Lugal

I think the ghosts themselves have speculated that could be the reason, but they'll admit they don't know. They seem to have other ideas, like when Hettie acknowledged that the cholera ghosts "are people" and was immediately disappointed that it didn't her get sucked off: "That was gross!"

This was a great finale for the series. They changed a lot from the cartoon, but I think for the most part that it worked. This show has not been afraid to show what war is and what it does. The battle was spectacular and I'm sorry we lost Hahn and the acolyte waterbender. But I'm glad they healed Momo! And Koizilla was even more spectacular than the cartoon. Yue's sacrifice was just as gutwrenching as it was in the original. Interesting that as part of the moon spirit, she still had her waterbending. And Sokka's face as his girlfriend turned into the moon. That's rough buddy. Zhao was even worse here, although he did drop some truth bombs on Zuko. Think about what side you're really on, Zuko! Nice touch that Iroh blasts him into the water. We didn't see Koizilla drag him off to the spirit void but I'm going to pretend that it happened. And Ozai didn't really care! I would think he would be concerned that Zhao wiped out much of the Fire Navy. Maybe getting dragged into the spirit void was a better option for him than facing the Fire Lord. And Ozai was playing things the whole time to take Omashu, or have Azula take Omashu. She's definitely set up as the main villain for the future seasons. Further thoughts on Omashu I'll put in spoiler tags. And we saw Sozin's Comet is coming... As for the series as a whole, I think it was a pretty good adaption, I think one or two more episodes would have been good to add a little extra would have been perfect. Some of the combinations of elements of the original did not quite work (some of the spirit world stuff), but I did like little touches, like the crew of Zuko's ship being the 41 division which he stood up for at the council meeting. I feel like Katara's arc was cut short, I think because a lot of her development in the cartoon was in one off episodes that were cut. We saw her practicing waterbending a few times, but by the time she reaches the North, she was a master, it felt a little rushed. And I'm sorry we didn't see Aang at least try to practice waterbending. The changes to some of the backstories like Sokka and Bumi were a divergence, but like so much else, I really can't judge it until the story is done. But I'm looking forward to seasons 2 and 3. So hop to it, Netflix!

I would agree with Maelstrom that they're the same Ozai. In the cartoon he was a menacing background presence for most of the first two seasons. Did we even see his face before season 3?

Zhao - a cautionary tale of giving a small man outsized power. He tried to kill Zuko and of course failed at that. Capturing the Avatar and killing Zuko, 0 for 2 there, Zhao. Iroh caught and pointed out that Zhao was not that bright and being used by someone smarter, and we see Azula (and her lightning). Ozai was impressed that she was willing to strike him down. She spared him, but it was not out of compassion. Now we set her up for the next season villain. Agna Qel'a was gorgeous! I wanna live there! It's interesting to see the Northern Water tribe in comparison to the Southern Water tribe, and knowing that this is what the south probably looked like at one time, before the war. It reinforces what Katara said about the North being frozen, having avoided the war, they haven't had to adapt. It feels like they did tone down Pakku's sexism from the original and (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt here) that his attitude seems less sexist and more just Men are warriors and women are healers and this is just how things are. And Katara, having grown up in the south, learned firsthand sometimes the warriors aren't around and you have to protect yourself. Which dovetails into her fight (Ap Kai?) with Pakku. He defeated her, but she more than held her own and afterwards everyone rushed to her, impressed and saying they never saw anyone fight Pakku and asking about the ice disks (which she learned from earthbenders). Now she feels like the Katara we've known from the cartoon. And Aang meets Kuruk! They kept the different personalities of the various avatars, although I feel for Kuruk and everything he went through. I previously saw Meegwun Fairbrother in Burden of Truth and liked him there and I like his interpretation of Kuruk, and what Kuruk went through while he's believed to have failed when he really saved the world on many occasions. Aang really didn't have as much to do in this one, other than fret about his friends. It was interesting to see Sokka actually respected and valued for his experience. A nice bit with his reflection of two kids from the Southern Water Tribe who've seen the world. And the nice brother-sister moments between him and Katara. "Quit staring! She'll think there's something wrong with you. More than there already is!" I will agree that Yue's wig was not the best, but I like the changes they made to her story and that Hahn is a decent guy! Although they did have a little shoutout with him asking Sokka about shoulder spikes on Fire Nation uniforms (in the original, Hahn was an arrogant jerk who tried to infiltrate the Fire Nation forces with a hundred-year out of date uniform. Which had shoulder spikes.) I like that Sokka and Yue have a connection in the Spirit World and I wonder if they'll meet up there. And we end with the black snow as the Fire Nation arrives.

