LogFAQs > #870073058

KORRA - Season 3, Episode 11

Recap: Mako and Bolin commandeer an airship and escape Ba Sing Se with their family. They reunite with Korra and deliver Zaheer's message: Meet me at the Northern Air Temple. Zaheer gets to the meeting spot first and explains the hostage situation to the Air Nation.

I don't have a ton to say about this episode, oddly. It's enjoyable enough to watch, but the thrust of it moves pieces around, somewhat less interested in paying off or being its own story.

The first half of the episode is an action escape sequence. Is it a little ridiculous that Mako and Bolin escape so cleanly with the airship? Well, sure. But let's not let that get in the way of a cool action scene. Could there be some real emotion in Grandma's decision to stay? Well, yeah. It's a sadly compressed scene that could easily have breathed better without, say, an episode of Kai chasing bison poachers.

Wait, but let me cool it with the butthurt for the moment. I do like the wind-down scene where everyone reunites. Mako's awkwardness is back on full display. Even more awkward: Grandma calling Asami really beautiful as the Avatar, and when Korra reappears, switching compliments entirely - 'You are very muscular for a woman!' Lin is also typically grumpy and fun here: 'Good, you guys aren't dead.' ('Don't get all mushy on me, Chief!')

So moving on to the obvious extended climax of the episode - four benders take down the entire fledgeling Air Nation. The action scenes are spectacular, and I love that Tenzin is stronger in the Air Temple than he was in Republic City - it's an art that combats humans much stronger than it does metal. I'd say he has the upper hand on Zaheer in single combat, which is GREAT. It's only when multiple Red Lotus can come at him at once that he succumbs. In a typical move, you can't really have the mentor winning the biggest battles, even if he's the strongest.

Kya and Bumi are also wonderful here, with their final fall being a hilarious echo of their first spotlight episode, the sibling conflict one.

I have just one major disappointment with the assault on the Air Temple, which is that the showrunners teased me so bad with Kai's death. I mean, intellectually I should've known they'd never do it, but I got so hype seeing him getting shot out of the air. His return at the end of the episode unfortunately was a tragic punctuation on an otherwise sterling second half.

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* Pretty lukewarm on Iroh in this episode.

* Meelo is the f***ing worst. It's unclear whether he or Kai should die first. Maybe they could have an Agne... Kai. Huh, one more thing ruined for me by Kai.

* I don't really care for Combustion Woman's style of fighting. That said, it makes her an incredibly useful support fighter, which does work well.
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yet all sailors of all sorts are more or less capricious and unreliable - they live in the varying outer weather, and they inhale its fickleness