Netflix ATLA: S2 Ep 4

Montage of Aang's training & The Gaang staying in Ba Sing Se to start off and since this is how Aang tries to speak directly to the Earth King here, I guess makes sense to swap searching for Appa with both Earthbending training & integrating into the city's society. Sokka going to Sai, now that he's more open to talk is nice, though with him being taken to Lake Laogai last ep hopefully means Sai doesn't overshadow or replace Jet's involvement in taking down Long Feng or his brainwashing & cover-up of the war. Showing Iroh & Zuko's Ba Sing Se life is nice & necessary for plot (Iroh, tea master that he is, eventually gets his own tea shop which is where Azula finds them once in the city & Zuko's more humble living adds to his crisis of faith moment for the season finale), but the Robin-Hood turn for the Blue Spirit is new, appropriate & takes away from the more selfish aspects of his use of the disguise and what it got him in the original. However, I am still salty about the changes to The Painted Lady here, despite seeing that they're mirroring Zuko's & Katara's actions to further their brief connection in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se (S2E20) which I hope we're still getting. It's gotta be leading to more than just fixing small infrastructure & watering house plants, right?
After having seen the entire montage, another problem I have is that Sokka NOT ONCE tried to force open Sai's door to see if something happened. With so many letters on the ground, there's no way he's THAT concerned over THAT period of time & not even thought of busting in to check on him.

Suki running into the forces accompanying the drill makes for a more plausible scenario for her to get captured (than just running into Azula & Co. in the wilderness (S2E16)), and I guess despite Azula being told not to be on the drill mission, she knows Zuko is in Ba Sing Se & seeing the drill succeed is the fastest way to get in at the moment. And Toph teaching Aang her seismic sense lines up fine because there's a moment where he uses it against Ozai in the finale, directly leading to his defeat.

Zuko using spark rocks to hide his Firebending in Ba Sing Se is directly from the show (S2E14), although Jet steals the spark rocks in secret because he discerned Iroh & Zuko as Firebenders once departing from the refugee ferry because Iroh had cold tea in one instant & hot the next. Zuko stealing to improve their lives is from the original, but placed here instead of while on the run from Azula (S2E5), which despite it being here because they were never fugitives from Azula/The Fire Nation, irks me a bit because Zuko is supposed to be trending toward humility and accepting his life in Ba Sing Se; Him leaning on this underhanded way of life, although keeps him morally grey, sullies his trend upward. Long Feng playing on the celebrity Aang has become in Ba Sing Se to manipulate him & start to come between him & Toph is a nice touch; Even though the writers have chosen the group to play the long game to speak to the Earth King (which I still have problems with), I like how they're choosing to show this side of Long Feng. It doesn't exactly even the scales, but it's a silver lining at least.

As soon as I saw that tree, I knew what was coming. Taking it all in before I pass judgement... Nevermind, we'll get it later I guess, and although Iroh's apprehension to return to Ba Sing Se is more substantial than before, it still shouldn't shake him this much. He never blocked out the fact that his son died in the siege & he still felt sad about it, sure, but it didn't stop him from needing to hide in Ba Sing Se in the original.
HOPEFULLY, Wan Shi Tong's library USED to be near Ba Sing Se & is not still close by but just buried in the desert sands. The whole point of losing Appa further away from Ba Sing Se than where it (potentially) is was that Aang needed to be afraid of losing the only connection to his past COMPOUNDED with the distance needed to travel without Appa only to chase whispers of his location. It was supposed to feel impossible. Now, if the library is just a couple of hours of travel on Appa away & they know where to go to find him, then a LOT of the worry will be cut.
Also, you're telling me that there is NO ONE ELSE in Ba Sing Se that knows how to make or has a telescope? Sokka can't find a singular telescope or craftsman of some in the entirety of Ba Sing Se and has to resort to making one of his own? AND NOW WE KNOW IT'S BEEN WEEKS and Sokka HASN'T BUSTED DOWN THAT DOOR?!? Zei loosening the 1st stone on the brainwashing revelation is new & necessary because in the original, Long Feng told the Gaang nearly immediately. You might think he's stupid to reveal his plan like that, but guess what? THEY WERE THERE TO LOOK FOR APPA & he threatened to remove the group from Ba Sing Se, which is why Appa not being captured is so alien to me; The only reason they're there is to try to get the Earth King's support for an attack on the Fire Nation before the comet. Since they're on the time crunch of the comet, they shouldn't be playing this long game with the King AT ALL!

