Welcome back for this week’s Korra review!
1. Split down the middle.
This episode starts and ends in two wildly different places, and I think that’s why it works so well. The first half is largely about the pro-bending championships, and the second half is all about Amon’s big public attack against the benders. It’s an odd structure on paper, especially since the two plots are largely independent, but it worked for this midpoint of the season.
2. Pro-bending finale.
The season’s pro-bending story ends here. It’s the championships, and we’re introduced to more elements of pro-bending culture: Pabu, the mascot of the Fire Ferrets, gets time to perform before the match, just as the Wolfbats have a costumed, howling pyrotechnic show. It’s the little touches like this that make the sport feel real.
As with the other two pro-bending-heavy episodes, we are again thrown into the game without explanations of the rules. Interestingly, the whole point of this scene is that the Wolfbats are cheating. From a writing and directing standpoint, that could have been a challenge. How does one show people breaking the rules if the audience doesn’t know what the rules are in the first place? Luckily, the physical layout of the arena and the mechanics of bending make things easy to understand. Players shouldn’t aim for the head, as that could cause major injury; players shouldn’t use ice, as it unfairly prohibits mobility; players shouldn’t hide rocks in water, as that can double up in a dangerous way. We intuitively understand why certain moves are unacceptable, no explanation needed.
3. “Folks, there’s some sort of electrical disturbance in the stands.”
Midway through the episode, just as the Wolfbats (unfairly) win the tournament and the crowd cheers, the Equalists make their move. Scattered throughout the audience, they pull up their discreet facial coverings and grab concealed electric gloves out of their popcorn containers, then start to electrocute the audience.
The scene effectively builds on the fears many people have without sensationalizing them. I think most people fear coming across a single lone gunman at a crowded sporting event, so what if there was a legion of them determined to do you harm just to make a statement? There’s a joke thrown in with the announcer just to lighten things up a bit, but the scene is still treated with the terror and care that it should be.
4. Lin Beifong, the true MVP.
Outside of a scene in the first episode and one short moment in another episode, Toph’s daughter Lin hasn’t had much time to be properly developed. This episode doubles back and makes her the single most important figure in the episode, recruiting her metalbending police to allow the competition to proceed, chasing after Amon, and saving Korra TWICE.
The episode also pays off on a major subplot, revealing that Lin was romantically involved with Tenzin in the past. Seeing that these mentor figures aren’t perfect, that they have the same relationship issues and baggage as the younger characters, really opens up the world of the show and the inner lives of these characters. As cold as she was portrayed in prior episodes, Lin is now one of the MVPs of the show.
5. “I believe I have your attention, benders of Republic City.”
Amon’s speech in this episode had some notable bits to set it apart from the speech a few episodes ago. In the earlier speech, Amon was speaking to an underground legion of followers, riling up his base and proving himself to them. This episode’s speech had a much different purpose — to publicly announce his crusade against benders — and as such, it needed to use different wording. Whereas the earlier one was all about inspiring his base by confirming their prejudiced beliefs, this one is about creating fear in his enemies by appearing strong and justified.
He calls the Wolfbats “three bullies,” which isn’t exactly incorrect in their case, but it carries with it a connotation that all benders are bullies while non-benders are the innocent victims. He talks about how the equalists have long hidden “in the shadows,” creating the idea that there is a growing “silent majority” that won’t be silent any more, regardless of how true or justified that idea is. He uses euphemistic terms like “impurities” to hide the sinister eugenic nature of his crusade, and of course there’s the use of the term “equalizing,” creating the idea that things are unequal even when there isn’t any measurable inequality.
Continued belowThis speech is so well written, with so much nuance, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the team studied the speeches of real-world despots and eugenicists for accuracy.
—
What did you think of the episode? Did you love Lin’s scenes as much as I did? Are you glad pro-bending is over? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll see you next week!
