Avatar S2E5: “Avatar Day”
A nonsensical murder mystery | Grade: B-
Thanks for tuning in to my twenty-fifth of 61 daily reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender! Yesterday, we watched S2E4: The Swamp.
“This is by far the worst town we've ever been to,” Sokka quips, right before the credits roll. It’s one of the worst episodes, too. Avatar Day is a twenty-three minute whodunnit homage, with Sokka as our Sherlock Holmes. In a random Earth Kingdom town, Avatar Kyoshi (and by extension, Aang) is reviled as a great villain for killing their ruler Chin three hundred and seventy years ago. Allegedly. Aang, always approval-seeking, submits himself to a trial, and Detective Sokka is on the case.
Mostly the jokes in this episode aren’t very funny, which is too bad for an episode which is almost all jokes. There are a few alright one-liners here and there, and the campy visual gag of Sokka with his hat, monocle, and alligator bubble-blowing pipe might get a mild chuckle. For me, the funniest moment is the pure slapstick of Sokka shoving Katara out of the frame to explain a clue first.
Kyoshi’s confession is undoubtedly a cool scene. It’s incredibly badass how she appears in a tornado and immediately declares, “I killed Chin the Conqueror.” In a flashback, we get to see her literally cleave the earth in two to form Kyoshi Island. There, it looks like Chin basically let himself fall to his death, but maybe the the ancient Avatar’s retelling is a bit sanitized for the kids. Anyways, hasn’t Kyoshi heard of the fifth amendment? She should have just stayed out of it.
But the mayor is an irritating character who makes mediocre puns. And the Rough Rhinos, who seem barely a cut above standard firebenders, feel like an especially lame villain after meeting Azula’s trio and even Huu’s swamp monster. There’s not a whole lot more to analyze in the main plot, because it just doesn’t offer much. Avatar Day is chiefly memorable for being forgettable.
Despite being basically an afterthought, the most interesting part of the story comes in Zukoland. The outlawed prince continues to steal as the Blue Spirit. For someone who famously talks a lot about honor, it doesn’t stop Zuko from robbing innocents. He still sees citizens of the Earth Kingdom as enemies and peasants who “should be giving us whatever we want.”
Iroh doesn’t try to stop Zuko, but he muses that “the best tea tastes delicious whether it comes in a porcelain pot or a tin cup.” There is honor in poverty, he tells his nephew. But the prince is still fixated on the Avatar. Alas, we almost thought Zuko was over it, after Azula taunted that his father would never take him back. Iroh tries to warn him that the Avatar may no longer be his salvation. But ironically, Aang gives the prince hope, and he sees little else to live for without the promise of redemption. His uncle drops more wisdom:
No, Zuko! You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.
But Zuko pulls away, and hurts his poor, kind uncle when he says there’s no longer a reason for the pair to travel together. Iroh still makes sure his nephew takes their ostrich horse, and he rides away without looking back. How will he fare without his only ally, mentor, and friend to guide him?
See you tomorrow for Episode 6: The Blind Bandit! Share your own thoughts on this episode in the comments.
Spare observations
“What are you doing in my mouth? Momo, you need to be a little more sensitive about boundaries.”
The mayor is voiced by James Hong, who is also Po’s adoptive goose father in Kung Fu Panda.
That elephant mouse is pretty cute!
We revisit Kyoshi island, where Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors have gone off to fight in the war. Foaming-at-the-mouth guy slinks away in shame after he does his shtick and realizes Aang isn’t even there.
“Her feet must have been enormous!”
When the punishment wheel lands on “boiled in oil,” the next image is a man bleeding on a bed of spikes. But when Mayor Tong commutes his punishment, the next slot on the wheel has changed to “community service.” Oops!
Friends of the White Lotus [SPOILERS]
The sensitive prisoner joke is a decent one, but the writers will reuse it to much greater effect in The Boiling Rock.
Aang tries two roundabout ways to take down Colonel Mongke of the Rough Rhinos, but eventually realizes he needs to stand his ground and kicks straight through the firebender’s blast. It feels like an underwhelming throwaway fight scene, but it actually seems to be setting up for the conflict between airbending and earthbending styles in Bitter Work.