Went back for part 2, THE DRILL: which turns out is a giant set-piece that is literally "fury road good." I'm constantly delighted by how smart the action is too when it comes to the ingenuity of using the elemental magic and how they can all work together.
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The Awakening: Largely a quick re-set, but works because it so rightly gets to Aang's feelings of failure. More just excited for what's next.
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The Headband: Now THAT's what I'm talking about. Organic world building, small stakes story, a dance party (!!!) and HILARIOUS- "you must be one of those popular kids I'm always hearing about!" / "And this one I made out of noodles!" / "Sapphire Fire!" / Toph's Nelson laugh.
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The Painted Lady: A little more clunk than normal, but the final stand-off seals the functionality of the build-up. I wish other shows understood apotheosis like this one. Every detail builds. "Now you look just like a little hill with horns!"
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By the way I love when shows redesign their standard models and the new fire outfits are


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Sokka's Master: A lovely episode that shows how much of our value lies in the way we're missed, and all the ways Sokka brings such strength, creativity, and versatility to all those around him. It's honestly best version of the "xander" archetype I've seen. Plus...
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1. A brief moment to talk about Toph's incredible comic timing and characteriztion, "you see nothin once you've seen it 1000 times." / "I learned from badger moles!" and 2. Iroh's training sequence!.
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Wait til I finish it cause I'm only five mins in, but holy shit there is basically a HORNY TEENZ HANG OUT ON THE BEACH episode!??!?!
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The Beach: HORNY BEACH TEENZ. 1. Zuko and Mai's disaffected goth romance is everything to me. 2. Azula as a sociopath trying to be social vs. Ty Lee's inherent likability... This is everything I didn't know I needed.
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The Avatar and The Firelord: Once again, it's all about quality writing. So much fantasy gets lost in the nonsense of history and lore, but Avatar takes those details and paints lovely brush strokes of how our family's history can effect our psychology in the here and now.
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The Runaway: Ah the "3 days earlier" trope, how I hate thee. At least the ep understands that it can ONLY work as misdirection, but again I hold fast and true to there is nothing you can with it that you can't do better in straightforward story. Also the scamming montage is aces.
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The Puppetmaster: 1. There show literally has a HELLRAISER HOMAGE. 2. I'll be honest, an unexpectedly poignant ending. Sometimes the worst thing we can pass on is the powers we should never possess, and the will to do whatever it takes :(
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So is this supposed to be making fun of goku because I dont know what a goku is i just know it has spikey hair like cloudpic.twitter.com/5ovTe5BrQn
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Daydreams and Nightmares: oh hey cool, it's my sleepless night and terrifying anxiety spirals coupled with the new paranoid effects that drugs have on me , all dramatized with devastating consequences cool cool. yup. cool. got it. THANKS AVATAR
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Day of the Black Sun: MY GOD. Where to start? Let's go chronologically 1. Look there's a certain cathartic power to "getting the team together" with everyone you met along the way, but it's even better when that's A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE
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2. Sokka having no idea how to give a power point / speak publicly is perfect, soooo much subconscious emotional vomiting 3. The amazing preparation montage with appa's armor etc. but ending it with little sheep is exactly what makes this show so damn humane. No tough guy B.S.
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4. The speech about moments of truth 5. Again, the action in this show is so freaking inventive, creative, thoughtful while being grounded in the basics of clarity, objectives, stakes, I'm in awe. What an attack. 5. "yes... he has." 6. Holy shit the lightning reversal callback
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The Western Air Temple 1. Zuko rehearsing his job interview! HE IS MY NEW NEW FAVORITE NOW (the show is so good at employing empathy in the right times / ways) 2. The ethos of "why am I so bad at being good?" so understands the muscle memory of anger / trauma. 3. The portrait
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The Firebending Masters: 1 "jerkbending... still got it" 2. RAIDERS VIBES 3. "He had a complicated past... family tradition I guess" 4. the way it reshapes our understanding of fire (a little heartbeat) is another reason I adore this show and it's philosophical underpinnings.
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The Boiling Rock: The first time I'm not sure it had to be a two-parter? But a bunch of moments I loved. Like Zuko thinking he can just say the punchline of a joke and be funny (but right after it shows how much growth he's had when people make fun of him back and he smiles) ...
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But the real coup is the way it elevates into the Zuko / Mei stuff and then dominoes into ty lee along with it - perfectly motivated stuff I loved it. And lastly, "My first girlfriend turned into the moon"
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The Southern Raiders: MY GOD THE SOKKA TENT GAG. / "why don't you take my mother?!" - But there's a bigger story about Zuko here (in chasing his own validation) is exacerbating and feeding the rest of the group's darker impulses... to a point, of course.
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The Ember Island Players: "This is the kind of whacky time wasting nonsense I've been missing!" The mission statement for this tremendously funny, but also thoughtful episode. There's so much in the layers in which we see ourselves and our own stereotypical behavior. And so many
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great gags like Zuko's long hair, toph as a tuff dude, the peter panning of Aang. But really the episode is about reflection "it takes all the mistakes in my life and shoves them back in my face" and serves to remind us yet again of just how impossibly young Aang is...
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It's sitting with the journey that got them here, all before before going into the deep trench of the the grim future that awaits...
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Zosin's Comet: There's much I could say about the finale. From the little delights of the Melon Lord, to Azula's angry haircut, to "I can't believe the captain remembered my birthday!" to the deeper callbacks and pay-offs and holy crap Katara's ingenious bending move.
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But the biggest delights come in the moments of genuine catharsis. There's a reason I cried at the "... when we build it together" line and it's not just the mere affectation of the moment itself, it's the history of "almost tragedy" that led to it.
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