ATLA Rewatch Episodes 2x8 & 2x9
Added 2021-02-14 02:15:25 +0000 UTCTimestamps:
00:00 - 2x8 Reaction
28:50 - 2x9 Reaction
57:11 - My reaction to my reaction 2x8 & 2x9
Comments
I think it's really intriguing to see two strong-willed characters clash like Katara and Toph. Katara values harmony and fairness where Toph prioritizes independence and autonomy. Although my personality leans more Katara, I definitely have Toph's instinct for autonomy and self-reliance. I like that they conflict on so many issues; however, I do think that Toph is generally less willing to listen. That's, I think, is at the root of why she and Katara don't jive as well in these early episodes. I don't think it was unreasonable for Katara to straight-up tell Toph that she needs to help the group unpack--especially if they're supporting her weight too. She's taking more than she's receiving, and for people who are justice-oriented, that's really aggravating and selfish. In "Bitter Work," I believe Katara was right to offer her knowledge in this way because she's been teaching Aang bending since early season 1. It's not like she's coming at it with no credentials; she understands how Aang learns best through experience. For Toph to brush Katara off is a bit disrespectful. Yes, I understand wanting to do it your way, but the point of Toph's instructions is to help someone else. If Katara was just telling Toph what to do on an individual matter, her rejection of Katara's advice would be more justified. As it was, I felt like it was just obstinance for the sake of rebellion. As for Iroh, I think he's the best kind of teacher for Aang--he's honest, but he's also kind. The problem with Toph and Katara is that they are mostly singularly one and the other. I think if they both took a little from the other, they both wouldn't be so overindulgent in their teaching. That is, if Katara learned to be more honest and firm, Toph might be willing to praise and encourage more. I wish I had gotten more Aang and Iroh because they seem to be the most in-sync personality-wise.
Soleil
2022-01-27 02:44:59 +0000 UTCI think I was somewhere in between, Aang maybe? Like, emotionally, I felt Katara had a point and was just trying to integrate Toph into the group; but I could also see why Toph reacted that way and would probably have given her more time to warm up before trying again? Coz maybe it would have worked itself out, but I guess if not, I would have confronted her too. Idk, I just think they are both in the right and in the wrong here. But I do believe Iroh changed her perspective enough for her to try and meet Katara halfway in the next episode. Like, her teaching style is obv different, but I think she is actually incorporating Katara's advice in her own way. Before, I think she would have stonewalled her completely, but while her approach is very tough love, she does start praising him and giving him space after saying her piece, instead of breaking him down, as was probably her first instinct. Two great episodes!
kingafreund
2021-09-27 01:52:27 +0000 UTCshe calmed down his anxiety, which was what was stopping him the most, the pressure of failing it and not meeting their expectations. toph tells him he has got the stuff, id say thats her being positive in her own way.
Burooj Ahanger
2021-06-14 06:33:37 +0000 UTCYou're right. That's a great way of looking at it :)
Alex G
2021-02-16 03:46:37 +0000 UTCI always wonder if I'm praising Iroh too much, since it's kinda obvious, but it's hard not to.
Alex G
2021-02-16 03:44:34 +0000 UTCI love your humor so much my god
Dorney_Sunraint
2021-02-15 13:36:20 +0000 UTCmore than anything else, I think Iroh's greatest superpower is his humility. It's really the source of all of the things that we talk about pointing to his badassery. He puts everyone before himself and is able to laugh at himself, and it's nearly impossible to get under his skin. He is always willing to learn and grow, and help everyone do the same. And the thing that hurts about all that is knowing that humility comes from a lifetime of struggles. Iroh rocks. 'Nuff said.
Aidan Pullen
2021-02-14 22:07:45 +0000 UTCI always forget how much of a total sass katara can be until The Chase where she really dials it up xD
Aidan Pullen
2021-02-14 21:20:58 +0000 UTCI think its really important that the episode starts out with Katara expressing excitement about another girl in the group. She was hoping to connect with Toph, and in some way to Katara being part of the "family" means working together. But then Toph isolated herself, and that hurt Katara. Of course Katara did that to herself by expecting something from Toph while Toph had no obligation to provide. At the same time, Toph is being unreasonable because she thought that by leaving her parents, suddenly she would be completely free of expectations. It brings to mind how she ultimately completely isolated herself in the swamp away from any human interaction.
