Opinion on "The Beach"

[Maylene]

Hello everyone! I hope you don't mind, but I'm curious as to what people think of the episode "The Beach." In "The Beach Discussion" there have been a lot of opinions going on, about this episode, but I want to know--how many people liked this ep, and how many didn't.

What are your opinions of "The Beach"? And why? What was wrong? What was great? [glow=blue,2,300]Elaborate[/glow].

Please be reasonable, don't say you hated this ep just because. State why.

[firenationstooge]

Der first vote!

Personally, I loved it.

I do agree that the eps. felt rushed, and it was strange at first to see the baddies do something "normal." But after watching it (and rewatching it) I came to appreciate the view it allowed us into their characters.

[conspiracytheorist]

First vote for "I disliked it"!

Here's an excerpt from the original "The Beach" thread to elaborate on why I was less than thrilled with the episode:

Just because the idea is sound doesn't mean the episode should get a thumbs-up from everybody. It comes down to how the episode is put together, not how it looks on paper. I personally thought that bits and pieces seemed out of place. I thought that there was a wee bit too much melodrama, as well. I thought that the way that Zuko & Co. worked out their problems seemed a little too miraculous, I thought that the trashing of the house at the end seemed inappropriate after the characters were supposed to have made great discoveries about themselves, I thought that Ty Lee getting down on her hands and knees and crying her eyes out was a little excessive. I think that some of the discoveries that these characters made seemed small, and probably won't be built upon later (Azula and Ty Lee's in particular), which is a shame.

[Ardor]

I voted all right. It had its good qualities but I wasn't too impressed with the overall quality of the episode. But with the animations generated from that specific studio, I never am. But eh

[MsJimmy]

Loved it

[Maylene]

^ Why MsJimmy?

[stinkypinky]

I hated it. I hated it more than any other episode in the whole series, so far. Aside from the gaang's small moment in the show and the Zuko flashbacks, it seemed like a teen drama scene ripped from almost every John Hughes movie.

I did not like the fact that they had to "humanize" Azula, she was perfect being completely cold and ruthless. She was a great character this way.
For more than half the episode we saw the girls and Zuko act like they always do, (aside from Azula being socially inept) and they only spent the last few minutes on the so called development. If that was the way the each of the Ozai angels characters were developed, I am dissapointed.

[MsJimmy]

Sorry, I liked knowing more about the 4 of them

and I thought it was hilarious

[mahatista]

I put somewhere in between dislike and hate. My reasons are on the discussion thread. I'm sorry Maylene, I can't possibly write all that again.

[demonofthewest]

stinkypinky said:

I hated it. I hated it more than any other episode in the whole series, so far. Aside from the gaang's small moment in the show and the Zuko flashbacks, it seemed like a teen drama scene ripped from almost every John Hughes movie.

I did not like the fact that they had to "humanize" Azula, she was perfect being completely cold and ruthless. She was a great character this way.
For more than half the episode we saw the girls and Zuko act like they always do, (aside from Azula being socially inept) and they only spent the last few minutes on the so called development. If that was the way the each of the Ozai angels characters were developed, I am dissapointed.

I don't think that characters are ever better as stereotyped and 1-dimensional. If you look all of the great characters of literature, for example, they have all been multi-faceted and very interesting. Giving a character only a handful of traits simply isn't interesting, no matter how good at bending he/she is.

I don't think it would be a far cry to call this episode a melodrama. However, a LOT of Avatar is melodrama. The Kataang, the conflicts, the Sokka relationships, all of it can be very melodramatic. It seems like fans are realizing for the first time that Avatar has melodrama in it. Just because it contains some of those qualities doesn't diminish the work as a whole. Mike and Bryan already admitted to the melodrama and didn't seem to think it hurt their show.

Personally, I thought that this episode was the best out of the new season (not that that's saying a whole lot) and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I think the show can take off in a very interesting direction thanks to this episode.

[stinkypinky]

demonofthewest said:

stinkypinky said:

I hated it. I hated it more than any other episode in the whole series, so far. Aside from the gaang's small moment in the show and the Zuko flashbacks, it seemed like a teen drama scene ripped from almost every John Hughes movie.

I did not like the fact that they had to "humanize" Azula, she was perfect being completely cold and ruthless. She was a great character this way.
For more than half the episode we saw the girls and Zuko act like they always do, (aside from Azula being socially inept) and they only spent the last few minutes on the so called development. If that was the way the each of the Ozai angels characters were developed, I am dissapointed.

