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Chapter Twelve: “The Storm”
12 (Rating Out of 15) After the disaster that was “The Great Divide,” anything would be an improvement. As icing on the cake, “The Storm” also happens to be a pretty good episode, a fact even more...
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Chapter Thirteen: “The Blue Spirit”
13 (Rating Out of 15) According to creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, if Avatar: the Last Airbender hadn’t been renewed by Nickelodeon to continue the series, “The Blue Spirit”...
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Chapter Fourteen: “The Fortuneteller”
11 (Rating Out of 15) “The Fortuneteller” is a strange episode. On one hand, there’s never really a dull moment, and it’s definitely one of the funnier episodes. Hell, even Sokka’s actually funny in...
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Chapter Fifteen: “Bato of the Water Tribe”
10 (Rating Out of 15) “Bato of the Water Tribe” feels like it could have—and should have—been a really great episode. Instead, it winds up being as contrived and as manipulative as any episode of...
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Chapter Sixteen: “The Deserter”
14 (Rating Out of 15) I concluded my largely negative review of “Bato of the Water Tribe” by stating that it “only proves that, after fifteen episodes, DiMartino and Konietzko and company still don’t...
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Chapter Seventeen: “The Northern Air Temple”
8 (Rating Out of 15) I wasn’t expecting “The Northern Air Temple” to equal the brilliance of “The Deserter”–nothing that followed in Book One would–but I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be so boring....
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Chapter Eighteen: “The Waterbending Master”
13 (Rating Out of 15) What stood out the most while watching “The Waterbending Master” was how leisurely it was. The episode unfolds slowly but surely, neither with too much plot, nor with too little....
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Chapter Nineteen and Twenty: “The Siege of the North”
9 (Rating Out of 15) 11 (Rating Out of 15) I sincerely hope that I’m just missing something, and that my two viewings of “The Siege of the North” were just in a bad state of mind. It’s been over a...
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Doug Walker On: “Bato of the Water Tribe” and “The Deserter” (Plus Word on...
An episode Doug Walker doesn’t like?! Say it ain’t so! It was bound to happen sooner or later, and while I’m surprised the episode to break the Avatar: the Last Airbender‘s track record was not “The...
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Doug Walker On: “Return to Omashu”
It’s becoming increasingly more interesting to see where Doug Walker and I disagree than where we see eye-to-eye. This is likely a testament to Avatar: the Last Airbender‘s greatness: even if no one...
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Retrospective: Chapter Three: “The Southern Air Temple”
As far as I know, Avatar is the only American animated children’s television program that uses war and genocide as it’s thematic starting points, so fans of either will definitely find something to...
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Retrospective: Chapter Four: “The Warriors of Kyoshi”
I’ll bet that the more “progressive” viewers for Avatar: the Last Airbender—the ones who might have feared that the careless sexism of Sokka, one of the two leading men (boys?), would ruin an otherwise...
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Retrospective: Chapter Five: “The King of Omashu”
It goes without saying that children’s programming—especially the animated variety—is a lot more lenient than it’s adult counterparts when it comes to character types and environments. Unlike the...
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Retrospective: Chapter Six: “Imprisoned”
“Imprisoned” contains a multitude of firsts for Avatar: the Last Airbender. This is arguably the first wholly satisfying episode in the series: it’s enjoyable from beginning to end; nothing feels like...
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Retrospective: Chapter Seven and Eight: “Spirit World: Winter Solstice, Part...
Avatar: the Last Airbender is a show that requires a lot of faith, patience, and understanding from its audience. While Avatar is hardly an inaccessible show, its accessibility is largely dependent on...
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Retrospective: Chapter Nine: “The Waterbending Scroll”
Avatar continues its winning streak with “The Waterbending Scroll,” the most blatantly comic episode in the series since “The King of Omashu.” But whereas that episode was marred by its own...
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Retrospective: Chapten Ten: “Jet”
Among other things, Avatar is a masterpiece of worldbuilding. Every new episode adds something new and usually integral to our perception and understanding of the Avatar universe, and subsequently our...
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Retrospective: Chapter Eleven: “The Great Divide”
There is a line of dialogue that no one ever brings us when talking about “The Great Divide,” but that pretty much sums up everything that’s wrong with this episode. When the entire group—consists of...
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Retrospective: Chapter Twelve: “The Storm”
How did Aang end up frozen in an iceberg for a hundred years? Why is Zuko so obsessed with capturing the Avatar, and why does he get absolutely no support from the Fire Nation? Where did Zuko get his...
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Retrospective: Chapter Fourteen: “The Fortuneteller”
I have to wonder if any of Avatar: The Last Airbender’s young audience were converted into hard-nosed skeptics after watching “The Fortuneteller.” The main conflict involves a village that puts all its...
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