“Wana know how I got these scars?” was a horrific question in The Dark Knight because it was a question everyone would want answered; every scar has a story (just look at Arrow). Often used as signifiers of villainy or as a reminder for a past transgression, scars instantly add to a character on top of just looking cool. Giving one to Lin only made her more interesting. As soon as Lin Beifong appeared in Legend of Korra, a surely, job oriented, barker her was none too pleased at the Avatar’s presence, Bryke and Co. had something special. She swung around like Spider-Man with the attitude of Wolverine and had a sweet facial scar to boot. Lin Beifong had a past that was hinted at and illuminated sparingly but all that mystery made the character even more legendary.
Giving Lin her own episode, paired with a Tenzin centric episode following, is the kind of thing I would have expected from the previous series. With 22 episodes to write they had plenty of time to fill and meander about. With Book 3 Korra’s writing has hit a great synthesis of main seasonal arc and the kind of great one offs that made A:TLA great. The series has managed to introduce a wide range of side characters and is now starting to flesh them out (Bumi, Lin among the top) in more ways than great one off sequences.
Lin’s acupuncture induced flashbacks are short but give a great idea of what it was like in the Beifong house. Lin already an officer arrives to find Suyin skipping school and hanging out with some less than savory individuals. It’s their brief interactions with each other mostly Lin saying “You’re wasting your potential” and Suyin mocking her for being a cop that get to the heart of the matter. Their relationship echo’s that of Azula and Zuko. One sibling desperately trying to please their parent the other not trying to at all and always getting favorable treatment by just being “perfect”, from Lin’s perspective. Suyin isn’t perfect though as the next flash back reveals how Suyin driving the getaway car for her hoodlum friends (who were working for the Terror Tirade) and how she gave Lin those pair of facial scars.
After Lin captures her sister, Toph’s daughters place their mother in an impossible situation. Unable to afford having a daughter in prison, she banishes Suyin (putting her speech about running away last episode into new light) and covers the whole thing up. This was the breaking point for their family and made an old festering wound inside Lin.
16 years later all that festering finally bursts with sister attacking sister. Lin normally the hero is here portrayed more as the antagonist even though she is the protagonist of the piece. The Republic City chief projects all her bitterness and self loathing on to her sister and blaming her for their mother’s retirement a year later. Despite Suyin once again stating that her and Toph worked this all out years ago. It’s that inability to let go that makes Lin such a good police chife though, it’s been encoded into her ever since she became a cop. There is no trusting people anymore, once someone has dabbled in criminality they are forever tainted even your own sister. Without fighting her sister, there would be no way for Lin to square the contradictory messages being sent.
This isn’t to imply that Suyin is completely innocent. I think she has changed for the better but Zaofu feels like the new aged Ba Sing Se: Truthseers “there are no secrets in Zaofu” and protective domes that fold up during the night. The biggest red flag being Varricks occupancy, played for comedy audiences know he’s the worst kind of villain: a business man.
Parenting is hard (duh) on both sides of the equation (double duh). With an episode showing the effects of ax parenting and holding gurduges, Bolin and Opal opening up and admitting to one another their fears of failure and disappointment was a sweet thematic accompaniment. Look at them opening up and supporting each other, it’s adorable as all get out.
With “Old Wounds” healed, Korra may have told one of its best mini arcs. With the two part structure for the season, by all apprences, the fact they have fractured these arcs is annoying. At the sometime it makes me want to watch next week’s episode.
“Just because they can airbend, doesn’t make them Air Nomads”. Pema counsels her flustered husband, in what seems to be the largest speaking moment for the Maria Bamford voiced character. The air benders wife hits the nail on the head of this season’s central point: the ability to do something does not automatically make you a part of that something. The new airbenders out of the Earth Kingdom were of the Earth culture first and no ability to blow wind severs that connection.
With this new found ability does come the possibility that they could become a part of something new and form a new Air Culture. They just need a connection to this new surrogate family they find themselves apart of; Tenzin just fosters it poorly. This is, on its face another Tenzin isn’t the best teacher episode but it shows why it is he isn’t the “best”. Culture is the shared traditions and customs by a group of people, the colloquial use of “Duder” GiantBomb for example. The problem is, the Air Nomad as a society has been extinct for 170 years locked away in books and Aang’s memories. With only a single unit as the keeper of its cultural flame and only two links into the chain, that connection is lessoning. Tenzin is not his father, he doesn’t have Aang’s memories of a vibrant populated Air temples. The only connection to it that he had was his Father’s lessons, the books, and fellow air acolytes (who are treated in this show more as background filler than participants). These few connections leave Tenzin with his cultures histories as his main link to this nebulous idea, making him more of a knowledgeable liberian than authority on interaction.
This lack of shared experience in a sense has turned Air Nomad culture into something resembling the Catholic Church. Aang and his family are the preachers and gateways to applicable Air Nomad knowledge. Tenzin reads to his flock from a good book - the history of some Air Bender 90+ day fast – with his pupils looking at him disinterested or as if he is speaking a different language. He just proselytizes in such a tone deaf manner. The character model for Tenzin isn’t the most articulated piece of the show but J.K. Simmons earnest line reading, evoke the image of a man just jumping around wondering “Can’t you see how cool this is?”, and everyone else looking at him like he is a crazy man.
Calling the new airbenders “recruits” really is the most appropriate term, and due to the arc from episodes 3-4 gives the word a dehumanizing weight. “This is just as bad as the Earth Queen’s prison” Kai bemoans after running the obstacle course. At the start I compared the new airbenders to Mutants in Marvel Comics but now with them all situated at the Northern Air Temple, they resemble Jedi. When will they get to go and visit their families? What is the return policy? I know this is Korra’s show but if there could be just a season spent on rebuilding the Air Nomads like this that’d be cool.
Dogmatic as “Original Airbenders” sounds writer Tim Hedrick and director Mel Zwyer use this disconnect to lean into Tenzin as a comedic presence; turning the oft befuddled monk into a drill master after a pep talk from Bumi to great comedic effect. Waking his “recruits” early and pushing them to their breaking point so that they may be remade into true Air Nomads. “Original Airbenders” also features a couple just nifty sight gags, like Kai sliding into the rest of the group once his name is mentioned.
It’s interesting to see Kai outside of the watchful eye of Bolin, who was used more as a way to signal to the audience that this guy is good. Now constantly paired with Jinora their relationship is both adorable and with much potential for hubristic folly. With Kai prodding Jinora that she should have her air tattoos already, a not totally untrue statement but it just creates images of “The Deserter”. Even without Kai that idea that Jinora is ready for her airbender ink would’ve come up naturally anyway but now that there’s a boy involved o bother.
“Original Airbenders” feels like quintessential Avatar: The Last Airbender, “Bitter Work” (S02E09) in particular. Well structured with a mixture of natural and long developing conflicts that eventually lead to crisis, action, and in this case hints of the beginning of a new Air Nomad culture, and resolution. In particular the act 2 act break—after the reveal of the Bison Pocher clad in BISON PELT was executed wonderfully—,immediately conjuring within me wonder and belief. That this was the end of the episode and the possibility that Kai and JInora would get their own seasonal ‘C’ plot for the remainder of the Book. Book 3 in general besides the obvious parallel of it being more of a road show feels like the best parts of the previous series, aged up.
I am Michael Mazzacane and you can find on Twitter @MaZZMand at weekntv.com orcomicweek.com
Episode 1-2 thoughts Episode 3 thoughts Episode 4-5 thoughts
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