"The Eclipse will block out all Firebending anyway; you don't need to know any."
THANK YOU SOKKA. I've been saying this for months in regards to people who wants Aang to learn firebending. Well, here's why we haven't seen it. CLEAR?!
Ahem...so, yeah, this episode...words can't describe its absolute weirdness, hilarity, and, of course, KATAANG!! Bahaahahaha! So, what I shall attempt, is to write a review that is as weird as the episode itself. I may not suceed, but paper goods are not due until Tuesday anyway, so the Enterprise surely cares.
Forty-Seventh of all, this episode was truly the opposite of not funny. No, there were quite a lot of anime-ness in it (including Chibi Toph!), but I thought they all served quite well with the jellyfish stew that is the entertainment of myself. Unlike previous 30-minute-presentations of Avatar, this episode was a cookie of hilarity the whole way through, with no octagonal-red signs to cease the fun-ny. I haven't read this thread with my eyes, but I have a tingly feeling telling my ears that some posters may think that the Avastaffaronee tried too difficult to get the funny. I agree to disagree with that, as I believe, just as the day I was born, that Avatar has always had a very thick vein of funny sprinkled like sprinkles throughout its creamy innards. As such, a comedy episode like Nightmares and Daydreams really doesn't seem that far-out-dude. Besides, I gathered in the palms of my head that there was a lot more than just pure and liquid laughs in this episode. There was heart, there was some self-realization squirted in, and above all, this is the lead-up to the Day of Black Sun.
But it was funny as all heck let loose upon this red Earth. I won't list in list form all the moment of hilarity, since everyone else who is everyone else would've done that already. I have a needless to say, it was one of the funniest bit of TV I've ever seen. Oh what the h-e-double l (i.e. hell), I'll list some of them:
Wang Fire Returns!
Aang's incoherent babbling dreams
Appa vs. Momo, it had to come to this.
Chakras, Chakras.
Chakras.
Moving on. Without the funnay, this episode still packs a punch to the face, not unlike twig Cheney's bullets to the face, except better in every way imaginable. The *real* nightmare Aang had was creepy as all outdoors. Really, it didn't scare me, but the twisted way in which it was "shot" was...speechlessly good. Every sequence maliably transformed into another, and before you knew it (and I know where you live), there was another burst of Aang's fear thrown in your face like another face. Truly fightening, truly well done and good.
Aang's reactions were mostly played for laughs, but it doesn't take a genius like Weird Al Yankovich to see the underlying seriousnessness of Aang's breakdown. At his heart, he still is a 12/13-year old kid, and it's only realistic to see him Ty Lee-ing out (think about it) at a moment like this. This season has been short on Aang, and it was very joyous to see an episode dedicated to his character, and not just him doing something absolutelyterrificlike. At the end of the noon, every member of the Gaaaaaaang is still a kid, and all-through Season 3 we have seen their vulnerable, softer, and innocent sides, as we should. The Avastaff has skillfully avoided turning them into mighty, perfect heroes that many others shows that feature kids have done, and which have driven me away:
Teen Titan, for example.
IMNSHO, This episode caps off a great start to the final Season of Avatar's first storyline. Even though a lot of people thought it worthless like a sack of rotten Billy Bob Thortons, I felt it was a great way to reintroduce to us the characters that we have longed for during the 10 months that I would like to call "10 Months that Nick was on my Hit List", before plunging into the final 11. This was needed. After Season 2 with its hard-hitting and continuous plot development, we needed a breather to just hit home the core of each character, and the first 9 episodes of Season 3 did that perfectly.
Ok, that part wasn't that weird, but hey, I wanted to get my thoughts out there. Now for some weirdness.
Moving on some more. Let just talk about our dear Scarboy Zuko here. I'm finally taking a shine on Maiko. Some people, let's call them "people", will say that Mai was Out OC. Well, I beg you to allow me to differ from you. People (also called "people") have been complaining that Mai was too 1-dimensional, and even though M-Theory needs 11 dimensions, Mai's "sudden transformation" in this episode was not surprising, unlike coming home and find out that your monkey wife has slept with your monkey best friend, thus making you an evil monkey who lives in Chris Griffin's closet...uh...where was I? Oh, right, outside Mai. I do not see it as that farfetched that Mai would finally break out of her shell when she's around Zuko. After all, this isn't all "I don't hate yous". Despite how people react to the pairing, it's obvious that Zuko and Mai are quite satisfied by it. Is it so hard to believe that Mai would be happy with Zuko, to the point that she shows said happiness around him? I think not. So yes, I'm a fan of Maiko now. Hooray for me, hooray for me.
And that last line of Zuko's...very intriguing. Again, some people (in my old Stargate fandom, I call them "The Fans[tm]") think that it's taken too long for Zuko to reach this point, that he may not want what he thought he want, like the time I thought a hot poker in the eye was something I wanted. Bad idea. Anyway, I don't see it that way at all. Being a teenager, it's extraordinarily hard to be not stubborn, or to abandon a route even though you yourself realize that it's a bad route - you don't want to change course. Zuko strikes me as that kind of person. He has achieved his goal at last, but he doesn't like it. Where does it leave him then? Nowhere, and that's the problem. Zuko is on the proverbial mountain top of his choosing, but he doesn't think he's climbed high enough. It will just take a while for him to notice the higher mountain behind him, hidden in the clouds, and wrapped in plastic.
So yes, I'm very satisfied with Zuko's story so far. A sudden decision to abandon his goal for the past 3 years: now THAT would've been stupid.
Finally, we have the KATAANG. I knew this was coming since I spoiled myself rotten (and not Billy Bob Thorton either), but it was still...*siiiiiigh*. Soooo corny, and yet sooooo cute and fuzzy. I of course noticed the KATAANG THEME playing during Aang's revelation, and giggled like the school girl of which I, a manly University male student, is clearly the antithesis. Suffice it to say, I knew it wasn't real, but it was still very cool to see what could be reality in a matter of months (or, shall I say, 2 weeks? Maybe? Yeeeeeaaaahhhh). Aang going into suave hero mode after the kiss strengthened him was hilarious, and who can forget "Baby, you're my forever girl"? I am SO gonna use that in real life.
Like all KATAANG moments, words can only go so far when used to describe it. The rest of the time, you'll just have think of it, and *siiiiiigh*. LOVED IT.
Pumpkin Pies.
And so we come to the threshold of the bar, due to be raised by Day of Black Sun in a matter of weeks (or a day, in the Avaverse). Appa's got the armor, and Aang's got a good night's sleep. The time has come for a whole new breed of AWESOME to be unleashed upon those who did not watch it already. I'm stoked. And so should you, and you, and you, and you, and even you, with the curly hair.
*Closes brain, washes the weirdness away*
Score:
9/10