THE LEGEND OF KORRA - Season 3, Episodes 1-4 (Patreon)

Season One - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 / Season One Finale 

Season Two - Part 1  - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 / Season Two Finale 

Time for season three! Not gonna lie, calling your entire season “Change” is like when you ask someone about the themes of their story and they answer “oh, it’s about… uh… hope! And love.” But luckily, the first episode really was…

1. A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Get it? Cause that’s what it was? I mean talking about calling their shot with naming conventions, but holy moly. This episode was just so outrageously and IMMEDIATELY good. It’s, like, night and day from all the problems of the seasons that came before.

In terms of surface delights, some of that good comes from the new fun plot developments! Like the fact that Bumi can now air bend! And so can a bunch of other people! But the past seasons had fun details of past seasons, too - so why does this work so well? Well, it’s because it’s all getting dramatized well! Starting with the fact that we actually get a sense of coherent interiority from the characters and it’s communication to the audience. Instead of simply stating facts plainly and ingraining them in postures, we go deeper. Bumi is delighted by his new found ability, then we play with a hilarious scene of dramatic irony where WE know he can air bend (thankfully, they’re not trying to surprise us) and then BOOM, he does it in front of them! It’s sounds so simple and obvious, but the show wasn’t doing this at all before. And the best part is the rest of the plot doesn’t just deal with the fallout, but changes and involves their scope of understanding! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. THEY STORIFIED THE MAIN CONSTRUCT!

But the interiority goes deeper than that. The scene where Asami and Korra actually FINALLY just talk and become friends is so damn refreshing because we’re finally getting into their head spaces. And now that we have, the two can just make fun of Mako’s awkwardness for what it is (boyish idiocy). Even the way they make jokes about their history of kissing when then other is out of the picture is handled with humor and empathy. There’s even a point where they verbalize the old problems of this dynamic, “I never had a girlfriend to hang out with and talk to before!” YEAH, that’s because the show never let you! But now, it feels like a major course correction that was long, long overdue.

More interiority is even the reason the JOKES work better. Because you can really see where people coming from and how they actually feel and that allows the posturing to play for laughs instead of falling flat. Remember how many of Aubrey Plaza’s season two jokes were great on both paper and delivery? But it just didn’t matter cause the scene had no underlying reality and no dramatic tension to actually relieve with said joke? Now all the humor works so much better because they play into the underlying story of the scene. THIS is the difference that good dramatic writing makes. They’re not trying to manufacture artificial tension, they’re giving the audience clear information, showing you how the characters REALLY feel about it, letting you track their mental state, and then putting those feelings in direct contradiction with the people around them for either laughs for fisticuffs! This stuff is the backbone of positively everything good about storytelling.

And with a solid foundation comes the ability to forgive the little things. For instance, the president loves blaming The Avatar for everything as a scapegoat, but suddenly he’s casting her out in a way that feels a little convenient and not exactly the ideal choice of action? But at least there’s a few established reasons like her further damaging the city! But even though her casting her out a little convenient to be immediately sending her on her journey, you can see how much less that matters when everything else is firing on all cylinders.

Especially when it comes to the emotional core and what would drive her (and the audience) to want to go on that journey to find more air benders. Because the scene where Tenzin thinks about filling the air temples again / rebuilding the nation and starts crying? HOLY HELL, Y’ALL. It’s not lip service! It’s so meaningful and thoughtful and gets to the heart of everything he ever wanted and in doing so, we want it, too. Man, clear and coherent interiority is the grounding force of all storytelling.

And from there, “good drama” is the act of putting that grounding force into compelling space! Even the brief bits of action in this episode feel so much more engaging. For instance, the moment where the vines come back STRONGER after Korra’s attempt to placate them has this little amazing escalation of danger where they run in to rescue the people in the building (the set-up shot of seeing the kid JUST BEFORE works so well). And better yet, it all leads to a huge character moment…

Yes, Korra finally gets her “superman moment” on the bridge. No, it’s not some daring moment of action. It’s the ability to fly right up to a stranger and simply talk to them about what matters. And I love the humanizing idea at the center of their conversation, “I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t want to hurt anyone!” And Korra says, “Me too!” But it’s not just lip-service. The show has *ACTUALLY* backed that up with what was happening in the episode. And together, the two find commiseration in learning to “accept things as they are” with the new changes. Yup, we actually got an entertaining episode where from start to finish there was y a cathartic lesson learned - one *ACTUALLY* formed a new relationship with this smallest of characters and pushed the narrative forward. It’s so, so good.

