Mark Watches ‘Avatar’: S01E06 – Imprisoned

In the sixth episode of the first series of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Katara faces a difficult situation when she willingly gets imprisoned by the Fire Nation in order to save a kingdom of Earthbenders….only to discover that maybe they don’t have the desire to be saved after all. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Avatar.

I love it when writers choose to go down more difficult routes than to simply go with what’s expected.

I think that, with the exception of Stephenie Meyer (BOO HISS SNARK), every author or writer/group of writers I’ve dealt with in my various projects over the last year and a half have all done something with their story that showed they were willing to take risks. Of all of those, I think Suzanne Collins, who penned The Hunger Games trilogy, did this the most often, especially in the second half of the series. (No more info about that, as I don’t want to spoil anyone. COULD YOU IMAGINE THE ~HORROR~) Sometimes, going a more difficult route can allow a writer to explore avenues or plots that prove to be more entertaining and fruitful. I personally enjoy when that happens due to realism, and here in “Imprisoned,” the writers go out of their way to create a fairly uncomfortable story for Katara that is realistic AND gives her a steady dose of character growth in the process.

It’s nice to see that this episode focuses almost entirely on her, as Sokka and Aang are largely relegated to the background so that the story can be mostly about her. We’ve been given a fairly specific portrait of Katara so far. She’s reckless (to an extent), but she acts purely out of this impulsive desire to do good and BE good, to help others. She craves adventure, but this is sometimes limited by her desire to be practical. Above all else, though, Katara is full of hope. We see that even in the pilot episode; she’s prone to believing Aang is special without knowing much about him, and she’s hopeful about her own skills as a Waterbender. And that really beautiful, innocent hope works for her, time and time again. Until “Imprisoned,” she has no real reason to question that. If it works for her, surely she can merely impart this philosophy on others, right?

So when the trio meet a shy and fleeing Earthbender and follow him to his small town, it’s only sensical for them all to be friendly and accepting to this fellow bender. This is the first time (of a few) that Katara’s own personal philosophy is show not to work for anyone aside from herself. She argues with the young man’s mother about his ability to Earthbend, giving an impassioned speech about who vital and virtuous it is for people who have a bending ability to use it.

That’s when Haru’s mother lets Katara know that this is precisely how her husband and Haru’s father was captured by the Fire Nation. Oh, who have taken over the village. Oh, and who view other forms of bending that aren’t Firebending to be both a threat and inferior. (That’s….actually kind of a strange dichotomy, isn’t it? How can something be a threat if it’s inferior to you? Those in power rarely make sense, though.) I fully expected either Aang or Sokka to say, “AAAWWWWWKKKKKWWWWWAAARRRRDDDDDD” when this happened, and you could feel the tension in the room. In an animated cartoon, by the way, which is great sign to how strong the writing is.

A large part of what occurs throughout imprisoned is both the build up and the execution of Katara’s friendship with Haru. She’s got her heart precisely in the right place, and I enjoy her for that, but I think we can all relate to thinking you’re doing the right thing and finding out that the effects of your actions are actually kind of detrimental. (OMG did I just basically spell out the INTENT IS MAGIC argument in a review omg). It starts off gently enough with subtle pushings by Katara, and Haru ends up having to face a difficult decision when they come upon a man stuck underneath a pile of rocks.

I honestly believe that had Haru not met Katara, those rocks would have crushed that man to death. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Katara’s influence on Haru grows strongly over a rapid period of time, and he can’t help but agree with her that bending just feels right. You can see the look on his face after it happens, a mixture of fear and joy, and the seed’s already been sowed inside him after this.

Man, what I really love about “Imprisoned” is how the plot seems so terribly obvious and you can guess exactly what is going to happen next, and then NOPE, YOU’RE WRONG. After seeing that glimmer of excitement on Haru’s face, I assumed the next day they’d begin to do more dangerous and powerful bending together. I expected a montage set to dramatic, upbeat music. I did not expect the quiet revelation scene where Katara finds out that Haru was taken away overnight. We only get to see it in a silent flashback! (Marvelous choice, by the way.) It’s all made even worse by the fact that the man Haru saved was the one who turned him in! Thanks for the gratitude, dude.

Katara knows it’s her fault, and while Sokka and Aang try to comfort her to feel otherwise, she knows that what she’s done has negatively affected her new friend and put his family in even more immediate danger. Seriously, Haru’s mother lost her husband and NOW her son, too. See? This is all so uncomfortable and then I have to remind myself THIS IS FOR CHILDREN. Seriously, where were shows like this when I was ten years old? (OH THAT’S RIGHT, I WAS WATCHING THE X-FILES WHEN I WAS 10. Fuck yeah.)