Burk314
2021-02-14 20:43:11 +0000 UTCThe Toph/Iroh conversation is so cool. Especially looking back having seen Korra, since Toph kinda takes on that role of the wise old sage herself, albeit in a very Toph way. Makes her little nugget of wisdom she gives back to Iroh feel very prescient. On the topic of positive reinforcement, I actually think Toph's little speech at the end is one of the more motivating moments in the whole show. Look at the language she uses there. "Do it now." "You've got the stuff." She has complete and utter faith in Aang's ability and brooks no argument to the contrary. It's actually exactly what Katara does earlier in the water. ("You'll figure it out, I know you will.") Toph's version seems harsh, but you can pinpoint the moment she drops all pretense and lasers in on the critical teaching moment. Imagine how incredible it must feel to have someone as capable and uncompromising as Toph tell you that you've got the stuff. I find it really touching, love that moment.
Thai M
2021-02-14 08:19:28 +0000 UTCAnother strong pair of episodes. I enjoy the Chase a lot; it does a lot of communication about Zuko, Aang and Azula as characters even though it's mostly through visual storytelling. Toph and Katara have at it, Toph & Iroh meet and talk, there's just so much good stuff here! It's funny but I found it quite telling how in the three-way stand-off, Azula's first choice is to attack Zuko her own family. It's feels like it's foreshadowing how she goes after Iroh later in the very same episode. You've spoken at length about all the things that make Bitter Work great, so I'll stop there. Great reaction as always, I'll see you for the next one. Oh and also, Hello Future Me has just released a loooong video on The Last Airbender. It's longer than the movie itself, and a most impressive watch. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgV9vymLIdQ
A Suresh
2021-02-14 08:01:12 +0000 UTCZuko: I DONT NEED ANY CALMING TEA Katara: IM COMPLETELY CALM
Soren Monroe
2021-02-14 06:14:57 +0000 UTCThat's true, I don't think it's Katara deliberately trying to manipulate Toph in order to control her or anything sinister like that. I think she has very strong ideas of what is right in that situation, which makes sense given her ideas about community as you pointed out, but Toph kind of knocks her off balance a bit. And I think her response is emotional because it upsets the way she thinks things should be, and from there on all is lost for a while. Which doesn't make her wrong, as you said, but it makes communication a lot more difficult, especially when they're all sleep deprived lol
Alex G
2021-02-14 05:47:02 +0000 UTCthese are the things you think about on your 7th watch lol
Jupiterninja
2021-02-14 05:41:23 +0000 UTCLol that is true now that I think about it. And he draws that water sign so beautifully. He's a true master
Alex G
2021-02-14 05:40:29 +0000 UTCI'm definitely appreciating it more the second time. It's a very rich show. That's something I hear quite often, the idea that there is always something new to find in it.
Alex G
2021-02-14 05:36:50 +0000 UTCZuko really put Iroh first over chasing Aang at that last scene in The Chase. It's kinda crazy rewatching that whole fight scene with Azula while knowing he'll end up trusting her at the end of the season. I don't think Toph trapped Sokka, the earth just gave way on his impact jumping down. I have no idea if that's a thing that happens irl but that's how I saw it. I know this has already been addressed in some capacity but: honestly doubt Katara wants to pull Toph into her emotional world as some kind of power dynamic. Remember what Iroh says about the Water Tribe, they have a deep sense of community. Katara comes from a culture of togetherness whereas Toph is very individualistic. But she does go about asking for help the wrong way. I'm just gonna blame it on their sleep deprivation, I get cranky too. I think the point was it doesn't matter whether Toph wants to help or not, she HAS to pitch in as part of the group. That's how Katara was raised. Skipping ahead to their season 3 fight, it's not like she WANTED to be a motherly figure. It's a role she picked up because the family needed it. I believe being emotional doesn't automatically mean you lose an argument. Some people are just very passionate about certain things or they express it differently. I think you might "lose" an argument when you're no longer talking about reasonable things, regardless of what emotion is showed. You could be talking absolute nonsense while being calm and collected. But even if someone says something unreasonable in the heat of the moment, you have to account for that person's emotional state and that they still have some kind of reason behind all that.Man these two episodes tie in so neatly together!
Kotryna
2021-02-14 05:27:43 +0000 UTCIroh's dexterity drawing in the dirt with that long stick is really impressive. It doesn't seem like much but have you tried drawing anything with a really long stick? It's HARD. The tiniest movements are amplified greatly.
Jupiterninja
2021-02-14 05:26:53 +0000 UTCIt's quite interesting watching the ATLA re-watch series. I watched the show as it aired when I was much younger, and I had such fond memories of the show, but on the re-watch I caught so much more of the show's message and value. Part of it might have been the new ability to watch the show all at once rather than one week at a time with large gaps between seasons, but since I first revisited the show, ATLA has given me something different every time I revisit it.