And if all that weren’t enough, we get the introduction to our new bad guy. And no, it is not a cryptic tease or vague threat for the future. I mean it does those things, emotionally speaking - but it’s not purely constructed AS those things. Instead, we get all the right pieces of information. There’s this dude in prison. Intelligent. Student of history. Weirdly understated. And the realization of OH, OF COURSE someone bad got new air bending powers, too! The escape is downright thrilling, particularly of him hopping down the moutning. Everything about this character is clear-yet-intriguing. And with that?

The entire episode. Every bit of it… works. By jove, it’s been awhile!

RANDOM THOUGHTS / BEST JOKES:

-“I have been noticing a change in your aura lately” Bumi: “AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!”

-Korra: “[homer simpson voice] Cant talk. Meditating”

-Oooh, even The White Lotus is back!

-Me hearing Zaheer’s voice: Is that… is that Henry Rollins? *one google later* … Oh fuck yes.

Y’all this is so promising.

2. REBIRTH

HOLY CRAP, THIS JUST GETS BETTER.

The episode essentially tells two parallel “team-building” stories. 

First, let’s talk about the villains’ story and the concept of “necessary information.” It’s true, we don’t REALLY know what they’re ultimately after and why. But we know their goals in the short term! Zaheer is going around and busting his old crew out of jail, which is all the clarity we need. It’s all part of the perfect push / pull of new information because it’s not just DANGLING vagueness in front of you. And immediately I’m taken with the inventiveness of their looks and styles. I’m like wait is Ghazan’s a lava bender!?!? And the water bender who uses the bending for her arms? It’s not just cool posturing though, it makes all of their escapes dramatic and interesting. And then they even give us a nice little bit of clarity at the end: 1) they’re going to get final person in the crew who Zaheer seems to have been in a relationship with - and 2) they’re all after the Avatar. Y’ALL ITS PERFECT VILLAIN TABLE SETTING, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT.

They even execute the much harder to do plot-line with Korra and the gang! Yes, Asami showing up with air ship is convenient (and what is the deal with her company right now exactly?), but we mind less because the story is immediately making their prospective journey full of character conflict. Starting with Mako not wanting to go. In prior seasons, this interaction would have been some shoe-gazing and vague explanations not reflected in their behavior, but instead, there is tension created here but it’s played for laughs. Mako is actively using a different PROFESSIONAL cadence to try not to deal with his feelings of awkwardness with Korra (which thanks to get good set up last episode, we know she’s already over). It works so nicely.

But the sequence doesn’t just end at their impasse, Bolin actually comes in and has a positive exchange in the scene by convincing him to come along by pointing out meaningful things (“A life? You sleep under your desk!”). It’s really getting at an interesting thing, perhaps. Because we’ve spent so long (poorly) defining Mako as the withdrawn hot dude love object, that it’s really interesting to see what happens when we try to define him outside of those parameters and actually get into his head. Part of what helps is that Bolin isn’t just absurd comic relief, he actually WANTS something. He wants to go to the Earth kingdom and see where his dad was from and wants Mako to be a part of it (the scene of him imitating his theoretical grandma is so good). And it just reminds me…

 The show is remembering how to have FUN.

And fun is much different than just cracking constant jokes over the narrative. It gets into the story approach and construction. It’s engineering entire comic scenes. It’s things like the little cartoony airship on the map (that updates with their sad faces). Same goes for the montage of Tenzin being a terrible, terrible salesman (“when your sun becomes a master, he’ll get tattoos all over his body! Just like me!”). But notice this comedy is true to character and comes from good dramatic set-up. Because it all stems from the first scene with the prospective air bender, which is rooted in character wants and misunderstandings of expectation. 

