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yukinoomoni) wrote2010-07-10 03:56 pm
yukinoomoni) wrote2010-07-10 03:56 pm
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A Reason for Season Three (Part Two)
Continuing on with the Filler Meta.
Filler Episode #2: 303: The Painted Lady
Probably considered one of the worst - if not the worst - episodes of all time next to "The Great Divide" (FUCK YOU, I LOVED The Great Divide), The Painted Lady has a huge rap for being the most annoying and stupidest waste of time and the biggest offender for filler fodder.
To which I say, "No, you're fucking wrong. Sit down and I'll tell you why."
So we begin to find our heroes floating along upon Appa in a disgusting river of death. Aang furthers this by swimming around in it and dripping it onto the saddle like a dickwad (although it is pretty funny). The very obvious is pointed out: This lake is polluted. Another point is spoken: We're fucking hungry.
So the kids decide to pretend to be colonials and stop at the nearest town for some grub. This results in the introduction to the most annoying character ever.
Aaaaaargh this guy is so fucking annoying even I have trouble standing him. He is singlehandedly the most useless character in the whole episode, and I won't disagree with the people who scream that he is pointless and a waste of ink and voice-acting.
That being said, one annoying waste of space does not make an entire episode pointless, guys. Sorry, buy it really doesn't. (Although he does give them a great cover, since he's the one that assumes that they're colonials.)
So along the way the Gaang discover that there's a huge honking factory in the middle of the place, which is the reason for the pollution.
This gives us a hint about how the Fire Nation builds things and, more importantly, just how ruthless they are to build their machines and the like in order to stay the top power in the world. The Fire Nation is clearly in its own industrial revolution, and it doesn't care how much this effects others around them.
And it does:
A lot.
Katara gets hit pretty hard by this. It hurts her to see so many people left bereft and suffering, but she also knows that they're on a schedule and she also sort of knows that, well, they're the enemy; who cares about this village, since it's in the middle of the place they've come to, in a way, destroy? It's these feelings that lead Katara to what she does.
This specially becomes clear when Sokka states his apathy for the town's welfare, being a bit of a dick but also being a self-preserver.
So in the end, they set out to get what they came for: foods. From this POS:
UGH FUCKING ANNOYANCE.
Once they get their questionable food, they camp out for the night off-shore. Much bickering ensues: Katara fights on behalf of saving the town, whereas Sokka fights for them keeping to his schedule. Toph and Aang remain ambivalent, so it's Sokka that wins since he screams the loudest.
Cut to morning. We assume that the night has been pretty damned quiet, only to be exchanged with this:
Yes, it looks as if Appa has been hitting the bad berries, and he's had an overdose of fail. Because of this, the Gaang decide to stay another day and determine whether or not Appa will either shake it off or if the town has some medicine. Back to the town they go...
Upon arrival, it's clear that something fishy (lol) is going on, since everyone seems happy and not bent on melting in a puddle of sob. (Note Katara's suspicious grin of happy.) So, of course, they head over to the idiot to see what's up.
Ugh, Katara and Sokka, I agree.
It's from this idiot, however, that Katara learns that the town has a personal deity, known as the Painted Lady. The townspeople seem pretty confident that she'll save them, despite being pretty lazy previously.
Sokka brings up the good point that the town probably shouldn't be depending on the Painted Lady to get them out of their problems, and that they should do it themselves, but Katara rebukes him, stating that there's nothing wrong with a little belief. I'm on Sokka's side, but Katara's heart is in the right place.
They find out from Dumbass that the town doesn't have any medicine, which is why everyone is so sick. The factory hoards it for themselves and as a result no one is getting better.
Sokka doesn't care. He decides to enjoy the wonders of genetic mutation.
Later that night, we're privy to a montage of healing:
Turns out that Katara's been having a few late-night liaisons.
So, as you can imagine, the kids return to the town and find that the place is even more festive due to Katara's incognito healing.
