SPDCA: Legend of Korra

SPOILERS FOR AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

Looking at my email records, I found something interesting. Apparently, I started watching Legend of Korra before I started watching A:TLA. (intersectionthereof.com) I wouldn't have thought that was the case, but the record disagrees with me. It usually does.

But if that's the case, then I watched a couple of episodes of LoK, and then decided to watch the original A:TLA series in its entirety before continuing. As evident by my weirdly emotional response to the original series, I enjoyed it, and was pretty affected by it. And to the same degree and fashion, I was affected by LoK as well. I guess I'm a sucker for coming of age tales. Comes with gettin' old.

For those that haven't heard or seen, the LoK series starts 70 years after A:TLA, where most of the main characters from the previous series are gone, and those that remain are well into their 70's and 80's. However, none are forgotten, as the events in A:TLA, and the rest of the characters' lives deeply influence the world to come. Avatar Aang marries Katara, has a family, and tries to restart the Air Nation. He also founds Republic City, a metropolis jointly-owned by all of the Nations in the interest of keeping peace between them. As Avatar Aang passes away, the Avatar cycle continues, bringing Korra as the next Avatar in the cycle. Thus begins an intriguing, stylish new tale in the Avatar universe.

And this afternoon, over my lunch hour, I watched its final episode. Which was sad. And intense. And happy. And weird. It buttoned up a lot of important things, and opened up a couple more (michaeldantedimartino.tumblr.com) (DO NOT CLICK ON THAT UNLESS YOU WANT IT SPOILED LIKE IT WAS SPOILED FOR ME). As a show, it did a good job of distancing itself from the original without pandering too much or too little. While a lot of my initial complaints about the show (in terms of worldbuilding, scale, and focus) never really resolved, they warmed up to me quite a bit more with their character development and willingness to pursue darker, more serious topics in the show. (There is an entire subplot about PTSD, folks. TV-Y7, says the rating). Then again, they had a ton of sappy teen romance, but so it goes.

Each book/season of the show has a thesis that is analyzed through the plot of the season ("Air," "Spirits," "Change," "Balance"). In that, the show is surprisingly effective. You see the life of a 17 year old girl over the course of six years of her life, and how she struggles with each thesis. It's plain, it's simple, and it's effective. And the final season is by far the best handled in terms of how it addresses the overall theme of the show, as well as its thesis. As always, the Avatar is a tool for balance, and Korra's struggle for balance is constant, and wearying, and seemingly endless. The show ends with Korra finding balance in her life, and as such, is able to bring balance to her world.

This show is pretty interesting to me, as a few months after I started watching it, I started trying to write a story as well. The amount of work is incredible, and constant, and wearying, and seemingless endless. In two years, the writers of this show put out four seasons, during which I'm pretty sure more than half of the time they were threatened with cancellation. At the end, even, I think the show was relegated entirely to online episodes (the way of the future, I feel, but it still felt like a slap in the face). This is odd, given that the production value of this show, possibly with its visuals alone, make this incredible to watch. Nickelodeon is a weird network.

I can't imagine what the writers of the show went through in order to accomplish what they did. Maybe I'll know some day. Maybe I won't. But even if the result wasn't ideal, or perfect, or filled with the same kind of magic that the original A:TLA had, the show managed to forge its own path. And now I already miss their characters, in much the same way that I miss the characters from the original.

I tried to do things "right" this time. That is: don't watch the series finale of something on a Sunday, or really, on any day that I have to get up the next day for anything. I waited until today, at work, at lunch, where I would have plenty of distraction. However, I was up until 2:30am last night anyways, feeling the same raw nerves dragged over the coals of time unaccounted-for. I can't stand that feeling. I can't stand being forced to feel it. But I did enjoy getting here.

I'm hoping I can sleep tonight.