Everything but Jet's speech was great.
8/10
I love that Sokka is beginning to get his “powers” and “helpful” characteristics now. Jet is also such an interesting guy, and knowing who he becomes later on makes for a great contrast and mini character arc.
Also: “hey, Sokka’s instincts!”
6.9/10. This is a pretty stock story. I was rolling my eyes at Jet from the minute he swung down from the trees as a cutrate Peter Pan with his collection of Lost Boys. There's a fairly hackneyed arc for Sokka where Katara and Aang make fun of him for "trusting his instincts" and leading them into trouble, then of course it's his instincts that save the day when the two of them get hoodwinked by Jet. It's done well enough, even if the bits with Jet flirting with Katara while plays Cassandra about how bad a dude Jet is and no one will believe him feels especially hacky.
Still, the backgrounds and setting of the episode was particularly gorgeous, with the fall colors and vibrant reds contrasting nicely with Aang's robes and Jet's autumn-hued clothing. Their fight up in the trees was a pretty cool setpiece as well, though again the stuttering animation takes some of the oopmh out of it. And I have to admit, I bought into the fake out at the end, and was ready to applaud the show for having the moxie to show the bad guys winning. Still, Sokka managing to Xander it up and find an unorthodox solution by following his instincts, Zeppo-style, is a nice bit of redemption for him despite the stock nature of the conflict.
My only other complaint is that there's something very interesting about the idea of a young adult who's lost his parents due to the Fire Nation's brutality, and is willing to inflict the same level of brutality on the Fire Nation, civilians and all to get his revenge and protect his band of brothers. Instead, the entire focus for Jet is on his ability to smoothtalk and manipulate others, eventually painting him as a fairly one-note villain. There's some thematic depth to the idea behind the character that the episode barely scratches the surface of.
Overall, this one feels like something of a placeholder episode, meant to give a little more depth to Sokka but ending up giving him a stock arc with a pretty obvious trajectory. But it's not without it's charms and it has some quality design work, so it's close to passing grade.
this ep really made sokka's character shine, especially in comparison to jet who's pretty similar to sokka except they couldn't be any more different.
i actually kinda hate episodes like this because it relies on our MCs trusting a random stranger they've know for 12 hours before their friend/brother. But hey it's a good showing for sokka even if it isn't the best one for Aang and Katara. And the overall themes of going too far in the name of rebellion and remembering why we fight against the fire nation is a good one.
More so strong from an animation and atmosphere perspective, which is some of the best the show has done yet. The excellent fight scenes are at a high here, with the fight battle itself being a blast to watch. The vibrant reds and oranges fit the autumn setting well, particularly in the costume work which is an unsung winner of the show. I also really love Sokka here - he's been mostly comic relief up to this point, but this episode really highlights his intelligence, ingenuity, and instincts well, and that mixed with his comedic moments are what make him such a compelling character.
Less compelling is Jet, who isn't bad (he's well voice acted for sure) but is far more traditional and less compelling then you would think for a show that is praised for it's depth of character. Still, his merry band of youngsters, clearly based on the lost boys, are at least great from a design perspective, and it's exploration of the rules of war is good stuff for a kids show.
Shout by Julius S. PeytonBlockedParent2017-03-02T00:11:59Z
No Zuko :() JET YOU MONSTER!