Like, Of COURSE Tenzin just assumes everyone would want to be an air bender and would consider it some huge honor! This is everything he’s ever been taught to value! But these people just got these powers out of nowhere. They have lives! They have their own wants and needs! But notice how much the comedy follows the tenets of drama, it IS a full argument, just with this little lighter touch and funnier consequence (because all good comedy comes from good conflict). But the functionalism doesn’t just help build the fun montage that follows, it actually serves as the perfect set up for their first recruit!

The Kai scenes are done SO WELL because they’re told with such economy. Right after team Korra has this huge dog and pony show, he shows up and tells them that archetypal sob story about his parents and it’s too good to be true. Which means as an audience member, we know the kid is trouble, immediately! Haha. But of course the team believes it, because they’re so ready to believe. But unlike seasons past which would drag out a dynamic like this with regards to their character secrets, they instead dramatize the reality IMMEDIATELY by having the police show up. Thus everything is out on the table. Which leads to them to making a real HONEST TO GOODNESS CHOICE about what to do with Kai.

On some level we understand their “beggars cant be choosers” mindset because of the set-up that’s come before, but more than that: it’s about Korra taking a chance to trust him. She’s making a real decision built on her character. And because they do all this in just TWO SCENES, they have actually moved the story forward instead of dragging it out and slowly filling you in “information” about the past (which has been the show’s WORST dramatic habit, and the chief sign of people hiding their ability to actually tell a story). It’s the old adage of writing, “play your cards early, it forces you to come up with more cards” And by making this decision right here when the conflict comes up, they therefore can actually build relationships forward and show character growth instead of more hiding. They can have him *ACTUALLY* have a chracter arc. Hot damn! 

But it’s even better than that. Notice that by the end of that second scene, each person has a different relationship dynamic with Kai, too! Korra is betting on him and has put her trust in him. Tenzin has gone along, but he is already likely to get under Tenzin’s skin. Mako is immediately suspicious (but it’s clearly motivated from his past, because he WAS that kid). Bolin of course wants to be Kai’s big brother (as he is ever the little brother). And GASP it’s already so much fun because Jinora has a crush on him (which will likely play out much to Tenzin’s dismay). Gah, it’s setting up so many good dynamics so competently and you know? I have the funny feeling these dynamics won’t be dropped….

Because goddammit, this show is actually STORYTELLING! Huzzuh!

RANDOM THOUGHTS / BEST JOKES

-The sight gag of Oogie trying to eat Naga.

-Little girl: “Why does the bald man want to take you away!??!” 

-Bumi: “That will leave you breathless… with air!”

-John Heder is Ryu is amazing and I really wish he got to come along too, I love him. I want him on the airship.

-Okay I was genuinely not prepared for hot shirtless Tenzin!?!?!? Is this already some meme I don’t know about?????

-And if all that wasn’t enough, it ends with…

LORD ZUKO RIDING HIS FUCKING DRAGON, ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

*audibly clasps hands to cheeks*

3. THE EARTH QUEEN

In this episode, three (plus) plot lines come together BEAUTIFULLY.

it actually starts with Kai. We quickly get a dramatized scene of him being better at air bending than Uncle Bumi. And I’m like, oooh they’re establishing more fun relationship dynamics! And following through on old ones! Because Jinora still has that crush! And the taking of Bumi’s wallet is not only a fun display of what we expected of Kai, it’s the perfect set up for what is to come. Because they’ve come to the famed earth city of Ba Sing Se, with all it’s material delights and I had to slap my forehead because, OF COURSE! Kai is going to be tempted like a kid in a candy shop. Naturally, they immediately make good on this dynamic and have Bolin and Mako chase him, which just leads to their own separate story.

Which is actually properly set up thanks to what we established with Bolin’s want! Again, he’s so excited about earth kingdom and following up with family, which is also part of the reason he wants a little brother in Kai. It’s the SAME motivation in wanting family connection (which again, made his plot line in season two so nonsensical). Sure, Bolin’s always been funny. But the funny works so much better here because it’s REAL to him. And what makes it all work so well is that Kai perfectly sparks the differences between the cold, uncaring Mako and the overly-trusting Bolin. Because in the end, their conflict is less about Kai, and more about each other. 

