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I kinda lost track of this show midway through the first season, and I was always meaning to get back into it, but then the negativity about season 2 floating around online made that seem not super important. But recently I decided gently caress it, I remember liking the first few episodes, let's do this. season one starts off pretty great, and the complaints I remembered about pro-bending being lame turned out pretty silly because it was dropped, violently, by the midpoint of the season. The weakest part is definitely the teen romance stuff, largely because Mako is emotionally retarded. Later the showrunners evidently realized this and made a bunch of jokes about it, but in season one it's not intentional or that entertaining. Korra from the beginning is fascinating in how she differs from Aang, with her bullheaded approach to everything, summed up in her first line as "I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it!". Ultimately, though, her development in season 1 rings false because she ends up officially with Mako (when it's sort of clear their relationship will go as well as a house on fire), and because of the asspull deus ex machina involved in reversing what Amon did to Korra. Also Tarrlok ended up a far more interesting villain than Amon. I understood what they were going for with Amon, but ultimately the reveal undermined him rather than making him fascinating, and then bloodbending was such a brokenly powerful ability that it made for boring fights. Tarrlok's villainy was more compelling, and his final action cemented him as a great character. when I watched that moment, I slow-clapped. One last thing: I was so relieved they didn't have Asami be a spy, especially because her mecha fight with her father in the finale owned bones (and of course it sets up his heroic sacrifice in the series finale) Season Two starts out rough for several reasons. First, the aforementioned Korra/Mako couple combusts, and it's not fun to watch, but bitter and kind of depressing. Also while Korra's NO YOU SHUT THE gently caress UP DAD moments with Tonraq and Tenzin made sense from a character perspective, it led her into buying into Uncle Obviously Evil's transparent scheming. The Civil War episodes were bad because everyone took turns tossing around the idiot ball. Varrick had been introduced by that point, and John Michael Higgins just KILLED that role, but he didn't become completely amazing until the back half. And then...the midseason origin of the Avatar story kicks all of the rear end. What can I say about that that hasn't been said? It's great, and it sets up the actual interesting villain of the season, Big Evil Immortal Kite Monster! It also explains the dangling mystery of the lion turtle from the first series. And then the back half of season two is pretty solid up until the 52-Deus Ex Machine Pileup that is the final battle between Unavaatu and Giant Spirit Korra (with assistance from Fairy Princess Jinora?!). Some people dislike the Nuktuk: Hero of the North plotline, and these are people with no sense of fun. and it involves Varrick. cannot emphasize enough how great Varrick is. Season Three is where the show fulfills its potential and becomes the show it was previously trying and only partially succeeding at being before, with much of the credit of that due to how it moves outside Republic City to focus on the Earth Kingdom and the new airbenders. Also, Zaheer counts as the series' strongest villain, and in terms of the franchise as a whole, only Azula is arguably better. His clearly defined objectives, his awesome crew, and being the series' first airbender villain all add up, and then he murders the Earth Queen, holy poo poo. And then he loving flies. drat. also RIP Zaheer's crew. Another really strong aspect of the third season is the focus on Lin and her family. Up until they arrive at Zaofu, Lin had been an intriguing, badass, but not well fleshed out character. That changes with the introduction of her sister, and then the acupuncture episode, where everything clicks into place. In general, the focus on female characters in season 3 makes the show better (I really love when Asami breaks Korra out of the airship cell). Season Four has some pacing issues, and I wish Nickelodeon hadn't forced the showrunners into the position of having to cobble together a clip show to fulfill episode order obligations. The biggest thing is that I wanted more for Asami to do, although I understand why it must have been difficult to write for Asami (she's more emotionally stable). Mostly. The Ikki-centric episode was weird though, and that time could've been better spent on Asami or another character. However, on the whole, it's almost as good as season 3. Korra Alone, Operation Beifong, and the two-part finale have to count among the best episodes of the series. The show dealt with, basically, post traumatic stress disorder in an impressive way. and it brought home the thematic thrust of the series, that its ultimate villain was Korra's own worst aspects, literalized in both the vision of the Avatar state that haunted her and in the character of Kuvira. Avatar: The Last Airbender had a much simpler arc, with an overarching villain stretching across all three seasons. It was a traditional hero's journey, for the most part. The Legend of Korra has a far more complex, modern arc. To use Jungian terminology, it is a struggle between Korra and her shadow archetype. In keeping with Jungian psychology, Korra achieves self-actualization when she reconciles herself to her shadow. The lesson that you can learn from your enemies is in and of itself kind of radical in our Western culture, as we are constantly drawn back to stark battles of good vs. evil despite their lack of resemblance to reality and how they encourage black/white thinking. AND, the large focus on Varrick and Zhu Li was a good call. They're adorable and wonderful and the best.  Best Characters: Korra, Lin, Jinora, Asami, Zaheer, Kuvira, Varrick, Tarrlok Worst Characters: Mako, Unalaaq, Amon, Meelo (season 4), Tonraq Best Episodes: Welcome to Republic City, The Voice in the Night, When Extremes Meet, Beginnings, A New Spiritual Age, Old Wounds, The Terror Within, Long Live the Queen, The Ultimatum, Enter the Void, Venom of the Red Lotus, Korra Alone, Operation Beifong, Kuvira's Gambit, Day of the Colossus, The Last Stand Worst Episodes: Civil Wars pt. 1 & 2, The Sting, Light in the Dark, The Calling, Remembrances
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Dec 28, 2014 04:36
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 12:14 |
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Korra never did anything as bad or with as awful an outcome as when Aang ran away. For that matter, Roku made an enormous fuckup, and that one waterbending Avatar was a complete failure at his job. and the very first Avatar accidentally let the evil spirit of chaos out into the world and although he got the thing caged again, he couldn't stop the human wars that came as a result of his actions. The only comparable action Korra could be accused of is opening the Southern Spirit Portal, but since that ultimately lead to a harmonic coexistence between humans and spirits, and the creation of a bunch of new airbenders, it all turns out. obviously Kyoshi is the best Avatar depicted in the series, but Korra's definitely second. I mean, bending a giant spirit energy laser blast has to count for something.
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Dec 28, 2014 23:29
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if you think about it, all four bending powers could instakill in grotesque ways. Depending on how earthbending works, a really, really, really powerful earthbender could bend the trace metal in someone's body to cause massive internal bleeding. obviously waterbending leads to bloodbending, but what about urine? or saliva? And of course with airbending, you could remove all the air from a certain area, not just in the way Zaheer does to the Earth Queen, but by making an entire room a vacuum. VOIDBENDING. and then of course since firebending leads to lightningbending, one could use that to cause a heart attack. and if anyone had ever been directly hit with a burst of energy from a combustion bender on the show, they'd be very, very dead. I mean, we saw what happened to P'Li when her blast was redirected at her (holy poo poo that was brutal, how did Nickelodeon allow that?).
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Dec 29, 2014 07:50
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Yeah, Suyin is great because of what a remarkably lovely person she is, but in a really plausible way. and Lin's feud with her is interesting because of the lesson it teaches, which is that being in the right in an argument doesn't mean poo poo when continuing the argument comes with a larger price than losing the moral high ground.
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Dec 30, 2014 00:55
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The Legend of Korra ultimately surpasses Avatar in one very important way. MOTHERFUCKING VARRICK, THE BEST CHARACTER. 
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Dec 31, 2014 21:04
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