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tennisgurl

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Everything posted by tennisgurl

  1. I love that Aunt Dirt joined everyone in the car to help Cheesecake at his new job and she just sat there, and only spoke later to say that she would continue not contributing, I'm so happy she's sticking around. Cheesecake is such an absolute wreck of a person, he's lucky he has Wolf, as well as constantly finding himself in dangerous situations where he can get payouts. I'm so glad that Beef is back with the divorcees, and he actually had some game with Carissa! Love that Beef is basically a tourist attraction, the Most Authentic Alaskan Man. Not surprised that the guy who's laptop Beef watched was writing a fantasy story about a sex dragon.
  2. That was great, I loved both of the stories. I love that Linda and Louise got a story together, as Linda herself said they don't tend to go on a lot of adventures just the two of them and she wanted to make it count. Tons of call backs in this one, the hotel from Halloween, the tunnels that are much more fun when no one is trying to kill you (like most places), the towns history of bootlegging, and even bratty Logan and his annoying mom. The secondary plot with the street performers was fun too, that balloon dragon really was cool, I thought that the balloon lady was in the lead until the pipe guy stole the show. I was sure that Louise would drop the statue into the ocean, I liked the way it actually played out much better. Mr. Fischoeder took the statue, it was a fake anyway, but Louise did end up getting some money to hang up!
  3. A big cookie for everyone who guessed, seriously or jokingly, that the blond who George supposedly cheated on Mary with was actually Mary in a blond wig. Its obviously a retcon and I am not sure how I feel about that, but I am also really happy that we wont have a whole depressing story where George has an affair, George and Mary's marriage falls apart, and then George dies. Germany was certainly good for Mary, she has really loosened up! She was so cute at football practice and now that her beer pallet has been fancied up, I just want her to open a hipster mico-brewerery.
  4. I love the Halloween episodes, even when they're in February! I missed the step-brothers costumes but that was a pretty seamless way to get around Rose's pregnancy, this season its like we can all play a game of "how will they cover the bump this week?" I'm not all that surprised that Flower is just stuck in a well, I thought it was weird for a main character to get sucked off offscreen with no closure. I can see why this can feel cheap, but I'm interested in seeing where they take this. Especially if we get Flower crawling out of the well ala The Ring! She already has the hair! The hijinks with Sam and Jay's cool friends thinking that they killed Carol was great, it just kept getting worse and worse. is Carol going to be sticking around? I hope she gets sucked off soon, maybe after making peace with Pete, a little of her goes a long way. I feel bad for her family, especially her daughter and little Pete. That place is a Martino family death trap. Poor Jay is truly the most long suffering man on television. "I guess I'm going to dig up another body because my wife fell down some stairs once."
  5. That was awesome, nobody can give a look of utter disdain and loathing like Emily Blunt. Watching this movie and Manhattan, which was on TV a few years ago, must make for a really interesting very intense double feature. Probably not as fun as a Barbenheimer double feature, but certainly gives a more complete picture of the era and everything surrounding the Manhattan project. This movie is more about Oppenheimer himself while the show is more about what else was happening while the bomb was being made.
  6. I was really disappointed when I missed this in theaters so I was thrilled when this came to Hulu. Yorgos Lanthimos is very hit or miss for me, which is probably on purpose, but I have to say that this is probably my favorite of his films. Even his movies that I have liked I haven't really liked, they're deliberately off-putting, awkward, and gross, and while this certainly has a lot of that, it was also a lot more...fun? It was super weird and gross at times but the costumes, the trippy steampunk world, the gorgeous clouds, and Emma Stones go for broke performance, made this one of his more weirdly approachable movies, which probably says a lot about Lanthimos movies, a guy who can make what seems on paper like a typical based on true events period piece into some kind of bizarre gross out horror comedy. Like I said, I adored the look of this movie, a weird steampunk Victorian gothic horror world with tons of color and where mad science is apparently just something people can do sometimes. The whole cast was great, it was fun seeing Mark Ruffalo in this sort of role and Emma Stone absolutely deserves that Oscar nomination and it would be fun to see her get a win. The feminist message was great and I like how the theme seemed to be that women, just like men, need to experience as much of life as they can to be a complete person.
