The Legend of Korra: Peacekeepers and The Sting

So just when I was about to call it quits on The Legend of Korra, the show churns out a couple of really intriguing episodes. There were a few dodgy bits (don’t worry, I’ll get to those), but what I was starting to enjoy in The Sting was the wide sense of scope and newfound emphasis on the ensemble.

I didn’t even realize until the final few minutes that Korra only had one scene in this episode – instead the focus was on Asami and Mako, and though I don’t have a problem with Korra in the way others seem to, I liked that she played a much smaller part. It gave me the feeling that the story is branching out; that this was only a small piece of a much larger tapestry. I think splitting up the gang and following only a select few around at a time was a good idea.

Or perhaps I was just happy to see Lin Bei Fong back again. The whole show just seemed to perk up at her presence.

But first Peacekeepers. Again, what I liked most about this episode was the sense of scope: not only the inclusion of a range of political factions led by people with differing agendas, but in Korra’s attempts to negotiate with and manoeuvre her way around them.

Just to name a few, there was Republic City’s President Raiko, who doesn’t think they should get involved, the United Forces led by Commander Iroh, who's willing to help Korra before he’s shut down by the President, the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Centre, who just want to protest peacefully, the Northern Water Tribe, who turn out to heckle Korra and the Southerners, the Triple Treat Triads gang, who are happy to work for the highest bidder, and – as we discover in the final moments of The Sting – Varrick, who has had some sort of long con that’s been running this entire time.

There's plenty of interesting political discourse going on between all these factions involving neutrality, activism, propaganda, armament and espionage, and though it doesn’t quite have the finesse of the original Avatar series, there’s plenty here to discuss and think about.

Although I more or less guessed that Varrick was behind the bombing of the Cultural Centre (simply because of a lack of any other suspects), his affable demeanour and as-yet hidden motivations make him a far more compelling villain than Unalaq. It remains to be seen if the two of them are in cahoots, though I suspect that Varrick is more of an opportunist than a global conspirator, one who is using the backdrop of war to drum up business and make money (as seen in him striking a deal with Asami over Future Industries).

On the other hand, we have people like President Raiko who are thwarting Korra’s plans, but who are hardly criminal or even villainous – instead he comes across as an Obstructive Bureaucrat. Heck, even Lin was more of a hindrance than a help in these episodes, making the two of them Hero Antagonists by attempting to remain neutral on the whole situation.

Speaking of which, it was interesting to me that Korra is urged to remain neutral because of her position as Avatar, though she staunchly (and understandably) doesn’t want to remain neutral. It makes me wonder what exactly an Avatar’s role is in peace times – clearly Aang wasn’t expected to remain neutral when the Fire Lord tried to take over the world. In fact, it was explicitly part of his destiny to defeat him, with lethal force if need be.

So I don’t really blame Korra for trying to use her status and contacts to try and rouse people to her cause, and getting frustrated when she’s impeded at every turn. Dealing with bureaucracy is certainly not her strong point.

But it’s nice to see her at least attempt to negotiate the lines of power, figuring out what can and can’t be done, taking matters into her own hands and attempting to do what she thinks is best in the midst of everyone else inflicting their own opinions upon her.

***

As I’ve said before, I’m fairly indifferent to Mako, but here I quite liked him – possibly because he was actually getting shit done. It was a nice humanizing moment to see him hazed by his fellow cops and not blowing his top over it, and his competence as an observant spectator who tracks down leads and makes counter-plans actually feels organic to his character.

Over the course of the two episodes he has a series of successes and set-backs, brought on by his own mistakes and unforeseeable outside forces, and it can’t be a coincidence that his relevance as a character has suddenly improved now that he’s no longer “the Avatar’s boyfriend.”

And he gets to act out one of my favourite story tropes. As I’ve said many times in the past in regards to a variety of other shows, I love it when characters are presented with a choice between personal loyalty to a loved one and commitment to a greater cause (in this case, fidelity to the law).

It turned up often on Merlin, whether it was Merlin trying to balance his personal loyalty to Arthur against his desire to bring magic back into the land, Arthur measuring up his love for Guinevere over the responsibilities to his kingdom, or even Ruadan making the choice to save his daughter’s life instead of sacrificing her to “the greater good”. Or in Robin Hood, when Robin was often torn between doing what was right for king and country, or focusing his attention on keeping Marian safe.

The scenario can be staged in a variety of ways, but when it’s done well, the story ensures that there is no right or wrong answer as to which way a character choses. In this case, the President exerts pressure on Mako, reminding him of his loyalty to the police force and his duty to the security of Republic City. Throw in a reminder of Mako’s doubts about Varrick as a man that can’t be trusted to give good advice, and Mako gives away Korra’s plans to get underhanded support from General Iroh.

