pg15
Avatar Roku
"Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light."
Posts: 1,248
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Post by pg15 on Oct 23, 2007 0:44:24 GMT -5
I liked it.
To go with the barebones of my review I posted in the discussion thread:
1. Uber hilarious 2. Nice Zuko moments when he was in the family beach house. 3. Combustion Man's the bomb (ha!) 4. The camp fire scene was a tad cheesy.
So 3 out of 4 good things = liked it, but not loved it.
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Post by Tungsten on Oct 23, 2007 0:45:37 GMT -5
I was not a huge fan of the episode. The begining had an excellent set-up but it just fell apart the second they hit that party. The show didn't feel like Avatar instead it felt like one of those cliche teen movies, the only thing was missing was some geek teens making some pack to get lucky The Zuko development, him being angry at himself which leads him to have self destructing tendencies, perfect idea/set up. But the show fails to capitalize on it. Also Ember Island being the place in Zuko's flashbacks again great set up, but again the show fails to capitalize it. Instead they get some lame confession rather than leaving it as a subtle development that the show is famous for. It kind of seems like after that confession Zuko will get over it, and he got his girl so it all turned out all right in the end. Ty Lee development didn't feel natural as well as no hinting of it. It was cute to see the boys waiting on her hand and foot though I thought that would be more of an Azula thing. Azula was the worse mainly because it's Azula. Azula writing in this episode does not match the character portrayed in season 2. Instead of getting the Azula we all love to hate we just got this socially awkward mean girl wannabe. I mean this is Azula the girl who was willing to kill her Uncle and brother without a second thought, SHOT IROH!!, manipulated Long Feng/Dai Lee, smiled at Zuko getting his scar, etc. I mean even as a child the writers showed that there was definetly something wrong with her. All this episode does is take away the effort the season 2 writers went into showing how evil Azula is. Mai was the only good character development since it actually went along with her backstory and fits into her character. But even then it really didn't change any status quo / has no impact on the story. Finally not a fan of Combustion Man. The guys seems too powerful (yet not having the rep / training to back it up) with his cheap mind beams.
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Firework
Avatar Aang
Free like a butterfly instead of a flying boar... butterflies are prettier anyway.
Posts: 1,172
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Post by Firework on Oct 23, 2007 0:47:03 GMT -5
The creators are trying to make up for all the severe lack of character development for the girls in this episode. I do not like info dumps, particularly the ones that happen after the situation is presented: Having Ty Lee suddenly break down like that was okay- she was under some stress earlier so it was logical- but I didn't appreciate her info dump concerning her family life of which we have been waiting so long for. But it was nice seeing the nearly, unanimously likable one of the four FN teens again- and in the episode where she was truly appreciated by not just the staff but by the characters. Stupid Zuko, purposefully made her cry.
Mai suddenly snapping to life like that was so sudden and... dumb. I can sympathize with Mai's childhood and present self but when someone is that emotionless, whiny and seen so rarely it is no wonder Maiko was and still is so poorly received. Even I- the Katara hater/disliker- like Zutara more than Maiko only because Mai has been handled so poorly as a character- like a toddler just learning how to walk with a china doll.
Don't even get me started on Azula... never mind; the creators are trying to humanize the FN, well that's nice, but why did they have to humanize the sadistic, sociopath who I actually liked being so one-two dimensional!? Why not develop Zhao or even Long Feng (they certainly needed it)? The creators spent the entire second season and some bits of the first season setting Azula as a sadistic perfectionist; there was the invisible, slight chance she wasn't a total demon but with trying to kill her uncle, happily hunting down her relatives and the gaang, possibly killing Suki, conquering Ba Sing Se, and abusing poor, baby turtle ducks, it was VERY hard to possibly think that beneath all those bad traits there was a human, teenage, girl. Azula isn't handled like Ozai who was seldom seen and when he was seen his goodness/evilness was hard to decipher and now that he is finally seen I am seriously questioning his evilness. With his lack of presence there is a very good chance that he may be a good person whose goodness is hidden by leading a war and by his nation's strict and harsh, honor bound customs. Whereas with Azula there was never the question if she may be good (well, maybe a little shred of good but still HUNDREDS times more evil than good) but suddenly, she is thrown into our faces as a socially, awkward teenage girl and then seen at last minute as her normal self. Don't even try to say that her evilness may be only seen from the views of Zuko, Iroh, and the gaang who are her enemies because Ty Lee could have actually died because of Azula's insistence that Ty Lee help her- and Azula enjoyed every moment of Ty Lee's peril balancing herself on a tightrope suspended above a burning safety net while all the dangerous animals of the circus are let loose- I heard elephant and tiger hybrids! How can we be expected to accept such a human Azula after all of THAT!? Then there was the KISS! ... Despite my annoyance with Azula's new human side, I must admit that her social awkwardness was handled very well, and in the end, Azula's temporary curiosity in the opposite sex was gone and replaced with her much appreciated cool and in control attitude; she was the one who suggested trashing Chan's place so we know that crazy side of hers isn't gone. She was still too funny for my liking, not that she tried to be funny but even when commenting about her mother Azula was humorous which clashes with her always business attitude back in the second season. Even when she did crack a joke- without even a hint of humor seen- it went ill received by fans because Azula is not meant to be funny.
