I'll keep posting my episode squee-by-squees on schedule if you pretend like I haven't watched waaay more than I should have at this point.
Episode 1.09
The first dud episode of the bunch. I'd just been preparing to wax rhapsodic about how one of the things I really like about Avatar is that the writers never rub the audiences' noses in the show's moral "lessons." People in the avatarverse are good people; they do good things, but there's no self-conscious pointing it out as the episode wraps, no "now what have we learned today, kids?" And that approach is precisely what makes them such good examples: they're assumed, and it's assumed that you the viewer get it without needing to have your hand held as its expained it to you. Except that's exactly what this episode did. Stealing is Bad. Jealousy causes Trouble. Do you understand, Children? Luckily, I saw it coming a mile off, and thus had ample time to prepare myself for the inevitable. So that made the half-assed backpedal towards the end ("Stealing is wrong." "But not if it's from pirates!") even more of a non sequitor. Ah well. A 1:9 ratio of suck to quality ain't that bad.
Episode 1.10
Okay, one of the things I really like about this show is that the writers don't crap out on the audience, even during the filler episodes, which 1.10 definitely was. Our Heroes encounter a charismatic Robin Hood type living in the abandoned treehouse set from Prince of Thieves or Tao's digs from Mysterious Cities of Gold, I can't decide which. Anyway, you know what that means: it's time for the gang to learn valuable Life Lessons about judging books by their covers, peer pressure, and standing up against the crowd for what's right. Only Avatar manages to inject a lot of good stuff into the otherwise tired formula.
For one thing, the psychology is pretty darn realistic. Too-good-to-be-true bad guy Jet takes a good look at the group, flatters the member he can flatter, sucks up to the member he can suck up to, and first isolates then reels in the member who's most likely to see through him. That is what guys like Jet do. But in another series it would have been Aang who, as the main character would have been the one to see through it all and spend the episode trying to get through to the less pivotal Katara and Sokka. But that's not how it works here; the writers allow Jet to go after the real weak link--the guy who doesn't have the cool moves, who probably feels like he can't live up to the benders. And for a while, Sokka goes along with it, because he wants to belong, as opposed to other shows, where the character who first spots the ruse sees through it the entire time and there's no subtlely depicted moral struggle between doing good or fitting in.
What else? Saw the ending coming again, but really dug the fact that Sokka got his day in the sun. I like how the writers spread the save-the-day points around to the characters pretty darn equally, instead of having Aang pull an Ichigo, always saving the day after everyone else almost has what it takes but ultimately fails. It's more realistic that way, and more importantly, it keeps me from getting disgusted with Aang. No Main Character Syndrome here. I also dug the whole leaping through the forest canopy scene toward the end. So reminiscent of Chinese martial arts/wuxia films.
So again, yay.
これで以上です。
Episode 1.09
The first dud episode of the bunch. I'd just been preparing to wax rhapsodic about how one of the things I really like about Avatar is that the writers never rub the audiences' noses in the show's moral "lessons." People in the avatarverse are good people; they do good things, but there's no self-conscious pointing it out as the episode wraps, no "now what have we learned today, kids?" And that approach is precisely what makes them such good examples: they're assumed, and it's assumed that you the viewer get it without needing to have your hand held as its expained it to you. Except that's exactly what this episode did. Stealing is Bad. Jealousy causes Trouble. Do you understand, Children? Luckily, I saw it coming a mile off, and thus had ample time to prepare myself for the inevitable. So that made the half-assed backpedal towards the end ("Stealing is wrong." "But not if it's from pirates!") even more of a non sequitor. Ah well. A 1:9 ratio of suck to quality ain't that bad.
Episode 1.10
Okay, one of the things I really like about this show is that the writers don't crap out on the audience, even during the filler episodes, which 1.10 definitely was. Our Heroes encounter a charismatic Robin Hood type living in the abandoned treehouse set from Prince of Thieves or Tao's digs from Mysterious Cities of Gold, I can't decide which. Anyway, you know what that means: it's time for the gang to learn valuable Life Lessons about judging books by their covers, peer pressure, and standing up against the crowd for what's right. Only Avatar manages to inject a lot of good stuff into the otherwise tired formula.
For one thing, the psychology is pretty darn realistic. Too-good-to-be-true bad guy Jet takes a good look at the group, flatters the member he can flatter, sucks up to the member he can suck up to, and first isolates then reels in the member who's most likely to see through him. That is what guys like Jet do. But in another series it would have been Aang who, as the main character would have been the one to see through it all and spend the episode trying to get through to the less pivotal Katara and Sokka. But that's not how it works here; the writers allow Jet to go after the real weak link--the guy who doesn't have the cool moves, who probably feels like he can't live up to the benders. And for a while, Sokka goes along with it, because he wants to belong, as opposed to other shows, where the character who first spots the ruse sees through it the entire time and there's no subtlely depicted moral struggle between doing good or fitting in.
What else? Saw the ending coming again, but really dug the fact that Sokka got his day in the sun. I like how the writers spread the save-the-day points around to the characters pretty darn equally, instead of having Aang pull an Ichigo, always saving the day after everyone else almost has what it takes but ultimately fails. It's more realistic that way, and more importantly, it keeps me from getting disgusted with Aang. No Main Character Syndrome here. I also dug the whole leaping through the forest canopy scene toward the end. So reminiscent of Chinese martial arts/wuxia films.
So again, yay.
これで以上です。
From:
no subject
What I didn't like about nine was Katara's jealously. That was painful. But at least she gets over it.
Icon from episode 10:
From:
no subject
But what I'm really objecting to here isn't the moralising per se, but how heavy handed it was compared to other episodes. I really felt like the writers were rubbing it in: "Do you get it? Do you get it yet?" whereas they usually leave the viewer to draw her own conclusions. And that, I think, was what really left me going huh? at the way the ep concluded with Katara's very immoral "But they're pirates!" bit.
Also: that icon is GOLD.
From:
no subject
I read the heaviness as a nod to viewer expectations XD.
From:
no subject
And I suppose said heaviness could just be a nod, but what I like best about Avatar is the way it invites your expectations to have a seat and then pulls the rug out from beneath them while they're still going, huh?