Welcome back for another weekly review of Avatar! This week, we get some down-time with individual shorts about the ensemble cast. Read on to see how the episode holds up!
1. A much needed respite.
Ever since Toph’s introduction ten episodes ago, we’ve had non-stop progression of both plot and character in every episode. Now that we’ve finally reached Ba Sing Se, we get a much needed breather of an episode. A pleasant series of six four-minute shorts shows us what the ensemble cast is up to in Ba Sing Se, doing anything as ordinary as going to a spa or going on a date.
Despite how that may make the episode sound like filler, it’s far from it. Think about real life: when you have your days packed and go two weeks without any time to relax, you cherish that day you finally get all to yourself. “Tales of Ba Sing Se” is no different. Through these shorts, we get a greater feel for the depth of experience of all these characters, making their prior and future adventures all the more meaningful.
Also, I want to give a shout-out to the episode’s director, Ethan Spaulding, who sets each short at a different time of day. Because of this, the shorts each get a different visual identity, and they thus take place completely out of time. These could have taken place all on the same day, or over multiple days, or over multiple weeks. It ultimately doesn’t matter, though, because each little nugget is able to be taken completely on its own.
2. Spotlight on the crew.
Since we have an unconventional episode, it follows that none of the writers are actually part of Avatar’s writing staff. Here’s the breakdown:
– Toph and Katara: Joann Estoesta, production coordinator, and Lisa Wahlander, martial arts coordinator and videographer
– Iroh: Andrew Huebner, production manager
– Aang: Gary Scheppke, production assistant
– Sokka: Lauren MacMullan, director and storyboard artist
– Zuko: Katie Mattila, production assistant in season 1, production coordinator in season 2, writer’s assisnt in season 3
– Momo: Justin Ridge, assistant director and storyboard artist, and Giancarlo Volpe, director and storyboard artist
As you can see, most of those people are far removed from the creative decisions in the show, so it’s great to see they got a chance to write. Elizabeth Welch Ehasz and John O’Bryan, both staff writers, are credited as story editors here, so I’m sure they kept things feeling like Avatar. Ehasz tended to write the bigger, more character-driven mythological episodes, while O’Bryan typically stuck to more comedic one-offs, so I think they were a good pair to guide these shorts. I’d love to hear their thoughts on creating this episode. Also, shout-out to Katie Mattila, who climbed the crew’s ranks during the series and whose Zuko short definitely got her the gig writing one of my favorite episodes, “The Beach,” in season 3.
3. Spotlight on the diverse cast.
Probably my favorite thing about these shorts is how, once separated, you get a great sense for how diverse these characters are in their goals and outlooks on life. The stories all grow organically out of these goals and outlooks. For instance, Toph is independent and brash, yet she can have trouble relating to people and gaining their approval, so her story is about her and Katara making peace with that through a spa day. Aang is all about freedom and connecting with nature, so his story is about freeing animals from captivity.
My personal favorite was Iroh, who, to me, is the heart and soul of the show. He simply spends a day out on the town connecting with people of all ages and all walks of life, helping them out in whatever small ways he can. And at the end of the day, he holds a birthday memorial for his deceased son, saying, “If only I could have helped you.” I’m getting emotional from having written that out. Iroh is as much of a victim as anybody else in this world, having been bred to kill and conquer. Yet it’s his personal choices that set him apart from that destiny. His goal in this world is now to help anybody he can, to prevent any future unnecessary bloodshed, and to teach others to enjoy life — including, of course, his surrogate son, Zuko. These are all big-picture ideas that the show preaches, and every bit of this comes through subtly, yet strongly, in this four-minute short.
Continued below4. The art of the haiku.
Over in Sokka’s story, he stumbles into a classroom of girls his age who are learning about haiku. In past episodes, we’ve been introduced to Eastern philosophies and different forms of martial arts, but I don’t think we’ve ever had something as close to the real world’s version as the haiku here. Sokka’s attempts at the form seem correct on the surface — he’s using the right amount of syllables! — yet if you listen closely, you’ll see how he’s neglecting other aspects of the form.
All but one of the teacher’s haiku (the one where she explains what a haiku is) reference a season, yet none of Sokka’s do. The teacher’s haiku all have a strong element of juxtaposition between ideas, yet Sokka’s don’t. Really, compared to the teacher, Sokka isn’t making poetry. He’s just saying words that happen to fit a pattern.
Honestly, I never noticed all of this until rewatching the episode last year. It’s never explained, and we’re led to think, like Sokka, that the teacher is annoyed at him for getting the syllable thing right so quickly. To her, though, his boastfulness is actually ignorance — and an offensive ignorance, at that. This sort of story comes so perfectly out of the character’s personality that it’s easy not to realize how well-constructed it is, along with how well it represents the real world’s art form.
5. Still pushing things forward.
Surprisingly, Momo’s story has the strongest bearing on continuity, despite being completely dialogue-free. It also ends up being one of the more emotional shorts, dealing with loss and longing as Momo sees things that remind him of Appa. Avatar has never been shy about stressing the idea of animals as thinking, feeling beings, and I think this story’s importance is the perfect example.
More on that next time.
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Thoughts on the episode? What was your favorite short? Were you happy to finally get a breather after the last batch of heavy episodes? Let me know in
the comments!