Katara becomes her own fangirl, but the obvious is eventually pointed out: with the factory still polluting the place, the people are going to end up sick again eventually. The solution is only temporary, and - even though they don't know it - once Katara is gone, it'll end.
This is an interesting point, because it brings up something rather mature for a kids' show: How much faith can you place in faith? How much can you depend on the deity you believe in? And in the end, should you always be so dependent?
Katara, being the good person she is, tries to convince her friends that they had to stop the factory. But after much mocking and silliness, she is turned down.
The Gaang stays one more night. Katara decides that, on her own, she will be the one to destroy the factory.
Buuuuuuuuuut it doesn't end up that way.
Katara's party gets crashed by Aang, who chases her around the town trying to catch up with her. All he wants is to have a chat with a spirit, but Katara wants him to get the hell away so she can do this and not get into shit with her friends. Eventually, she's busted, because frankly, Katara can't act for shit:
Aang, being Aang, wants a reason why she's sneaking around like a felon, and Katara gives it to him: Fuck you guys, I want to save these people. But Aang, being Aang, finds it awesome that she's being a vigilante, and offers to help blow up the factory with her.
Yeah. Like that.
However, on their way back, it's clear that they've been busted. Sokka not only found Katara's feebly-stuffed sleepingbag, he also discovered the means for Appa's "sickness":
Classy.
A fight results, and in the midst of Sokka being a jerk and Katara telling him he's a jerk, the Fire Nation workers from the factory head on out to penalise the town for what they think is theft and destruction at their hands. Katara is properly dismayed, and while Sokka t first protests, Katara brow-beats him into submitting. Why?
Because Katara wants to help others, but Sokka wants to help Katara. This is a very wonderful character point: it shows the sibling love that the two have, and how that love keeps them together, even through really weird endeavours.
What follows is an insane pantomime of Katara as the Painted Lady going in and seeking revenge for the soldiers disturbing the town and accusing them (falsely) of theft. I still can't get over how prickest these assholes are, because these are the morons that won't even help this town, yet without the town there probably wouldn't be a factory or workers to power it.
In any case, the Gaang scare off the morons, Katara is outed as the Painted Lady, and she spouts the Moral of the Story and comes clean. But she also reminds the townspeople of the bare-boned fact: You can't depend on someone else to save you. You have to do it for yourself.
Their first point of order? Clean up the lake:
Afterward, there's this really great scene between Katara and, it's revealed, the real Painted Lady, who probably couldn't help because of how filthy her lake was.
The point is, this fucking episode isn't fucking filler. Why? Because even though Doc exists, it still has a huge point to it: The Fire Nation are pricks to their own people. It's not just other nations they're bastards to. Their quest for power and need to stay head puts their own people at risk, and this is huge. It allows the viewer to have a kind of sympathy for those in the Fire Nation who has Ozai's foot up their asses just like the rest of the world. It's not the greatest or most epic episode, but it does have a point. So shut the fuck up about it.
Next Up: Filler Episode #3: The Beach.
Probably considered one of the worst - if not the worst - episodes of all time next to "The Great Divide" (FUCK YOU, I LOVED The Great Divide), The Painted Lady has a huge rap for being the most annoying and stupidest waste of time and the biggest offender for filler fodder.
To which I say, "No, you're fucking wrong. Sit down and I'll tell you why."
So we begin to find our heroes floating along upon Appa in a disgusting river of death. Aang furthers this by swimming around in it and dripping it onto the saddle like a dickwad (although it is pretty funny). The very obvious is pointed out: This lake is polluted. Another point is spoken: We're fucking hungry.
So the kids decide to pretend to be colonials and stop at the nearest town for some grub. This results in the introduction to the most annoying character ever.
Aaaaaargh this guy is so fucking annoying even I have trouble standing him. He is singlehandedly the most useless character in the whole episode, and I won't disagree with the people who scream that he is pointless and a waste of ink and voice-acting.
