is this the good season
Posted by umberhulk (Member # 11788) on :
qft
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
I didn't end up finishing book 2. This... looks really cool. Though I imagine a visuals-only trailer for book 2 would have also looked cool in the same way.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
The end of Book 2 absolutely tossed out most of the rules that the show seemed to be based on, which appears to have made a lot of the changes in Book 3 possible.
I've read that the creators wanted to make Book 3 more like TLA, which I think is a very, very good thing.
Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
All three needs to do in order to be great is to stop introducing interesting complex villains who then then force to twirl moustaches when the time comes.
Amon could have been a great villain with a legitimate beef.
The conflict with the uncle could have been a great reversal of the usual trope: the bad guys are usually about industry and steel, while the good guys are all a bunch of spiritual, back-to-the-earth environmentalists; season two almost reversed this. Could have been wonderful. But nope, the uncle was just evil.
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
I agree, Foust.
But let's not be too hard on Legend of Korra. It's still been eminently worth watching, all the way through. Just not the tour de force that its ancestor was.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Premiere is Friday
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
It looks cool at least, and like it will be fun to watch. I felt like book 2 was not as good as 1, so hopefully this will be better.
Posted by Elison R. Salazar (Member # 8565) on :
This and RWBY... My body is ready.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
So we have a team of super criminals, and a crazy evil ruler. Not sure if I like this season or not.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
REPORTER: avatar korra. it has been two weeks since you literally saved the universe from plunging into ten thousand years of darkness ruled by evil most foul and the likely extermination of our species. When are you going to get rid of these VINES. you are polling worse than literally hitler.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
Well,it was a whole lot of vines. So she basically destroyed the world, there are detours and everything. It's also great how she tried once, in one place to fix it, and it made it worse, so yeah, just give up and travel the world. Also why are the vines and spirits only apparently an issue in Republic City?
And why was the spirit so cranky? They could actually go home to spirit world anytime, she just made it easier for spirits and humans to travel between worlds, and between the polls, no one is trapped in either world.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
You can't just save the world, dude. only an idiot would totally save the entire world without a plan to handle large vines in one city. what was she even thinking. idiot avatar.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
And also approval polling is really important to an Avatar, they might not reelect her, people get to vote for that, right? I mean a bug chunk of the world wanted the previous one dead, surprised he wasn't voted out.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
i especially like how the president has truly thought about this and goes "ugh all these weird spiritual things are happening that nobody can figure out what to do about! to my city! welp better get pissy at and throw out the literal Avatar"
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
i have so many problems with this plot, ugh it is almost like this is a show aimed at children
*flips table*
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
I really thought the basement dwelling slacker was going to be a new hero, because isn't that the target audience?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
A lot of it made perfect sense to me.
1. People are stupid.
2. Politicians are REALLY stupid.
3. The media is INSANELY stupid.
4. The Earth Kingdom always has terrible leaders, and clearly that's something Aang never fixed.
5. Korra has matured but she's still a teenager, and teenagers care about popularity.
6. Spirits are cranky.
There's really nothing overly wild or off about these first three episodes. I'm optimistic about its direction.
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: 1. People are stupid.
There's an xkcd strip about that.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
the going from literal savior of the entire world who obviously defeated the megalithic giant avatar of evil in front of the general populace of a city, to having almost universal disapproval by said populace and being asked to leave in two weeks. because she didn't instantaneously know how to handle vines left over from the battle.
that is the only concern i have had thus far so nbd, but as far as individual concerns go this one was literal laugh out loud worthy
obviously the authorial intent was to really force a departure from republic city being the series and the characters' home, but they could have come up with a better idea than the preposterous idea that pretty much everyone has gone from celebrating her as the savior of the city (twice) and the world to getting kicked out
BETTER WRITING TIME: korra discovers that it is her presence which is provoking the vine growth, due to some resonance with the opened spirit portal. To protect the city from future danger of provoked vine overrun, she departs — promising the nervous president she will return if she finds a way to help Republic City. Some wistful commentary as she looks back on the cityscape about her effective exile. Boom, fulfills the authorial needs to get the gang on the road. problem solved.