  7. That season certainly ended with a band! Or, I guess, an Aang...zilla! That was a pretty awesome finale, they really nailed the epic nature of the fight. We have fire! We have ice! We have lessons being learned about gender equality and not messing with the primal forces! We have TONS of explosions, they were really showing that big budget off. The spirit grotto was beautiful, it looked even better than in the cartoon, no matter what you think of the show I don't think anyone can deny that it looks amazing. I also really liked Aang being more connected with the past Avatars, I hope we can keep that going. Yue's sacrifice was even sadder here than in the original, the actors really sold the hell out of it. Poor Sokka was literally forced to watch his new girlfriends become the moon, even if it was for the greater good. That's rough buddy. I was also sad to see Hahn, who I really liked in this version, die, as well as Katara's cute little intern. They're really all about showing the cost of war in this one, even after a victory for the good guys its with a heavy cost. Katara finally got to actually do something, but it feels a bit hallow considering how little development she has gotten, as a Waterbender and as a character. One of my biggest complaints about the season overall is that Katara really got shafted, I get that they could only adapt so much of a whole twenty some episodes of a cartoon to an eight hour live action show, but its unfortunate that most of Katara's episodes were the ones that got skipped over. It also meant that we hardly saw any of her teaching Aang how to Waterbend, so now not only does she not get as skilled as she should be, but Aang seems to hardly have any Waterbending skills, which is an issue when that was one of the main purposes of the season! Now the poor kid has to learn Waterbending AND Earthbending at once! I loved Ken Leung as Zhao, he was such a weaselly little shithead. I was praying that Iroh would just push him right off that airship, but that's not really how Iroh is, although even he was probably temped. I love how he bragged about how they stole their airship designs from Omashu like that was something to be proud of, he's such a sad pathetic shitty little man. No, don't blame about anything you've actually accomplished, brag about how you stole your stuff from smarter people! He's just the perfect example of someone who gets a little taste of power and then it completely goes to their head, he was willing to destroy the whole world just because he wanted to "win" and get to be the biggest big deal. That all being said, he wasn't wrong about anything he told Zuko, his father is an utter scumbag and he was never supposed to come home after this "mission". I felt awful for him having to hear that but its what he needed to hear. Zuko and Iroh didn't get a whole lot to do here but I really liked everything they did get, and I am excited for what comes next. I hope that we get confirmation next season that Lieutenant Jee and the crew survived, its not looking good but its certainly possible. I came too really like him and their changing dynamic with Zuko, its one of the changes from the source material that I liked the most. Overall I enjoyed this season quite a lot, both as an adaptation and as its own thing, even with its flaws. The pacing was a big issue, one that I am having with a lot of streaming shows lately, they have less than ten episodes to tell a complex story that is clearly made for a longer season so the pacing feels rushed and a lot of characters feel like they hardly have a chance to really shine, let alone develop. I get that they couldn't do all of the village of the week episodes we had in the original, but I wish we had just a few more at least so we could really get to know the characters and build their relationships. Also, while I appreciate that they wanted to show the seriousness of the war and how its affected the world, I don't think they needed to make the show so grim. The original certainly had a lot of seriousness and tragedy, but it also had tons of fun and silliness, which is what made the show so good, we could go from Aang sledding on penguin critters to learning about Zuko's tragic past of parental abuse, and it all fit perfectly, this just seemed to lean way too heavily into the harshness. Despite my criticisms though, I had a great time watching this. The acting was great from everyone, both the young cast and the veterans, the visuals were amazing and led to so much interesting world building, and I do like a lot of the changes that they made. I am glad that they have already been renewed for more season, I'm looking forward to what comes next!
