Legend of Korra: Season One was definitely the best season to date by the producers of the Avatar cartoon series. Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino definitely have outdone themselves as the creators of the series. They have managed to maintain the original humor, drama, real-life lessons (while not being cheesy, which is hard to do), romance, action sequences and animation quality from its prequel, Avatar: the Last Airbender. Even the soundtrack from this season is beyond amazing, much less the entire series.
***WARNING: Spoilers ahead*** but you may want to watch the entire season here first for a limited time: http://www.nick.com/videos/playlist/play/legend-of-korra-season-one-full-episodes-playlist.html
The two final episodes leading up to the series finale ("Skeletons in the Closet" and "Endgame") were very well done, although I was a bit disappointed by how the ending just fell a little bit flat in the end. The fact that Tarrlok was Amon's brother was definitely a bombshell. However, during the one-hour season finale divided between those two episodes, that's the only real thrill you get. There's a lot of other stuff going on like the fight between the United Forces and the Equalists, the benders being stripped of their power by Amon, and Korra becoming a fully-realized Avatar. However, all these storylines are just quickly resolved without the thrilling "edge-of-your-seat" twists that stories like the one behind Amon and Tarrlok provided. That story alone could take one entire episode (and it practically did), but maybe the producers would've been better off creating another episode to resolve all these storylines properly, as the end product looked a bit rushed and took away from some of the awesome twists and turns that bend your mind and heart into a pretzel.
I was almost certain before it was revealed that Amon was a bender, even though his Equalist movement to eradicate all bending was based on the fact that everyone should be of equal power (of course, that implies that not only is he a hypocrite, but the movement is based on a lie). I just didn't expect that Tarrlok and Amon were so closely related. I figured how else could Amon have known where Tarrlok was when he fled Republic City and went into hiding? I thought that Tarrlok and Amon were in cahoots with supporting a baseless movement just so they could they could both gain power through the masses and carefully executed government maneuvers. For example, Tarrlok used the "fight" against the Equalists as an excuse to pass the law that allowed him to put the city on curfew and arrest anyone under suspicion of being an Equalist aggressor, which of course turned ugly in the episode "When Extremes Meet" when he wound up arresting a whole crowd of people without any real charges or probable cause. Even Tenzin was skeptical and called him out, saying that Tarrlok was only trying to gain more power.
You'd think that something like that can only happen in the cartoon, but it is in fact happening present-day. It's art imitating life I suppose, although that fact brings yet another welcome edge to the show that adults can appreciate, and children can enjoy all the same. On one hand, you have the Equalists which just want "tear down the bending establishment" imposed by the "bending elite". On the other hand, there is the government being run by the aforementioned "elite." Then comes Tarrlok as a government official spearheading the campaign to defeat the Equalist movement, but at the same time arresting anyone that gets "in his way," a power he uses extremely broadly to get rid of unwanted people in his quest for supreme power. Ironically enough, it turned out that he's the son of one of the most notorious criminals ever in Republic City, and it was all a plan to control Republic City in the name of his father. Also, it turned out that Amon was a bender, when he not only advocated the destruction of bending, but also said he was attacked by a fire-bender who killed his family (which was later exposed as a lie).
The theme of lies and deceit to get people to accept potentially controversial and nefarious methods is something that's been happening through history, even up to the point of hypocrisy. Heck, it's still happening even today. Adolf Hitler advocated the rising of a master race he termed as "Aryan." He basically termed that to be people of Nordic descent, which were basically people with light blond/brown hair, light-colored eyes, light color skin, and tall stature. Yet, he was listed as only 5'9" in height and had brownish-black hair. Note the irony of how he put so many to death just for not meeting his standards for the "Aryan" race, yet he was far from being the perfect definition of it as well. Of course, the only thing that stopped him was World War II. The same thing happened with Joseph McCarthy, a US Senator from the 1950's (read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy). His deal was that he used to claim that Communist spies were infiltrating the US, and that he knew who the Communists were. This led to a "blacklist" which was maintained exclusively by Joseph McCarthy. Under this blacklist, anyone with had his/her name on it was branded a Communist, even without evidence or just cause. Blacklisting would ruin the lives of whoever was on it. Employers would not hire you, your reputation would be severely tarnished, and friends and neighbors were lost because people did not want to become associated with an "enemy of the state." In fact, some of these "blacklisted" people were granted certain amnesties in exchanges for names of other possible "Communists," whether they really were or not. This went on for 4 years until in 1954, the Army-McCarthy hearings were held. Between that and Edward R. Murrow's "See It Now" special showing McCarthy's tactics that bullied and harassed witnesses, the people were realizing that his "blacklist" was without merit. Finally, the public turned on him, seeing that his "Communism" crusade was just a carefully-orchestrated witch hunt. What was supposed to a "blacklist" naming people that was supposedly a threat to the US, turned out to be a self-serving lie that got rid of Joseph McCarthy's "opponents."