So this is Jin, who helps bring out Zuko's unselfish side (he goes on a date with her in S2E15), which helps balances the scales of him stealing as the Blue Spirit. There being a Fire Nation district in Ba Sing Se is out-of-the-blue new & my guess is that either someone there will recognize Zuko as the prince or he'll have to do some firebending, either option outing him to Jet & that's how we'll get the ball rolling for him. Obviously, Jet not losing his hatred of the Fire Nation because his village was destroyed & family was killed by them is warranted, but again, not liking that they made Smellerbee & Longshot abandon Jet, (meaning the writer's choice; the characters in-universe absolutely right to do so). Again, Iroh had his moments of solemnity in the original, so this show hitting him over the head with guilt is interesting territory, but they have to tread lightly; I also have to see if there's an objective to this because this along with the previous scene of Iroh not visiting the place of remembrance for his son, Lu Ten, makes it look like they're making Iroh muster the courage to go there when he shouldn't have a problem going there at all.

Guessed correctly why Azula was with the drill, but WHY WOULD OZAI STOP THE DRILL ATTACK & GIVE NO REASON! I literally can't think of a reason why he'd give no reason! Are they planning on having the drill at all at this point? New scene of Toph confronting Katara about her nighttime good-do-ery, but who cares if Aang knows she's "helping people" at night as the Painted Lady? And if this guy is drawing Toph away from the group just to get captured by The Boulder & Ji Shen, that is hella early (happens in the original after they get Appa back & speak to the Earth King (S2E18)). Again, WHY DID IT TAKE THIS LONG for Sokka to break in? The lock being so easily breakable is a slap in the face at this point. ...Okay, look, I get the idea of the discipline of martial arts dictating other things in your life, especially body mechanics, but you're telling me this guy knows Zuko is a Firebender from how he CAUGHT FRUIT?!? "Only a fool seeks his own destruction" is a line from Jeong Jeong, the Deserter (S1E16). If that's supposed to be him, then I guess there's enough credence for him to know (He is a master level Firebender who was Aang's 1st Firebending teacher. Comes back as a Order of the White Lotus member in the series finale to help liberate Ba Sing Se from Fire Nation rule).

Again, for what it's worth, love watching Long Feng's manipulation; Telling Aang the truth of what happened to Sai but placing the blame on others. Noticed he said "OUR efforts to see the King." Including himself in Aang's plight even though he saw Long Feng speak directly to the King at the party last episode. This next scene has me a bit confused; What instance of Sokka telling Aang something was wrong did Aang not believe? From what we saw, the first time Sokka brought it up to Aang, they were already going to Sai's house to check, saw he was missing, then Aang met with Long Feng to confirm whether Sai was in the palace working with the royal engineers or not. The Beifongs dealing with the Fire Nation is mostly new (the concept of Lao, Toph's father, making business deals with Fire Nation is done in the Dark Horse Comics, but post-war. Nothing treasonous about it.) The mention of Jang Hui is not new... That is the Fire Nation river the original's Painted Lady episode takes place. The factory mentioned is the one polluting the river, making the people sick. Unless they do SOMETHING with Katara being the Painted Lady here in Ba Sing Se, it's what feels like another slap in the face.