They pushed the last two episodes off until April for whatever reason.

The Blue Spirit! This was definitely one of the best episodes. Aang and Zuko's interaction was just as good as I hoped it would be. The spirit world resolution was a bit rushed, but honestly, I'm not disappointed to see less of Koh. It was fun to meet Roku, and he's a little less austere here than he was in the cartoon, but he really reminds me of the young Roku we saw in the flashback episode "The Avatar and the Firelord". And his casual, "yep that's Kyoshi for you" to Aang. And mention of Kuruk, who I hope we'll see when they got to the Northern Water Tribe. I like the interaction between Ozai and Iroh, because we never saw it before in the cartoon. Especially that one line during the Agni Kai when Iroh tries to stop his brother with the line "He's your son!" Knowing what Iroh has lost, that line really hits. The Agni Kai itself was brutal and seeing Zuko fighting his father, for really just Zuko trying to do the right thing and standing up for what he believed in. One of Ozai's father of the year moments 🙄 Especially when he burns him after he'd already won! I never thought I would see Daniel Dae Kim so effectively play a villain. And Azula, while she didn't smirk like in the cartoon, she was kind of shocked but we see the calculating twinkle in her eye of "this could work out for me." Nice touch that the crew of Zuko's ship is the 41st, the regiment he stood up for that didn't end up as cannon fodder. One of those nice little tying things together moments.

I remember an interview that Brandon and Rebecca did where he said that Isaac and Hetty see themselves as above all the others when in reality they're just buffoons.

This one was kinda hard to judge because it's really half an episode. Based on the "Winter Solstice, Part 1" but it took the most liberties and brought in a lot of other elements from other episodes as well (interesting we meet Wan Shi Tong so early). It was much darker than we've seen, but anything involving Koh the Face Stealer is going to be dark. And Hei Bai was even more terrifying in live action. I like the insights into Sokka and Katara. Sokka's backstory was changed considerably, but it worked. He can't help but help doubt his abilities after hearing his father and Bato talking (and we met Bato!) Katara's backstory was largely the same, but interesting they spelled it out explicitly that if she hadn't tried to waterbend, her mother might not have died, so that guilt has to weigh on her. Contrasting that, we see how Ozai is playing his children off against each other, and the damage it's doing to Azula and Zuko both. Seeing Azula blink away tears when mildly rebuked by her father, makes me think that Elizabeth Yu may end up being one of the standout performers in upcoming seasons. All in all, I think it worked, but this was the most divergent from the cartoon we've seen so far. On the lighter notes, I did like that when Zuko was asking around in the tavern and everyone talks about where the heard about the Avatar. "It was the Pirates!" "No it was that Canyon guy!" Both from episodes of the original. We met June and Arden Cho looks like she stepped out of the cartoon! And she tells Zuko his dad is kinda cute (nice highlighting of Zuko's father figure there) which is a nice reversal of the cartoon, where Iroh was crushing on June, and who can blame him because June is hot!

Any doubts that anyone may still have had about Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Iroh should be laid to rest with this episode! With one look, he can hit you right in the feels. Lu Ten's funeral was heartbreaking (even before "Leaves on the Vine") and it really deepened the Iroh-Zuko relationship and we can see why they are so close. Also really highlighting how the war effects everyone. I can fully understand the Earthbender's anger, as well as Iroh's warnings about the darkness. It's also an interesting counterpoint Iroh parenting Zuko while at the same time offering advice for Aang when they meet up as well. The Badgermoles were much more terrifying here, but I like that they highlighted the sibling dynamic with Sokka and Katara (I saw an article earlier where the producers said they were dropping the romantic hints between Aang and Katara in season one, mostly because age difference between them is much more apparent in live action). It's kind of ironic that Katara seems to have the least development so far, but I still like her scenes with Jet, showing sometimes you can learn some good life lessons from bad people. The changes to Bumi's character were some of the biggest, but like pretty much every other change they made here, they work to for the better. Bumi being angry makes perfect sense, having dealt with the war for all his long life, a hundred years, and then Aang shows up again (still young no less) and it also makes sense that a lot of people would not be too happy with him for leaving. Utkarsh was good here, and after seeing him as Jay in Ghosts it was interesting to watch him play such a different character. 🎶 Secret Tunnel!🎶 The minstrels, AKA the singing hippies, were ones I never thought would show up, but it was fun to see them. Also Sokka talking about their advice with all the song titles was fun.