Zuko really annoys me. I honestly cannot care for his poor childhood anymore given how he was handled in this episode; can't he go ONE episode without angsting about his family!? Shouldn't his difficult love life be enough- just once!? Instead of coming across as a sympathetic young man like he did in "The Storm", "Zuko Alone" I pitied him; even his final scene with Iroh in "The Headband" I pitied Zuko because I know how much he wanted his father's love and how much I know he will suffer for betraying Iroh. Now I hate him. It isn't Zuko, it is the severe lack of proper character development. If he wants someone passionate, then why not be with Katara because even the Borderline Sue is better than Mai in such a chemically nonreactive relationship. I have no experience with relationships or interest in them, but even I have not the slightest clue as to why Zuko and Mai possibly like each other. This is Nick so of course they will be true lovers for the rest of their lives, but they just look so- awful together, and that is only physically (shallow I know, but with TV shows physical appearances play a major role). Despite how... bleh, Maiko is (too me) I was very happy seeing the two struggle to get along and with the campfire confessions I now see that sweet and shy Mai that charmed me so long ago. I hope she changes for the better, her dry wit may be humorous but that alone is certainly not enough to make Maiko work.
The entire magic of Ember Island was such a poor excuse to force all the teen drama on us.
Whoo! Besides the poorly handled character development, the episode's laughs made up for it. The volleyball- or whatever it's called in Avatar world- scene was great, it was the only time Azula's crazy side appeared and was still in character in this episode. Despite my gripes on Azula, her struggles to be normal were amusing and I did laugh after the kiss... the kiss... *shudders* It is such a crying shame that the monkey animation was used for the one episode where the hottest characters wore bathing suits and everyone else showed more skin than usual. I mean, we were surrounded by bathing suit wearing FN teenagers but they looked like clunky monkeys thanks to the c***** animation. How are we expected to enjoy all the fan service when they look so funky? Anyway, I give this episode am 7.5/10. It's funny enough to make me re-watch, learning about the characters was great even if handled poorly not just this episode but ever since they appeared, but "The Beach" is not good enough to make me like it.
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Post by SpiritWolf on Oct 23, 2007 0:49:20 GMT -5
nobleman myself...
Things I liked: Azula trying to flirt, the volleyball game, Ty Lee and the Combustion Man/Aang fight because we got to see how CM fights and saw his power in action. I liked seeing Azula around the campfire they made seem more human but they didn't overdo it. Things I didn't like: Mai's excuse for being a completely apathetic person doesn't make any sense to me. If her mother wanted her to sit still and behave and basically be the perfect daughter, wouldn't you grow up to be a perfectionist and try to be the ideal nobleman’s daughter? If from the beginning of your childhood your parents only gave you love and attention by giving you whatever you wanted if you where good enough wouldn't you try to be good enough instead of just giving up. I understand that she’s hesitant to show her true emotions but I don’t understand why she doesn’t at least try to show some emotion, whether real or fake. I'm not saying it wouldn’t suck to live that kind of life but still to me her reason for not caring really doesn't work. Am I making sense? Ty Lee's story made me feel sorry for her but after she was done talking about herself she starts talking about getting bad skin? That just seemed off. I also didn't like how some parts of the episode didn't seem to fit. For example the part where Azula admitted she was jealous seemed a bit out of character for her.
I guess you could say I don't hate this episode but it most definitely wasn't my favorite.
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Post by franky on Oct 23, 2007 1:07:13 GMT -5
I'm sure many people loved it, but it didn't do anything for me. I was hoping to see a great CM battle in addition to the beachy stuff. The Gaang is why I watch the show, I don't want to get inside the villain's heads, it takes away from their villain-ness. There needs to be a bit of mystery behind the bad guys or you can really stop loving to hate them so much. The Awww Dr. Phil moments at the end were bleh, all but Zuko's. I think the rest of the background stories were made up just so they could get to Zuko's part. I voted dislike, too much beaching.
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pg15
Avatar Roku
"Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light."
Posts: 1,248
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Post by pg15 on Oct 23, 2007 1:07:15 GMT -5
You see, I had absolutely no problem with Azula's apparent "OOC"-ness in this episode.
Was she pure evil in Season 2? I suppose you can say that, since it was obvious from the way she acted towards Zuko, Iroh, Suki, the Gaang, etc....who were all her enemies. OF COURSE she's going to try to kill or disarm or maim her enemies. But then, in this episode, she had no enemies per se, none serious anyway. She had no reason to act all evil, because nothing can be accomplish through it.
As far as I can see, Azula is not evil. She was just warped from childhood to be the best at anything that comes her way and to achieve ANY goal set out for her, no matter what stands in her way. It's the determination. This episode didn't really warrent any of that, ergo, we see a different, slightly more relaxed version of Azula.
