Netflix ATLA: S2 Ep 3

So, with the Gaang escorting the refugees, we can't get a full Bitter Work episode (S2E9), which is understandable; So long as he struggles with Earthbending, (as covered in my previous review) it's fine. However, with the episode's title being literally the same as S2E14, that means we also get to Ba Sing Se this ep. Then where is Wan Shi Tong's Library (S2E10)? Where's The Desert (S2E11)? How are we learning about the eclipse and HOW IS APPA GETTING CAPTURED?! The "positive reinforcement" talk is taken from the original, but altered to turn it into a joke. This thing that Toph detects can't be the tank train (best way to describe it) from The Chase because we got the resulting big fight at the end of the last ep, so this has to be The Drill, right? Okay, I'm gonna make a prediction for what happens next. Indulge me:
Toph & Aang spot the drill, get back to Sokka, Katara, Suki & the refugees at the Outer Wall, half the ep is dedicated to stopping the drill (already have an issue here, but I'll wait until the end to see if I'm right & talk about it), the other half is trying to get an audience with the Earth King and eventually learning about Long Feng (head of the Dai Li) & the Dai Li's efforts to keep the war a secret from Ba Sing Se. Afterward (probably next ep) they run into Professor Zei, who tells them of the Library. They go out into the desert to find it, do find it & while there, Appa gets captured.
Okay, too long for a 1st paragraph about the 1st scene, so let's get into the meat & potatoes.

We jump into Iroh laying out the 4 elements & the respective people's similarities to the element. This is such a cool moment in the original, and they're really rushing through it, not giving it the reverence it deserves. Also, this lesson is only brought up because Zuko, in order to stand on equal footing with Azula, tries to generate lighting but can't (due to the turmoil, anger & shame within him making him unable to properly separate yin & yang energies, making them forcibly rejoin & create lightning). Iroh then brings up the other elements & nations to show Zuko not to take wisdom from just one place, as he developed lightning redirection from observing Waterbenders. Gotta give credit to the show; They had Iroh understand Zuko's turmoil & not even have Zuko attempt lightning generation (In the original, they try it 1st & Zuko just causes explosions right in front of himself).

Aang planning escape options & Toph not wanting to run... Did those abundance of mentions of jings have an effect? Aang (and technically Airbending for a large portion) is about negative jing, while Toph, waiting and listening for the tremor's source is using neutral jing. Plus, standing your ground (against Toph & her painful and insensitive teaching techniques) is what helps Aang earthbend for the 1st time on the original. This is new, and quite a fun little battle between Aang & The Boulder. Plus, they are taking every chance to have Toph be what the fans love her for, and I'm here for it too. 2 things, though 1) Was the rumbling just The Boulder? If so, that'll shift things around in my prediction but not change the substance of it all that much. 2) Gotta be careful with how much they use The Boulder & Ji Shen as comic relief; They (Xin Fu & Yu in the original; changed here, remember?) show up only once after their introduction in the original & are technically successful in capturing Toph, so they can't be bumbling forever.

Dayum, they really make you feel the desperation of the refugees here. Nice close-up, shaky & claustrophobic shots and a mess of sound that works in its favor. Iroh's reluctance to return to Ba Sing Se is completely new (He's very blasé about it in the original), but I at least see the reason; It will remind him of who he was before adopting the humble life (The general of the Fire Nation), & of what he lost (His son, Lu Ten died in the siege). It's new, but dangerous territory for this show because Iroh is meant to be this unbreakable bastion of wisdom & humility. To portray even a possibility of that breaking like they did at the dock is risky. And there's Longshot to help Zuko & Iroh, which means the return of Jet. Nice. If you're not privy, I won't spoil it for you. I'll just say, no matter your feelings on the character now, you will & at the same time won't be glad they brought him & some of the Freedom Fighters back. Having Azula there would be a bad thing, but remember, she was taken off the drill mission, so actually, her being there gives Zuko a fresh batch of turmoil. Having the Gaang taken into custody at the wall is also new (in the original, the Gaang arrived just as the drill started its... drilling, so they had to help deal with that first). Gotta wait to see why to pass judgement, but my bet is Katara/Sokka/Suki mentioned they were with the Avatar, who they'd figure would cause trouble by confronting people in Ba Sing Se about the war outside the walls, and if you know the meme, you know what comes next: There is no war in Ba Sing Se. So they imprisoned them as a cautionary, preliminary measure.

