My thoughts on Legend of Korra season 2 episode 3

[kirin85]

This is a bit more fragmented than last week's post because it mainly consists of the plurks I made after watching the episode.

S poilers below the cut:

• •  The pacing’s still a bit on the choppy side but I found this episode more engaging than the previous two, perhaps because it was more focused on character-based conflicts than random spirit world shenanigans.
  • "Ending a relationship is like pulling off a bloodsucking leech" … Mako, just stop talking already. And here I was thinking you might be getting a little better. Ugh.
  • As you may have guessed, I’m not a fan of the “lol, creepy psycho stalker girlfriend” jokes. Yes, Bolin should just break up with Eska already. No, comparing an unwanted girlfriend to a soul-sucking parasite isn’t funny.
  • Unalaq’s still giving off that “obvious villain is obvious" vibe but I liked how this episode made the north/south conflict a bit less black and white - some of the southern water tribe members aren’t exactly the nicest people in the world either, although I can’t say I blame them for being pissed off. Unalaq’s already crossed more than a few lines.
  • Also, yay for Korra’s mum getting to have an actual conversation with her daughter, even if it was mainly about her dad.
  • We could still do with more lady-screentime though. Where’s Asami? You think she’d be interested in all this, especially since she just made that big business deal with Varric. Hopefully, she’ll show up next episode.
  • Speaking of Asami, it’s good to see that Korra can defend herself without bending if she needs to. Granted, we saw her do this in episode 4 of the first series but Korra learning a trick or two from Asami is a nice headcanon idea, if nothing else.
  • The fandom is probably raging over the idea of Aang being a less-than-perfect dad (Well, okay, they’ve been raging over this since the preview clip aired. Oh, AtLA fandom - never change.) but I actually don’t mind this too much because the original series made it very clear that Aang - amazing as he was - was just as flawed and human as the rest of the cast. I really doubt he intentionally picked favourites but like I said, he had his faults. I can see him getting really excited over the prospect of rebuilding the Air Nomads and unintentionally overlooking his other kids.
  • It would also be nice to have some input from Katara. *HINT* Seriously, she may be in her eighties but she’s an incredibly influential and powerful figure. Doesn’t she have an opinion on the north/south situation or her dysfunctional offspring?
  • Yes, I am noticing a definite “needs more ladies” vibe in my reaction posts. :p Significant female/female relationships (in any sense of the word) in a series about a female avatar shouldn’t be too much to ask for.