Welcome back for another weekly review of Avatar! This week, the Earth King has invited us to Lake Laogai, and we are honored to accept his invitation. Read on to see how the visit went.
1. Endings and beginnings and middles.
By this point in the show, there are tons of characters and subplots that, as we move towards the season’s endgame, are all starting to collide. This episode sees the end of the Jet and Appa stories, the middle of the overall Ba Sing Se arc, and the start of a new life choice for Zuko. All of those stories come together in one larger narrative, affecting the events in each other’s stories even when the characters don’t cross paths with one another. To me, this is peak Avatar, packing in as much as they can to push the series forward while also keeping a tight focus on one episode-length story at a time.
This episode was written by Tim Hedrick and directed by Lauren MacMullan, the same duo who wrote the first Ba Sing Se episode, “City of Walls and Secrets,” which was structured similarly. I’ve always seen these two episodes as a pair. Though there are two other episodes in between them, the experimental structure of those two sets them apart in my mind. Together, “City of Walls and Secrets” and “Lake Laogai” are an effective Alpha and Omega to the Long Feng and Dai Li plot (even if those characters have a role in future episodes).
2. “The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.”
Back in “City of Walls and Secrets,” we learned that the Dai Li have been kidnapping anyone who speaks about the war and brainwashing them. Now, we see the deeper details of how that works. I think the creative team did some great work on bringing the abstract concept of brainwashing into horrifying reality. The use of a key trigger phrase — “The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai” — and the subsequent response — “I am honored to accept his invitation” — would be creepy enough on their own, but the zoom-in on the victim’s dilating pupil and the accompanying ‘shing’ sound effect evoke a visceral reaction. And how could anyone forget the fish-eye view of the many blank-eyed Joo Dees being trained to repeat their lines?
From a non-visual storytelling perspective, I think the way we get this information is also notable. Jet becomes the bearer of bad news — though he doesn’t realize it. Just as in “City of Walls and Secrets,” the character starts the episode thinking everything is going well, bringing hope to the Avatar gang. Setting the information up this way allows for greater mystery and intrigue as the story darkens and the team must figure out how to get information out of an unwilling, unknowing victim. Add in the characters’ past relationships and you have a fully engaging plot, even before the bigger fights and more emotional moments start.
3. “He’s lying.”
Since joining the cast, Toph has proven herself to be a great foil for the other characters. One of the biggest things that sets her apart, though, is that she has no clear overall arc in the show. To make up for this, she’s constantly inventing and showing off new uses for her abilities. Here, she shows how she can become a human polygraph.
First off, that’s just an awesome and useful ability that makes perfect sense given her ability to sense the vibrations around her. Second, Hedrick uses it in three different ways to evoke different responses out of the audience. The first use is simply to establish the ability and help lead the characters to the conclusion that Jet had been brainwashed. The second is a throw-away joke about Katara denying her feelings for Jet. And the third is the big payoff: Jet, having just been struck by Long Feng, says that he’ll be okay, leading Toph to tell Katara, “He’s lying.” It’s a perfect demonstration of how to maximize the rule of three by switching things up on each repetition, as well as a memorable way to introduce this ability.
4. “Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?”
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Over in Zuko-land, an Appa poster forces him into his deepest internal conflict yet. Should he continue to live this simple life with his uncle where they’re about to get their own tea shop? Or should he finally capture the Avatar to potentially reclaim his place at the Fire Nation throne?
Things have been tough for Zuko, but he hasn’t has such an immediate opportunity like this since his sister’s betrayal in the first episode of the season. Really, his distance from the Avatar has been a saving grace for his personal development. And yet, just like Jet being drawn to expose firebenders, Zuko can’t help but be drawn to capturing the Avatar, potentially letting go of all the progress he’s made.
I feel like I say this every-other episode, but Iroh’s lines here are some of the greatest in the show. He truly wants Zuko to stop and think about the concept of destiny. Zuko has spent so long telling himself that his destiny is what his father forced upon him, so he never stopped to think about what he actually wants. Iroh’s perspective on destiny exemplifies one of the greatest messages of the show for me: there is no metaphysical “destiny.” There is only what you choose to make out of the situation you are given. And if someone tells you that you’re supposed to be one thing, they’re wrong. It’s up to the individual to make that choice.
Needless to say, I’m proud of Zuko’s choice. It’s not the end of his struggle, but it is his biggest step forward yet.
5. Battle in the underground Dai Li facility!
I love the underground battle at the end of this episode. It’s the perfect mix of many characters showing off their many different fighting techniques in a visually unique location. The fight takes place in two different rooms, both made of dark gray stone with green crystals lighting things up, one with chains hanging from the ceiling and one with water flowing out of tunnels in the walls. The locations are fascinating to look at, as well as providing more creep-factor and some extra elements to bring into the fight.
This sequence was storyboarded by Joaquim Dos Santos, who had just come off directing half of “Justice League Unlimited” and would later direct about a third of Avatar’s third season. I see Dos Santos, by far, as one of the greatest modern animation directors, and I think you can see his influence even when he’s storyboarding under a different director. He effortlessly makes this sequence clear and concise despite the amount of moving parts. He also gets you to feel each punch, each bend, each feint, making the “camera” move with the characters as they show up from unique angles. The dude is also a master of replicating hand-to-hand combat, so some of the best parts of this sequence are the small up-close moments when characters are forced to make quick bending moves.
I’ll have a lot more to say about Dos Santos’s directing as the show continues. For now, though, this battle is a highlight in an already extremely strong season.
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What did you think of the episode? Are you sad about Jet’s ultimate fate? Happy about Appa’s? Conflicted about Zuko’s? Let me know in the comments!
