The Legend of Korra

So...muscular. Yes.

ESPECIALLY for a lead female. Muscular, dark-skinned, and aggressive? She's the character that gets introduced to contrast the pretty, perky female lead, then dies in a blaze of glory near the end.

Okay...I don't agree with Doug's list AT ALL, but yeah he was very civil about it. BUT THE STUPID MORON FORGOT "AVATAR DAY" I MEAN REALLY YOU THINK "THE BOILING ROCK, " "SOKKA'S MASTER" AND "THE WATERBENDIDNG MASTER" ARE WORSE THAN "AVATAR DAY????" THE EPISODE ABOUT A VILLAGE OF IDIOTS TRYING TO PUNISH AANG FOR HIS PAST LIFE PANTSING A DICTATOR AND AANG GOES ALONG WITH IT BECAUSE RESPONSIBILITIES AND THEN EVERYONE EATS RAW DOUGH??? GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT AND RE-EVALUATE YOUR LIFE!!! just bugs me.

Yes, I agree completely. I'm surprised he included "The Boiling Rock Part I" and especially "Jet", which I thought was fantastic. I thought "The Waterbending Master" was a fine episode, but Doug made an excellent point that just showing a world where gender equality exists and is taken for granted is at least as effective, if not more so, than showing female characters overcoming prejudice. The latter can be difficult to put an original spin on and can feel Anvilicious.

I liked "Bato of the Water Tribe" because it shows just how much Aang depends on Sokka and Katara - they're literally the only people he has; while he's very wrong in what he does, it works for his character to become desperate at the thought that they might leave him. He's already lost all his family.

My "worst 11 episodes" would be:

Season 1: "The Great Divide", "The Fortuneteller"

Season 2: "The Cave of Two Lovers", "The Swamp", "Avatar Day"

Season 3: "The Headband" (aka, Footlose), "The Painted Lady", "Sokka's Master", "The Beach" (good ideas, but overdone), "Nightmares and Daydreams", "The Ember Island Players". I like the third season, and it has some amazing episodes, but there's too many that don't really advance the plot - it's pretty clearly because Zuko needs time to come around to realizing that the Fire Nation is wrong, and we need to see him struggle with that, and the scenes with the Gaang are just filling time up until the Day of Black Sun.

edited 17th Sep '14 8:31:39 AM by WarriorEowyn

Hmm-mmm, seems like I'm limited to one or perhaps two Unfavourite Episodes per season. I can agree on "The Great Divide", "The Cave of Two Lovers" and "Avatar Day", didn't see anything of note in "Appa's Lost Days", and I also have some issue with "Sokka's Master", but the rest of them don't seem to have made bad enough impression on me. Like, for an example, sometimes the filler is funny enough to let it slide.

I'd ask of your opinions on Korra episodes we've seen so far, if that hadn't been discussed already.

I'm not one to knock filler simply for being filler (though I think that Korra did a good job this season balancing plot with lighter bits, and with little to no true "filler" episodes).

I can see Doug's point regarding "Jet" and "The Boiling Rock, Part 1", but I still like both of them. While I agree that Part 2 is the better episode of the two, a lot of that comes from the build-up from Part 1.

And I love "Appa's Lost Days". And "The Beach" for that matter.

edited 17th Sep '14 9:07:34 AM by KarkatTheDalek

I'm surprised he didn't include "The King of Omashu". I recall him not caring for that one in his v-logs.

Honestly I thought Part 2 was a b it hoakier than Part I of "The Boiling Rock"

I think I'd swap out either Jet, The Waterbending Master, or Boiling Rock part 1 for Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Other than The Great Divide I can't think of any episode that felt so pointlessly filler. It's not like filler can't be done well in Avatar, Tales from Ba Sing Se was mostly a filler episode, but I'd put it as one of the best of the series.

"Nightmares and Daydreams" is also a favorite of mine, for just how weird it is. I felt like it had some nice character moments and some funny bits.

Especially the Iroh bit.

I loved that bit.

I...um...don't remember that bit. Are you sure he had a scene in that episode?

You posted while I was replying to the person above you.

But possibly.

Oh.

Yeah, I don't think he did in that one. Nevermind.

I might get some flak for saying this, but I think that scene with Iroh singing "Brave Soldier Boy" for his dead son (and the accompanying dedication to Mako) is pretty much the only reason for why "Tales of Ba Sing Se" tops so many "best Avatar episodes" lists. Beyond that, the episode is not all that spectacular... not that it's at all bad, but it doesn't have much of what I generally like to see when I watch Avatar.

edited 17th Sep '14 9:40:37 AM by DrDougsh

That's fair, but considering how character-driven Avatar is, I really like an episode that's just a day in these characters' lives. I don't think we need awesome fight scenes every episode.

I'd have liked an episode like that in Korra but given how short her seasons are that was never going to happen

"Spirit of Competition" was a bit like that.

I agree, and I do still appreciate the episode, and the idea behind it. I just don't think it has any true stand-out moments except for that scene with Iroh.

edited 17th Sep '14 9:46:38 AM by DrDougsh

I kind of agree with you there, but I still think what we got was pretty strong. I mean, how many episodes are absolutely crammed with iconic moments? This one's lucky to have one good enough to be as remembered as it is.

And Sokka's story is hilarious.

"Nightmares and Daydreams" is also a favorite of mine, for just how weird it is. I felt like it had some nice character moments and some funny bits.

Nightmares and Daydreams is fun, but I kind of feel like it'd have been better suited to be a chibi short than an actual episode. I wouldn't have wanted it not to exist, but it had more out-of-universe humor than any other episode and took the place of an episode that could have explored Aang's uncertainty about how to deal with Ozai (and possibly even the lion-turtle) earlier so that conflict wouldn't have come out of nowhere at the end.

Very true. And come on, Tales of Ba Sing Se had Sokka get into a haiku rap battle. How can you not love that? And I forget, which book was Avatar Day in? I could've sworn it was in Water.

It was in Earth. And hey, I do love parts of "Tales of Ba Sing Se", I just don't agree with its near-unanimous status as one of, if not the, best episode of Avatar. Iroh's story is great and Sokka's is pretty funny, but the rest are just kind of okay. For an episode built entirely on character moments, it doesn't strike me as having any of the best character moments for the characters other than Iroh.

edited 17th Sep '14 10:37:29 AM by DrDougsh

I also liked the bonding between Katara and Toph.

They then needed to rebond in the Runaway because relationships take time to build sometimes.

edited 17th Sep '14 10:42:05 AM by Bocaj

Yeah, I liked their story too. And "The Runaway" is great.

I didn't particularly care for Tales of Ba Sing Se, and moments like the one Iroh had at the end tend to make me feel more uncomfortable than touched.

I never would have guessed people considered it one of the best episodes ever.

To me, Iroh's tale was one of the greatest moments of the series, but overall the episode was less than spectacular.