Knowing that she got everyone into this mess, Katara does the mature thing (and admittedly impractical thing, too) by organizing to have herself arrested so she can get on board the Fire Nation ship to save her friend. I can’t really ignore how absurd it is, but it works. After a particularly funny scene where Katara “earth bends” and Momo almost takes credit, we head aboard the Fire Nation ship and that’s when everything is TRULY uncomfortable.

The short expository scene we get as the introduction to this ship and the process that the Fire Nation has in place is unsettling and UTTERLY BRILLIANT. It shows the organized brutality of the Fire Nation in a way that was only hinted at in “The Warriors of Kyoshi.” That episode showed us their attacking ability, but here we see the true extent of their ability to enslave and oppress. Again, CHILDREN’S SHOW. ON A MAJOR NETWORK. Oh god, you all ~truly know my soul~.

These regimented, hellish scenes also focus on the psychological element to the Fire Nation’s drastic oppression, of which Katara will learn of firsthand–the hard way, of course. This is first introduced through the Warden, who I first thought was going to be revealed to be Lord Ozai, but instead just runs the ship. (NOTE: I have to do this. I do. OH MY FUCKING GOD, IT’S GEORGE TAKEI HHHHHHNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG AMAZING.) The Warden knows that separating the Earthbenders from any earth is practical, since it deprives them of fighting back. He also knows that it deprives them of spirit. Since Katara is free to perform Waterbending where she lives, she cannot even comprehend the notion that there are people who have, for the last FIVE YEARS, been unable to bend for a single second. Because of this AMAZINGLY UNDERSTANDABLE DEPICTION OF HOW PRIVILEGE WORKS, she operates under the assumption that the act of bending and rebelling is a very simple thing.

The speech that she gives to the ship is wonderful, make no mistake. And because I was caught up in the moment and I didn’t really take the time to dissect what I was watching, it seemed obvious to me what to expect: Katara would give her impassioned speech, the Earthbenders would rise up, and then AWESOME BATTLE SCENE ON A SHIP.

Instead?

[Crickets chirp. Silence.]

Oh god, it is so painful to think about in hindsight. Those seconds of silence are goddamn brutal for Katara to sit through, but the point stands: Katara has no idea what it’s been like for these people to live on this ship, detached from their family and their powers, and a bunch of inspirational words aren’t going to make it any easier.

That night, Aang gets involved to help devise a plan to assist the Earthbenders in escaping. I will admit that I was so engrossed in the story that I literally forgot him and Aang were even in on this plan. Believing the only way to help the Earthbenders is to give them the actual means to throw an uprising against the Fire Nation, Aang helps Katara and Sokka organize their attack: to use the coal (part of the “earth”) from the fires burning in the ship to provide the Earthbenders with a chance at a revolt. I even enjoy this subtlety, that while Katara, Aang, and Sokka provide the method in which the Earthbenders can fight back, the battle itself can only truly be won if the Earthbenders fight it themselves.

The final battle seriously is WONDERFUL. From the use of conflicting colors (brown versus red), to the chance to see yet another different kind of Earthbending, to the Earthbenders finding the inner power, strength, and inspiration to rise up against the Fire Nation, it’s one of the most exciting moments so far. I almost felt like cheering! And look, I NEVER DO THAT. Unless it’s a horror movie and the monster is about to rip the head off a terrible racist, because I do a lot of that occasionally.

Haru thanks Katara at the end of this, and I like that he thanks her for a very specific thing: giving his people hope. In the end, her own personal philosophy does end up helping the Earthbenders win back their freedom, but she has to learn that she cannot force it on anyone. Hope can be inspired, but it needs to come from within to truly work.

AND THEN ZUKO HAS KATARA’S NECKLACE AND HE IS GIVING A MENACING STARE OUT INTO THE DISTANCE AND AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH.

THOUGHTS

• EARTHBENDING IS SO COOL. Some of it looked like Tai Chi moves in this episode!
• Every episode without Uncle Iroh is JUST SHORT OF PERFECTION. Sorry, that’s the way it is.
• “I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her.” “It’s not enough, is it?” “No.” MY GODDAMN CREYS, holy shit.
• “Just relax. You’re taking the fun out of this.” “By ‘this,’ do you mean purposefully being captured by an army of ruthless firebenders?” “Exactly. That’s fun stuff!” I LOVE AANG’S FACE DURING THE DELIVERY OF THIS LINE. Pure joy.
• “No! I can’t swim!” “Don’t worry. I hear cowards float.” SICK BURN, BRO.
• “Shouldn’t we run away from huge booms, not toward them?”
• “Well, which was it? A flying buffalo or a bison?” “I’m not really sure what the difference is….” I MADE THE SAME MISTAKE.
• “Wake up the captain and search the rig.” “Sir, that was the captain you just threw overboard.” “Well, then wake up someone that I haven’t thrown overboard!”
• GEORGE TAKEI!!! Thank you for not spoiling this GLORIOUS GUEST APPEARANCE.