Unfortunately, the same thing is still happening present-day. Instead of calling people "Communists," people are branded "terrorists" nowadays. I think between Bradley Manning being arrested for "aiding the enemy" while evidence against that charge is being withheld by prosecutors from public, press and even Manning's defense team, very few (less than 1%) Occupy Wall St protesters (and even reporters or other innocent bystanders) arrested are actually convicted for a crime, and government continuing to pass dangerous laws such as the NDAA which allows for "indefinite detention without trial," it's creating an atmosphere of fear that is destroying people's civil liberties all for the sake of stopping terrorism. There's no real way to measure how well these changes are working, but it's cause for concern when Times Square is almost blown up in 2010 when all these "measures" are already in place (more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Times_Square_car_bombing_attempt). Ever since 9/11, federal and local agencies have beefed up their security power. The NYPD ever since then gained the capacity to spy on anyone in the US (source: http://www.thenation.com/article/168376/long-roots-nypd-spying-program), but if they've been spying on "terrorists" ever since 2006, how can they not see the failed attempt to blow up Times Square coming? It's not that the NYPD found it in time. It's just that they were lucky enough for the bomb to be a dud. This is a very big problem, where authorities have enough power to spy on anyone in the country, and still cannot effectively stop terrorist attacks.
Yet at the same time, Occupy Wall Street is here trying to not only hold Wall Street accountable for their crimes that led to the Great Recession of 2008, but they're trying to raise awareness of the militarization of police up to the point where people's civil rights are disappearing. Their demands are so "broad" because there's a lot of work to be done in order to fix this country, which is facing some of its worst years in history. However, it is losing some of its effectiveness due to the "Tragedy of the Commons" (more here: http://www.planetseed.com/node/15246). Basically, when a whole large group congregates in a limited space such as Zuccotti Park and even a relatively large public space such as Union Square, it doesn't come with a price. With a hypothetical crowd of 10,000 (their ranks have swelled up to amounts estimated at greater at times even), just 1% littering would have 100 people creating an environment of disease and waste. I'm sure that's the same reasoning behind the fact that the House of Representatives is capped at 435 voting members, in spite of a continually growing population (the more people a state has, the more Representatives they have in the House). Otherwise, it would probably get out of control.
In the Legend of Korra, the episode "When Extremes Meet" depicts a whole town protesting, but only because the police shuts off their power for no apparent reason. When the residents come out to protest, they are told by police to disperse or face arrest. These people are not armed and not doing anything violent, but all the same, they're arrested for "Equalist" ties. It's funny how this can be attributed to the false arrests of the Occupy movement, where people are not armed or attacking police, yet they're charged with things like "resisting arrest" or "disorderly conduct," which are some very subjective statutes (read the NYC "disorderly conduct" statute here: http://law.onecle.com/new-york/penal/PEN0240.20_240.20.html). If you read the actual language of the statute, you can see how broad it can be. When things like "false advertising" is listed as a misdemeanor (read the NYC statute here: http://law.onecle.com/new-york/penal/PEN0190.20_190.20.html), it's makes you wonder how easily it is for the police to find an excuse to arrest you. Add to the fact that arrests are being commonly thrown out in trial due to it being baseless (examples: http://gothamist.com/2012/02/18/many_ows_protesters_arrested_on_bro.php and http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/05/16/152854265/video-evidence-helps-acquit-student-in-first-occupy-wall-street-trial), and it's a pretty big problem.
The best thing that can happen in the world is for people to find a balance. That's what the Avatar in the series is supposed to represent: balance and hope for the world. Two extreme, yet opposite sides cannot bring balance to the world. It's like being very miserable in life, yet you spend money on "having fun," lavish gifts and material things to make you "feel better," but in the end you'll feel worse than ever. You can't have the Republic City government pass laws that restrict people's rights with no just cause and you can't have Equalists blowing up stuff and terrorizing everyone just so people obey them.
