect Suki, and his inability to have a conversation about his trauma.

Zuko and Fei.

The Blue Spirit story and different reason for Ursa being proud of Zuko.

Ozai's plot to usurp Iroh and LuTen. Like, it clearly wasn't a move of convenient timing like in the cartoon, but something he had in the works.

Things I Didn't Like:

The whole Ursa kidnapping thing. What was her goal there? Had she killed Azulon like in canon or was she just trying to get away from her usurping husband? I was very confused.

The costumes on TyLee and Mai. They looked weirdly cheap in this episode, possibly because they were in decent lighting this time.

Things I Found Confusing:

I probably should have put the Ursa plot here, but whatever.

The second season opens with a mash up of "Return to Omashu" and "Serpents Pass" with references to "The Library" and "The Painted Lady" for flavor. Aang and the gaang hook up with Suki to usher some Omashu refugees to safety after Aang tries to rescue Bumi. Meanwhile, Azula's brilliant plan to conquer BA Sing Se gets dumped on a suck up general so she can hunt Zuko with her girls. Zuko and Iroh are itinerant farm workers now, something that pisses Zuko off until he drops an epic reason-you-suck speech and fucks off to do "Zuko Alone."

Things I Liked

Aang learning healing. He's been afraid of his powers for a while, so getting the chance to see he can fix things too is great!

The way the parting of the waters was filmed.

The hints about Fire Nation politics. Ozai firing and imprisoning generals who fail him, publicly gassing Azula up and then immediately undermining her when she shows him up paint an interesting picture. That general sucking up to Azula, calling her the Fire Lord, etc. Sets up some interesting potential that we'll have to see how they pay off.

I've been a fan of Rekha Sharma since Battlestar Galactica, so its nice to see her again.

Things I Didn't Like

Pacing. This episode dragged enough that I actually got bored even in the middle of fight scenes.

The mechanist reveals the comet plot in a way that moves things along but takes away from things which develop Sokka's character. Aang is a strategist now, I guess, so that's... something.

No Zuko banditry arc. The show likes to sand off characters' rougher edges and him just bitching about how he's better than farm labor instead of actively fucking over random people feels like a continuation of that trend. His rant at Iroh was pretty brutal, so maybe he'll do some robbery in the next episode.

Things I Don't Know How I Feel About