While we’re putting together today’s Fan Reaction podcast, I ran across this e-mail from Emily that is a bit too lengthy for our purposes, but it’s great AND illustrated (above).
I’m presenting it without comment.
-Da7e-
the picture summarizes my reaction
first of all, id like to apologize for the lack of correct grammar and capitalization and all, but its almost midnight, im a teenager, and i have to go to school in few hours, so im very sorry
for me, the finale couldn’t be more satisfying. well, im a pretty open person in general, i dont complain too much about what goes down in tv shows or animes anyway, but yeah, the finale just made my saturday for me. and it was great, because i had a dentist appointment right before the premiere and i got braces 😀
i actually dont really understand why so many people complain about how the season ended. i mean, i know it was rushed, but remember that originally, season 1 was going to be the entire series, so of course things were going to be rushed, and of course the whole shipping was going to be rushed also. but thats a whole another discussion so ill save my breath
to break down my reaction:
the equalists vs united forces scene in the beginning of skeleton in the closet, was really beautiful for me. with korra waterbending the torpedo out of the water and with Iroh II going up to the whatever the its called and taking down 3 byplanes, i thought it was really well done. i was happy that Iroh got some pretty badass action scenes. speaking of iroh, i have to agree that dante’s voice did not fit him. iroh looks to be around his 20s or 30s, so dante’s permanent teenage-voice didn’t really do it for me (but i got over it) as much as i love him.
the tarrlok-amon back story, i thought, was also really well done. it couldve been really cliche, you know the whole darth-vadar “i am your father” moment, but i seriously didn’t expect “im amon’s brother.” so the back story, as cheesy as it couldve been, really wasnt cheesy at all, i thought that was another thing that bryke managed to pull off really well. they do a really good job in making someone like a character they hated for so long (tarrlok).
the rally scene, i didn’t mind at all that they didnt show how the airbending family got captured. it wouldve ruined the intensity of the scene if they showed amon capturing them. that doesnt mean i don’t wonder about how they got captured. it does arouse unanswered questions, but hey, whats a show without surprises?
korra getting her bending taken was pretty intense for me. i mouth dropped and i was just thinking, “did that just happen?” because initially, after watching the commercial for it at the end of episode 9, i thought korra was going to go into the avatar state, but nope, i was wrong.
i felt so bad for the lieutenant in this scene. he really became a tragic figure. he devoted his LIFE for amon, only to find out that all has been a lie. his LIFE has been a lie. thats gotta be harsh.
and blah blah, mako getting the better of amon with lightning bending was great, him running with korra telling her everything was okay, was great, because they were my otp from the beginning.
and then comes korra airbending. i do have a theory about her being able to airbend. so we know that amon’s “energy bending” is actually blood bending, so i was thinking that amon had done a lot of studies and experiments on earth, fire and waterbenders, and that there are different parts of the body that controls each bending element, whichs why he could take those elements away. but since tenzin’s family are the only airbenders, he couldnt have done any prior experiment on airbending, which is why korra was able to retain her ability to airbend. at least thats my guess.
and then heres when the feels started.
asamis fight against her father broke my heart. bryke essentially created ozai all over again with hiroshi. except zuko probably hated ozai more than asami hated hiroshi.
i think asami is also one of the most tragic figures in this series. she had already lost her mother, and then her father turned out to be a maniac overcome by grief and will for revenge, her boyfriend is in love with the avatar….
but theres nothing more sad then family against family. when she said, “you don’t feel love for mom anymore!” that just….i cant even find the right words for it.
and then bolin decided to put hiroshi in the list of bad fathers right under ozai.
the boat scene just crushed me. at first when tarrlok eyed the equalist gloves, i thought he was just going to zap amon (i just cant call him noatok. he’ll forever be amon). but then he started unscrewing the fuel tank and i was just like “tarrlok, whatre you doing? tarrlok? tarrlok? no tarrlok!” and BOOM! and my jaw dropped and i just stared at my tv all the way through the commercials.
and i think amon knew that tarrlok was about to kill them. the silent tear says it all. He knew that everything wasnt going to be like the old times, and he could probably hear tarrlok unscrewing the thing, but he didnt do anything, because he knew his brother was forever hurt and scarred at that amon himself deserved whatever outcome tarrlok was about to impose on them.
when korra was on the cliff, i really thought she was going to jump. i imagined a scene where korra just falls into the water, make no attempt to save herself, accept the fact she can no longer bend (except airbend), that she cant be the avatar anymore (and then mako saving her). would that have been waay to dramatic?
but instead, aang showed up with the rest of the avatar lineage behind him, which made me overly emotional seeing kyoshi and roku, gave korra her bending back and she went into the avatar state. and then the whole makorra turning into canon, and lin getting her bending back. that did it. i couldnt have asked for a better finale.
theres a lot more things i couldve said, but i think they’ll be many people who share the same views as mine, so my reaction summary ends here.
i loved republic city dispatch, you guys were amazing.
REPUBLIC CITY DISPATCH #16: The Last Airbender Movie Commentary Track
NEW BONUS PODCAST EPISODE!
Sync up your copies of M Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender if you dare! A running commentary with Matt, Da7e and Devindra of The Republic City Dispatch, Start the podcast to hear the sync point and let’s relive the fiasco together.
Hosted by Devindra Hardawar of the /Filmcast and Da7e and Matt Patches of Operation Kino.
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