I don't think that characters are ever better as stereotyped and 1-dimensional. If you look all of the great characters of literature, for example, they have all been multi-faceted and very interesting. Giving a character only a handful of traits simply isn't interesting, no matter how good at bending he/she is.

It's perfectly fine to develop characters I'm all for development, but not the way it was done in this episode, it was done last minute and to me, sloppily.
Giving Azula more humanizing qualities, ends up having the audience feel pity for her, when she shouldn't have none. She is not a redeemable to me. Giving her redeemable qualities takes out what kind of person she truly is, a cold, calculating young woman who will do what she pleases to benefit her needs.

[dragonflly]

I loved it!!! It was funny as heck for one! We also learned a thing or two about the FN teens, although it didn't change my mind about them.

Zuko's flashbacks were the highlight to me. I just get the feeling that the picture of Iroh playing with baby Zuko(with Lu Ten) has a much bigger meaning than was shown. The little handprint of Zuko's made me aww.... I just loved that whole scene.

I loved Ty Lee in this episode and I'm not sure why. I'm not a huge fan of hers.

The campfire scene was ok......I think the best part of that was Zuko admitting he's angry at himself. I think that this is the beginning of a turn for him. It was small, but it was a step. That and burning the family portrait. Some people think it was out of anger, maybe it was, but maybe there was more there........

[ashrial]

Liked it. It was genuinely funny. Silent Zuko walking towards his old house while remembering the old days was the best scene this season for me. Group therapy was a tad heavy handed, but Avatar has always been a tad heavy handed. Didn’t really think it was all that angsty, and though I’d thought those were Ty lee’s and Mai’s problems for a long time now, it was nice to finally get some confirmation. A little depth to Azula’s character wasn’t bad either. Eye guy was cool.
I think part of why a lot of people don’t like this episode, is that we’re so used to having Zuko’s and Azula’s storylines taking only five to six minutes per episode, that when they do get so much spotlight on them it comes across as awkward.
Overall not my favorite episode, had some flaws, but is still pretty high up on my list. And for some odd reason every time I think about the ending, I like it more and more.

[Ardor]

mahatista said:

I put somewhere in between dislike and hate. My reasons are on the discussion thread. I'm sorry Maylene, I can't possibly write all that again.

There's an awfully friendly button that you could press

[mahatista]

smootisahoot said:

mahatista said:

I put somewhere in between dislike and hate. My reasons are on the discussion thread. I'm sorry Maylene, I can't possibly write all that again.

There's an awful friendly button that you could press

My finger's broken.

Ooops! Busted!

EDIT: Okay here it is. I've copy/pasted it so I hope you're happy Ardor.

---------------------------

I have a hatred of this episode. But it varies in its intensity just like my enjoyment in it varied.

Here are some of my reasons -- without the hate.

The structure was incoherent. The first half was tweaked, anime-ish, self-referential, jokey fluff. Then, on a dime, it became a teen melodrama.

Even as I was laughing (really hard in spots) during the first half, I was still bothered by the fact that it seemed like a joke show. Like one of those shark-jumping things they do in sitcoms when all of a sudden they're doing an episode in the middle ages or something. And so even while I found things funny, I couldn't let go of the feeling that they had given up and worrying that the rest of the season will be a string of either retreads or self-parodies.

I thought the writing in the second half was clunky and I've stated several times that I especially thought Mai's inner pain was poorly conceived and a contradiction to what's been shown of her character.

I hated that they trashed the house at the end. I didn't think it was funny, I thought it was obnoxious and if it is any indication of who they've become after their big bonding weekend, I'm hoping they all four accidentally fall into a vat of acid and disappear from the show entirely.

I was actually confused by the bonding. There were indicators that Zuko was rethinnking his choices and then he ended up in total group love with the very people his choice landed him with. In my opinion he remade the same choice he made at the end of CoD. At least as far as you can tell from the action. He may have said some things that indicated remorse, but his actions following it were along the same lines of his behavior in CoD.

I was hoping for more CM/gAang fight. It was disappointingly short.

As far as the 'back story' and character development goes, I didn't buy anyone's but Zuko's. None of the others moved me and in Mai's case I thought it was a bit of a fraud (not the character the writers/creators {don't worry, I'm washing my mouth out with soap}) who I feel haven't the slightest idea what her deal is anymore than the rest of us. And again, Zuko's words and his actions were contradictory.

So that's it in a giant nutshell. Perusing the boards, I'm seeing a lot of the same reaction.