Avatar-The-Last-Airbender-1.14-The-Fortuneteller Television 

Five Thoughts on Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s “The Fortuneteller”

By | August 10th, 2017
Posted in Television | % Comments

Welcome back for another weekly review of Avatar! This week we meet Aunt Wu, the fortuneteller. How does the episode hold up? Here are my thoughts.

1. An Odd Duck.
On a macro level, this episode looks like a strange outlier compared to the episodes around it. The previous two were game changers, one in terms of story and the other in terms of technical skill (animation, directing, music). Then, from the next episode up through the season one finale, every episode has a consistent tone that balances comedic fun with serious and important plot developments. So, this largely superfluous episode that focuses on comedy ends up being a footnote, albeit an enjoyable little footnote.

2. The Episode That Set Shippers Aflame.
The one part of the episode that ends up NOT being a footnote? The shipping. Oh, the shipping that occurs.

I’m… not a shipper. If it makes sense to put characters together, then put them together. If it doesn’t, then don’t. My biggest issue with most modern primetime superhero dramas (read: CW shows) has to do with the absurd amount of time spent on the artificial will-they-won’t-they drama of every single character. So I can’t say I was particularly thrilled by that aspect of this episode. However! I can deal with it. It’s not too obnoxious, we get some great laughs out of the situations, it builds a foundation for future romance, and it’s really only prominent in this one episode.

At least, if you don’t listen to the diehard shippers who still use this episode as fuel to this day.

3. This Episode Was Definitely Written By John O’Bryan.
While most of his episodes don’t do much in the grand scheme of things, I think John O’Bryan has the clearest voice on the Avatar writing team. He’s the only writer where I always correctly guess when he wrote an episode, and it’s usually due to his sense of humor. He brings a sarcasm, an upbeat wit, an irreverent spin to these characters while still understanding their core traits. Some moments may be more exaggerated than we’re used to, but the exaggeration on display is always rooted in who these characters are and never out of realistic bounds. We see all of that here with Katara’s obsessing over Aunt Wu’s mysticism, Aang’s attempts to woo Katara, and Sokka’s skepticism leading to his “self-inflicted anguish.”

Some fans have completely written O’Bryan off due to his work on the admittedly bad “The Great Divide,” but I always have a great time with his other episodes.

4. Wait, Aaron Ehasz Co-Wrote This Episode?
Aaron Ehasz served as Head Writer on Avatar for all three seasons. Every now and then, he would step in to write a particularly important episode: season premieres, season finales, and mid-season tentpole episodes. So why did he co-write this mostly unimportant episode?

I think it has to do with the fact that the original show order was for 13 episodes, so this 14th episode was the first of the batch which would ultimately finish out the season. There are a few kinda-important moments here, like when Aunt Wu tells Aang’s fortune (which, of course, gets used as the set-up for a joke), or their not-so-subtle moment at the end of the episode regarding forging your own destiny. The latter in particular becomes a major theme for the rest of the show — the last episode of season 2 is even called “The Crossroads of Destiny.”

On the whole, though, Ehasz’s influence wasn’t felt too much here. Maybe he originally had a greater part in the episode and that changed during development? Whatever the case may be, O’Bryan ended up stealing the show. Or, rather, the episode.

5. …Toph?
Let’s close this week out with a fun fact: Meng, Aunt Wu’s young assistant, was voiced by Jessie Flower. For those familiar with seasons 2 and 3, she also ends up providing the voice for Toph! It’s funny how you can completely miss something like that when the characters look and act so different. I wonder if Flower was cast here before they decided to make Toph female, then later chosen for Toph based on her performance as Meng?

Continued below

A nice, unexpected easter egg to close out an enjoyable, if unimportant, side-adventure.

What did you think of the shipping nonsense here? Did you enjoy the humorous side-story, or do you just want to get back to the action? Let me know in the comments!


//TAGS | 2017 Summer TV Binge | Avatar: The Last Airbender

Nicholas Palmieri

Nick is a South Floridian writer of films, comics, and analyses of films and comics. Flight attendants tend to be misled by his youthful visage. You can try to decipher his out-of-context thoughts over on Twitter at @NPalmieriWrites.

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