'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Season 1 Episode 4 Review
Image Source: Superhero Hype
You know the part of Endgame where Bruce tries to take one of the stones, and the Ancient One explains what would happen if he take it? Or the timeline screens from the TVA in Loki? That’s what I think of when I think of adaptations. Changes are made, and though some may be subtle while others are larger, they impact the story that follows, and it further deviates from the original.
We’re starting to see the fruits of that by episode four. Enough subtle changes have been made that the beats are hitting differently. The overall goal is still there, but the blending of plots and reordering of events has taken the show down a different path. That’s further proof that we have to judge it on its own merits.
Episode four has Aang finally meet the king of Omashu, Bumi, who is, aside from Appa, the only surviving person Aang knew before he went into the iceberg. Katara and Sokka journey under the city as the Mechanist claims it’s the only other way to get to the prison underneath the palace. And Zuko goes undercover to track down his uncle.
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King Bumi
Image Source: Comic Book
My thoughts are mixed on this episode. I was hoping it would hit its stride by now, but it continues to be plagued by things that are apparently due to budget restrictions and of course the limited number of episodes. On the other hand, there are some great choices and scenes that play out in this episode that make it difficult to place where it falls. For example, there’s a scene with an earthbender who is transporting Iroh to a prison that is one of the most heartfelt and genuine scenes in the entire show, and then there’s Katara and Sokka’s sibling love moments in the tunnels that just don’t land.
Some of the character development continues to be a strong element in the show. Zuko and his uncle’s relationship is still the best part of the show, and we get further into their story in this episode. The raw emotion they show in their portrayals is the best the show has to offer, and even tertiary characters like the earthbender guard are used effectively to flesh out the effect this war has had on the world and the people in it.
Sokka and Katara get closer as they traverse the Secret Tunnel
Image Source: Cosmopolitan
That’s the strongest part of this episode. It’s the first one in the series that really drives home the human impact of the war. Iroh losing his son. The earthbender losing his brother. Katara and Sokka losing their dad. It contrasts well with Aang realizing that his old friend, Bumi, is alive, but even that isn’t the same. Bumi is not the same silly guy Aang was friends with 100 years ago. He still jokes, but they’re cruel, and he’s bitter and angry that Aang was gone and he had to grow old without his friend and the Fire Nation upended everything.
Unlike the previous episode, the blending of plots doesn’t completely work here. Bringing in the Secret Tunnel plot, while a nice easter egg with the song “Secret Tunnel,” felt odd and despite the fact that people can manipulate the elements, coming across a bunch of people singing in caves under Omashu was a little weird. That’s why it felt shoehorned in, almost like an olive branch for fans. The leader then telling them the story of Oma and Shu felt weird too. Katara and Sokka saying they need to go through the tunnels prompting him to tell them a story just falls flat. I get it was to drop the clue “love is brightest in the dark,” and the “love” this time was siblings reconciling with their trauma and how they treat each other, but it’s all kind of bing, bang, boom and doesn’t feel right.
There’s always growing pains in first season TV, and the habit of doing short seasons can hurt those typical things, but it should be finding its stride by now, and aside from a few strong suits, episode four feels like a step back.
Rating 6/10
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Source(s): Netflix
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