  8. This episode had a lot going for it, mostly the performances, but it ended up mostly making me sad that there is clearly a much better story happening in this shows backstory. This show skipped over all of the most interesting parts of the story, Truman's heyday post In Cold Blood, the colorful lives of the Swans, the famous people they circled around, the actual friendship between Truman and the Swans that started this whole mess, they just leapfrogged all over that to focus on Truman's declining years and the Swans eating lunch and complaining about Truman for several episodes. Its classic RM, cut out all of the actual interesting stuff that really happened so you have more time to fill with long speeches and dream sequences. I sort of thought we already did the imaginary bittersweet makeup scene between Babe and Truman a few episodes ago, when she pictured them seeing each other on the street, but I guess that was her and not him? Does that warrant this whole episode?
  9. Its too bad that the pastor had to get arrested at the end, its like every time Will meets someone cool something bad happens to them right after. At least Will spoke up for him, hopefully they will take his good works into account. Will was about vibrating with anger every time he talked to him, he was so ready for him to be guilty of something. I was looking forward to him being a reoccurring character who has some interesting debates with Will, but of course Will just cant have nice things. I am guessing that Will has some pretty major religious trauma in his past which I think we'll be getting to soon, poor guy has been through a lot lately. I guessed that the politician was the baby daddy and the wife or the aid was the killer as soon as we met them, but I still liked how things played out. It was really less about the mystery and more about exploring Will, his issues with faith, his trauma, and finding some relief after helping deliver the baby. If I understand right, the politician, who was the baby daddy, went to the safe house and got Isabella, presumably to protect her from whoever was trying to kill her, not knowing it was his wife, and she lost it when she saw her. Ormewood really hasn't learned his lesson at all has he? He had to have Angie of all people spell out to him that everything isn't all fine and dandy at home just because he's done the bare minimum as a husband and father. Its really too bad so much time this season has given to his domestic drama, everything else has been so good. I would much rather give Faith a bigger subplot. Loved Will and Amanda taking a moment to just be quiet, that was such a nice cap on Will's many feels in this episode.
  10. Turning the hometowns into movie homages is a shocking amount of fun, they have time to do things like that when the whole show isn't drama. The Princess and the Frog! The Godfather! Every single Hallmark Christmas movie ever! Honestly all of those were killing me, I was cracking up the whole time. The previews were really hyping up Maria's dad as some kind of Greek mafia kingpin who would challenge Joey to a knife fight, but he was a perfectly nice guy. All of the families seemed really nice and they all really seemed to like Joey, which I cant blame them for. He has a very natural charm and sincerity to him and he isn't afraid of the tough questions. I swear I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Joey to show an asshole side, but it just hasn't happened yet. Oh Maria, did you really learn nothing last week? She basically tried to pull the same routine all over again, the dramatic one on one, the "I'm so vulnerable" confession, trying to back peddle when it seemed like it wasn't working, she really played this wrong. I was pretty sure she was doomed ever since the stunt last week, and this was the final nail in the coffin. Daisy has been my number one pick for awhile, but now I wonder if Kelsey will be the winner, I saw some pretty major chemistry between them. Kelsey, Rachel, and Daisy all seem quite nice and seem to vibe with Joey, although I'm not sure if any of them are the obvious One yet. I so wish that the episode ended on Joey asking the Alpacas for their blessing.