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: BETTER WRITING TIME: korra discovers that it is her presence which is provoking the vine growth, due to some resonance with the opened spirit portal.
Why even keep the vine growth plot point? It was never reused beyond the first episode. During their sojourn across the Earth Kingdom and through Ba Sing Se, they didn't come across other vine growths or spiritual populations.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
the problems in republic city are there to foster the sense of loss of republic city as the home or base of the series and the characters.
korra's writers obviously wanted to move the series out of being rooted (lol) in the city and be more of a travel adventure like it was in the original series.
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
*************Spoilers, and my spelling of character names suck.***********
Just finished watching the first three episodes. I feel fine with it so far. Is it living up to the hype I felt with the trailers? No. But it's doing much better than Book 2 did for me.
For me, what book 2 did well was the exploration of Tenzin's family, showing a bit of what it was like growing up with Aang and Katara as parents. But the back stories for the main trio were pretty clearly absent.
We're finally getting a look at Mako and Bolin's history, and I hope we'll see more about Korra's history. So that makes me pretty happy.
I also like the Earth Queen's story so far. I feel rewarded for having read the comics. I get why the Earth Queen is so jaded. Does she have to be unambiguously evil? No, that part is kinda dumb. But being upset with the Fire Nation and Republic City makes sense.
I've enjoyed Zuko's introduction. I also don't mind the villain set-up so far.
My complaint with this book so far is how little the events of Book 2 seemed to matter to this book's story. For all of its faults, Book 2 had some major game changing events happen. Sure, vines have taken over Republic City and some people are becoming air benders as a result of the harmonic convergence. But, well, I thought that the changes to the world would be more pronounced. I thought the world would have far more spirits in it. I thought the world would look kind of like it did in the episodes about the first Avatar in Book 2. So far, it seems like it's isolated only to Republic City. And by that, it's like... five spirits that were hanging out with Jenora and the blue bunny thing that was with Bumi.
Anyway, I guess the point of it is that I'm not overwhelmed or underwhelmed. I'm just sufficiently whelmed to keep watching.
Posted by Mr. Y (Member # 11590) on :
quote:Originally posted by manji:
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: 1. People are stupid.
There's an xkcd strip about that.
There's also a novel about that.
Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
Three episodes in, and we've got mystery villains - who are only characterized by being "powerful" - and a contemptible queen who I just want to see die. And since the pattern of the first two seasons was to make initially great villains boring, my expectations are trending downwards.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
the most critical difference I see in Book 3 from BOTH book 1 and book 2 is that, and follow me on this one: there are characters again, as opposed to interchanging setpieces.
What I mean is that in terms of the pacing and integration of dialogue from the major players, they seem to actually be sensibly integrated into a story that is being told, as opposed to feeling 'thrown in' to do their bit and then get out of the way.
Or, to put it simpler, when a character is part of a dialogue, they feel like a character, rather than a rushed setpiece.
Contrast that to seasons one and two with characters like, say, Bolin. Bolin jump in frame! Bolin say funny requisite Bolin line. Bolin time quota exhausted. Bolin literally excuse himself from frame.
Whereas here in book 3, it was strikingly different to me to have a scene like with how Bolin's having dinner with the family and he's asked what's going on, and basically gets some time to go 'ha ha, well, let me tell you!' He abruptly stopped being a setpiece! Dialogue started being more cohesive.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Foust: Three episodes in, and we've got mystery villains - who are only characterized by being "powerful"
Zaheer is voiced by, of all people, Henry Rollins, so the only acceptable name for this band of villains is
wait for it
wait for it
black flag
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Bolin was pretty hilarious in the first few episodes.
I think Last Airbender was better quality storytelling.
But Korra is much more hilarious.