Which is why through circumstance, Kai escapes and the two of them end stuck in the lower ring. But you know what my favorite thing is about this development? They actually set it up earlier as they were entering the city! It wasn’t just another in a long line of “oh, we’re in the lower city, I read in a book somewhere!” It was actually ingrained in the set-up! Ah, I could cry. And with that, Mako and Bolin find themselves in their younger states, sleeping on trash pile and remembering what it was like to live in the third ring of society. But what I love is how much all of this is thematic. They’re remembering who they were on their own and how the absence of family put them there, and it will certainly matter in what is to follow…

Because their desire for family gets a whole lot more literal. Yeah, the way their meet their cousin and uncle is convenient, but I don’t care because 1) it was actually set up so well so that 2) I actually WANTED it to happen and when it does 3) we have a hilarious meet cute about their terrible, terrible fruit. More over, they wanted family and ended up getting a cartoonish amount of it. But luckily, there is a defining relationship at the center: the grandmother (who Bolin did a theoretical imitation of before they even met). And better yet, they don’t settle for texture, they immediately engage with conflict.

Old seasons of Korra would mistake conflict for LOUD YELLING all the fucking time. But that’s not what conflict is. Conflict is often these little moments of different wants coming into a realized space. It’s seeing your crush hold the hand of someone else. It’s the tumultuous feeling of being seen at your worst moment. And in this case, it’s suddenly realizing that they’re going to have to tell their new family that your parents (AKA their son, or brother, or cousin etc)… are dead. It’s such an immediate 180 on their expectations. And it’s not easy. They’re going to have to hurt these people, just as they were hurt as young boys so long ago.

But for once, the story does not settle for texture. It results in conversations of catharsis and diving into the past. Just a picture alone and the word’s “dads wearing your scarf” and it was like WHY AM I CRYING. He’s been silently carrying that around for so long. And that crying was before the grand gesture of Mako giving her the scarf in turn. The two boys came to this house in search of their own want, but they ended up giving others the closure they needed. And in that, the meaningful connection ends up going both ways.

But empathy is all over the episode. Korra’s adventure feels so compelling because the show finally understands that what makes her stubborn character actually work is a good contradiction. When she’s put up against the shadowy, manipulative, deceitful wet noodles like Unalaq? There’s no real conflict happening. She just plays into their manipulations. But putting her before The Queen is instantly FUN, because she is both terrible AND ridiculous. That sort of hoity toity that clashes so well against Korra’s impatient, take no shit attitude, along with her complete inability to be diplomatic. But notice they give The Queen a real psychology! She’s mad that they built the united republic in earth kingdom territory! She’s mad that the last avatar “used” her father! Which shows us that unlike her father, her ignorance is willful. And it’s precisely what allows this plot line to be more than just fun and games, it brings the story right into morality and class dynamics.

To wit, The Queen insists on making a deal. For the earth benders locations Korra must run the “simple” errand of picking up the local taxes. But the tax extortion gives way to a massive attack from A MAD MAX STYLE BIKER GANG - HOLY SHIT. And immediately, I can’t overstate how much I love Asami and Korra fighting as a duo. It’s genuinely the best fight in the show so far. I mean, this was my actual note in watch the episode: “I CARE SO MUCH!” But the best part about this conflict is while it make sense in the moment, changing clarity comes in at the end where they say the Avatar is on the wrong side and Korra answers: “Why do I get the feeling he’s right?” It’s true! Korra returns having done her part of the deal (after this massive taxing on the poor) and oops, she says there haven’t been any! But that can’t possibly be true…

But rather than simply tease that idea, we behold the way it all comes together. Bolin and Mako hear from their family that they’ve been taking air benders off the streets. Therefore, we come back to Kai, who had been fully enjoying that Home Alone 2 life all episode. He’s still stealing and using his air bending powers and then, BOOM - the Queen’s men close in and take him and shove him into jail. Only it’s not jail, it’s an army training team of stolen air benders. Oh no! This is exactly what good writing does. Kai is kind of smooth, irritable kid you want to learn a lesson and stuff, but you DON’T WANT HIM FORCED INTO BEING A CHILD SOLDIER. It immediately gets our empathy in the exact right way and better yet, sets up great new conflict for what is to come.

