What Are You Watching?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

What else is on Friday nights? I've been out of touch with current TV shows for years, so I honestly have no clue.

[Avaitor]

Uh, I know that TMNT was on around that same time when it had new episodes. It did okay, a little better than Korra is, I think.

SpongeBob has repeats on right before LOK, and they do better too. And SpongeBob's down in the ratings again. But everything's down in the ratings on Nick lately.

[Grave]

I don't get why everyone is so hung up on Unalaq being a bad guy when everyone already saw it coming to begin with. We already established since the premiere that he would be a bad guy, so why do people still act pissed off in a surprised way that they actually went that route when it was obvious to begin with? Was everyone expecting a plot twist there, after all? I'm not saying that I like it any better, but its a flaw that I can get over. In that regard, GSF mentioned that Unalaq is no different from previous Avatar villains, including Ozai, but there's the thing everyone seems to keep ignoring. Avatar's villains were always pretty shallow and cliche. That's not excusing this season from doing that, but I wish people would stop acting like any of the previous seasons of Avatar were any better in this regard.

People are growing tired of the repeated trend, at least that's what I'm seeing. I missed the last 2 episodes, but just going by the comments here, yeah, that's how I'm taking it. I think I recall saying that we've seen the sibling rivalry angle in Avatar repeated at least 3 times, and now we have another one. Of course I'm only speculating though.

Personally, I probably would've wanted to see a villain that's from the air temple, but maybe that's in the works for book 3.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Tenzin's dilemma with his siblings isn't sibling rivalry. It's family issues. Zuko and Azula had something more along the lines of rivalry, and it was something completely different from Tenzin and his siblings.

[Grave]

I was talking about Korra's father and uncle. Thought me quoting you would let you know that 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Whoops, I forgot about that.

At any rate, I don't think it's much of a rivalry in that Korra's father didn't seem like he really wanted to get back at his brother or anything like that. It's more like Unalaq is just a dick and hates Korra's father just for having been destined for things greater than what he was meant to achieve. Unalaq is pretty much a really crappy version of Scar from The Lion King.

[gunswordfist]

I'm not hearing a whole lot of positive comments about the season so far. Most are still willing to give it a chance, but not online or in real life am I hearing much of anyone really enjoying what's going on in the show.

I've been hearing mixed things, myself. Some people don't like it, others find plenty of positive elements in it (Doug Walker's V-logs do a good job of pointing out both).

I feel like there are good parts to this series that a lot of people are downright ignoring. For instance, I loved Tenzin's segments in this episode, and how he was able to relate to his daughter in how they both had trouble getting along with their siblings. The humor in this episode was also spot on for the first time in a long while (something that this series was seriously lacking in, before).

I don't get why everyone is so hung up on Unalaq being a bad guy when everyone already saw it coming to begin with. We already established since the premiere that he would be a bad guy, so why do people still act pissed off in a surprised way that they actually went that route when it was obvious to begin with? Was everyone expecting a plot twist there, after all? I'm not saying that I like it any better, but its a flaw that I can get over. In that regard, GSF mentioned that Unalaq is no different from previous Avatar villains, including Ozai, but there's the thing everyone seems to keep ignoring. Avatar's villains were always pretty shallow and cliche. That's not excusing this season from doing that, but I wish people would stop acting like any of the previous seasons of Avatar were any better in this regard.

As it stands, I find this season to be entertaining so far, but ultimately pretty average in its sorry telling and characterization. Compared to the best that Avatar has had to offer, I can see why it would disappoint some people, but I suppose I just like to focus on what I actually like more than fixate on the things that I don't. Is this season great, so far? Not really. Is it decent material, at least? I think so. Is it piss awful? I guess some people might feel that way, but personally I just don't view it like that.

Also, as far as the story goes, I at least like how it's moving beyond just the Civil War of the Water Tribe and is bringing the United Republic into the mix. I'm not seeing anyone mentioning anything about that when they talk about the story in this episode, which surprises me, because I'd think that's kind of a big deal.

Yeah, you basically said what I said but with a pointless "Why are you complaining?" angle.

I don't care if Unalaq was obviously going to be a villain. In fact, that's part of the problem. Korra fighting another jackass waterbender. Great...Oh and I am pretty sure Zuko wasn't a shallow villain...