Posted by millernumber1 (Member # 9894) on :
It seems like they've finally realized that Republic City is the worst idea ever, and have as a result made the first three really exciting episodes of Avatar since book 3: Fire. I'm actually looking forward to a season of Korra, instead of grudgingly watching it with friends. Probably because in addition to really dealing with consequences of major actions (I'm still furious that book 2 of Korra completely ignored anything thematically important from book 1), it was actually funny in a way that didn't make me want to slam my head into a wall at the stupidity of the characters.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Republic City didn't have to be the worst idea; it was a novel new enterprise, thematically. And a great setting.
But a great setting is only potential upon which you can rest your plot. And if your writing and pacing sucks, nothing can help that.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
In fairness, Nickelodeon forced some of that on them. Nick never wanted to even do Korra, they didn't want a girl to be the Avatar. And they didn't want a 3 season overarching plot, so they demanded smaller seasons with contained plots so people wouldn't feel left out if they came in later.
The creators have subtly said they didn't really want to do it that way, but what choice did they have?
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
yeah but even outside of the whole element of what nick forced on them in terms of pacing, some of their writing was just straightforwardly subpar in ways i don't think they can pawn off on the network. but hopefully this season shows that they had it in them all along (surprising nobody who watched TLA)
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
I rewatched all of Avatar and Korra 1 and 2 with some friends who hadn't seen it before. I was a bit surprised to find that I liked Korra season 1 a *lot* - the end of the Korra01 and all of Korra02 left such a bad taste in my mouth that I forgot that Amon was a really cool villain, the show explored really cool themes, and apart from a the romantic-subplots being lame, everything was pretty great until literally the last 45 seconds of Season 1, when they magically fixed everything sad in the lamest way possible.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
(I actually think Republic city was very interesting in Season 1. I think they set out to do exactly what they meant to: keep the spiritual integrity of Avatar, while changing a lot of the variables, and having it grow up slightly and tackle more nuanced themes.)
Posted by Elison R. Salazar (Member # 8565) on :
I'm liking Bolin more but I feel like they missed a great moment to have had Bolin literally remember the names of every single one of his extended family members; humour works great when its contrasted with something.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
I kind of wonder if those four criminals are going to turn out to be good some how. Of course explaining why they would be good, but never say what they were really up to would be tough.
Just too much secrecy, tho they seem to like overt mystery i the villains. Also sort of odd that the one who manifests airbending had apparently spent years studying air nomad history and culture.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
My room mate suggested that Zaheer could have been a child of Aang's somehow.
I really don't see how that makes any sense, since I don't know why they'd put him in a prison an airbender could so easily escape from.
I don't mind that he happens to be a student of airbending, but him being a pretty awesome airbending master does stretch believability. I mean, sure, the White Lotus seems to be totally useless against anyone with half an idea how to bend, but he's TOO good for someone who just learned how to airbend.
Bending has been shown to not just happen when you already know martial arts, there are very specific movements and what not to make things happen. They play around with that here and there of course, but that he can manipulate it so well suggests there's either more to the story, or is just a mistake that's hard to swallow.
What will be interesting is when Zaheer meets up with Tenzin. It'll be the first air on air battle we've ever seen.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Was anyone else entertained by Zaheer shaving his head, to look more like Henry Rollins now.
They give him choice dialogue meant to accentuate his speech patterns and the fact that he is not a typical voice actor, and now his hair is closer to Rollins' length and color. I really don't want him to be a true baddy, the evil ones never get more than one season.
Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
The villains seem to actually like each other. This bodes well.
Don't let me down again, Korra! Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by AchillesHeel: Was anyone else entertained by Zaheer shaving his head, to look more like Henry Rollins now.
They give him choice dialogue meant to accentuate his speech patterns and the fact that he is not a typical voice actor, and now his hair is closer to Rollins' length and color. I really don't want him to be a true baddy, the evil ones never get more than one season.
Azula
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I thought Azulas arc was pretty great, especially her unraveling at the end.
Her final fight with Zuko was incredibly well done.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
The first series doesn't kill off antagonists, except Combustion man. Zhao was taken to the spirit world, so basically dead? Azula was locked up, Ozai is depowered and locked up, Long Feng is basically just demoted back to regular Dai Li agent.
