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Episode 2.13, or Better Luck Next Time
Neat episode with an awesome fight sequence at the end (it's nice to be reminded how utterly kickass Aang is), but one that irked me all the same, thanks to the (likely-to-be-ignored) plot holes it left gaping like that giant hole in the outer ring.
Namely: what would prevent the Fire Nation from coming back with a new drill that isn't infiltratable from its underside? Or perhaps 20 such drills? Or if that isn't possible, a drill with its entryways and support structure under sufficient guard? For as relatively small as the Fire Nation is, they have never appeared to suffer from a lack of Storm Troopers/Red Shirts at any point thus far in the series' progression.
With that out of the way, neat little bit with Iroh accidentally cluing Jet in as to his true identity, especially because as the older, more experienced member of the duo, his archetype isn't the one who rashly uses his hidden talents in most narratives. Also, I may never recover from his flirtation scene with overweight drag queen!Hakkai.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that Aang's fight at the end was AWESOME? Because it was.
Episode 2.14, or Fourteen Down, Six To Go
Nice little background ep we had here. I really appreciate the amount of energy this show devotes to worldbuilding and setting. Not to mention the social commentary--I'd been wondering how Ba Sing Se handled what must have been a constant stream of refugees. The answer: not with the old we-made-it-and-now-we're-safe furniture polish. They handle it by cherrypicking the desirable arrivees and disposing of the dross (read: the majority of the refugees) in crime ridden slums. And Iroh expects "I'm The Fire Nation Heir Apparent, Peasant!" Zuko to start dating these people? That's some hardcore wishful thinking...
I do wonder though, if the separation doesn't serve a greater purpose. We've already seen that there are subjects which One Does Not Discuss In Polite Company in Ba Sing Se: but surely they can't hypnotise knowledge of the war out of everyone in the outer city. So do they count on the struggle to survive there to preclude anybody from worrying about it? The crowd seemed pretty apathetic when Jet was accusing Iroh and Zuko. Or have all these people been subjected to a mass hypnotising?
The emperor being an apathetic ruler concerned with window dressing and empty diversions while his cabinet rules the city was a nice bit of historical realism. And once again kudos to Toph for using her background to first identify their problem ("It's called being handled. Get used to it.") and then get around it by prepping up for the ball.
Finally, I retract my earlier statements about Zuko being Captain Crais. It is now clear to me that Long Feng is the real Captain Crais. I regret any confusion this may have caused.
これで以上です。
Neat episode with an awesome fight sequence at the end (it's nice to be reminded how utterly kickass Aang is), but one that irked me all the same, thanks to the (likely-to-be-ignored) plot holes it left gaping like that giant hole in the outer ring.
Namely: what would prevent the Fire Nation from coming back with a new drill that isn't infiltratable from its underside? Or perhaps 20 such drills? Or if that isn't possible, a drill with its entryways and support structure under sufficient guard? For as relatively small as the Fire Nation is, they have never appeared to suffer from a lack of Storm Troopers/Red Shirts at any point thus far in the series' progression.
With that out of the way, neat little bit with Iroh accidentally cluing Jet in as to his true identity, especially because as the older, more experienced member of the duo, his archetype isn't the one who rashly uses his hidden talents in most narratives. Also, I may never recover from his flirtation scene with overweight drag queen!Hakkai.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that Aang's fight at the end was AWESOME? Because it was.
Episode 2.14, or Fourteen Down, Six To Go
Nice little background ep we had here. I really appreciate the amount of energy this show devotes to worldbuilding and setting. Not to mention the social commentary--I'd been wondering how Ba Sing Se handled what must have been a constant stream of refugees. The answer: not with the old we-made-it-and-now-we're-safe furniture polish. They handle it by cherrypicking the desirable arrivees and disposing of the dross (read: the majority of the refugees) in crime ridden slums. And Iroh expects "I'm The Fire Nation Heir Apparent, Peasant!" Zuko to start dating these people? That's some hardcore wishful thinking...
I do wonder though, if the separation doesn't serve a greater purpose. We've already seen that there are subjects which One Does Not Discuss In Polite Company in Ba Sing Se: but surely they can't hypnotise knowledge of the war out of everyone in the outer city. So do they count on the struggle to survive there to preclude anybody from worrying about it? The crowd seemed pretty apathetic when Jet was accusing Iroh and Zuko. Or have all these people been subjected to a mass hypnotising?
The emperor being an apathetic ruler concerned with window dressing and empty diversions while his cabinet rules the city was a nice bit of historical realism. And once again kudos to Toph for using her background to first identify their problem ("It's called being handled. Get used to it.") and then get around it by prepping up for the ball.
Finally, I retract my earlier statements about Zuko being Captain Crais. It is now clear to me that Long Feng is the real Captain Crais. I regret any confusion this may have caused.
これで以上です。