So Aang tracks his tracker, Katara tracks Jet and I track how long it's been since we've had some 'member berries with the Cabbage Merchant. And sure, Katara hearing what Jet is going to do & being inspired by the mural might spur her to be proactive and save the people of the Fire Nation district, but there is a big difference between saving "former" Fire Nation people in the Earth Kingdom and outing yourself as someone from the Water Tribe let alone a Waterbender in order to save active Fire Nation citizens in the heart of the Fire Nation. I'll have to see where this Aang tracking the tracker leads, however, before I pass judgement on it. Interesting change of making Sokka's tale from Tales of Ba Sing Se (S2E15) about helping and coming to an understanding with Toph instead of just trying to impress girls with poetry. We didn't get much Sokka & Toph interacting in the original (despite Toph developing a crush on Sokka (S3E4)), so highlighting their "burdens" (Toph's blindness & wealth and Sokka being the only non-bender in the Gaang) and how they make them stronger is a nice touch.

This scene of Iroh & the mugger is also pulled from his tale, but it wasn't to reveal a path of forgiveness or penance to Iroh. His tale was to show that he was willing to help anyone in any situation (he talks with the mugger & encourages him to pursue his dream of being a masseuse, among other people with problems). Iroh already knew full well his life of humility was his seeking forgiveness, his penance. SO not only did they mirror Zuko/Blue Spirit & Katara/Painted Lady in the narrative sense here, but they're having them fight for a common goal. Cool and sure, it slightly moves the needle back from my disgust of how they handled it, but only slightly; The original had Katara sway the riverfolk's opinion of the Water Tribe because of her actions. Here, she's not changing the minds of Fire Nation citizens and runs away without revealing herself to be Water Tribe. Plus, she never had a crisis of faith moment about her actions; Despite them being FORMER Fire Nation, she was helping people, no matter who they were, which was the whole message of the episode. Side note; Katara freezing Jet to the wall is from the original (S2E17), pose and all.

And the moment arrives again. Full watch, no stops until after. Well done & very tasteful, given the circumstances: Iroh, along with Toph, is many fans' favorite character because of his philosophy & outlook on life. Like I said last review, he is an unbreakable bastion of wisdom & humility. Mako Iwamatsu, the original voice actor for Iroh MADE that character. He sadly passed away before Season 2 of the animated show finished airing & before Season 3 started production. Iroh's tale in Tales of Ba Sing Se ends with a dedication of Mako and Iroh's moment honoring Lu Ten is capped with the most heartbreaking song called "Leaves from the Vine". Greg Baldwin was tasked with replacing Mako in Season 3 and he did a great job. During conventions, people ask him to say Iroh's lines (as voice actors do), but there is one thing he will never do; Sing "Leaves from the Vine", calling it "Mako's song". The music of the song is used in this moment, and I'm glad no matter the medium, that will remain Mako's song. And props to Paul Sun-Hyung Lee here; didn't overdo it, but made us feel both the found confidence of dedicating himself to helping everyone and the sorrow that he was not able to help his late son.

So finally Aang gets the revelation that Long Feng is the head of the Dai Li & the conspiracy that's silencing any mention of the Hundred Year War. Again, in the original, Long Feng openly tells the Gaang he's doing this because, using the Dai Li, he can expel the group from Ba Sing Se before they find Appa. What still baffles me are 2 things: 1) Aang was invited to the King's party, as honored guests and had no interaction with the King thus far, so why would the King have something against Aang? 2) Aang saw Long Feng just about walk right up to the King. So why does Aang think Long Feng can't do anything AND why, along with point 1, doesn't he suspect  Long Feng said something negative about him that would change the King's neutral, if not favorable, stance about him? And now Zuko knows the Avatar is in Ba Sing Se. In the original, he discovers this because Aang flies around the city dropping "lost pet/bison" posters & Zuko finds one on the ground (S2E16). Azula & Co. disguising THIS early (S2E17 of the original, post-drill attack)? ARE WE ACTUALLY NOT GETTING THE DRILL?!? (One Google search later...) WE'RE NOT GETTING THE DRILL! They cut it due to "pacing issues and a focus shift to character-driven arcs"... I'm going to try and remain calm and not let anger or inherent bias for the original dictate my argument.