That being said, one annoying waste of space does not make an entire episode pointless, guys. Sorry, buy it really doesn't. (Although he does give them a great cover, since he's the one that assumes that they're colonials.)
So along the way the Gaang discover that there's a huge honking factory in the middle of the place, which is the reason for the pollution.
This gives us a hint about how the Fire Nation builds things and, more importantly, just how ruthless they are to build their machines and the like in order to stay the top power in the world. The Fire Nation is clearly in its own industrial revolution, and it doesn't care how much this effects others around them.
And it does:
A lot.
Katara gets hit pretty hard by this. It hurts her to see so many people left bereft and suffering, but she also knows that they're on a schedule and she also sort of knows that, well, they're the enemy; who cares about this village, since it's in the middle of the place they've come to, in a way, destroy? It's these feelings that lead Katara to what she does.
This specially becomes clear when Sokka states his apathy for the town's welfare, being a bit of a dick but also being a self-preserver.
So in the end, they set out to get what they came for: foods. From this POS:
UGH FUCKING ANNOYANCE.
Once they get their questionable food, they camp out for the night off-shore. Much bickering ensues: Katara fights on behalf of saving the town, whereas Sokka fights for them keeping to his schedule. Toph and Aang remain ambivalent, so it's Sokka that wins since he screams the loudest.
Cut to morning. We assume that the night has been pretty damned quiet, only to be exchanged with this:
Yes, it looks as if Appa has been hitting the bad berries, and he's had an overdose of fail. Because of this, the Gaang decide to stay another day and determine whether or not Appa will either shake it off or if the town has some medicine. Back to the town they go...
Upon arrival, it's clear that something fishy (lol) is going on, since everyone seems happy and not bent on melting in a puddle of sob. (Note Katara's suspicious grin of happy.) So, of course, they head over to the idiot to see what's up.
Ugh, Katara and Sokka, I agree.
It's from this idiot, however, that Katara learns that the town has a personal deity, known as the Painted Lady. The townspeople seem pretty confident that she'll save them, despite being pretty lazy previously.
Sokka brings up the good point that the town probably shouldn't be depending on the Painted Lady to get them out of their problems, and that they should do it themselves, but Katara rebukes him, stating that there's nothing wrong with a little belief. I'm on Sokka's side, but Katara's heart is in the right place.
They find out from Dumbass that the town doesn't have any medicine, which is why everyone is so sick. The factory hoards it for themselves and as a result no one is getting better.
Sokka doesn't care. He decides to enjoy the wonders of genetic mutation.
Later that night, we're privy to a montage of healing:
Turns out that Katara's been having a few late-night liaisons.
So, as you can imagine, the kids return to the town and find that the place is even more festive due to Katara's incognito healing.
Katara becomes her own fangirl, but the obvious is eventually pointed out: with the factory still polluting the place, the people are going to end up sick again eventually. The solution is only temporary, and - even though they don't know it - once Katara is gone, it'll end.
This is an interesting point, because it brings up something rather mature for a kids' show: How much faith can you place in faith? How much can you depend on the deity you believe in? And in the end, should you always be so dependent?
Katara, being the good person she is, tries to convince her friends that they had to stop the factory. But after much mocking and silliness, she is turned down.
The Gaang stays one more night. Katara decides that, on her own, she will be the one to destroy the factory.
Buuuuuuuuuut it doesn't end up that way.
Katara's party gets crashed by Aang, who chases her around the town trying to catch up with her. All he wants is to have a chat with a spirit, but Katara wants him to get the hell away so she can do this and not get into shit with her friends. Eventually, she's busted, because frankly, Katara can't act for shit:
Aang, being Aang, wants a reason why she's sneaking around like a felon, and Katara gives it to him: Fuck you guys, I want to save these people. But Aang, being Aang, finds it awesome that she's being a vigilante, and offers to help blow up the factory with her.
Yeah. Like that.
