There be spoilers here! – ed
Episode 6: And the Winner is…
Judging from the direction that the previous episode took, it’s only natural to think that Winner will derail the master storyline again. Well it doesn’t, and those pesky Equalists are caught in the middle of it. There are a few talky bits during the first half, but the episode’s second half is dedicated solely to taking us back to a marvelous display of the series’ fight choreography. What happens is this…
Well aware of the Fire Ferrets’ championship match, Tenzin and the city council are debating whether or not to close the stadium for fear of an attack by Amon and his Equalists. In an unexpected turn, Police Chief Beifong insists that the stadium stay open and the match proceed as scheduled (even after hearing another radio broadcast by Amon promising that his group will take action if the match is played).
Dayum! That looks painful!
Thanks to Tenzin, we also get a partial explanation as to why Lin Beifong walks around with a chip on her shoulder – especially when she’s around Korra, Republic City’s new Avatar. When Korra asks him, Tenzin changes the subject but not before revealing that he and Lin may have been an item at some point in the past. Meanwhile, Amon is seen getting ready for his big debut as it seems that everything is going according to plan.
The match doesn’t go well for our underdogs; add the fact that the referee starts making dubious calls, making things even more of a hassle. To make matters worse, a certain masked leader of an extremist faction decides to take this opportunity to strike. Amon’s mostly talk during his appearance, but he does take a moment to show all benders in the audience that his chi blocking technique is no joke. After a speech declaring that the revolution has begun, he and his goons make an explosive exit.
There is a chase, a fight on top of the arena, and Lin finally gets a chance to show off some impressive moves. Unfortunately, the bad guys get away. After everyone has had a moment to catch their breath, Tenzin wraps up the episode by ominously declaring that Republic City is now at war.
“Wow. That’s the last time we give Billy-Bob the special super-hot chili con carne!”
Likes:
Wow, who knew this show could turn around so quickly. I was expecting another episode dedicated to pro-bending and not much else. What we got was a mix of the two. On one hand, you have the Fire Ferrets squaring off against the Wolf Bats in the championship final. A winner was crowned between the two just in time for Amon and his buddies take the opportunity to play terrorists and make their presence official to the rest of the city. This is some shockingly heavy stuff to dump on younger viewers, so I got to hand it to Bolin and Pabu (his ferret) for the moments of comedic relief.
Dislikes:
Amon – his menacing presence has been felt behind the scenes in almost every episode thus far. The guy wears a mask, is voiced by Steven Blum; and as a bender, nothing would scare me more than the thought of someone taking away my talent with a thumb to the forehead. So then why did I place the guy under my “Dislike” section? It’s because he seems to be running his entire “revolution” as a result of textbook-style bigotry. So what if certain individuals with bending abilities wronged you and your family of non-benders in the past? Does it mean you have a right to group all elemental benders into the “they-have-special-abilities-so-they-must-be-evil” camp?
And to make matters worse, you pride yourself on making benders suffer by taking away their powers – through a technique that no non-bender could know without special training, no less! A “revolution” in “equality” my ass! Whatever Amon, I’m done with you.
