The Legend of Korra (Book Four: Balance)
Best season of Korra.
Okay fine. It finally hit me what, through good times and bad, Korra had really been missing. That missing piece maaaaay have caused some tearbending. I mean, due to internets I didn't get to watch this until it hit blu-ray, long since knew the major spoilers, knew that it happened, but still got me.
What the series was missing was Toph. I mean, not specifically Toph necessarily (although again, tearbending), but rather that no character in the show fulfilled her place in the overall character dynamics. To be gruff, to say what needed said, to remind the rest of the cast when they were being dunderheads. We did have Varrick, and he fullfils some of those functions, but he's a very different character and more importantly an outsider to the group.
Moving on. Everyone was great this season. Well. Bolin and Tenzin's family fell out of focus after being the real stars of book three, but otherwise Korra, Asami and Mako have never been written better on the show, Varrick continues to be great, Zhu-Li out of nowhere to be a great and enjoyable character. I favor Zaheer as a character, but Kuvira is still a fine villain, and more importantly presents the threat the show as a whole needed despite being less of a direct threat to Korra than each of the previous villains. Amon's charisma, Vaatu's raw power, and Zaheer's cunning were dangerous and world-threatening... but that's the issue, they were all clearly terrible threats that had to be stopped. Everyone knew what needed to be done. With Kuvira there isn't so clear-cut an answer, and while she presents a substantial threat to the characters physically, she more importantly presents a moral threat to Korra. Would you not have taken similar actions? Can you devise a more effective solution for lasting peace in the Earth Kingdom? Vital questions that do a lot more to highlight the differences in the two shows than what came before. Aang always knew he was right and needed to find the strength to act on it and believe it was his duty to do it. Korra embraced being the avatar, but never understood what she was actually supposed to do.
It's sorta odd that there wasn't a major highlight of the different family clans after the climax, since family had been such a major theme of the series to this point. I suppose Remembrances touched on it, and the back half of The Last Stand did have a wedding (Do the Thing!), but still a bit weird. Maybe they weren't sure they could get all the actors back in the booth for a line and a half at the end because budget.
So... the thing. There's about six scenes throughout the season that really sell on it, although I'm sure it was a thing in Book Three and will have to watch for them on the rewatch. The only especially telling one was in Korra's letter... I believe she reads it in Korra Alone? Hope so. Anyway,... actually.
Best Episode: Korra Alone. I love The Calling, Remembrances, and Operation Beifong, but I have to nod Korra Alone for raw emotional punch. We see something in Korra we never, ever see before, emotional vulnerability. Her response to Asami is basically the first time we see her admit to feelings that aren't frustration to someone that's still alive, and as noted above "Nice to see you again, Twinkle Toes"? Tearbending.
Weakest Episode: And for the first time it's super obvious why I chose this phrasing. There are not bad episodes in Book Four. So the weakest episode is just the one that I wasn't in love with, which is After All These Years. A lot of it is exposition, and the serious emotional weight of it is thrust off to the next episode, ie the one I called the BEST episode of the season.
Grade: 9/10. Korra on the whole is not quite so good a show as Avatar. Without a rewatch, I'm probably going to hand out 7/7/8/9 on Korra, while Avatar would be closer to 8/9/9. But basically unlike any other tv producers I know of, the Avatar team know how to end a goddamned show. They GET that if you know in advance the show is ending, you set up your cards, save a little back to do it justice, and let those engines loose for the finish line. The fact that both shows had, after their first seasons, a firm idea of how much show they'd be able to do helps a lot I'm sure, but no, Korra just has an excellent finale even if I like an earlier episode more. Big scale, big confrontation, feels like a real conclusion to the major arcs, characters end in a better place than they started, there's a sense of both reflection and looking forward, and of course, you always have a nice emotional moment riiiiiight before you fade to 'The End'.
God damn. I might have to buy some Avatar comics. After all the rewatches for this topic I mean.