However, on their way back, it's clear that they've been busted. Sokka not only found Katara's feebly-stuffed sleepingbag, he also discovered the means for Appa's "sickness":
Classy.
A fight results, and in the midst of Sokka being a jerk and Katara telling him he's a jerk, the Fire Nation workers from the factory head on out to penalise the town for what they think is theft and destruction at their hands. Katara is properly dismayed, and while Sokka t first protests, Katara brow-beats him into submitting. Why?
Because Katara wants to help others, but Sokka wants to help Katara. This is a very wonderful character point: it shows the sibling love that the two have, and how that love keeps them together, even through really weird endeavours.
What follows is an insane pantomime of Katara as the Painted Lady going in and seeking revenge for the soldiers disturbing the town and accusing them (falsely) of theft. I still can't get over how prickest these assholes are, because these are the morons that won't even help this town, yet without the town there probably wouldn't be a factory or workers to power it.
In any case, the Gaang scare off the morons, Katara is outed as the Painted Lady, and she spouts the Moral of the Story and comes clean. But she also reminds the townspeople of the bare-boned fact: You can't depend on someone else to save you. You have to do it for yourself.
Their first point of order? Clean up the lake:
Afterward, there's this really great scene between Katara and, it's revealed, the real Painted Lady, who probably couldn't help because of how filthy her lake was.
The point is, this fucking episode isn't fucking filler. Why? Because even though Doc exists, it still has a huge point to it: The Fire Nation are pricks to their own people. It's not just other nations they're bastards to. Their quest for power and need to stay head puts their own people at risk, and this is huge. It allows the viewer to have a kind of sympathy for those in the Fire Nation who has Ozai's foot up their asses just like the rest of the world. It's not the greatest or most epic episode, but it does have a point. So shut the fuck up about it.
Next Up: Filler Episode #3: The Beach.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2010-08-05 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
I never understood - and never will understand - the skint love for Maiko. I know that Zutara is "hot" and all, but Maiko is, too, and it's wonderful and silly and hilarious. I'll never understand the hate.
I would have liked more Maiko screentime, but at the same time, I still find myself accepting it. I would have liked more especially close to the finale - that is where I find the development sorely lacking - but also understand how impossible it was to add it.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2010-08-06 01:01 am (UTC)(link)And, yes, the Maiko-hate is baffling. I mean, when I was watching the first season I could guess some people would be into Zuko and Katara (that scene in the Waterbending Scroll where he is incredibly skeevy...), but as soon as Mai appeared I was like, hey, a truly excellent girl for Zuko. And then she got a whole season to be deadpan and awesome on her own merits! Aaand then, when I dipped into internet fandom... Yeah. So glad I missed all that!
And Maiko is dorkily hilarious and touching once it gets going - I've just gone through all your posts on 'The Beach', which is one of my absolute favourites, so your greatest hits collection was a total joy. Yeah, the dialogue was a bit stiff, but even that comes with the 80s-teen-drama territory, right? Plus, *so* much love for the fact that it's Zuko who shows the most skin out of the couple. And Mai is even taller than him in some shots! Heh.
Oddly enough, I was pretty satisfied with Maiko reaching its culmination with Mai's epic display of badass in 'The Boiling Rock'. I would have liked more, for sure - and more Mai in general - but I actually found the resolution of their relationship much more smoothly handled than the final couple of beats of Kataang, where the only prelude to Katara *finally* moving in for the big kiss is her glance of realisation during the coronation.
Anyway, this has drifted pretty far from 'The Painted Lady'. Which I feel much calmer about now, so thanks! How can one truly hate an episode in which Sokka is really *enthused* by the idea of eating a two-headed fish?
no subject
Agreeing with you here on pretty much everything. And now I'm wondering why you're anon =3
Lol oh god that fish glshsklh lmao (see icon).
no subject
(Anonymous) 2010-08-06 09:31 am (UTC)(link)Oh, Sokka...
no subject