It’s the penultimate episode of the season! I know I have a lot of complaints about this show, but since there’s only this and another episode left, I thought I should just go ahead and complete it!
At the end of the previous episode, we saw Aang go into the Avatar state after finding out that someone has taken Appa. Will we see how they deal with it this episode? Let’s find out.
Well, we find out very quickly how they deal with it, because Aang sees Appa’s foot and calms down before turning on Toph. He doesn’t care about anything else now other than Appa, so he leaves the Gaang alone at what used to be the site of the Spirit Library.
Elsewhere in Ba Sing Se, Iroh is taking care of Zuko, who has contracted some sort of illness. Iroh says the fever is a fire of change, or as we call it over here, lagnat laki. We then get a Zuko dream sequence, where he sorta resolves his mommy issues? There’s a peek into the dragon spirits that taught the Fire Nation firebending, but the other stuff might be lore that I don’t know about since I’ve only watched the animated series and didn’t read the comic books and other materials.
Meanwhile, the other member of Fire Nation royalty, Azula, is talking with Long Feng about her plans. It’s a nice exchange between the two, but it’s also here that I kinda have to accept that whoever adapted this live action is more in love with the Fire Nation than he is with the actual leads of the show. I think it’s fine to give the Fire Nation a more layered and nuanced portrayal, but the animated series managed to do that as well without sacrificing the leads. Oh well.
That Fire Nation bias gets even more obvious with the way the Gaang gets into the palace. It’s like all he remembered from the Gaang were the jokes. And to be clear, I love the humor from the animated series, but I wish the Gaang storylines were as compelling as they were in the animated series. There is a moment inside the palace where Aang and Katara have a nice moment, but they don’t give it a lot of time like they would the Fire Nation storylines.
The Gaang finally get their audience with the Earth King, and the decisions from earlier episodes are now resolved. The early introduction of the Painted Lady, the Beifong war manufacturers storyline, all of it gives Long Feng a chance to undermine the credibility of the Gaang. It’s a cathartic moment, but the path to getting there was difficult. It’s also made me think about how I’ve been consuming this series. Did I maybe come into it already expecting the worst and didn’t give it a fair shot? But could you blame me, if it didn’t even follow some of the rules it put down in the first season, and it’s not like it has a bajillion seasons to course correct. I’ve watched a lot of shows from the time when shows had more than eight episodes, and it would usually take them until maybe the third season before they really found their rhythm. This show doesn’t have that luxury.
After the disastrous meeting with the Earth King, the Gaang fall apart, throwing each other’s action at…uhhh…each other. It’s a chance for the guys to do ~acting~, and I’m guessing it’s to set up a reunion in the final episode, especially when what happens to Aang happens.
While the Gaang falls apart, Iroh finds the White Lotus, who apparently are just Fire Nation refugees at this point. Okay.
Gimme something to work with here. I was one of the people who didn’t immediately dismiss the first season; don’t make me regret that now. Sometimes, the decisions in the show seem really well thought out, and then sometimes they just seem so haphazard. It’s my constant refrain so far: It’s so frustrating.
With the Gaang all broken up, it’s also easier for the Dai Li and Azula’s crew to round them up. But things are looking up, because at his lowest point, Aang finally gets a better grasp of earthbending and finds out where Appa is.
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