Nick Lasure
2021-02-14 04:51:55 +0000 UTCI agree, whether or not I always think the characters are doing the right thing, I appreciate them, and more generally the writing, for letting the characters go there. I feel like these characters go to places that are especially rare to see in hero stories.
Alex G
2021-02-14 04:09:10 +0000 UTCI appreciate the perspective. I always feel like I sound really hard on Katara when I don't mean to be lol. I really like her in this episode, if nothing else because it feels real. I have definitely been on the Katara side of conversations many many times in my life lol. As I have with Toph and Aang. And I think you're right, I think really what she's seeking is understanding and it might have even been what she thought would be a NICE encounter with Toph showing willingness to join the group in a way everyone would appreciate. But Toph was just not in that mode, especially after finally being free in a new way for the first time.
Alex G
2021-02-14 04:07:54 +0000 UTCYup I definitely appreciated it more this time around. I wonder why that is. Wow that quote really ties it together! I had forgotten about that moment in Korra :D
Alex G
2021-02-14 04:04:11 +0000 UTCSo I don't mean to say more but here I am... this reminds me of in Book 3 when Katara is angry at her dad and doesn't know why, because she knows it wasn't his fault he had to leave to fight in the war, but she still has a lot of emotions about it. That part was incredibly relatable to me and I think it shows a lot of Katara's character that sometimes she just shows an emotion and says sometimes mean things. Even when she says to Sokka in the Southern Raiders episode (the episode where she confront's her mother's killer) that maybe he didn't love their mother as much as she did, it's a controversial line because its not nice, but again its coming from a place of emotion that I just think is so cool to have explored in this character. Like I just love how imperfect Katara is in that way. But I guess I see how that imperfection could lead to annoyance or frustration in her. Again I'm not sure I have a point except to discuss Katara's character from my perspective.
Emma Root
2021-02-14 03:58:21 +0000 UTCIn Bitter Work the positive reinforcement that Toph showed was complimenting Aang on how he took on the Moose Lion and herself. The positive reinforcement was done in a style that was more Toph, but still was coming from a praising standpoint instead of a you suck standpoint. Also it always hurts me when you critique Katara because personally my thought process and personality is a lot more like hers and Aang's. (Although it's good for me to see this other side). So if Toph yelled at me because I couldn't do something, I would have been like Aang, and wanting to give up earth bending forever once and feeling like I'm bad at everything and should just give up. Similar to Korra and Airbending. But thanks to Katara, Aang regained some confidence and probably saved a lot of time moping. I don't think sitting in that moment at rock bottom would have helped in this case. In the Chase, since I sorta have Katara's perspective I'll say that in the argument with Toph, I didn't really side with her either, but in that situation I feel like I'm more like Aang. I'm not a leader in trying to get everyone to help out, I'd be avoiding the conflict. However I will say that I spent a lot of my life randomly yelling at people in my life, especially when I was a teenage girl and especially when I'm tired. Often times I think it came from a point of just wanting my emotions to be understood, and feeling personally attacked by whatever the other person was saying as though they hate me, although probably they are coming from it from a very different perspective and it isn't about my whole being. But at the time I wouldn't have known that I just knew I was angry. Anyway that was a lot of words but I just had a lot of thoughts since I see things from another perspective and I was typing this and you were asking more questions... so yeah.
Emma Root
2021-02-14 03:46:26 +0000 UTCI didn't enjoy The Chase when it first aired, but a few rewatches since, I appreciate how cool of an episode it is much more now. They pack so much into one episode and it's great. Bitter Work is probably my 2nd favorite episode overall, and one of those that I can just go and watch on it's own. I've probably rewatched it in particular the most, even compared to my favorite episode. It really does a good job of showing how Toph is an absolute master of her element, she understands it, and she also knows what Aang needs to get it. To add to what you said when she was just digging into him and him needing to sit at rock bottom for a bit there, "when we hit our lowest point, we're open to the greatest change."
WolfWarrior623
2021-02-14 03:45:22 +0000 UTCAyy I didn't even watch the Bitter Work rereaction yet, Lucky guess I suppose lmao
benj
2021-02-14 03:44:50 +0000 UTCLOL for sure, I said something to that effect. It's relatable, it's just that it's rarely as dramatically cool as Zuko
Alex G
2021-02-14 03:19:53 +0000 UTCLets be honest, we've all had a Zuko raging to the sky during a Thunderstorm moment once in our lives. Even if it wasn't as perfectly dramatic being on top of a mountain and having Dante Basco's incredible voice.
benj
2021-02-14 02:27:47 +0000 UTC
