Monsters of Television

“You’re safe now.”

Well, we were due for something of an even episode after the general air of intensity we’ve been experiencing since “And the Winner is…”. The episode isn’t bad, but it doesn’t have the same dynanism as even “The Aftermath” had. But perhaps this is because I’ve come not to like episodes that are focused on answering questions instead of telling a story (I blame some of Lost for this).

“Out of the Past” also has the unfortunate position of needing to resolve the Tarrlok story so the remaining three episodes of the season can focus fully on the last push against Amon. (Did you catch those previews for the 1-hour (meaning 2 episodes) finale? Cray-cray.) As a result, the episode feels more like a prerequisite than a strong unit of narrative in the grand scheme of things.

But at least the last five or eight minutes were pretty good.

I do think that part of the problem in the episode is somewhat just an issue of structure. We know from the beginning that Korra isn’t in Republic City, so when Team Avatar and its adult chaperones head for the bowels of the city, into the Equalist headquarters/detention unit/distribution center (more on all that in just a moment), it feels so very much like a stall, for the episode to have something to do.

Now there’s nothing wrong with chasing down a bad lead, but since we know Korra’s not there, the episode doesn’t have quite the heft that it may have had if the episode had simply cut out the shot showing that she’s in the basement of a cabin in the mountains and then intercut their search with her meditations, leading a sense that they were getting closer, only to have the cabin reveal at the end of the second act, and thus that the strike into the Equalist lair doesn’t seem like a huge diversion for the audience.

I’ll be the first to admit that such a structure is very overplayed, but it’s certainly more effective and engaging than the way the episode actually is. Moving on.

The resolution of Korra’s visions, revealing that Yakone (voiced by a gruffer-sounding-than-usual-but-still-awesome Clancy Brown) was a criminal looking to rule Republic City through his bloodbending ability, a skill passed down to his son Tarrlok, who in turn shares his father’s ambitions, but instead chose to go the political route instead of the criminal. There’s nothing super-compelling about any of this since it serves more as confirmation for what was easy enough to piece together after last week’s episode than anything else.

But the visions are still a delight as we get to see adult versions of Toph, Sokka, and Aang interact and exist. I love that Sokka is still Sokka (his story about Combustion Man was priceless) and that Toph is still calling Aang “Twinkle Toes” (and that is kind of annoys him, too). It’s a nice moment as we get to see how these characters we followed for three seasons turned out, at least a little bit.

And that leaves us with Amon’s arrival at Tarrlok’s cabin. It’s to the show’s credit that continue to ratchet up Amon’s mystique without overplaying it too much. That he was able to resist, however much of a struggle it appeared to do so, Tarrlok’s bloodbending is a frightening thing. It serves as a nice way of showing that Amon isn’t all talk and that his energybending techniques aren’t just some elaborate parlor trick. Amon is the real deal.

So are the Equalists. Their lair is HUGE and they’re remarkably well-organized and clearly Sato’s involvement meant that they’ve become well-funded and well-armed. I thought it was odd that they had airships, but their network seems much larger than was anticipated. Amon’s plans have likely been gestating for a while, which signals his patience (making him a nice villain foil for Korra). I’m curious/dreading what other surprises he’s been working on all this time.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Lin suiting up was very cool. Cooler still was her zipping of Bolin’s fly by metalbending.
• “And you three! You should be in prison!”
• “Everyone knows you’re nothing but a squeaky-voiced liar!”
• Love Lin slapping Tenzin awake.
• “I am the solution.”
• If you’re particularly invested in the romantic triangle, now that Bolin has gotten over Korra, I’m curious how all this played for you. Certainly little hints of Asami’s jealousy of Korra were cropping up in the previous episode and here we have Mako acting all “Asami who? We gotta save Korra because I didn’t know I loved her this much.” It all seemed a little fast to me, but since I’m don’t really care about this subplot, I’m not all that annoyed by it.