Book 2: The Sting

[Musogato]

Discussion for Book 2: chapter 6, "The Sting."

[Lady Ursa]

Yay!
Okay my question. Were those air temple island priests at the end of the episode? Or was Korra transported to the spirit world?

[Paraiba Ocean]

They were Fire Sages, I believe. I was actually hoping Korra would be transported to the Spirit World, but it seems like no. Or perhaps she did, but can't remember? I'm not sure.

Huh, so Varrick was behind the attacks the whole time. I started to get that feeling as things continued on and began wondering how far he would go to try and garner support. Seems like he's willing to do things on both sides of the spectrum to create even more support against the NWT. Very interesting.... I'm curious to see how this continues to play out.

[Escalus (Syn)]

As I suspected, the second season follows the first show and improves on its preceding season. I'm loving the fire nation element, and I hope the inclusion of the fire sages leads to some of the characters we haven't seen connections too... *Azula??? *small nerdgasm*

As for the episode, while I dislike the love triangle, it was much more compelling then Mako's breakup with Asami. It really does feel like Asami is honeing in on Mako, and for a minute there... I got all sappy. I'm a bit worried about he multiple sub-plots however... As of "The Sting" it is all there... but is there enough steam to follow all these characters when they are not around each other all season?

[zukofan21]

This episode was what I wanted. This subplot is fascinating, though I wonder if the two villians' motiviations will intertwine.

[ILZ]

I was definitely starting to think that Varrick might be connected to the attacks. Not really surprising considering that he openly admitted he backed both candidates in the presidential election. He is clearly just out for the success of his business. I wonder how his controlling partnership in Future Industries will play out.

The police force is really getting on my nerves. Be Fong always seemed like a smart person but she is completely oblivious to any other possibilities. I understand that it seems pretty tidy but even so you think she would look into the suspect that one of her cops (even if he isn't a detective) identified as being at the scene of the first attack. I wonder if there is a little more going on behind the scenes here.

One thing that really bothered me about this episode was that Mako gave very little thought to going to the Triads to help Asami but he wouldn't withhold information from the president for Korra.

I hope we get a little more about Korra next episode. I felt like that storyline got completely lost and it kinda made me a little less than satisfied with this episode. Also the Northern Water Tribe royal family scene seemed really odd to me. Kinda just like a line to set up something later about Unalaq going into the spirit portal without adding anything to this episode.

[Paraiba Ocean]

Varrick may honestly take stock in how his country fares, but I can also see him being a war profiteer as well. And by his cool casual attitudes, I definitely have gotten the impression he was not as goofy as he seemed. Just because you can be lighthearted doesn't mean you're not a good business person... and if Varrick has that much wealth, he is no chump.

Mm, for Lin, I think she really needs to be a bit more open to other possibilities (especially if Mako makes a good case for it, she could at least instruct her other detectives to investigate it somewhat). But I also understand to her, Mako is going out of his way to do something that's NOT his job, and is being almost obnoxious about stating his opinion when she's made it clear he's not on the case.

Hm. I guess to me though, even though Mako "ratted" Korra out to the president, involving the Triads in just helping to capture someone is a little bit different then trying to bolster support for a war and get an entire republic involved in a civil war. A little morally grey, perhaps, but what Korra was doing was quite a bit more dangerous.

While it was interesting storyline, I would have rather seen what happened to Korra first, and THEN have this episode follow it or something to that effect. I suppose it's supposed to be for dramatic/cliffhanger effect, but I'll wait to see what happens just to see how it goes.

For Asami and Mako - I think Asami was showing some vulnerability, but I think Mako's reaction kind of told us how that was going to go.. the feelings are still there, she still cares, but he just sat there with his eyes open and very stiff. He was surprised, but didn't respond to it because he didn't feel the same.

[ILZ]

Yeah I agree that Mako is being somewhat obnoxious about his thoughts. I can see where Lin would be frustrated with him constantly barging in. Mako definitely needs to learn how to handle himself a little better. But I think that will come with time. But no matter how annoying he is with it, ignoring a potential lead is bad police work and Lin is nothing if not highly devoted to and great at her job.

[Nashk Tategami]

Well. I do feel a bit validated about my connection of Varrick and the propoganda as bad. Still surprised me though. I honestly didn't see that coming.

This turned Varrick from a wealthy eccentric to a manipulative and shady businessman. He went from grey flying straight into black. In fact i'm a bit worried he'll just be a straight up badguy without nuance but thats the cynic in me talking.

Otherwise though I thought it was an excellent episode. I was actually happy we took a break from Korra. This lets the rest of the cast grow as characters and flesh out the world a bit. Not to mention I was getting really tired of Korra's lack of growth for two-and-a-half seasons. Hopefully now that we had a break she will come back better than ever.