quote:Originally posted by AchillesHeel: Notice that no one mentions the Foofoocuddlypoops episode as useless filler.
That's because it wasn't.
Maybe Foofoocuddlypoops itself was useless (but adorably funny I thought), but Aang's problem with Earthbending, actually showing him learning Earthbending, and all the B-story stuff with Zuko were most certainly NOT filler. Even if you want to say all the stuff with Aang was useless, which I disagree with, the stuff with Zuko certainly wasn't.
I think TLA had a lot less filler than most shows do. And even the filler episodes usually managed to ram home a few important bits and pieces. I could have done without "The Divide" and I can't remember anything really important happening in "The Fortuneteller."
"Avatar Day" where Aang is accused of the murder the Kyoshi admits to later had filler in it, but was not filler itself. Lots of people enjoyed the background information on a past Avatar, and even if you didn't, there was a lot of interesting stuff happening between Zuko and Iroh.
"The Painted Lady" was filler, but not awful filler. "The Headband" I thought was interesting not only see things from the Fire Nation perspective, but also to show Aang as a regular kid, and also to give the Katara-Aang romance a little push in a certain direction.
Other than that, I didn't see a great deal of filler episodes. I'm sure the Korra mini-series will be very tight, so I'm not worried about that. I was just hoping for something longer.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I watched it all in two weeks so it all blurs together, but I dont see "The Painted Lady" as filler actually. Katara had gone on this big adventure just because she thought it was the right thing to do but somewhere down the line they forgot to give the vehemance needed to spur a young woman through those ordeals. Being the painted lady was instant gratuity for the emotions that made her follow Aang, she wanted to help people and at the time she really did seem like the partys mom, that story reminded us that she was a hero too.
Posts: 2302 | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: Frankly, as a fan who DOES think there's plenty of so-so episodes in the original series, I'm not sure that a miniseries is a bad idea.
But don't you see? the two tribes had to learn to work together and put aside their differences in order to cross the canyon!
Why does everyone mock Thd Great Divide? Haha. To be honest, that was the very first Avatar episode I ever saw and it was enough to convince me to check out the rest if the series.
Now Season 3, on the other hand, had some doozies. The Headband? The Painted Lady?
The Great Divide is the only episode I am in any way inspired to skip when we introduce someone new to the series.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Tales of Ba Sing Se is the single greatest instance of true "filler", but I'm torn about it because it also has one of my favorite scenes: the Haiku Rap Battle.
The Fortune Teller was pretty much filler (apart from propelling the Aang/Katara romance a little) but I actually enjoyed the episode quite a bit. It introduces Platypus Bears, for one thing. And any episode that reminds people that fortune tellers are quacks is a worthwhile thing in my book.
(Also liked the scene where the Fortune Teller's all like "Oh no, I see a great a terrible future wherein you stand between phenomenal cosmic forces that threaten to destroy the entire -" and Aang's all like "Yeah yeah I already knew all that. Anything about my love life?"
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
I really like The Fortuneteller episode. Mainly because frustrated!Sokka is hilarious. His interactions with the nomads in "Cave of Two Lovers" are equally awesome in an otherwise boring episode (I'm just not that interested in the Katara and Aang romance.). I also love examples of Sokka using his brain in situations where others rely on magic or bending.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: Tales of Ba Sing Se is the single greatest instance of true "filler", but I'm torn about it because it also has one of my favorite scenes: the Haiku Rap Battle.
The Fortune Teller was pretty much filler (apart from propelling the Aang/Katara romance a little) but I actually enjoyed the episode quite a bit. It introduces Platypus Bears, for one thing. And any episode that reminds people that fortune tellers are quacks is a worthwhile thing in my book.
(Also liked the scene where the Fortune Teller's all like "Oh no, I see a great a terrible future wherein you stand between phenomenal cosmic forces that threaten to destroy the entire -" and Aang's all like "Yeah yeah I already knew all that. Anything about my love life?"
Woah, "Tales of Ba Sing Se" is filler?
If you mean plot filler, sure, nothing in that episode advanced the overall plot arc. The Tale of Iroh was maybe the most emotionally heart wrenching part of the entire series. And the Tale of Zuko went a long way towards showing Zuko's metamorphosis into normal human being. I'd say they were all pretty good, in some cases excellent character building episodes.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't think there's anything in Tales of Ba Sing Se that was that important that couldn't have been worked into an episode wherein something actually HAPPENED, as a side plot. Iroh's tale could very well have been turned into a full episode if it was juxtaposed with another "main" story that somehow complemented it.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Come to think of it, a pretty good way to do it would to do an Iroh-centric episode which juxtaposes his present day life in Ba Sing Se (which is all happy and jovial), with his experience back during the war (which also begins happy and jovial, since he's pretty much always happy and jovial).
The "Soldier Boy" song is introduced in the present the same way as before. Towards the end of the episode there's a flashback that ends with Iroh learning his son was killed, then cut back to the present when he sets up his little shrine and sings the song again.
And since it's an Iroh-centric episode, you could include Zuko's little affair. You could probably work in the Momo story throughout the episode as well (Momo keeps popping up in areas right after Zuko or Iroh leave). Juxtaposing Momo's discovery of the Appa footprint with Iroh's song would lend even more power to both, I think.
So I guess basically I'm recommending keeping most of the episode the same, just replacing Aang, Sokka and Katara/Toph stories with Iroh flashbacks, and moving around one scene.
Because I totally have the creative authority to say to the writers "dudes, this episode totally could have been non-filler if only you had made these arbitrary changes."
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
there's two big differences in how people define filler.
one type is filler defined by plot - 'does not advance the major plot arcs'
the other type is defined by substance - 'does not provide substance to the series'
I don't care about the first. I could go for billions of episodes of avatar that involve substance which doesn't necessarily tie into 'they got closer to the macguffin/primary antagonist today'
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