The show continues to impress! They managed to combine Jet, Omashu and the Mechanist into a single episode, and it worked. I wouldn't have thought so, but Dani Pudi was perfect as the Mechanist (who even got a name here, Sai) and he was definitely channeling René Auberjonois. The Freedom Fighters were well done, and Jet was even worse here than he was in the original. And we had our introduction to Azula and she's even more evil here (if it were possible), as she fifth columned a group of Fire Nation dissidents (which was also cool to see that everyone in the Fire Nation isn't in lockstep with Ozai's plans). Seriously, what father would use his teenage daughter like that? And how she seems to bristle at any praise sent Zu-zu's way. Was it just me or was she trying for a little of Grey DeLisle's cadence in her delivery? And we saw her crew. Not sure about Mai, because she only had about one or two lines, but I liked Ty Lee. And we saw Yuyan archers in the background! Zuko keeps his temper under control until he realizes Aang stole his notebook, and then it's burn everything to the ground! Especially in response to Aang just asking him why he's doing it. And he got himself separated from Iroh. Omashu was beautiful! They really brought an exotic Silk Road vibe that you would expect from a major crossroad city. And we had a white lotus tile, which makes me wonder if Iroh will meet Bumi, especially now that Iroh is captured in Omashu. And then he gets the dramatic top shot/KHAAAAN! moment.

I think I'm in love with Suki! That Kyoshi Warrior makeup looked incredible and I wasn't sure how it would translate to live action (can't wait to see the Wolf Warrior makeup). I liked Sokka and Suki's little moments and the fact that neither of them really knows how to act around the opposite sex. And Tamlyn Tomita as Suki's mom! Now we get to see where Suki learned her fighting style. Sokka uses his boomerang as more of a throwing axe so I wonder if Suki throwing the fan inspires him to create the returning boomerang. I haven't seen Yvonne Chapman in much but damn did she embody Kyoshi! Awesomely terrifying! I hope we get to see more Avatars like that. I really didn't miss or notice the absence of his "girls aren't good warriors" attitude. Seeing the Kyoshi Warriors, now he just realizes he has a lot to learn, which will be interesting when he meets Piandao. Although he's still the guy that Aunt Wu had predicted a lifetime of "struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted" And I almost forgot, we got to see Fire Lord Ozai at the end. Daniel Dae Kim does menacing well, and I'd swear he's taking a little bit from Mark Hamil in the voice.

Yes! I caught that too and thought it looked so cool! And for those that don't know what Inuktitut looks like (although the show had a more handwritten style):

Not much I can say that really hasn't been covered already, but this was impressive! I purposely didn't rewatch the animated series so I could come at this one with fresh eyes. The casting was solid, everyone seemed to fit the roles perfectly: they are Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko and Iroh. They got big Netflix money behind them and it shows. You can tell the people behind the scenes are fans rather than trying to cash in, or worse fanboys/fangirls. I thought the Air Nomad Genocide was well done, brutal without becoming gratuitous (we don't need to see everyone getting burned alive) although I almost wish the fight between Sozin and Gyatso would have lasted a little longer, just to see the two masters going up against each other (and since the cartoon showed Gyatso's skeleton surrounded by three dozen dead firebenders, there's all those theories over the years that he pulled the air right out of their lungs). I like that Wolf Cove was a real village, as opposed to the cartoon where it looked like Gran-gran, Katara, Sokka and a few kids. I loved Gran-gran giving the opening narrative in front of the four elements symbols, but my favorite scene is probably when Aang's in the brig and Iroh visits him. Very good interplay with Aang's "what do you believe?" and Iroh dodging the question. And they kept Iroh's love of tea! I seem to recall in the cartoon it took them a moment to figure it out (deleted scene perhaps?) I can handwave it, because when Aang was floating and calling Appa, was he saying yip-yip? I thought they brought some humor into it with Sokka. This was a heavy episode (opening with a genocide, after all) so I can see why the humor was minimal. We're all looking forward to meeting her next season!

Even worse, he's an opportunist that thinks he can score political points on this. Why else go on OANN, of all places, and complain about the "lefties" ruining country music? It sounds like (and I'll give the radio station the benefit of the doubt here) an honest mistake, since I wouldn't immediately associate Beyoncé with country music either, but Texas Hold 'Em is a damn good song! Honestly, it goes back even before that, when the record companies divided records by race. Jimmie Rodgers the "Father of Country Music" was pretty much a white bluesman. And nowadays, I think of Gangstagrass who combine bluegrass and hip-hop.

A few seasons back they did Lena Waithe whose ancestors came from Barbados.