I am obviously not happy with this decision. The Drill is crucial in a lot of aspects, but if I had to HAD TO admit it, not 100% necessary (save for one aspect, which will HAVE to change). In Season 2, the Drill is largely the 1st "impossible" threat the Gaang needs to stop, acting as a pseudo-mid season climax that raises the stakes for the finale. It shows the technological superiority of the Fire Nation compared to the others. It's the 1st time Toph works with the Gaang to stop a major threat (While not helping them inside the drill to take it down, she helps by slowing it down from the outside & helps Katara bend a slurry of water & earth the drill discharges to release pressure back into the drill, thereby creating pressure & the maximum amount of points of failure when Aang delivers a strong blow that collapses previously weakened braces, a technique he learned from Toph). It's also NECESSARY because it is what is shown to the Earth King as evidence that Long Feng has been covering up the Hundred Year War to him (S2E18). Now that that's out the window, they'll likely have that "captured" general Azula gave to the soldiers admit to it or something. MUCH weaker, but that's what they chose. What they also chose was to have the Painted Lady plot a WHOLE SEASON in advance. I'm not saying get rid of the Painted Lady story; It's a big Katara "character-driven arc". I AM saying HAVE IT IN SEASON 3. If they already have Season 3 laid out and there's ABSOLUTELY NO ROOM for it, then they're thinking very far ahead. If not, CUT the Painted Lady story from THIS season & dedicate that time TO THE DRILL. Still VERY MUCH NOT HAPPY, but we move on to next episode.

PROS:
Long Feng's deceit & manipulation: Long Feng uses his dual positions of Grand Secretariat, head of government 2nd only to Earth King Kuei, and head of the Dai Li, the elite police force of Ba Sing Se to reign over the city. It's only natural for someone like that to be charismatic enough to get what they want through deception & manipulation. Though not perfectly structured, his deceitful ways were showcased to us in nearly every conversation he had on screen.

Sokka and Toph scene / Connections found through haikus / New, enjoyed, like spring: Again, this series' strength is having new character interactions we never got in the original and I'm usually impressed with each. This is no different. Such a great idea of the common ground & connection point between Sokka & Toph being their perceived weaknesses & saying it's those "weaknesses" that make them strong.

Tasteful "Leaves from the Vine" scene: Whether you watch the original series or not, go watch Iroh's Tale from Tales of Ba Sing Se. If you don't watch the series, I hope I gave you enough context. Though maybe not as moving as the original (the dedication to Mako helped the subject matter feel more impactful), it was done very simply, which is a good thing. A silent, spacious moment for one character to reflect save for Mako's song.

CONS:
Drill-shaped hole in the plot: The Drill is a BIG part of the original's season 2, and for how long they were propping it up, was supposed to be a big part here too. To have it taken away when it was right in front of us for so long, for whatever reason and prior knowledge of the original or not, speaks to VERY messy writing decisions.

...along with other plot holes: Sokka not busting the flimsy lock to check on Sai for WEEKS, Aang not questioning why someone he SAW talking with the Earth King can't talk to the Earth King, even not being able to find ANOTHER TELESCOPE in the ENTIRETY of Ba Sing Se. Just so many weak points meant to prolong the Gaang's stay in Ba Sing Se.

Painted Lady fell flat: The original Painted Lady episode was used to show that even though they were from the Fire Nation, Katara would not abandon innocent people that she could help (It's literally a line from the episode & a memorable and badass one because they used it in the SDCC Season 3 teaser trailer: "I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!") Having her just fix small problems in an ally nation & help Fire Nation refugees that have already renounced allegiance to the Fire Nation wastes this potential growth.

OVERALL STANDALONE: Some bright moments through the overall clouds.
OVERALL KNOWING ORIGINAL: Silver linings won't save from the storm of bad decisions this episode.