Having Iroh THIS injured on the ferry is new, but gives us this nice moment of Zuko telling Iroh, in his own threatening way, that he needs him. Jet recruiting Zuko for a food heist has the added pull of medicine for Iroh, which is a nice touch (though the original has Zuko sick of eating rotten rations, so it's also justified there) and I'm glad Zuko turned Jet down until he mentioned the medicine. It shows where his priorities lie. Having Toph use her Beifong pull to get out of prison is a nice nod to her doing the same to get ferry tickets in the original (though, they then abandon those tickets to help a family who can't get tickets cross the Serpent's Pass, the other way to Ba Sing Se, safely). AND THERE SHE IS, the most well known meme of the show, Joo Dee. AND SHE SAID IT IMMEDIATELY! (Fun fact, in the original, Joo Dee never says that line. It's said by the Dai Li agent brainwashing Jet (S2E14)). With that zoom, they knew what they were doing. Appa being mentioned reminded me that him being here is WHOLLY different from the show. Toph mentioning being "handled" is from the original.

We get intro'ed to Long Feng (is that Lau from The Dark Knight?) at the Avatar Villa ahead of the party scene & he's buttering them up before the reveal. The Eastern Air Temple specifically is the birthplace of Airbending because it is where every sky bison, the original Airbenders, are born, raised & eventually paired with every Air Nomad. Another emotional Appa moment. HMMMMM... If they had him captured before, we could've spread these out a bit more. There's so much focus on it, it feels like they're mashing them in & making up for the restructure. I'm not happy he's going to get captured while they're in Ba Sing Se, but I'll wait until he is captured to say why. Having Long Feng make the Gaang believe they will be able to speak with Earth King Kuei is different from the original, which had the group have to wait a month for the opportunity, which they didn't accept, thus the infiltration into this party. Toph's hand wave recalls one of the funniest jokes in the original (S2E10, Youtube search "Toph blind joke 'There it is'").

Ah, having Sokka's love be unsaid to Suki gives the potential to have her capture, imprisonment & impersonation by Azula & her crew a bigger gut punch to him than it was in the original. There, Suki met the group before they crossed the Serpent's Pass and left as soon as they were safe, not before sharing a kiss with Sokka. The Painted Lady again... seeing it in season 2 and not attributed to the Fire Nation is so jarring for me, but I'll wait to see if it's a true positive or negative until I see what they do with it in season 3. This attempt at bending the venom out of the child's arm... is this a foreshadow to bloodbending? So, during the full moon, when waterbending is at its strongest, certain Waterbenders can bend the blood within a person, causing them to move against their will. She said she couldn't do it (pull the VENOM out, not the blood lol), but she clearly bent something because the child was hurt by it. Katara bringing up the offer Suki made her... I thought that offer was for then & there, because she still has to see Aang's mission through. Man, Sokka cannot get away from it, huh? But like the overabundance of mentions of Appa, don't overdo it.

There's more Kataang shipping. Missed a big chunk of it, thanks to them not using the Fortunteller episode (S1E14) and decimating the Cave of Two Lovers in season 1. Wait, I just realized; We can suspend disbelief/uncanny valley Appa & Momo until the cows come home because they're hybrid animals (The vast majority of animals in the Avatar universe are), but what will they do for Bosco, Earth King Kuei's pet and a regular-ass bear? And rather try to cover up 100 years of war completely, they cover up that the war has been over for some time (Zuko was 11 when Lu Ten died, which is when Iroh ended the siege. He's 16 at the start of the show, so it's at most 5-6 years since the end of the siege & the false end of the war they are pushing). Makes it more plausible & achievable. Fun fact: Ba Sing Se translates in-universe to "Impenetrable City" (S2E13).

Wow, they're going double-whammy with the memes this ep with the cactus juice. And THERE'S at least the mention of the Si Wong Desert. Minus the drill happening this ep, my prediction is getting more and more probable. THAT'S Professor Zei? Jeez, he's younger than the original. I'm guessing to make what happens to him more tragic & poetic? I guess because Jet was foiled in his wrongdoings in Omashu (tried to assassinate Bumi), he's become more selfish by not sharing the pilfered foods with everyone (which he does in the original)? I guess that's enough reason; It just kind of deflates his identity as a Freedom Fighter though. ...Why would the Blue Spirit mask be on a refugee ferry?! And did Jet just peace out leaving Smellerbee & Longshot to potentially get caught? That's TOO selfish!! They're all he has left!

So THAT scene was new, Toph being pressured/uncomfortable around those 2 couples. Wonder what that will lead to, if anything. Sokka's shrinking bubble is going even faster now... Katara seeing the elite waste resources... Blow this party, man. Ah, their integrating Katara & Toph's tale from Tales of Ba Sing Se (S2E15). Nice message, and they got part of the way there, but they undercut it for a joke... And I was gonna let this argument with Toph & Aang play out to see if she's telling the truth or goading him to get him to Earthbend, but it took him YEARS to Waterbend?!? Sure, that explains the growth spurt fully but COME ON! That means the ticking clock of the original (He defeated Ozai less than a year after awakening from the iceberg) is comparatively a WHOLE GODDAMNED ALMANAC which SEVERELY LESSENS the tension & Aang's accomplishment! Sure, we have a ticking clock that they just learned about (2 EPISODES AGO, mind you), but before that, he's had AMPLE time to master at least more than 1 element (not counting Air) and any deviation from his main task, which should be egregious & dangerous nonchalance, is now: "Pfft, who cares? We have time." This sucks to go from a high like last episode, to this one doing alright, to another REALLY bad decision that, as of right now, ruins my high hopes. And Aang's an Earthbender now, whoop-dee-do. I gotta take a moment so I can properly review the rest.

