S04.E08: Remembrance

[OnceSane]

No episode description yet.

[Brn2bwild]

The title intrigues me.  Without knowing anything that happens, I hope it's not because something tragic happens to Toph.

 

ETA: 

Never mind. It's a fucking clip show?!

Edited November 21, 2014 by Brn2bwild

[Eegah]

At first I was rolling my eyes, thinking this show really didn't need its own Ember Island Players, especially if they were just going to do a clip show rather than all new animation. But surprise surprise, it was pretty darn good. Mako's segment stands as Mike and Bryan's ultimate statement that they know they screwed up his story in the first two seasons, Korra's allows for some actual character development and is quite moving, and Varrick's is plenty comedy on its own that I didn't mind the wait at all.

[VCRTracking]

Three minutes in I was like "Seriously a clip show? What is this, Family Ties?" The conference call between Zaheer, Vaatu, Amon and an eavesdropping Unaloq made it worth it. I just hope the finale better have some epic stuff.

Also loved Varrick calling Vaatu the "Meanest, scariest kite that ever flew!"

 

 

Mako's segment stands as Mike and Bryan's ultimate statement that they know they screwed up his story in the first two seasons,

 

Also on how batshit crazy the second season finale was.

 

Poor Grandma Yin, though. Mako's grandfather must have been a huge jerk!

 

(ETA Found the reason why they had to do a clip show from Bryan Konietzko's Tumblr.:

 

 

In a couple hours the eighth chapter of Korra Book 4 will be released online, and I suppose, if you are none the wiser, a few minutes into it you will feel duped and yell at your screen, “Hey! This is a crummy clips episode!” And that is (almost) exactly what it is––except we all worked really hard to make sure at the very least it isn’t crummy. I’m here to explain why we ended up having to do one. Sometime around a year and a half ago we were similarly duped on a large scale. We got the news from the higher-ups that our Book 4 budget was getting slashed, almost to the tune of an entire episode’s budget. We had two options: 1) let go a significant number of crew members several weeks early, or 2) make a clips episode. We never considered the first option. We weren’t going to do that to our crew, and even if we were callous enough to do so, we never would have been able to finish the season without them. But having grown up on TV in the ’80s and ’90s, we all dread clips episodes, where characters sit around saying, “Remember that time when…” and leftover footage is reheated for no one’s enjoyment. Anyone who suffered through TNG’s “Shades of Gray” knows what I’m talking about.

Anime fans know this is a common occurrence in Japanese series as well. In fact, as Mike hung his head in disappointment at our fate, I remembered how one of my favorite anime series, Samurai Champloo, made what I thought was a really awesome and clever clips episode. They mixed about 5 minutes of new footage in with the old, and set up a context where the characters would be reflecting on past events while narrating over them, offering new insights or at least providing some humor. I pitched this angle to Mike and he agreed this was the best way to turn this big old lemon into some lemonade.

Back on Avatar, we had something that functioned as a sort of clips episode, though it was all new animation and really hard to make, Episode 317, “The Ember Island Players.” Our heroes went to a play where they saw themselves and their tales performed by actors on stage. It was simultaneously a reckoning for the characters before they headed into the denouement, and a lighthearted romp where we got to poke fun at our own show before things got really serious in the remaining episodes. Korra’s “Remembrances” ended up serving the same function, albeit with old footage instead of a newly animated play. There is about 5 minutes of new footage, wonderfully animated by Studio Mir, and a bunch of funny and touching narration from the characters. There are also some fun chibi heads and other treats in there to spice up the old footage.

What started out as a reluctant chore ended up being a really fun episode to make, and in the end I truly love it. Mike did an awesome job directing it and storyboarding all the chibi hilarity, as well as overseeing the wonderful script by Josh Hamilton, Katie Mattila, and Tim Hedrick. Joaquim Dos Santos, Ryu Ki Hyun, and Lauren Montgomery drew fantastic storyboards for the new footage (particularly Lauren’s insane Varrick posing). Lots of other folks worked their tails off on this one, namely Amaris Calvin, our animatics editor; Christie Tseng, our character designer who drew and colored all of the final chibi art; Matt Gadbois, our After Effects editor; and Chris Hink, our final picture editor. Last but not least, Aran Tanchum and Vinny Guisetti on foley, Benjamin Wynn on sound design, and a stellar new score with all your favorite hits by Jeremy Zuckerman. And plenty of other fine folks I’m forgetting!

So now you know what it is and why it happened. I hope you do end up enjoying it after all, especially as a last lighthearted, nostalgic romp before POOP. GETS. REAL. And then the series is done.