If seamlessly intertwining the stakes of three plot lines wasn’t enough, they even sprinkle in more with a fourth. For we see Zuko visit the BORED TWINS OF THE NORTHERN ICE KINGDOM from last season and I’m immediately so excited. Because suddenly we’re seeing them in a more grounded, fun context. So that when they deliver jokes like “Why didn’t anyone tell us we have a secret prison we could have been throwing people in?” They’re actually 1) talking about the plot and 2) answering their own question (because people don’t trust them to do the right thing). But it turns out this prison was constructed solely for a fire-bender-head-exploder lady (in the tradition of the assassin from Avatar). And the second she gets visitors, she knows the truth: “He’s out, isn’t he?” What I love is this isn’t cryptic or vague. It’s clear as day. The villains are out. They’re strong. And they’re coming to get her. This ACTUALLY makes us excited for the future rather than merely imply that we should be.

Y’all, this writing is fantastic.

RANOM THOUGHTS / BEST JOKES

-I love the moment of Korra casually elbowing the servant to the ground as he starts touching her / pushing her out. THIS is the Korra we’ve always wanted.

-Unsuspected theft victim: “What a strange sudden breeze!”

-Zuko: “Ironically, I hired a guy with the same ability to kill The Avatar once! [uncomfortable silence] … Didn’t work.”

Y’all, I want to hit play on the next one so bad. This is such a delightful feeling!

4. IN HARM’S WAY

Hot damn, we’re four episodes in and the storytelling economy of this season feels like old Avatar-ian times!

We start with thrilling prison break, which might be the best action we’ve seen from the show yet? I have a feeling I’m going to keep saying this! But we even get to see Zuko fight like Zuko! (I love how much the different styles reflect the characters, the show has ALWAYS been good at this). And then we get the cool action of Mind Exploder lady! (She’s so tall!). But I also love the way information comes out in this really lovely organic way. Like we learn the fact that Korra’s Dad was actually the one who put them away??? I’m like “there’s a story there!” but it doesn’t feel like a tease! It came out in information that has merely come out in conflict-based dialogue! But as we watch these so cool and distinct villain group go off they make a perfect little capper joke of “really… right now?” It serves as an important reminder…

You always want to like LIKE your villains. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about liking them in a way that creates moral complexity, for you should almost always know who you want to win. It’s about the enjoyment of watching them plain and simple. Even if it’s “hate like.” Because the other villains in this show (minus Varrick) have been the aforementioned wet noodles. They’re disconnected people with wishy washy pasts and convoluted motives and weak-ass psychology. It’s like they only served to be this endless permutation of “a plot agent” that went against Korra for some mythical, mystical reason. Which is why they sucked SO HARD. But what makes these ones “good” is coming all out of the basic clarity of what it takes to make good writing.

And it’s part of why I like EVERYONE now. Bumi is no longer posturing comic relief, but someone a part of the main thrust of the story, with his own hilarious dynamic because he’s thrust into the status of lowly air bender. It fits his over-the-top bravado so completely. I also love how they’ve really tapped into the comic side of Korra’s anger, like in the scene where she’s sparring with Asami and going WAY TOO HARD and has no idea how to do good insults (“stupid queeny smirk!”). We’re also showing off how bad Korra is at pretending when she has to suddenly use subterfuge in presence of the Queen.

But they also keep the plot moving as they indulge in these fun traits. Bolin and Mako are now saying goodbyes with the family, but it doesn’t feel like a quick, rushed thing because the connection they made was really meaningful. And they give the goodbye the exact right sense of space and reality (Even Bolin’s joke of “what was your name again?” plays well because it doesn’t feel callous, but sincere to the goodbye). But the story wastes no time - they get back to Korra and it’s immediately clear what they have to do: break out the air benders. There’s even a perfect therefore / but in the scene with Korra being like “I swear, the next time I see-“ and boom, the Queen is right there. Luckily, they manage to buy themselves a night to try and find a way to rescue the air benders.

The only question, how to find them?