But in Korra, they kill off Amon, Tarrlok, and Unalaq.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I apologize for not differentiating between the two series. I meant to say that no big bad from books one and two of Korra have survived, and I like hearing (and if he just gets some tattoos now that he has a head of grey stubble, seeing) Henry Rollins in more things.
Posted by happymann (Member # 9559) on :
Nooo!!!!!! Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
This effects me in a greater capacity than it should.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I'd get used to it. TV shows are moving to digital formats. People are increasingly not wanting to watch their shows around a network schedule. It will probably be better to stop looking at how many viewers watch a show when it aired vs how many people watched part or the entire show a week/2 weeks/month after a season is released online.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
I totally agree that ratings are not really as strong an indicator of popularity as they used to be. And companies need to realize that, and find other ways to make money off the series besides just add revenue. T-Shirts? Action figures? Posters? Leasing the streaming rights to Netflix?
But It does seem to be less talked about than the previous books, and seemingly fewer sites streaming it illegally. That second one may seem like a good thing to nickelodeon, but it also seems like it points to less interest in it.
Posted by Elison R. Salazar (Member # 8565) on :
The network appears to be entirely incompetent.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
To be fair, the previous season was pretty awful. If I hadn't *just* introduced some new friends to Avatar: TLA, I would not have been watching Korra right now.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Yeah, the endrun of season one and pretty much all of season two dropped viewership to like a quarter of Korra's launch
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
So the truth seer is the inside man, right?
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
I am really liking this season more than season 2, and the last couple episodes of season 1, too bad those ones cut the fan base down so much.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I just watched the finale.
This show was never meant for kids, was it?
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
**Spoiler**
What gives you that impression? I think kids can totally get behind regicide. Look at Lion King! [/Sorta Sarcasm]
I really enjoyed this season. Thought the finale was wonderful.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
The finale was pretty cool, the final battle was a bit too much like Aang v. Ozai at times, but it was pretty good for a season ender. if it turns out to be the end of the show all together tho, then its going to be A let down.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
zero percent chance that this is the end of the show
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: zero percent chance that this is the end of the show
Great! I still worry a little based on ratings issues.
They also seem to sort of be ignoring that the Earth kingdom is now in chaos, also is it the whole earth kingdom, or just ba sing se? because in the first season, Ba Sing Se seemed to have little influence on the rest of the kingdom.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
i worried too but nickelodeon went all in on producing this season and the next season all at once. so even if they think that the series is a total wash, they'd air the last season to recoup some costs
that said I am just astounded at how weird nick has been with the scheduling. is the network just descending into some post glory days incompetence or what's the deal with it?
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino talk about the scheduling stuff a little bit on the Nerdist Writers Panel podcast. Summary: it's not really due to low ratings or to content being too mature for a kids' show. There's some other network stuff going on that they can't talk about.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
Well, if that's all.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: is this the good season
yup
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
Just watched it. Wow.
-
*spoilers*
-
So much to love:
- actual consequences. Seeing how broken Korra was afterwards was really intense - I loved the setup for Zahir (sp?) gaining flight (foreshadowed way back in earlier episodes, and then in the last episode(s) they remind us how much he cares about Combustion lady.... and then losing her is what results in him completely detaching from the world, gaining ultimate freedom - (and then, seeing him become chained at the end, reminding me that he began the season in a literal prison. Really nice symmetry) - Loved that Korra got to legitimately kick ass, but ultimately the battle was won by a large group of people working intelligently together
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
looks like they are finishing strong
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Wow.
So...so much going on there.
The jump, the characters, the (obvious) bad guy, the long missed characters returning, the bigger scale.
It looks like Bolin has moved to the Metal City, possible because he married Opal? She's also in there.
Man there's just so much going on. Really excited and glad we don't have to wait.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
So it looks like Mako will be defending the Earth King agains Bolin, and Opal will be fighting her brother whose name i missed.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
I'm stoked they brought back Toph, so she gets to train another avatar it looks like