Edited November 21, 2014 by VCRTracking

[Xazeal]

That was pretty good. Unfortunate that it had to happen in the first place, but I think they made the best of it.

 

One question, though: Why is Asami the fourth wheel of a tricycle? She's just as much on Team Avatar as Mako and Bolin are, and she's arguably been more useful at times, and yet she's always been treated like a supporting character. She had no story to tell in this one because she's always been an accessory to other characters. I guess you could argue that they didn't need to develop her because she's basically been perfect all along, as opposed to reckless Korra, asshole Mako, and loser Bolin, but I really wish they could've given her something.

 

Also, part of me wishes Varrick would've just narrated the whole thing. I'ts one hell of a way to do a clipshow, but it probably would've been too much.

[BatmanBeatles]

I think Mako's tale should have been done all in chibi animation.

[steelyis]

Varrick owns my life! He made a clip show one of the best episodes of the entire series! And the conference call between Zaheer, Vatuu, Amon, and clingy Unalaq was so WTF I could not stop laughing!

[Apathy]

Considering the circumstances, I'd say this episode deserves is a "Not as bad as it could have been" award.

 

Ugh, I was afraid Mako's segment was going to be all about Makorra and the love triangle from hell. I really didn't need to relive that debacle, but Wu and Grandma Yin's commentary was much appreciated. Now we know where Mako gets it from, "Just like your grandfather!" XD Tu was right on point about Mako as well. While he's clearly not a fighter, Wu is turning out to be a fine grandson/cousin-in-law. ;) I still can't get over how Grandma Yin says "cherry berry lemonade?"

 

There was a moment during Korra's part where Tenzin comes in and I was like, "Wait, where did he come from all of a sudden?" but then I realized they were back on Air Temple Island. They could have used clips from ATLA for this one to sum up the Avatar series as a whole. 

 

Varrick's story was AWESOME! The Evil Square totally needs to be a thing. I'd watch that mover.

 

Nickelodeon can suck it. 

Edited November 21, 2014 by Apathy

[magicdog]

I was disappointed to see it was a clip show, but at least Bryan explained things and it makes sense.  It was better than the average clip show, and as previously posted, Varrick's version of events was hilarious!   Perhaps HIS segment would have been better still in chibi form!

 

Interesting that we didn't get Bolin's initial romancing of Korra (they seemed like kindred spirits on their only date) or his heartbreak when he saw Korra kissing Mako!  Imagine what Wu and Grandmother would have had to say about THAT!

 

I hate that a clip show was forced on the producers since every episode counts to get the story told rather than watch retreads of what every viewer has already seen.

 

I second the motion that Nick can suck it!

[weyrbunny]

I had forgotten that Pabu shot laser beams from his eyes in Nuktuk. Seems funny now. I’d actually watch a mover about a laser-beam-eyed ferret.

 

Korra’s segment was humanizing, I guess, but I was unimpressed by its platitudes. It was a nice reminder of the depth of Korra and Asami’s friendship, though—how supportive Asami is, for example.

 

Wu’s “I’m not like you, Mako. I wasn’t raised by a pack of cops in the woods” made me laugh out loud. It was just such a mixture of images and metaphors…the slow camera pan over the too-interested crowd while Mako hemmed and hawed about his breakup with Korra also made me giggle.

 

Regarding Varrick’s “This is no time for thinking, Kid. We’re heading into the big finale”—please let this not be prophetic or a meta-excuse about the show’s end.

[Brn2bwild]

What would have made the Korra segment stronger was if they had Asami thinking back to the beginning with her father and when they ended up on opposite sides.  It would have given us some nice insight into her, rather than information we already knew.

[magicdog]

Wu’s “I’m not like you, Mako. I wasn’t raised by a pack of cops in the woods” made me laugh out loud.

 

 

 

I thought he said, "..... a pack of Tophs in the woods"!  Now that is a funny image!

[Trichromatic]

That conference call was straight out of Mean Girls. Loved it :D The pop-up talking heads were fantastic too. 

Can't say I didn't cringe when Mako was rememebring all the angst in the earlier seasons, but I'll take this as a self-aware apology from the writers and move on. 

Edited November 22, 2014 by Trichromatic

[stopeslite]

I didn't even watch it for a couple of days because I was so disappointed that it was a clip show, but I enjoyed the way they did it. Well, except for the Korra part. Aside from the Korra/Asami fanservice there at the beginning, that was just "hey, remember that? and that? and that?"  Wu and Grandma critiquing all of Mako's decisions was great, as was Varrick completely redoing the entire spirit battle.