I am going to try and get reviews of the final four episodes of Book 2 out before the end of the week. K211 today, K212 tomorrow and the final 2 at some stage before the end of the week.
K211 Night Of A Thousand Stars
[caption id="attachment_8314" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Bolin gets his big moment.[/caption]
Written By - Joshua Hamilton
Directed By - Colin Heck
Animated By - Studio Mir
I went into this episode wanting and expecting just one thing, that being an end to the Mako in jail/Varrick plot. It needed to get a resolution just so the crazy spirit stuff could be the focus for the final 3 episodes. It was to the point where I didn't expect to enjoy the episode that much, but this blew away my expectations and ended up being a fantastic episode. This is a huge achievement. While I have enjoyed the Mako, Bolin, Asami and Varrick plot, it was not on the same level as the other plots, so for this episode to be as good as it was was very impressive. If I was to pinpoint what made this episode great it was that it really gave all of these characters some time, all of them felt a little underdeveloped, but how this episode handled Bolin and Varrick especially really did a lot for them as characters and made the slow build of their story worth it. Bolin really was the star of this episode.
He finally an episode where he was the focus and he really did a good job with this increased role. I was waiting all Book for Bolin to get his big character moment, while the Eska and Movers stuff was fun, I wanted a more serious moment where he proved himself. Boy did they give him a big moment, but it was not just that big fight scene, it was also the other more emotional moments in the lead up that made it work so well. I was a bit worried that he was letting the fame go to his head after the way he acted in K209 with Mako, but with his brother in jail Bolin came to show he cared. It was a great role reversal, Bolin at the start of this book at no goal while Mako was on the fast track to becoming a detective and now Mako is in jail and Bolin is the most famous person in the city. It was a really nice scene between the brothers, where we really see how mature Bolin has become when he notes that the directions their lives have taken them in has split them apart, but that they will always be brothers. This was the type of moment I would usually expect Mako to say to Bolin, the reverse here was fitting.
His biggest moments come at the finale of Nuk Tuk. Not only is he a huge success where even the president is a fan, but he shows the whole city that he is not just an on screen hero, but a hero in real life. We have not really seen Bolin fight much this Book, none since he became a movie star, so to see him catch on to the kidnapping and then fight the soldiers was a fantastic moment. Not only was it one of the most creative fight scenes in the show, with the action in the mover and out of the mover near identical, but the fight itself was really well animated and a very clever use of the pro bending arena, a nice bookmark for Bolin who at the start of the Book was failing at pro bending yet it was that experience that allowed him to beat the soldiers. He gets his big moment where the whole arena is cheering him for being a good actor and a real life hero, much needed for him. I also enjoyed the more emotional scenes with Asami, where he talks about how much he misses being a part of Team Avatar, it was his experience there that I think that helped him be so confident in taking on the soldiers and he did it alone, without the rest of the team. He showed that he is strong on his own as well as part of the team.
Nuk Tuk Hero Of The South as ever was hilarious. Pabu had an amazing on screen death scene and the clever use of bad special effects was great. It just works every time.
Bolin's victory led to Varrick's downfall and at last he was outed to everyone as the mastermind behind the bombings and kidnapping. I was a bit worried when he was carted away to jail that that was him gone for the rest of the Book, so I was delighted to see Team Avatar return to get his help. He is fantastic in every scene he is in and is definitely one of the stand out new Book 2 characters, this scene with him in jail is brilliant. Not only is it funny that Varrick also lives in luxury in prison, but the fact that he suspected that he would end up in jail at some point had me in stitches as well as Zhu Li being in jail with him. I appreciated the decision to not portray him as an out and out villain, sure he did some bad stuff, but he also helped Team Avatar a lot too, I like that moral grey area. I dislike the bad things he did, but he is such a fun character that I could never hate him. It was interesting to find out that he named his battleship after Zhu Li, shows how important she is to him, but it did really make me wonder how they met.
Mako was not the focus of the episode, but he got his big moment when everyone realised that he was right all along about Varrick. It was short, but sweet when Lin simply demoted Lou and Gan and promoted him to detective like he wanted in K201. The problem is that while Bolin was allowed to have his moment, Mako's moment was nearly ruined by the shipping drama again returning with the reveal that Korra does not remember the break up and Mako is now back together with Asami. I felt bad for Mako being put in this position as a character, it is really beginning to hurt him as a character having him be the centre of all the relationship drama and him constantly going back and forth between Asami and Korra. He got his moment that has been built up since K205, but as I said it was kind of overshadowed by girl troubles. That is an issue, because I liked Mako's arc here.
Hey, remember that Civil War in the south, we get to see it here. I had nearly forgot that we had not got to see any of the war, so returning to Tonraq was great to see. It was a small part of the episode, but it focused on the important stuff, namely Tonraq vs Unalaq, the battle of the brothers. What a fight this was, lots of intensity and like the Bolin fight from earlier on it was animated so well, a great showcase of powerful waterbending, only downside was that it was a bit short for all the build up, but it did a good job at building up Unalaq's power as a bender. That final blow of the fight was devastating.
Last thing to mention is the reaction to the end of last episode. I was so worried that we would get Tenzin really mad at Korra, when she was not at fault. I was delighted to see that the way they approached it was that Tenzin was blaming himself, which sets up his big moments in the final 2 episodes of the book. While Korra also is eager to make amends and save Jinora.
Overall this ends up being the odd episode out of the 4 part finale, the remaining 3 episodes really feel like the finale, while this feels like the last episode before the finale. It is excellent by itself and sets up the finale well, I just hope it is not forgotten with all of the insane things that happen in the remaining 3 episodes.