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inuyatta
FN Aang
The joy of SoKo comes at a heavy price...my sleep, for example
Posts: 1,852
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Post by inuyatta on Oct 23, 2007 1:15:05 GMT -5
I disliked most of this episode--it felt like mediocre fanfiction...much like 'Tale of Zuko' did back in Tales of Ba Sing Se...
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Melis
Long Feng
hay baby wanna get away on my bison?
Posts: 3,293
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Post by Melis on Oct 23, 2007 1:36:32 GMT -5
I liked the episode. It was hilarious for sure, but there were some things that I didn't like about it:
- I like Mai/Zuko. I really do but, how they got back together not so much. She was angry at him for acting the way he was and then suddenly he admits why and she goes and makes out with him like nothing happened and then they get back together. Okay.
- Azula. It was interesting seeing this other side of her but...I didn't like it so much. They made her such a threat in S2, a force to be reckoned with. She took down Ba Sing Se practically by herself and what defeats the girl? Social awkwardness. I just...can't see her that way. She killed Aang, and she smiled! I really hope we get something out of it in future episodes. If the ends justify the means, then so be it.
Everything else was fine with me. I loved Lo and Li, the beach scenes, Ty Lee FINALLY getting screen time, "The Breakfast Club" scene was alright, Zuko's flashbacks were bittersweet (jeez that family portrait, makes me *sniffle*), and I liked the Gaang vs The Combustion d00d. I loved that they didn't have any background music playing during that scene. It made that scene feel real that it was scary.
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Arsid
Zhao
Pure Pwnage!
Posts: 844
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Post by Arsid on Oct 23, 2007 5:05:52 GMT -5
it was alright. it wasn't bad but i didn't love it.
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Post by marvel26 on Oct 23, 2007 5:36:18 GMT -5
I could have done without the teenage melodrama.
On a side note, the ball game they were playing looked like Sepak Takraw but here they used their hands too. In Sepak Takraw no hand use is allowed.
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Firework
Avatar Aang
Free like a butterfly instead of a flying boar... butterflies are prettier anyway.
Posts: 1,172
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Post by Firework on Oct 23, 2007 8:44:26 GMT -5
You see, I had absolutely no problem with Azula's apparent "OOC"-ness in this episode. Was she pure evil in Season 2? I suppose you can say that, since it was obvious from the way she acted towards Zuko, Iroh, Suki, the Gaang, etc....who were all her enemies. OF COURSE she's going to try to kill or disarm or maim her enemies. But then, in this episode, she had no enemies per se, none serious anyway. She had no reason to act all evil, because nothing can be accomplish through it. As far as I can see, Azula is not evil. She was just warped from childhood to be the best at anything that comes her way and to achieve ANY goal set out for her, no matter what stands in her way. It's the determination. This episode didn't really warrent any of that, ergo, we see a different, slightly more relaxed version of Azula. ... What about Ty Lee?! Did you forget that Azula had the circus leader set the safety net beneath Ty Lee on fire or that Azula ordered that all the dangerous animals be released while Ty Lee was suspended over a painful death?
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fuego
Pabu
Four Nation Health Care
Posts: 3,430
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Post by fuego on Oct 23, 2007 9:26:57 GMT -5
I don't understand why there need to be a separate disscussion on "The Beach"...Still I left my answer around there but I have hate to it.
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Post by stinkypinky on Oct 23, 2007 9:38:35 GMT -5
I disliked most of this episode--it felt like mediocre fanfiction...much like 'Tale of Zuko' did back in Tales of Ba Sing Se... I think the same person who wrote "Tale of Zuko" wrote "The Beach". ...Yea they probably shouldn't be writing anymore.
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Post by mahatista on Oct 23, 2007 11:07:03 GMT -5
^^ I didn't mind TheTale Of Zuko that much, although I thought some of it was preposterous. Why would he feel the need to tell her he'd been in the circus? Just come up with something you know. Of course he's a terrible liar, but why come up with something so absurd. And if you're going to say you were in the circus why say you did something that you've never actually done. How 'bout 'I was a fire-eater'? Then you could at least fake it.
I do think this particular writer could use some seasoning. Or just to trust the material before her so the specifics she comes up with aren't so incredibly obviously incongruous. But she's not to blame ultimately. There's a head writer who's supposed to keep these things on track. So, like so many fans on these boards, they must be satisfied.
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Post by tonbo on Oct 23, 2007 12:48:49 GMT -5
After watching it the first time, I found myself feeling kinda disappointed. But then I watched it again and I found that I really liked it. I feel like there could have been a little more character development, but I'll take what I can get. One of the things I liked about the FN4 storyline, was that it still left a little bit of a cliffhanger...
As for the B storyline with the gAang, it was decent. My problem was that it felt very rushed, and I was hoping to get a little more plot. Really it was just some huge explosions and one-shot bending, culminating in the gAang's retreat. Though the bending that was in the episode was well done.
I think the most redeeming quality of this episode was the humor. Lo and Li cracked me up, and Azula was just so awkward :-p
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