  11. Sokka's charm bending powers continue! I really like these changes to Yue and Sokka's romance, them having met previously in the spirit world was a great touch and she has a lot more personality. Who doesn't want to be able to use water bending to make ice cream? That's what I might do as a waterbender, just run an ice cream stand! I also very much like them changing Han from the typical "rich asshole love rival" character to an actual nice guy who isn't even with Yue in this one. That hair really is an issue though, why the hell is it so hard for this franchise to find someone who can make a white wig? Finally Katara gets some time to shine! One of my biggest complaints about this show has definitely been Katara getting the short end of the stick, she's been most hurt by the shows changes of all the leads, so I was glad that we finally got a glimpse of original Katara. Master Pakku looks exactly like he did in the cartoon and I liked his fight with Katara, he was obviously going to win but she put up a good fight and managed to impress the crowd at least. When shit starts to go down we'll see how much the southern water tribe wants to stick to their whole "women are healers men are fighters" tradition. The Northern Water Tribe looks amazing, the attention to detail was amazing! You can really feel that Netflix budget in every location, they all feel so unique and lived in, while also clearly being from the same world. I especially like how they clearly use the local elements and their peoples bending in the construction of the cities, we can even see differences between the clothes they wear and the clothes people wore in the South. It makes me sad thinking that this was probably closer to what the Southern Water Tribe used to look like before the war wore it down to a small village. Zhau really is the personification of a pathetic little man getting a whole lot of unearned power and it immediately going to his head. The reason he can take on the Northern Water Tribe and win when no one else has is because "its destiny"? He's a better commander than Iroh because he's never lost a battle, because he's never been in one? Iroh is a man with infinite patience but even he looked like he was about to face palm after that. Oh Zuko, he's still holding onto his "I have to capture the Avatar" plan even now, after he was almost assasinated by one of his own admirals! The "So no plan?" exchange was great, he just sounded like such a frustrated teenager. He's working on it, ok? Not only is Zuko terribly stubborn and still holding onto the idea of getting his horrible fathers approval, there is also probably a lot of sunk cost fallacy in here, he cant give up his search because that would mean admitting that not only was all of this for nothing, but it was always supposed to be nothing. Of course the Fire Nation uses captured earthbenders for training practice, keep it classy guys. Snap, Azula used lightning bending! Looks like she's back in the lead for being dads favorite!
  12. I am quite intrigued, even if I still don't fully know who everyone is and who is on who's side, although its likely that no one knows for sure who's on who's side. I like the complexity so far of the characters and factions, especially when so many people are working on only partial knowledge and such big differences in culture. A maid/assassin made me feel like his was turning into an anime all of the sudden. Keep your eyes peeled for giant robots!
  13. I admit that I missed the Aang/Zuko double flashbacks, but this was a really cool way to give us Zuko's backstory. I like a lot of the additions to the backstory, especially Zuko's soldiers being the same soldiers he stood up for, which got his face half burned off and banished. That's a great touch. I also like that we get to see some actual interaction between Iroh and Ozai in this version, the dynamics of the fire family have become really interesting. This is probably the best episode of the show so far, although the ending where Katara and Sokka get saved from the spirit world was disappointing. We saw their tragic flashbacks, but never really got any closure with them dealing with those feelings or with the injured nature spirit, I feel like this is one of the times when they shouldn't have put so many plots together. Ken Leung is having a blast getting to really smug it up with his increased screen time, he positively oozes slime and smug satisfaction every time we see him. I loved when Aang knocked him over with air and his assistant was trying to hide his snickers, he must be an awful boss to work under. Everyone familiar with the story knew that the Agni Kai was coming and I'm sure new viewers have been wondering how Zuko got that burn scar, and its impressively even worse in this one now that we can see it in all its horrible glory. No wonder Zuko is such an angry kid, its sad to see how he seems to be taking his evil fathers "lesson" on compassion to heart, even if that's clearly not who he really is, and that he keeps standing up for his father, still desperate for his approval. That was horrible for Zuko but it must have also been horrifying for Iroh, seeing his own brother treat his son that way, so soon after he lost his own son. I loved seeing Aang and Zuko working together, and I like that they got to actually talk in this one more. Of course Zuko isn't ready to put aside his quest and his toxic family yet, but its a tiny step in the right direction. We even saw him slightly smile! Fun to see Avatar Roku and get some foreshadowing about him for later. I cracked up so much at him describing Kyoshi, its very true that she is very intense, especially compared to the more Zen Avatars.
  14. I knew right away that Honeybee saying yes to everything would be a disaster, especially that fence. Fences are a big deal, five feet might as well be five miles! I would normally like to think that Honeybee would be able to handle her girl bossing a bit better, but I guess that sash would go to anyone's head, especially if she was working through some other stuff. I love how into the makeovers the whole family got, they were completely incredible.