It's cool how the producers of Avatar gave Korra a different supporting cast of unique characters. Like the Avengers very well demonstrate, there's strength in numbers. Bolin is definitely picking up the slack of Sokka, the comedy relief guy. Bolin does it well, although I have to admit I miss Sokka from the original "the Last Airbender" series. At least Sokka is still cracking jokes a bit during the flashbacks. Mako has potential to be a major character in the series since he's a "take charge" kind of guy, but I see that the creators of the series are aiming for him to be one of those "stoic" characters. "Stoic" meaning the type of person that doesn't express emotions and is never afraid to cast himself in danger, no matter how bad the situation is. I'm pretty sure he's supposed to fit the "bad boy" mold for Korra, which feeds into the Mako-Korra relationship that the season ended with (her type, I guess). Asami is such a sweetheart! I don't know why Mako basically dumped her for Korra, especially when they were doing so well together. If I wrote the script, I'd have Mako and Asami stay together, while Bolin and Korra establish a relationship on their own, since the episode "The Spirit of Competition" shows that they're so compatible and awesome together.
Speaking of romances, that love triangle between Mako, Korra, and Asami has no place in the series. It's done really badly, feels rushed, and a lot of times it seems like emotions pop up for no apparent reason. For example, why is Korra kissing Mako when she still doesn't really know anything about him? The romance development of Aang and Katara in Avatar: the Last Airbender was done a lot better. At least they had a lot of time to "date" by being around each other, going through a lot of highs and lows together, and experiencing some romantic tension. With Legend of Korra, nothing like that happens. It looks like Korra had a much better connection with Bolin, but still chose Mako, who she seemingly knew a lot less of and which had less "date" experience with Korra. Also, the past romantic connection between Lin and Tenzin was a lot more pronounced while saying a lot less than the Mako-Korra relationship. Sometimes, less is more. The relationship between Mako and Korra looked too forced.
The new setting that the Legend of Korra moved to was a nice choice. At first, I was wondering how shifting to a landscape like Republic City was going to work out. It actually worked out nicely. It's a combination of a Industrial Revolution type of setting mixed with Roaring Twenties and Great Depression. They manage to unite the impoverished and rich aspects of the city very well, and it makes for a more real city feeling instead of just people "living it up" in the city since they don't have to worry about work. The music also adds to it, being an interesting mix of traditional Asian instruments mixed with Roaring Twenties jazz/swing renditions.
Overall, I'd give Legend of Korra: Season One a 9.5/10 - Excellent. The animation is a work of art in itself, a welcome sight in modern-day TV where everything is computerized and takes a lot away from the animation quality. Nonetheless, they're able to utilize some computer CGI to complement (not take away from like so many other cartoons) the animation, providing some very awe-inspiring scenes. The soundtrack is amazing, and it still boggles the mind how it has never been released on album or at least iTunes when it could very easily sell, especially among the fans of the show. The storyline, aside from the romance part, is absolutely amazing and immediately casts you into the action. As usual, the script is extremely balanced, as it contains raw and unmistakable Western humor, awesome action sequences you'd see in a big-budget movie, and drama that always keep you guessing and on the edge. Just when you think the twist is going to end, five more twists come at you. Of course, this comes with the usual Avatar "morals of the story," which is actually a great thing. It manages to appeal to adults that can relate to the real-life problems that happen in Legend of Korra, such as Mako being "dirt poor" as Hiroshi Sato puts it and Korra overcoming adversity when trying to learn the ever-elusive airbending art. It does this while still being fun, not cheesy and not too downcast, which kids can definitely enjoy. Of course, the romance plot got in the way. Otherwise, it definitely could've been a 10/10 - Perfect.
With that all being said, here are my predictions for the next season of Legend of Korra:
- Asami will turn on Team Avatar in a jealous rage because Mako has essentially dumped her. Then, she'll probably re-unite with her father, Hiroshi Sato, and pose a new danger for Korra in Season Two.
- Amon survives, and takes a back-seat in the storyline until he finds an opportunity to take control of Republic City once more. He'll change his appearance Yakone style to do this (Season Three?).
- We will all find out who the firebender is that "cut down" Mako and Bolin's mom, as well as Asami's mom (probably the same person). He's probably part of the Agni Kai triad.
- Mako and Korra break up because Korra realizes there were no real emotions behind the lust she felt for Mako. Then, Bolin and Korra pick up where they left off and eventually become a real couple.
- Energy bending (the ability to take or restore someone's bending) starts becoming more of a mainstream skill, just like the other four elements.
- We will also find out what happened to Zuko's mom. Errmm...hopefully. Wishful thinking, right?
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