That's the awesome thing about The Good Place, that it works both ways. I was unspoiled for the big twist (although I think we all guessed it at some point along the way), but on rewatch, knowing that twist, you can pick up so many more little things along the way, which in a lot of ways was more fun. Most recently the latest thing I watched completely unspoiled was The Million Yen Women on Netflix and if you like twisty psychological thrillers, it's definitely one to watch unspoiled. They had enough suspects and kept me guessing about who was the villain up until the big reveal. And they even managed to throw in a few twists after that.

Pretty much how I feel about it. If I trust the writers, I may avoid a few spoilers while I'm watching it, but other than that, I usually try to find them so I know what I'm getting into. Like a friend of mine said, "If it's not worth watching spoiled, it's not worth watching twice."

Not an Austen fan, but I enjoyed Paging Mr. Darcy, which brought in enough Austen tropes to be interesting and Will Kemp and Mallory Jansen worked well together. Love and Jane, however, was somewhat less than the sum of its parts. It was fun to watch Alison Sweeney play quirky for a bit, however a whole movie was just too much. I also expected better after seeing her and Ben Ayers in the Chronicle Mysteries. (Can we get more of them?) The whole aspect of a famous writer guiding our main character could have been interesting, and I'm sorry it wasn't. And I was jokingly expecting a twist, like Ayer's character revealing the real reason he spends so much time in the bookstore is because if he spends too much time in the office, Franz Kafka won't leave him alone.

The thing to keep in mind with the pie charts is its based on samples they take from people currently living in the areas and may not take into account past migrations and since each company has their own samples, it can account for differences between the tests. I don't know if they take Ancient DNA into account. They're also always updating their samples so it can lead to results changing. I tested with FTDNA and when I first got the results it showed: British Isles, 47% Western and Central Europe 19% Scandinavia 19% Southern Europe 6% Asia Minor 8% Now, this broadly matches with what I had in the family tree, as pretty much all my ancestors came from from the British Isles, Switzerland and Germany. No paper trail to Scandinavia, but they could have been Vikings who settled in England in Medieval times. I never traced ancestry back to Southern Europe or Asia Minor, but maybe a Roman Legionnaire on the Rhine frontier married a local girl and settled down 1500 years ago? Who knows? But a few years later when they updated their samples, it changed to British Isles 58%, Eastern Europe 24%, Scandinavia 7% Asia Minor 8% with trace results (<2%) from Western and Central Europe and The East Middle East. When I checked again recently, the results changed again to 95% British Isles, with trace results from the Italian Peninsula (<2%) with less than 1% each from Malta, Greece& the Balkans, The Baltic, Anatolia/Armenia/Mesopotamia, and the Arabian Peninsula. So long story short, take the pie charts with a grain of salt.

Someone else remembers Covington Cross! 🥳

So I'm not the only one that thought Melissa Benoist was a better Teela than SMG. Shatner, I knew right away especially when he said "I'm laughing at the superior intellect." (Wrath of Khan FTW!) The one that really threw me was Granamyr. I first thought it was Erik Todd Dellums, but then in the credits I saw it was John DeLancie! Actually, between Shatner, John DeLancie and Gates McFadden, we had a sort of Star Trek gathering. Didn't think of it in the moment, but, yeah, He-Man did look a lot like Thor. Abolishing the monarchy and going straight into the elections of representative democracy felt weird and out of place. How come no one tries elective monarchy, direct democracy or an anarcho-syndicalist commune? All in all it wasn't bad, and an improvement over Revelation, and I agree that Evil-Lyn or now just Lyn was the standout, her story arc was probably the most interesting and Lena Heady was spot on. They brought some moral complexity to the crazy cartoon about toys I watched 40 years ago, so yeah, I'd probably be in for another season.

It was interesting for Ed's ancestor that fought in the civil war at 17 neither he nor Henry mentioned the money. I have records and letters from my ancestors that served and the money was a big motivator. I saw on the document they showed briefly on screen, it looked like he was paid $25. It was 1850, which was the first census to show the names of everyone living there. Before that, the censuses just showed the head of household and tallies for the rest of the people there by age, gender and free/slave status. They could make a rough guess by ages and gender, but that would be the best they could do.

A true mob kingpin would have someone to do that for him. My theory for years has been his coffee is grown on child-slave plantations and he smuggles it in to avoid being exposed. But, maybe he uses the coffee to literally smuggle in the drugs like this. But more likely he'll keep the drugs out of PC but he'll run them into other communities because he doesn't live there, why should he care?

Well, the old writers are back and GH is on fire!

I also say them the same too, and the pronunciation of "wh" doesn't seem overly precise. It can be a voiceless /w/ sound or more of a /hw/.