  15. I'm so glad that this show has already been reviewed, that was one hell of a cliffhanger! I suspected that Maddie wasn't actually dead and that's why she could talk to people while the other ghosts couldn't, but I thought that she was just comatose or something, not that another ghosts stole her body! So Janet somehow found a way to hijack her body and is now running off with it? How? Why? How do they get her out? So many questions! Why is Mr. Martin apparently trying to keep the ghosts at the school? What happened the day Mr. Martin and Janet died? Would Wally and Charlie have moved on by now if Mr. Martin didn't have their stuff? Why was Janet able to possess Maddie? I liked this show a lot, I really enjoy all of the characters and the mystery has kept me guessing. Very excited for the next season!
  16. I thought this was a good finale, it made me really excited to see what happens next. Very bittersweet seeing Lance Reddick, whoever they get to play Zeus in the future will have big shoes to fill. I loved Sally telling Percy not to call Kronos, god of the Titans, grandpa.
  17. Wow, St. Olivia got to give the heartwarming "its ok sweetie" victim rescue hug AND she got to be the only one to chase down the perp through the snow, getting the big arrest! What an absolute hero! She's truly the one cop in the world who can save all of the (pretty young white female) victims of the world! That was embarrassing, the amount of Olivia workshop was over the top even by this shows standards. Of course we find an FBI agent to work the case who coincidentally has a tragic past that matches up with this case so she can join Olivia in Taking It Personally. Of course everything lines up so that Olivia can have the big hero moment. Of course FBI agents and captains all want to drop everything to become acolytes of our lord and savior Olivia. Of course she gets a last moment where she exchanges a smile with Maddie who's wearing the bracelet. Of course she was trafficked for a month and the worst injury she got was a haircut. This was awful, the only good thing about it was that we are hopefully done with this whole stupid arc and will never have to hear the name "Maddie" dramatically yelled and/or whispered ever again. So many questions that I don't care about being answered. What did the sex dolls have to do with anything? How did this traffic guy find Maddie? Did Olivia tell Maddie, as she returned her bracelet, that she pulled it off a sex doll that looked like her and she's been wearing it all month? Did Maddie think "I've been kidnapped, drugged, and bought by sex predator in a murder cabin, and somehow this is the creepiest thing that's happened to me"? Who the hell is watching Noah?
  18. Awww those letters between George and Mary were so sweet, its nice to see them getting along so well, even if they had to be in different hemispheres to get the spark back. Sometimes you just need a change! Sure it was also to save money, but I love that George started the letter writing, it can be romantic and practical! Oh George, Missy is just running circles around you. He never even questioned Taylor being a girl and he bought into the whole "he's totally gay" thing super easy and was too busy patting himself on the back to even guess that she could be lying. As for Taylor being alright with it, in my experience most teenage boys will agree to a lot in the middle of a make out session... Taking trains around Europe really is the best, I had the best time riding on a train across Ireland when I was visiting. Sure there were plenty of better ways for Sheldon to have gotten back to Mary, but then we would have missed the hilarious imagine of Sheldon being menaced by an adorable tiny dog!
  19. You can really tell that they're working to hide Rose's pregnancy, not only is she gone for half the episode but that plaid blazer just screamed "hide my belly"! That was a fun episode, I liked seeing Bela again, although I'm not sure how much staying power she and her boyfriend are going to have. He told a pretty huge lie to keep their relationship going and Bela is apparently more attracted to the imaginary French ghost she made up than him, so it doesn't seem like its going in the healthiest direction. I loved Jay making a ton of cakes for Nigel and Isaac and walking around announcing it, he's such a great guy. Plus I always love the reminders that when Jay talks to the ghosts it looks like he's talking with an empty room. I really want to see some of the dreams that he and Sass are sharing, I bet they're a lot of crazy fun. I can see why pre-nups can be beneficial, sometimes paperwork like that can keep things from getting ugly down the line, but it doesn't seem to have much of a purpose here, considering that they're ghosts and cant actually use money unless Sam spends it, and that Isaac and Nigel have been into each other for a few hundred years, I doubt they'll fall apart too quickly. It was also all clearly Hetty projecting her own experiences after choosing money over artists and scandalous ankles. All of them pissing Sam off by talking about how quickly she's going to die was great. Do more cocaine Sam! Lots of great one liners, its hard to choose a favorite, although Nancy's "whore" has to be very high up there.