The resulting answer was not just well done, but I swear to god it was made to directly answer all my concerns about the prior seasons’ plotting in this show (not literally FOR me, but like those that had those concerns before, as time travel was not involved in this criticism). It all starts where the narrative presents a possible answer for where they are hiding, which happens to be a former location of where the earth kingdom hid people in Avatar! Note the way the first two seasons of Korra did this ALL THE TIME. It was just copy and paste nonsense. And how do they magically know this location? Mako: “What? I’ve been reading some of Jinora’s books!” And i was like DAMMIT - WE GOT SO CLOSE TO THE ANSWER NOT BEING IN A BOOK. But I tried to bargain with myself in the moment because at least they made it Mako who was reading so its funny? And it’s almost a lamp shading joke of how Jinora knows everything? But then…

Holy shit, it was bait and switch! The benders WERE’NT there. And as they start rattling off the places they could be and realize “huh, there’s lots of places” and I’m like HOLY CRAP ARE THEY AWARE OF THE CONVENIENCE PROBLEM and how it has been crippling the earned sense of drama in the story. So instead, they dig deep into the spiritual connection of what Jinora could do at the end of the last season and actually explore it in a compelling, meaningful way! Better yet, it’s done in a way that established from Jinora and Kai’s connection (Tenzin: “connection!?”) This is not only a beautiful way of handling it, I swear it’s this whole meta example of actually following up on the show’s old issues and the writers saying “Don’t worry, we’re not going to do this anymore!” 

And speaking of Kai, his characterization down in the army training center is perfectly executed. We see his empathy come out in the moments where his partner asks, “go easy on me i’m not that good.” And also in the way he apologizes after. Sure, Kai is a loner who is mostly looking out for himself, but he hates bullies and authority even MORE, so of course he’s going to protect that kid out of spite. But it’s also because there IS softness in him. It’s just such a great sense of psychology and empathy building. And god help those soldiers for hurting him! This is great, organic work in establishing rooting interests.

Hell, the episode even handles this great plot interruption moment so well (which past seasons never did). Right as they’re prepping for the jail break, there’s a knock at the door and they think it’s the queen! Oh no! But instead, it’s Lin. And she’s there to get Korra out because her life is in danger. And that’s when the truth comes out. It’s not vague, or teased, or hid. The reason Zaheer and his terrible villain band were all arrested in the first place is because they tried to kidnap Korra when she was a kid. Suddenly, so much makes sense in terms of why she was sheltered away all those years! It’s precisely the kind of retcon that actually works. Again, they’re giving us clear story information in a way that is perfectly time for what we need in the moment. Because the only question that remains is: why? We still don’t know, but that’s okay. It’s often said that good whodunnits are really good whydunnits. And because I have enough clarity for the driving question, I am compelled to find out!

But what I also love is how much this danger is not going to stop Korra, who his making her decision not to run. Lin sticks by her side and the escape scene stuff is so good (I particularly loved the cartoony gag of Jinora distracting them as they’re ALL behind the guards). The escape is also really good at making you like Kai and his fighting style. But my favorite part of the writing comes in the final stand-off with The Queen. Suddenly we think of Bumi’s line earlier of, “Well, she technically has a right to conscript her citizens [hard stare]… What?! It’s true!” Because it was actually a huge set up to this exact conflict. Because what The Queen is doing is NOT illegal. Thus taking them is a real complicating conflict. Sure, it’s moral thing to do, but it is still an act of war that will definitely have consequences. And as it unfolds I’m just saying to myself, “God, this is so smart.”

I love that I’m saying that out loud with this show. And the escape even leads to the moment where the two airships must split. Tenzin now gives them the air benders a choice in the form of solemn, earnest speech. There’s no insistence, no hard sell, just the sobering messaging. Which shows that he has learned his way and offers them true shelter. And in doing so, all the air benders volunteer to come willingly. As Tenzin cries, it’s not just for the memory of his father’s dream. It is for himself. And for us. Having done this, the time comes to say goodbye to Korra. And for the first time, splitting up in this show actually feels wanted and earned instead of something artificially forced. I get it completely. And as Korra and Tenzin say goodby, the words they say ring in my ears, “this is only the beginning.”

For once in this show, I am so excited that is true.

RANDOM THOUGHTS / JOKES

-Head boom girl is so tall! Way taller than Zaheer! I love it!

-Mako: “I had a lot of money in that wallet!”

-Bumi: “Awww, no one likes codenames anymore.” / “Does anyone have a badger mole who knows morse code?”

What a joy.

<3 HULK