And the United Forces coming into play sounded interested...in the first season's finale. I cringed when they said they needed them to win a war again.

I did think the comedy was finally good again and I liked Tenzin, Ikki, Kya and Bumi bonding. Also, Barrack (sp?) was bearable for the first time ever and he pretty much stole the show this episode. The bad still far outweighs the good so don't act surprised by all the complaints.

[gunswordfist]

I don't get why everyone is so hung up on Unalaq being a bad guy when everyone already saw it coming to begin with. We already established since the premiere that he would be a bad guy, so why do people still act pissed off in a surprised way that they actually went that route when it was obvious to begin with? Was everyone expecting a plot twist there, after all? I'm not saying that I like it any better, but its a flaw that I can get over. In that regard, GSF mentioned that Unalaq is no different from previous Avatar villains, including Ozai, but there's the thing everyone seems to keep ignoring. Avatar's villains were always pretty shallow and cliche. That's not excusing this season from doing that, but I wish people would stop acting like any of the previous seasons of Avatar were any better in this regard.

People are growing tired of the repeated trend, at least that's what I'm seeing. I missed the last 2 episodes, but just going by the comments here, yeah, that's how I'm taking it. I think I recall saying that we've seen the sibling rivalry angle in Avatar repeated at least 3 times, and now we have another one. Of course I'm only speculating though.

Personally, I probably would've wanted to see a villain that's from the air temple, but maybe that's in the works for book 3.

Heh, I was thinking about them having an Airbending villain a day or two ago. Maybe he goes around killing people via vacuum. lol

[gunswordfist]

Whoops, I forgot about that.

At any rate, I don't think it's much of a rivalry in that Korra's father didn't seem like he really wanted to get back at his brother or anything like that. It's more like Unalaq is just a dick and hates Korra's father just for having been destined for things greater than what he was meant to achieve. Unalaq is pretty much a really crappy version of Scar from The Lion King.

Sounds just like Iroh and Ozai to me.

[gunswordfist]

A few days ago I got up to the GL episode of BTBATB. I loved the Doctor Fate intro so much.

[gunswordfist]

Does BTBATB already have a thread because if so then move this post.

Early this morning I watched the Bronze Tiger and I just got finished with the Owlman 2 parter. These are all episodes I've seen before but seeing how great this show is even early on and how rewatching these episodes makes me appreciate them more has made me love the show more.

I got to say I love both Red Hood and The Joker's dialogue. The Red Hood laughing and saying it tickles while being electrocuted and the speech Joker gave when he met Batman were all too great. I also love how they gave good reasons from their impossible teamup. Not only did Batman need The Joker's - he gave him a chance due to his encounter with Red Hood.

[Spark Of Spirit]

We have one in the WB section, but I have no problem with leaving the post here.

The show is great for re-watches, because you find a lot of stuff you miss on the first go around.

[gunswordfist]

The quadruple posting is why I requested a move.

And yes you do. The Bronze Tiger episode had nods to Jet Li's Hero, the Wutang Clan and The Five Deadly Venoms. Amazing!

[gunswordfist]

Ok, so I rewatched the last Korra episode again and it's not that bad itself. What it implies will happen in the following episodes is. Even then, it seems like it might not be all that predictable and cliched. I paid attention this time and Unalaq didn't attack first, Korra did. So he may not have been trying to kill her because he had no more use for her. He simply may have been trying to defend himself and his statement about the portal could have meant he just found another way to open it.

The bad is the evidence that he's so jealous of his brother that he set him up twice to get power. It might and hopefully is more complicated than that though. What I fully can't get over is how they made sure the Northern soldiers came off as jackasses. It's the equivalent of the show screaming "THESE ARE THE BAD GUYS! HATETHEM!" Maybe Unalaq told them to act like that as part of him setting up his brother but that's a stretch.

Anyway, I still love the comedy. Civil Wars 2 is perhaps one of the funniest Avatar episodes ever. Bumi speaking to his father's statue was one of the most touching moments of either of the shows and I like how Tenzin and Ikki had the same opinions of the others' siblings and how Ikki got along with hers at the end.

[Avaitor]

I just discovered that this existed.