The Legend of Korra: Rebel Spirit (2x01)

Alright! The Legend of Korra is back. I'll start by discussing briefly my feelings about this show in general: it's not as good as Avatar: the Last Airbender. There, I said it. It's not. That doesn't mean it sucks, though. In fact, while Korra has had its set of problems, I still think it has a lot of potential. The main problem with Season One was the pacing. The plot kept up a relentless pace, and there wasn't much time to develop the characters. As such, I find Korra, Bolin, Mako, etc. to be, as of yet, underdeveloped characters.

But enough about that. As we start the second season, I'm pleased to announce that things are improving. Six months have passed since the end of Season One, and we see what all our characters have been up to. Bolin is having bad luck with the new Pro-Bending "Fire Ferrets," and wishes for the time when he used to play on a team with Mako. Mako, meanwhile, has been working as a police officer, about to make detective. Korra is frustrated with Tenzin, who continually tries to teach her Air Bending. She feels she has mastered the art.

Anyway, it turns out that the whole gang is planning on heading to Korra's home, the Southern Water Tribe, for a festival, before heading to the Air Temples to continue Korra's teaching.

So, they head off. We meet a lot of new characters in this episode, so I'm going to take a moment to write them out. First of all, we have Tenzin's siblings, Kya and Bumi.

Then there's Korra's father, Tonraq, her uncle Unalaq, and Unalaq's fraternal twins (Korra's cousins) Desna and Eska.

On top of that, we have an eccentric businessman named Varrick.

And just in case anyone else has trouble remembering Tenzin and Pema's kids, their names are Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo.

Phew. Okay, that helped me out a lot, actually. Back to the plot:

Upon arriving at the Southern Water Tribe, Asami and Bolin go to meet with Varrick regarding Asami's company Future Industries. She is in charge, since her father... well... was a bad guy, as we saw back in Season One. She's hoping that Varrick will join her in business. Bolin and Asami get a rather odd reception, which includes a demonstration of moving pictures, some models, a staring contest, and finally a hasty and enthusiastic deal is struck between Varrick and Asami. I think, from what I can tell, I'm going to like this plot line.

Mako and Korra have been having some relationship troubles. I enjoyed seeing this, because at the end of Season One, everything was wrapped up with too pretty of a bow. It makes sense that their relationship wouldn't be smooth sailing. The two of them enjoy the festival, however, and Bolin even manages to find himself a girl: Korra's cousin Eska. This scene was really funny, especially the following lines. Eska: "You amuse me. I will make you mine." Bolin: "You mean like a boyfriend, or like a slave?" Eska: "Yes."

Before I get to the biggest plot point, a few other things to touch on. I loved the interactions between Aang and Katara's three children. It seems like poor Tenzin was picked on a lot in his childhood, and Bumi and Kya seem infinitely entertained to hear him petulantly declare: "I am not sensitive!"

A few problems: no Lin this week! Although, given how many new characters were present here, I understand the need not to crowd things up too much.

The start of the episode had some missteps, in my opinion. Showing Mako and Bolin's continuing lives in Republic City is all well and good, but then the episode immediately pulled us away from these lives and into a new setting. Given the gravity of the rest of the episode, Bolin's Pro-Bending problems and Mako's police work seem insignificant little plot threads that might not have been necessary in this opening episode.

Okay. Now I've got to talk about Unalaq. Basically, this dude is creepy. You can tell from the minute you meet him that there's something not quite right. We find out that he's Korra's uncle... and also the tribal chief of both the Northern and the Southern Water Tribes. He and his creepy children live in the North, and have come down South for the festival. But Unalaq is displeased with many things. For one, the Festival is much too secular in nature now. It used to be a solemn affair in honor of the Water Spirits, but now it's just an excuse for a big party. He says that the Southern Water Tribe is spiritually weak, and the North might need to help them out.

In regards to Korra, he insists that she must learn the way of the spirits. He keeps offering to teach her, but Tonraq, not the biggest fan of his brother, insists again and again that Tenzin is Korra's teacher. Of course, we had already seen some tension earlier between Tenzin and Korra regarding his teaching methods. This made for a delicious situation in which Korra gets more and more angry with her father and Tenzin, and more and more intrigued by Unalaq's offer.

At a banquet during the festival, Korra even finds out from Unalaq that most Avatars travel around during their training and learn by experiencing the world. Korra, by contrast, was kept at the Southern Water Tribe and then shipped to Republic City, where she has remained up until her recent return home. The young Avatar is not pleased about this news. She has learned that Tenzin and Tonraq have been keeping her from the exciting life she's always wanted. Of course, they insist they were just trying to keep her safe.

And then... an angry Water Spirit attacks! We get to see some cool Bending Masters at work, here. Korra whips out some Fire Bending, Tenzin does some Air Bending, but all of it is for naught. Just when it looks like this angry Spirit is going to kill our protagonist, Unalaq shows up. He does some wacky Spirit-Bending mojo, or something, and the Spirit calms down and leaves.

This incident proves to Korra once and for all that Unalaq knows what she most needs to learn. In a touching scene, she tells Tenzin that she's sorry, but she doesn't want him for her teacher anymore. This man has been something of a second father to her, which is what makes his parting words so hard to hear: "It has been a pleasure serving you, Avatar Korra." 

We end with Tenzin, his wife and kids, and his siblings heading off to the Air Temples as planned. But Korra won't be going with them. Korra and Mako have a talk, and they resolve some of their earlier squabbles in the episode. Korra was angry at Mako for "taking Tenzin's side" about her training, but at the same time she wants validation from her boyfriend that she made the right choice in choosing Unalaq. Mako says he's not sure if the choice was the right one, but that he knows her heart is in the right place, and that she will just have to follow it. 

Enter Unalaq, to break up this really sweet moment. He ends the episode with this line: "I have great plans for you." Now, if that doesn't sound sketchy, I don't know what does.

So, overall? Really solid episode. I was sort of ambivalent about starting this show up again, but after that season premiere, I'm anxious to see what the future holds. I'm glad to be out of Republic City, so we can get a chance to explore the rest of this now "peaceful" world. There was a lot of information in this one short episode, which was generally alright, but it did make things a bit crowded in spots. For example, I really enjoyed the small bits of time we got from Asami, but with everything else that was happening, she really didn't get a chance to shine.

As we look forward to coming episodes, there are a few things I want: more of this delicious building tension between Unalaq and Tenzin and Tonraq. I also want some Fire Nation stuff, since I do believe a certain Emperor Zuko is still alive. A scene between him and the now ancient Katara would warm my heart!

8/10