Very touching scene with Sokka & Katara mirroring their grief over their mother, Yue & Suki (connection to loss established in S2E4 of the original, but not explored). Someone going through grief of a lost loved one may close themself off from making new loved ones, but also close off from those trying to help them simply because they don't want to relive it or burden others. I like how Katara didn't force the info out of Sokka; It's important to let the griever feel comfortable & speak about things when they are ready. She also let him know that it might never stop hurting BUT others, especially family, are there to help you carry the burden. Well acted, simple double over-the-shoulder shots. Well done all around. Was the cactus juice ending needed, though? (If they show its "effects", you'll see why I'm griping about it.)

Sweet, they kept the Dai Li Earthen gloves. Such a cool concept that mirrors their "grip" on the capital. Ten bucks says Long Feng just said something like "He's just some crazy kid that wants to talk to you." to Kuei. Back on the ship, now they're having Jet push everyone away, which again, I don't agree with, even if they're using it as a wedge between him & Zuko. Iroh's "bracing" tea remark at Zuko's shall we say less-than-stellar attempt at brewing tea is from the original (S2E9). Zuko, meanwhile looking around him, seeing the good he's doing for others, but this time without needing to be the Blue Spirit (whose leitmotif plays as he sees the lights on the coast) and just being himself. Very nice job pushing that proverbial dial back to the positive (although the crescendo-ing chorus before the jump cut has me second-guessing my reaction now).

Long Feng saving his own skin by saying the Dai Li aren't under his control, but the king's is a nice new touch. He doesn't want to rouse Aang's suspicions or his ire, so shifting the blame is a nice play from him. Man, he is buttering Aang up so much it's like a Thanksgiving meal from the 1950's. Obviously, Aang can't help but open up about the burden he feels of being the Avatar that we saw in the 1st ep this season. And there's the final nail; Long Feng finding "common ground" with him. ...What the hell? They're using the entirety of The Painted Lady episode, so many badass moments for Katara as well as a big character growth moment for her in that episode for this one-off character/moment? To show what? How did this develop Katara? I might need to take another break.

To understand why I'm angry, some context: The Gaang spends the 1st half of Season 3 in disguise in the Fire Nation waiting for an eclipse that "turns off" all Firebending to launch an attack on the capital to try & win the war. While there, they learn that the Fire Nation citizens are much like other people of the world, an important lesson (especially with today's current politics). Katara learns that there are good people in the Fire Nation & even they can be oppressed by their own people. She learns by taking on the guise of the Painted Lady, a particular town's protective spirit, to originally heal the townspeople after they're poisoned by a nearby factory from polluting the river which was the cause of the poisoning & sickness. She eventually destroys the factory, but also outs herself as a Waterbender in the process. With convincing from the rest of the Gaang, the riverfolk realize she was only helping them and not waiting for something to come along to fix their problems, like they were. They, like the Gaang, realize there are good people in the other nations as well. Katara, in disguising herself as the Painted Lady, learns to be less reactionary and a bystander and instead take proactive measures that benefit others. And INSTEAD OF THAT, she saved one girl by picking flowers. SERIOUSLY?!? Don't get me wrong; this is fine if you don't know the original, but it is a HUGE missed opportunity for Season 3 if you do. MOVING ON!

Aang having to "play ball" with the Earth King & help out just to be heard sounds fine at face value, but in the original, they had something to do in the meantime: SEARCH FOR APPA IN THE CITY! Now that they don't (for the time being at least), it really makes them not considering the time crunch of the comet all the more baffling. I couldn't enjoy the cactus juice scene 1) because it is a SEVERE downgrade from the original (S2E11) 2) It was meant as a QUICK callback & 3) I'm still mad about the last scene. Having Long Feng as facetious this time around allows for this cliffhanger about the corruption & brainwashing. Nice move.

PROS:
Some nice family scenes: The Katara/Sokka scene at the party & even the Zuko/Iroh scenes on the boat were simple yet touching. It's a shame they're the only standout pros.

CONS:
Potential for future things ruined: SO MANY things altered or abandoned. Aang having YEARS to "master" Waterbending, Katara's growth shown in The Painted Lady destroyed, Jet's new selfishness causes mistrust in his fellow Freedom Fighters. Even though this is one con, it has slammed the scales into the negative.

OVERALL STANDALONE: Okay ep, just outweighed by last episode.
OVERALL KNOWING ORIGINAL: First it's sweet, now it's sour (and not in a pleasing way).