Episode 45 Review (The Beach) Episode 45 (The Beach) Review
The one time I watched Avatar through and through, one of the most memorable episodes was the Beach. Not that this episode is miles above the other, but it stands out way more when you're marathoning ten episodes ah a time. And I'm not sure if this started as a "We're going to do a beach episode," or as a "We're going to do an episode with the bad guys." Maybe both. Anyway, here is the synopsis for this episode. Team Azula (because it's not Team Zuko) gets kicked out of the house for a couple of days to their old childhood home. Then they spend an episode at the beach! If this were a normal cartoon we'd get into all sort of shenanigans Ed Ed and Eddy style. If this were a normal anime, we'd gets lots of extra cleavage with a forced plot. But no, we get this. A episode that works so surprisingly. At the beach they get invited to a party. When they get there Zuko and Mai get into a fight, And Ty Lee and Azula have a conversation. Azula secretly is a tiny bit jelous Ty Lee is getting attention. So Azula tries her way, and basically tries a shot at being normal. But that might have not ended well when she fantasized about taking over the world. After that the group had a group discussion around a camp fire. And just saying, this was probably one of the most important conversations in Avatar. Ty Lee's character basically made sense and came full circle, as you learn she was in a group of sisters, and just wanted to stand out, and that's why "Circus Freak" is a compliment to her. Mai is her antithesis because she grew up a lonely child (despite having a baby brother they seemed to have forgot about) and she had everything she ever wanted. But she couldn't act out, as her mother would go berserk, and that's why she shows no emotion for anything. Azula seems to sort of feel sad about her mom thinking she was a monster. But the whole episode, what I seemed to think she wanted was to be accepted. And I think she tries to do that by becoming this great fire lord type person. She thinks that will get her accepted. But she relies on her friends on that feeling more than anything. (This'll come back later) Zuko, he doesn't know who he's mad at, and you can guess he finds out it is himself most in the end, not a big jump there. And through that emotional clusterfuck, they somehow end up destroying the house of the party. Yeah... not the nicest guests. I think what was so cool about this was that you get to see them act like teenagers, or at least try to for a moment. Each character became so much better, and were so enjoyable. And I feel this was really needed. As much as I was saying, "Oh, Toph deserves an episode like this." This one was much more needed, and appreciated. Also there was some stuff with Aang. Let's just say Sparky Sparky Boom Man comes again, and he has really cool powers that let's him shoot stuff out of his mind. (I don't remember how he can) Anyway, he hunts them, cool scene, like his power, especially the noise and cool effects afterwards. There was even some cool slomo that really made you catch your breathe. Anyway, amazing episode, it was so crucial to the story. I loved it, and would put it in my top ten... probably. That gives me a list idea... anyway! Really great episode, very needed.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Episode 45 (The Beach) gets a 5/5
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