Recap / The Nostalgia Critic S 7 E 19

Release: September 23, 2014

Countdown: Top 11 Best Avatar: The Last Airbender Episodes

Guest starring Dante Basco

Tagline: The voice of Zuko and Nostalgia Critic duke it out over the honor of Avatar the Last Airbender.

1. Sozin's Comet: "The Phoenix King", "The Old Masters", "Into the Inferno", "Avatar Aang"
2. "The Storm"
3. "The Crossroads of Destiny"
4. "The Southern Raiders"
5. "The Guru"
6. "The Puppetmaster"
7. "Zuko Alone"
8. "The Day of Black Sun": Part 1, Part 2
9. "The Firebending Masters"
10. "The Chase"
11. "The Ember Island Players"

See also The Top 11 Worst Avatar Episodes.

Tropes:

• Actor Allusion:
  • Tamara dresses up as a pirate, referring to Dante Basco as Ruffio in Hook Dante later quotes Ruffio by calling the critic a "stupid man".
  • She also dresses as Huntsgirl from American Dragon: Jake Long. Dante played Jake. He also decides to dress as him at the end of the episode. ...Right when Tamara manages to dress up as Toph.
• Arson, Murder, and Admiration: What was the ending of "The Crossroads of Destiny" like?
  Critic: It was cruel. It was sick. It was freakin' awesome!
• The Cameo: Jason Laws from the Adventure Time vlogs appears as a Barnes and Noble customer.
• Evil Is Cool: In-universe. The Critic can't help but love Princess Azula, despite how evil she is.
• Frame Break: Dante punches the Critic out of the video player and down into the comments section below.
  Dante: Your fourth wall jokes won't save you!
• In Love with Your Carnage:
  Long Feng: You've beaten me at my own game.
  Azula: Don't flatter yourself — you were never even a player.
  Critic: (low key) Damn, what a bitch... she's so freakin' awesome.
• Magnificent Bastard: In-universe, the Critic praises Azula as being one, particularly for her terrifying yet awe-inspiring work in "The Crossroads of Destiny".
• Ninja Prop: Gleefully abused. To begin with, Dante as Zuko punches down the Critic out of the video player and into the YouTube comments section below. The Nostalgia Critic fights back by grabbing negative comments and throwing them at the firebender, in a literal Flame War. And when low on ammunition, he yells "Joss Whedon is overrated!" to make more appears. Then Dante seizes one to throw back at the Critic, who warns him that he's about to hit the yellow advertising line of the video. Of course, the Critic takes advantage of the commercial break to get away. Finally, still on the YouTube webpage, the Critic hides in front of his own image on the picture for his The Last Airbender review.
• Oh, Crap!: Critic has one when he accidentally mistakes Dante for Dev Patel.
• Product Placement: "The Search" is read by Dante Basco in the book store, and both he and Critic promote it in answer to Zuko's question about his mom when discussing #1.
• Pun:
  • The flame war. Fought with two different kinds of flames.
  • And Jason's reaction after his book on picking up women in a taxi is destroyed.
    My cab bitches!
• Running Gag: The Critic freaking out and repeatedly yelling at the characters, "You're not supposed to do that!" whenever they do something extremely scary or shocking (Sokka falling for Azula's "favorite prisoner" speech, Katara bloodbending the Southern Raider, Zuko subverting his Heel–Face Turn, and Aang getting shot by Azula's lightning).
  • Also, Tamara's inability to get an Avatar costume, getting ones that reference some of Dante Basco's other roles instead. She finally gets it right at the end (dressing as Toph)...except at that point, Dante has switched roles from Zuko to Jake Long.
    Tamara: Oh FUCK YOU, Dante Basco!
• Shout-Out:
  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, with the exact opposite sentiment to the last time that was referenced.
    Critic: The needs of me outweigh the needs of you.
  • The metalbending book is by Bender.
• Stand-In Portrait: While fleeing from Dante within YouTube comments, the Critic hides in front of his own image on the picture for his The Last Airbender review.

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You man! You stupid stupid man!

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