{"id":451,"date":"2011-07-08T13:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-07-08T20:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=451"},"modified":"2011-07-07T17:15:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-08T00:15:00","slug":"mark-watches-avatar-s03e15-the-ember-island-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/07\/mark-watches-avatar-s03e15-the-ember-island-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Avatar’: S03E15 – The Ember Island Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifteenth episode of the third season of Avatar: The Last Airbender<\/em>, Sokka convinces Team Avatar to watch a play that is an adaptation of their lives since discovering Aang. It is not at all what they expected, and then MOST HAWKWARD ENDING EVER. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Avatar<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Once I figured out what sort of format “The Ember Island Players” was going to take, I couldn’t help that my mind went straight to one place: “Hollywood X.” I love the idea of a well-executed re-cap episode, and this specific one not only wove a thread of absurd humor throughout, but it contained multiple meta moments of reflection from the writers. I am going to be an asshole and say that The X-Files<\/em> did this very same concept (characters within a show watch an adaptation of their lives in another medium, producing wonderfully hilarious results) much better than this one, BUT THIS IS NOT BECAUSE THIS IS BAD. THIS IS BEAUTIFUL AND NOTHING HURTS<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I could already see how people might dislike “The Ember Island Players” purely based on the fact that it’s sandwiched in between the super intense “The Southern Raiders” and the series finale and tonally, it’s a jarring experience. I can admit that. And yet? DON’T CARE. This was a pleasure (though a very<\/em> awkward one) to witness and even though most of it had me laughing, the few serious moments were necessary character developments before the finale. (CHRIST. THAT IS SO SOON.)<\/p>\n

The biggest development of them all, however, is Aang’s confrontration with Katara, where he outright tells her that he likes her more than a friend. As I said in the introduction: HOLY. AWKWARD<\/strong>. I think it’s so shocking not<\/em> because it’s unrealistic. In hindsight, this was the most natural place for the writers to take these two characters. Given that Katara never rushed to Aang to confirm her feelings for him after the invasion, I’d had a sinking feeling that this was not going to turn out like he’d hoped. And she makes a hell of a good point: Given the political (and emotional) situation they’re currently wrapped up in, how can Aang expect her to sort out her feelings for him in the midst of the war?<\/p>\n

SO YEAH. Kissing her at that moment? Oh, Aang, what a REALLY BAD DECISION. I face-palmed so hard. I do get that Aang is young, confused, and immature about the whole thing, and having to face that sort of rejection certainly didn’t make things easier. STILL. I’m glad the message coded into this scene was pretty obvious: HEY DUDES. RESPECT BOUNDARIES. IT’S SHITTY WHEN YOU DON’T.<\/p>\n

Despite getting absolutely NO CLOSURE AT ALL from these two characters, Toph and Zuko have a conversation that’s pretty much the polar opposite of Aang and Katara’s talk. I wondered if Toph would ever reveal that she once met Uncle Iroh, and this was a perfect time for her to do so. I like that the writers have not made Zuko’s transition to Team Avatar easy for him, and to do so would have seemed too convenient for me. Despite that the play enraged Katara and Aang, inspired Sokka to intervene, and brought joy to Toph, there’s no one who could feel quite as embarrassed as Zuko, who has his life’s mistakes laid out before him. Even if they got things “wrong” about him, he can’t avoid that in his path to where he is right at this moment, he lost his Uncle. (Where the HELL is Iroh, anyway?)<\/p>\n

While Iroh isn’t around to witness Zuko’s genuine transformation, Toph is quick to point out that she knows from experience that there’s nothing Iroh would want more than to see his nephew happy and on the right side of history. It is sad to think that Iroh is off doing…I don’t even know. I can’t even guess! I think I’d love this even more if he were alongside Zuko right now, but this journey is one Zuko must conquer on his own, and ultimately, he’d have to let go of his uncle anyway.<\/p>\n

I’m still holding out that Iroh has one last secret plan left. WHAT IS IT.<\/p>\n

I feel like “The Ember Island Players” is an episode you either love or hate (CAN YOU GUESS WHICH SIDE I LANDED ON), and I think that’s perfectly fine. It’s largely a silly episode, though the final moments are IMMENSELY DISTURBING<\/strong>. Despite that the representation of the characters were meant to be ridiculous, I wondered why this wasn’t as negative as it could be for a Fire Nation production. Oh, it’s because they were going to KILL ZUKO AND AANG AT THE END OF IT<\/strong>. My god, could you imagine witnessing that sort of depiction of your immediate future? Christ.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I didn’t really feel compelled to discuss the intricacies of the endless stream of jokes that this episode throws at us because…well, explaining jokes regularly removes the funny from them. I was thinking today about how I’ve gone through this show, how quickly I fell in love with, and how it’s enabled me to talk about a lot of rad things I’d never addressed before. Sometimes it’s weird to me. I feel like I’m riding a bulldozer into a fandom and I dearly hope that I am not running anyone ever. I did<\/em> worry that I wouldn’t like Avatar<\/em> that much, but it’s common knowledge at this point that I do with every series I start.<\/p>\n

I know that I still have the finale left and I’m sure I will have lots of gushy thoughts<\/em> and feelings<\/em> that I’ll want to share, but the nature of “The Ember Island Players” got me thinking about the series as a whole. (That’s what recap episodes are for, right?) I am<\/em> sad that this is coming to an end, that after Saturday, it’ll at least be until 2012 before I get to revisit this universe again. (LEGEND OF KORRA!!!!<\/em>) This show has impressed me, time and time again, and I wanted to do a little experiment with today’s review that was less about me and more about the beautiful fandom that seemed to show up out of nowhere to contribute to this community.<\/p>\n

Since “The Ember Island Players” references numerous episodes by hand picking scenes from the series, I wanted to know if there was an absolute favorite scene that you each had from Avatar: The Last Airbender<\/em>. Yes, choosing one scene is absurd, but what specific scene is the one your mind goes to when you think about this show?<\/p>\n

I will do a much more comprehensive write up about the series as a whole on Monday when I review the finale, but I wanted to take a more specific look back at my favorite moment in the entire series. For me, it was when Lee rejected Zuko’s dagger in “Zuko Alone.” Avatar<\/em> doesn’t always have positive endings, but it was the first moment for me during the run of the show that I knew the writers were willing to take a risk and write a fulfilling<\/em> story, even if it was upsetting. It’s still one of the most powerful images of the entire show.<\/p>\n

We’ve got one more post to discuss a lot about this show, but let’s just devote this one to being sappy and positive, shall we?<\/p>\n

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