11.28
To be able to fly… you have to meditate...for long periods of time, without losing focus. Some of the great monks...can meditate...for four days.
So I know that he’s an established character because of his appearance last season, but why is Napoleon Dynamite here? It would be fine if they just got Jon Heder to play a random Air Nomad, but they literally cast him as an airbending Napoleon. Even his dad acts like Kip. It’s like going to a Buddhist temple and hearing the monks quote Ferris Bueller. The writers probably thought it would be funny to have a Napoleon Dynamite reference (in 2014?), but this has the poor timing of coming after an episode that featured internment camp escapees. This execution makes the show seem indecisive, finding itself unable to keep a consistent tone throughout the season. Like take this episode for example, which goes from Bolin’s goofy attempts to win back Opal’s love to Korra meeting the man who almost killed her a few years ago. The A-plot and B-plot feel so detached from each other that they may as well come from different shows. Unless juxtaposing the two subplots together was supposed to mean something, which would make it creepy for Korra’s relationship with Zaheer being compared to Bolin and Opal’s.
This failure to make a steady narrative also hurts some of the themes this show’s trying to exposit. Since it’s Avatar, the creator’s intention would be to show that the pacifist route is the best one regarding an enemy, something debated within ATLA’s finale between Aang and his previous incarnations. The show here seems to be trying to go with that introspection regarding the peaceful approach, but it does more to shoot down its own message than anything. Suyin refused to reunite the Earth Kingdom with her forces, which resulted in the Kuvira dilemma. Korra tried to give an olive branch to Kuvira, which indirectly resulted in Zaofu’s siege. Fire Lord Izumi won’t send her troops into fight Kuvira, and that leads to the cast losing what could have been a valuable ally. The pacifist route only seems to make things worse this season, which gives an odd message if problems could have been resolved had characters been more blunt with their actions.
Though it’s interesting to see the reasoning behind the non-aggressive stance from these characters. Suyin doesn’t want to rescue the Earth Kingdom out of fear that she’ll be another dictator. Korra doesn’t kill Kuvira after seeing her dark self in her visions. The Fire Lord won’t send reinforcements because she has Sozin’s previous actions as reason for why it won’t work. All of the routes are taken because of fear rather than a genuine desire for peace. Maybe the show is trying to aim for a proactive message, going for assertive pacifism in a sense. But then, aggressive peace was what characters like Unalaq were trying to do a few seasons ago. Perhaps it’s fear of the worst-case scenario that drives these character’s actions, though that would imply their actions are too black and white to choose a third option. This is something that could use some dissecting within the show, and I’m not sure if that will happen given the current pacing.
Instead, they’re still stuck on the Opal and Bolin romance arc. After being in the sidelines without any real distraction from the plot, the romantic plots comes again to take away Bolin’s character arc, judging his personality on whether he can get the girl rather than his self-growth after leaving the Earth Empire. I was hoping he would stay with Baraz’s guys in order to launch a two-pronged attack with Korra, and prove that he can be the leader without his brother’s help. But rather than that, it’s his relationship with Opal that swallows his and the show’s runtime. I’m not against romance plots in shows, but Legend of Korra’s previous attempts at them like Mako/Korra have proved that they don’t work here. Besides, it just makes Bolin stupid for wasting Opal’s time when she’s too busy worrying about her family. Get him to stop thinking with his cock. That’s more of a Mako thing to do anyway.
And then we get to the vital part of this episode, where Korra meets Zaheer to finally let go of her past tensions. But since this is the third time she’s tried to banish those inner demons away, I won’t be surprised if she has another breakdown later. I know they can easily wave Zaheer’s past behavior away by suggesting that three years without an earthly tether has made him a more cooperative man, but he was in the same situation sans flight for thirteen years beforehand and that did nothing to solve his issues. For him to go “even though all my friends are dead thanks to you, and my entire life’s goal was to kill you to revolutionize the world, I’m still going to help you attain spiritual acuity because I’m a sage like that” feels unearned. There should be more apprehension between Korra and Zaheer, specifically between a spiritually enlightened man and a messiah figure, and I’m wondering if the recap episode limited the writing staff’s time to space that relationship out.
But even if that was the case, important questions like why Kuvira’s evil get too little time in exchange for more Prince Wu moments. It’s been nine episodes, and he’s still the fucking doofus. And now that Bolin’s back, his role within the group is rendered void. This isn’t a problem unique to Book 4. Even though Book 3 was good, it also had issues with giving characters their respective time. Like with the Red Lotus, where most of Zaheer’s group got little characterization besides a few lines. Try telling me one thing about P’li’s personality. Or remember how Desna and Eska had no impact on Book 2 other than being Unalaq’s henchmen. What could have been interesting characters and dynamics that could have shaken up the show are sidelined by stupid moments such as Napoleon Dynamite references and the like. It’s almost as if the writers are screaming for more episodes to vent out their plots, but unable to realize they can just cut out all of the fluff to have the room they need.