It seemed like the Bumi "twist" was pretty obviously telegraphed by the flashback in the beginning. I don't remember whether I thought that during my first viewing though. It doesn't detract from the ep for me at all, partially because I really like Bumi. His antics are entertaining to me, like the whole "refurbished room" conversation. & it's compelling to see Aang reunite woth someone he knows from 100 years ago. "Lettuce leaf?"
"My cabbages!" — Cabbage Man
7/10
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! One for each head of cabbage...
Obvious twist here is obvious, but the show succeeds on the note of everything else in the episode. The comedy of the show continues to be very good, particularly in how it maintains the character dynamics and interactions in both the more comedic and dramatic beats. I especially love Old King Bumi, whose demeanor is very much in the same vein as old school Monty Python with his non-sequiters and strange outlook.
Still, just like the rest of the show, it also does a good job on setting up pieces of worldbuilding that will be important later. It's our first glimpse into Earthbending as well, the only style that had been left up to imagination at this point, and we get to see the Earth Kingdom at it's height, giving us a look into where a large chunk of the show will be set. And while the eventual outcome is obvious, it's nice to see how friendships go beyond that of age and generation, as Bumi is still the same friend to Aang as he was 100 years ago.
Bumi, typical rascal with no brains that somehow made it to the heights of power, very nice episode
Bumi's a fun little weirdo i especially love his garish outfits and pimp level rings. The best part of the episode was probably the final battle. I love how forceful and weighty earth bending is and especially seeing how inventive Bumi is with its use. It also makes Aang's airbending fun to watch because he was to be so inventive with counter maneuvers.
I will say a "flaw" of this episode is how light it is. we don't get much from katara and sokka and zuko is npwhere to be seen. but we are introduced to the iconic cabbages guy so i can't fault it there.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2016-11-04T20:47:24Z
5.9/10. And we're back to tedium! There were a couple cool sequences in this one at least. The aqueduct surfing escapade had a few too many cornball elements to it, and again the stop-and-start quality of the animation detracts, but there was at least a lot of creativity in the sequence. Similarly, the fight between Aang and King Bumi had some creative uses of both the earth-bending and air-bending powers that showed the folks behind the show have inventive ideas about how people use these powers and the way they interact.
But so much of the episode was just annoying, kiddie fare. It was so obvious that the titular Omashu King was Bumi, that the reveal was incredibly anticlimactic. The same goes for the whole "creeping crystal" ticking clock that felt like a patched-in rationale for why Aang would go along with this. Most of the trials felt like time-killing on the way to the big fight, and while Bumi himself had a few good moments of comedy (mostly his colloquy with his guard about the formerly "bad" now "new" room), a lot of the humor was pretty dumb. You start to get the idea that this show is pitched at a younger age than some other nominally kids fare that has unexpected depth. There's nothing wrong with that -- younger kids need shows too, but it leaves me scratching my head now that I'm a quarter of the way through the first season, with all the praise this show gets.
Still, the ending has its moments. Again, the premise of this show is great, and there's something very compelling about Aang getting to embrace someone he actually knew a century ago. The whole conceit that Bumi was doing all of this to teach Aang that he needs to think outside the box to defeat the Fire Lord, once again, feels like a fairly tacked-on justification, but the idea of these old friends meeting under very circumstances was at least enough to put a smile on my face at the end of the episode.