  20. The acting really is carrying this show so hard, it pulls me in even when most other aspects are all style and no substance. I actually did like this one pretty well, it actually made me feel for both Truman and the Swans. It must be awful to feel like the society you once ruled is going away and is being replaced by something you don't understand, it really is too bad what went down between them all, they could have probably really helped each other. I think that the show is tryin to deconstruct the stereotypical relationship between (usually) wealthy women and gay men, how it can become a symbiotic relationship but can also become very sour, if the women treats their gay best friends as more of an accessory than a person or if the gay best friend becomes resentful of their gal pals, but I'm not sure the show is really getting there. I think that this could have been explored a lot better if they had focused more on Truman's friendships with the Swans before he wrote the article, if we had spent a few episodes established their personalities and relationships with each other and Truman, and then had the article come out halfway through and deal with the fall out. Instead we just get a LOT of talking about this theme instead of showing it. Truman is such a selfish pain in the ass so often you almost forget what a great writers and observer he was, there is a reason he was/is such a big deal in literary circles and why he was so beloved by the elite. His musing on aging and feeling like you aren't part of the zeitgeist anymore was really affecting, and unlike a lot of dialogue on this show when hey try to make a point it sounded natural, in a Truman kind of way. I have not been a fan of the constant jumping around in the timeline, but I do like when period pieces like this allow enough time to pass that you can see the way style and society changes along with the characters. Truman and the Swans spent all episode being hit by how the society from their heyday is passing them by, hat stories are closing, gloves aren't being sold, Truman's attempt at turning Kate into Babe 2.0 just nothing but snark, its always so interesting how much people will hold onto the past. Kate is really lovely, she especially looked great with her hair down in a more natural 70s sort of style.
  21. This was a really interesting start, although I know its going to take awhile for me to learn who everyone is, who is allied or related to who, but so far the acting is strong enough that I think I'll get there. Its pretty brutal so far, and having some idea what happens next its just going to get worse. Seeing so many perspectives is interesting, if also pretty exhausting. Glad to see that the annoying tradition of "I clearly know you cant understand my language so I am going to keep yelling until you magically do" has a long history across cultures. Also, I know that this is a particularly nasty time in the Catholics VS Protestants conflicts in Europe, but it seems pretty stupid to immediately start antagonizing one of the first people you've met who can speak your language and is standing between you and the angry guys with swords. Maybe "fuck you and your god" wasn't the best tact to take? I'm glad they're having the Japanese characters speak actual Japanese instead of having them speak English with an accent, it seems like the language barrier is going to be a whole thing going forward.
  22. Jane Lynch really is a perfect fit for this show, she's the perfect person to play a sassy lesbian prepper aunt who's been in a bunker since the 50s! I hope she continues to pop up, she seems like she'll be a really fun addition to the show. Moon getting a hard rejection hurt, at least he got his dance. I would probably have wanted to spend my life in a bunker too after that, after some stress based meowing. I love that the Tobin's are so prepared for anything that they have a plan ready just in case they find someone sneaking around their property in a gas mask and disappearing into a hole in the ground.
  23. Looks like we have a few new little ducklings! I like Dom and Charlie so far, although Dom really needs to figure out this blood thing, it seems like a real issue for a medical practitioner. They have a really cute friendship, their dance at the end was adorable. Charlie is very much reminding Shaun of himself and he is really not sure how to handle that. Her behaviors are certainly different from Shaun, she's more of a hyper chatter box, but they certainly have a lot in common, especially from back when Shaun had just started at the hospital. She really needs to focus on finding a way to understand when to say something and when not to and work on sensory issues like touching her face during surgery, which is all easier said than done but nevertheless will make her time as a doctor a lot more productive. Both cases of the week were pretty good, I especially liked the dad and daughter story, I like how things played out and how it let us explore another aspect of being a parent. I knew that something was up with the daughter and the career her dad was bragging about, but I didn't guess camgirl! Park was so obviously projecting with his patient, I swear if I ever get some kind of rare deadly illness I am going to write up a contract that says no doctor can use my medical care as a way to deal with their own personal issues. Very glad that Glassman and Shaun seem to be making more steps in the right direction, but they're still not there and probably wont be until Glassman acknowledges that Shaun had a good reason to do what he did and for Shaun to see why Glassman is so upset.