Did he do the right thing? Maybe, maybe not.

We’re dealing with wonderfully murky waters here, and in the very next episode Mako and Asami continue this trend by seeking out the help of gangsters and bribing them with wealth and privileges to act as bodyguards for a shipment of (fake) weaponry. In an attempt to act as a decoy to keep Future Industries stock safe and perhaps get to the bottom of the sea attacks, Mako and Asami are double-crossed at sea when it becomes apparent that the Triads were hired to distract them while the Future Industries warehouse was raided.

It’s a surprisingly complex set-up, and by the time the two of them get back to the warehouse, all of Asami’s mecha tanks have been stolen. It was at about this point that I realized that Asami is technically a weapons manufacturer and supplier.

***

Amongst all this, it’s easy to forget about Bolin’s little subplot (though I have a bone to pick with him in a minute) though ultimately the reveal of the remote control detonators is neatly slipped in as Mako watches the filming of the propaganda reel and figures out their source.

So in all, a really satisfying couple of episodes, all the more surprising since our lead character was barely in one of them.

Miscellaneous Observations:

Lin’s first words to Korra: “thanks for starting a war.” Please, never let it be said that Korra doesn’t get called out on her behaviour or the consequences of her actions. Seriously, it pisses me off. Because she does.

So the President of Republic City is a dude after all. Pity.

Unfortunately, the domestic stuff in the Air Temple didn’t just feel like Filler this time around, but full-on Padding. I mean, Tenzin helps Meelo train his pet lemur? Who cares! Padding pure and simple, though I’m willing to stand corrected if Korra eventually summons an army of winged lemurs to save the day.

I still feel that the North needs more justification for their invasion – and why would all the Northerners in Republic City turn out to heckle the South? I can’t help but feel that public sympathy would veer strongly towards the South after such behaviour. And why would the average citizen of the North celebrate the invasion of the South?

I had to laugh when someone in the crowd shouted “get a real job!” to Korra as she led the peaceful protest. I suppose there are a few people in the Avatar universe who are rather confused as to what precisely her role entails.

Do Mako and Korra even like each other? At all? They don’t seem to interact unless they’re fighting. I would be pleased at their breakup if I didn’t know that they’ll hook up again by the end of the season.

But Asami and Korra finally have a conversation! Hooray!

Only for Asami to kiss Mako. WHY WRITERS WHHHHHYYYY? Just let this love triangle DIE already.

Wait, when exactly did Korra learn the “spirit quelling” technique? The girl who spent an entire season struggling with her inability to airbend and tap into her spiritual side has now learnt all this off-screen?

It was a neat little subplot with the twins being sent after Korra, not as assassins but as bounty hunters (of a kind; as far as I can tell they’re not actually getting paid). I’d like to know more about their missing mother and their relationship to their father, but as minor characters go they got in a good fight scene and an interesting exchange with Unalaq. It does rather concern me though that Unalaq had to explicitly tell his teenage daughter that he wanted his niece (her cousin) to be brought back “alive.”

The location of the Southern spirit portal surrounded by dying trees and a hastily constructed fence was beautiful, as well as the twins' surprise when their father unexpectedly steps out from the spirit world behind them. Clearly there are deeper forces going on here than meets the eye.

If Unalaq thinks that the Avatar is dead, will he start combing the Earth Kingdom for the next one?

There was way too much of that footage of the fake movie shown (though I felt that it may have been an indulgent homage to the old black-and-white serials of old) but they’ve sunken Bolin’s character to new lows. After several episodes of desperately trying to rid himself of Eska, he’s now flinging himself at a woman who is clearly not interested?? Blatantly and verbally not interested?? 

To make matters worse, they’ve made him idiotic enough to not be able to tell the difference between an actress and the character she’s playing, and even go so far as to kiss her without consent while she’s tied up. Don’t tell me I’m overreacting. That was borderline creepy.

And finally, we get one last scene in which Korra washes up on a shore of the Fire Nation, only to reveal that she has no idea who she is. I’ll admit, I face-palmed. Easy Amnesia is one of the lamest plot devices known to humankind. Still, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that this is the work of the spirit that attacked her (as opposed to a bump on the head) and that it will be used to explore her role as Avatar further.

Edit: Reading my reviews several years later certainly provides some interesting perspective. I don't think I was a full-on Korrasami shipper at this point, yet I definitely wanted to see the two of them interacting more.

Varrick is also an unknown quality at this point: early on it seems Bryke designed him as a Hidden Villain, only to change their minds later (presumably after realizing how entertaining he was).