TV: The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra

[Y]

Y's really thinking about this...good stuff. I do like the fact that far more than great battles of power, turnabouts, and saving entire villages (or neighborhoods in this case), LoK has largely been about Korra fumbling through public relations and political intrigue. Being isolated at the poles with the White Lotus Society has left her completely unable to maneuver through the difficulties and dangers the more modern life. She's spent a lot of the series thus far being manipulated by the movers and shakers of the city. She made the smart move of shooting down that council guy when he came to visit, only to get ambushed into joining later at the party.

It is interesting that Korra has already made most of the progress in terms of developing her powers, and it doesn't help her solving the issues Republic City has one bit. If anything, each showy display makes things worse.

On a lighter note, the introduction of a 1930s style pinup/bombshell character, wavy hair, one hand on the hip pose and all. Woohoo! Who happens to be the heiress of the richest man in the city, a Chinese Henry Ford. In nearly every way the opposite of Korra. Is it a side plot, or is Asami more than she seems? Still, Mako's behavior makes me hope that Korra's romantic interest shifts to Bolin. Mako's too much of a player, or too greedy to find an easy way out of the life he's been dealt.

Again this represents another savvy turn away from the established elements from A:TLA. The White Lotus Society used to be the intellectuals and pacifist rebels who cannily manipulated events in A:TLA in order to bring peace to the world. Now they are the established order in the world, and while they have trained Korra pretty well in fighting techniques they left her woefully unprepared for the real world.

The love triangle (quadrangle?) elements are pretty well done. Notice that when Tenzin's daughter asks Korra if Mako is the Firebender she can't stop thinking about, she doesn't answer, and Mako fell pretty hard for Sato's daughter. Ryllharu expressed some dismay at growing romance elements from the pilot but I think the writers have enough credit in my book to do whatever they want.

watched the episode, great one.

Chinese henryFord or manipulative waterbending councilman, who's your bet for amon's true identity now?

Neither one is voiced by Steven Blum and Sato weighs way too much. I think we, the audience, will probably find out early on some pretty obvious signs of who Amon is, but the characters won't know. It would be totally absurd for him to be someone we already met.