  24. Betty's sweater could not be cuter, what a stylish girl. Pretty solid follow up to the premier, even if the prison plot is still rather confusing. I still don't think that Will's maybe dad is behind the whole scheme but he is certainly going to take advantage of it to manipulate Will. I am really interested in meeting some of Will's biological family, hopefully it goes well and doesn't just end in more sadness. Will really needs a win. I liked the B plot with Angie and Amanda doing some bonding, they have as fun chemistry and I like that it showed a slightly more responsible side to Angie. Sure she's still basically playing cop when she's supposed to be on leave, but she does at least seem to be a caring sponsor. Ormwoods domestic drama is not the best part of the show, but it is helping him to grow a bit as a person I think, it seems like its finally hitting him how badly he's screwed things up. He's at least trying to be better and managed to not violate his wife's privacy this time so that's something. Although, maybe getting your son to build a gun to take to school wasn't the best idea...
  25. Interesting episode, it had some aspects of the early episode where Aang wandered through the spirit world but is also very different. I think that the creepy more horror focused aspects of the episode were really well done, but I continue to feel what I did in the last episode, that this show might be too dramatic for its own good. I love that the show is taking its characters and the conflicts so seriously and its all well done, but I miss the more wacky silly parts of the cartoon. The show certainly has some fun comedic scenes which they also do a good job with, like the introduction where Sokka apparently had some bad luck with a fire nation girl, but I miss that perfect mix of comedy and tragedy that made the first show stand out, especially for a kids show. Those flashbacks were impressively depressing, no wonder Katara and Sokka got sucked into Koh's sadness fog. Katara's backstory was pretty much what we saw in the cartoon, but even worse in that Katara's attempt at water bending sealed her moms fate, and, while the cartoon played coy in how Kya died, in this one the poor woman was full on incinerated while Katara watched, which is presumably what happened in the cartoon too but damn. This addition to Sokka's backstory is certainly a change, their father in the cartoon was pretty much the perfect dad, in contrast to Ozai, even if he couldn't be with his kids the way he wanted to due to the war, I can never see that version of him being so harsh on Sokka behind his back. Its probably more of the show trying to be more honest about the effects this war has had on people, that losing his wife and the stress of trying to protect his people has made Hakoda a harsher wearier person, but its still a jarring change. It certainly adds a lot to Sokka's insecurity over his abilities as a leader and warrior and need to live up to his fathers expectations. At least we got to see Gyatso again, who's such a great guy, alive or dead. Aang really needed to hear that everything that has happened isn't on him, and to be reminded of who he is. The actor who plays him has such warmth, seeing him really does feel like feeling warm after freezing. Oh Zuko, the kid just cannot go a day without pissing people off, he's just a bull in a china shop who also has super powers. He and Iroh provided some much needed fun in such a dark episode, plus we got to see June, who looks like she walked right out of the cartoon. She's already way too cool and I love that in this one she's the one flirting with Iroh, I cant blame her! The shout outs in the bar to episodes that were cut from the show, the pirates, the canyon, were a lot of fun, a nice treat for the fans. This might be controversial, but I think I like this version of Ozai more than the cartoon, he's a lot more complex. Not in that he's in any way more sympathetic, he's just as much of a piece of shit as ever, but he's much more manipulative, calculating, superficially charming, and the way he plays his kids against each other so much more in this version makes their family dynamic more interesting. You can see so much of how his terrible parenting has messed his kids up, its so tragic how he had these ridiculously talented promising kids who he just treated as tools.
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