Bolin gets his big moment.[/caption]
Written By - Joshua Hamilton
Directed By - Colin Heck
Animated By - Studio Mir
I went into this episode wanting and expecting just one thing, that being an end to the Mako in jail/Varrick plot. It needed to get a resolution just so the crazy spirit stuff could be the focus for the final 3 episodes. It was to the point where I didn't expect to enjoy the episode that much, but this blew away my expectations and ended up being a fantastic episode. This is a huge achievement. While I have enjoyed the Mako, Bolin, Asami and Varrick plot, it was not on the same level as the other plots, so for this episode to be as good as it was was very impressive. If I was to pinpoint what made this episode great it was that it really gave all of these characters some time, all of them felt a little underdeveloped, but how this episode handled Bolin and Varrick especially really did a lot for them as characters and made the slow build of their story worth it. Bolin really was the star of this episode.
He finally an episode where he was the focus and he really did a good job with this increased role. I was waiting all Book for Bolin to get his big character moment, while the Eska and Movers stuff was fun, I wanted a more serious moment where he proved himself. Boy did they give him a big moment, but it was not just that big fight scene, it was also the other more emotional moments in the lead up that made it work so well. I was a bit worried that he was letting the fame go to his head after the way he acted in K209 with Mako, but with his brother in jail Bolin came to show he cared. It was a great role reversal, Bolin at the start of this book at no goal while Mako was on the fast track to becoming a detective and now Mako is in jail and Bolin is the most famous person in the city. It was a really nice scene between the brothers, where we really see how mature Bolin has become when he notes that the directions their lives have taken them in has split them apart, but that they will always be brothers. This was the type of moment I would usually expect Mako to say to Bolin, the reverse here was fitting.
His biggest moments come at the finale of Nuk Tuk. Not only is he a huge success where even the president is a fan, but he shows the whole city that he is not just an on screen hero, but a hero in real life. We have not really seen Bolin fight much this Book, none since he became a movie star, so to see him catch on to the kidnapping and then fight the soldiers was a fantastic moment. Not only was it one of the most creative fight scenes in the show, with the action in the mover and out of the mover near identical, but the fight itself was really well animated and a very clever use of the pro bending arena, a nice bookmark for Bolin who at the start of the Book was failing at pro bending yet it was that experience that allowed him to beat the soldiers. He gets his big moment where the whole arena is cheering him for being a good actor and a real life hero, much needed for him. I also enjoyed the more emotional scenes with Asami, where he talks about how much he misses being a part of Team Avatar, it was his experience there that I think that helped him be so confident in taking on the soldiers and he did it alone, without the rest of the team. He showed that he is strong on his own as well as part of the team.
Nuk Tuk Hero Of The South as ever was hilarious. Pabu had an amazing on screen death scene and the clever use of bad special effects was great. It just works every time.
Bolin's victory led to Varrick's downfall and at last he was outed to everyone as the mastermind behind the bombings and kidnapping. I was a bit worried when he was carted away to jail that that was him gone for the rest of the Book, so I was delighted to see Team Avatar return to get his help. He is fantastic in every scene he is in and is definitely one of the stand out new Book 2 characters, this scene with him in jail is brilliant. Not only is it funny that Varrick also lives in luxury in prison, but the fact that he suspected that he would end up in jail at some point had me in stitches as well as Zhu Li being in jail with him. I appreciated the decision to not portray him as an out and out villain, sure he did some bad stuff, but he also helped Team Avatar a lot too, I like that moral grey area. I dislike the bad things he did, but he is such a fun character that I could never hate him. It was interesting to find out that he named his battleship after Zhu Li, shows how important she is to him, but it did really make me wonder how they met.
Mako was not the focus of the episode, but he got his big moment when everyone realised that he was right all along about Varrick. It was short, but sweet when Lin simply demoted Lou and Gan and promoted him to detective like he wanted in K201. The problem is that while Bolin was allowed to have his moment, Mako's moment was nearly ruined by the shipping drama again returning with the reveal that Korra does not remember the break up and Mako is now back together with Asami. I felt bad for Mako being put in this position as a character, it is really beginning to hurt him as a character having him be the centre of all the relationship drama and him constantly going back and forth between Asami and Korra. He got his moment that has been built up since K205, but as I said it was kind of overshadowed by girl troubles. That is an issue, because I liked Mako's arc here.
Hey, remember that Civil War in the south, we get to see it here. I had nearly forgot that we had not got to see any of the war, so returning to Tonraq was great to see. It was a small part of the episode, but it focused on the important stuff, namely Tonraq vs Unalaq, the battle of the brothers. What a fight this was, lots of intensity and like the Bolin fight from earlier on it was animated so well, a great showcase of powerful waterbending, only downside was that it was a bit short for all the build up, but it did a good job at building up Unalaq's power as a bender. That final blow of the fight was devastating.
Last thing to mention is the reaction to the end of last episode. I was so worried that we would get Tenzin really mad at Korra, when she was not at fault. I was delighted to see that the way they approached it was that Tenzin was blaming himself, which sets up his big moments in the final 2 episodes of the book. While Korra also is eager to make amends and save Jinora.
Overall this ends up being the odd episode out of the 4 part finale, the remaining 3 episodes really feel like the finale, while this feels like the last episode before the finale. It is excellent by itself and sets up the finale well, I just hope it is not forgotten with all of the insane things that happen in the remaining 3 episodes.
