Today's a bit of an odd case, because I'm looking at three episodes. Netflix shows two episodes - "The Serpent's Pass" and "The Drill" - as one. With that in mind, I'm going to review them both at the same time.
The Desert
This is a pretty bleak episode, but quite a strong one. Again, I tore up at the ending.
When we last left off, the party learned that there was a solar eclipse due to take place before Sozin's comet which stops all firebending. After narrowly escaping the library, they find themselves stranded in the desert after sandbenders stole Appa. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh have a close encounter with the Rough Rhinos and head to the Misty Palms Oasis. There, Iroh seeks aid from a secret society known as the Order of the White Lotus. Unfortunately, they're recognised by Xin Fu and Master Yu, who have also arrived on Toph's trail and are looking to make a quick buck with another bounty.
Katara is definitely the MVP of this episode. She's always had a kind and mature heart, along with the strength to back it up, but this episode puts that to the test. Sokka and Momo drink some cactus juice and start tripping balls, Toph loses the benefit of her tremor sense in the sand, and Aang is despairing over the loss of Appa. It's up to Katara to keep the party together. Later on, they find a large plateau and are attacked by buzzard wasps. While Toph can see on solid rock, she can't perceive airborne threats, and Katara acts as a spotter for her.
Seeing Aang in this episode is heartbreaking. He lashes out at Toph for failing to protect Appa and at Katara for commenting about how little water is in a desert cloud. During the buzzard wasp attack, one of them abducts Momo which prompts him to literally slice it in half. And when they encounter sandbenders, he furiously questions them about Appa's whereabouts when Toph recognises one of their voices, going into the Avatar State after learning he muzzled him. It harks back to Iroh's words about succumbing to despair and giving in to base desires.
Speaking of Iroh, we get a pretty cool action sequence when he and Zuko battle the Rough Rhinos, even though he's still recovering from his wounds. And he's able to identify a White Lotus member playing Pai Sho at the Misty Palms cantina. When Xin Fu attempts to apprehend them, the Pai Sho player loudly announces that Zuko and Iroh are fugitives, setting off a brawl as the other patrons try to collect. After hiding out at a flower shop, the pair are given passports and passage to Ba Sing Se; the one place they'll be safe from the Fire Nation.
There's still a bit of humour through this episode, largely from Sokka's funny lines while on the cactus juice, a part when Toph makes a rock angel on the plateau, and Iroh trying to determine the Rough Rhinos' preferences for tea.
All in all, this is a strong episode, but man is it depressing.
The Serpent's Pass
That customs official must have come from Arstotzka. Although those cabbages did have slugs in them.
After the sandbenders led the party out of the desert, they opt to travel to Ba Sing Se in the hopes of finding Appa and informing the Earth King about the eclipse. They meet a family of refugees (briefly observed in "Zuko Alone") who show them the way to a hidden camp where they can secure passage on a ferry to the city. At the ferry station, Toph is able to secure passage and Sokka reunites with Suki, who has been posted there. But when the family they travelled with is robbed and denied passage, Aang offers to lead them via a dangerous route known as The Serpent's Pass. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh have managed to secure passage on a ferry, where they meet Jet, who is travelling to Ba Sing Se with fellow freedom fighters Longshot and Smellerbee. They invite Zuko to steal food from the galleys to feed the other passengers.
To be honest, I find this episode a little slow. Aang is still reeling from the loss of Appa and trying to put on a brave face. Meanwhile, Sokka is overprotective of Suki, partly due to the loss of Yue. While the deep discussions they have are touching, it doesn't really add much. At the same time, we do get some interesting discussions about second chances in the B-plot. It's kind of tense, given Jet's xenophobia against the Fire Nation. It makes you wonder if he suspects them.
Having said that, this episode still has some good things going for it. While refugees have appeared throughout the series (including the Mechanist's community in "The Northern Air Temple" and the two tribes in...urgh..."The Great Divide"), this really drives home how unfairly they're often treated. At the ferry station, the customs officials demand documents and they risk being robbed while waiting. And on the ferries themselves, they're given the worst food. It serves as a stark reminder of one of the harsh realities of war.
The journey across the Serpent's Pass is perilous, consisting of a mountainous causeway that crosses two lakes. According to Suki, the Fire Nation controls one of the lakes and is developing some kind of weapon in the region (which explains the "Secrets of the Fire Nation" title). The party has to contend with Fire Nation ships, landslides, parts where the path is submerged, and a large sea monster which gives the place its name.
The action is still great. At one point, the party is spotted by a Fire Nation warship, and Aang redirects a flaming catapult round towards the engine. Later, Katara and Aang have to waterbend a giant air bubble so the party can traverse the submerged path. When the serpent attacks them, Toph bends their portion of the pathway above the surface to create a little island.
Anyway, after one of the refugees gives birth, Aang decides to fly ahead to Ba Sing Se with Momo to find Appa. But at the walls, he sees a giant Fire Nation drill approaching the city. It's a great cliffhanger, and we'll resolve that...right now!
The Drill
That drill seems rather phallic. If this makes it into the live-action series, I'll bet somebody's gonna make a "compensating for something" joke. If that happens, I'll review the live-action movie on here.
Anyway, when we last left off, the party had successfully traversed the Serpent's Pass and reached the outer walls of Ba Sing Se. But the Fire Nation are converging on the city, with a giant steampunk drill with Azula at its helm. After his "Terra Team" is utterly trounced by Mai and Ty Lee, the general in charge of the Outer Wall asks the party to stop the drill. Based on Ty Lee's chi-blocking ability, Sokka devises a plan to take it down from the inside.
Other than Jet wanting to recruit Zuko to his Freedom Fighters, the party dealing with the drill is pretty much the entire premise of the episode. It's a good thing Sokka took some levels in Artificer, because he's the MVP. After Toph gets them close, Sokka plays an interesting gambit by slashing one of the valves, intending to ambush the technician who gets sent to deal with it for their schematics. He later devises a scheme to cut through the struts holding the drill together, even though that plan doesn't entirely play out the way he'd hoped. The action is great as Azula battles Aang on top of the drill while Katara and Toph are able to pin Ty Lee in a slurry outflow pipe, all while Aang delivers the finishing blow.
There's a lot of tension as the party tries to stop the drill before it penetrates the outer wall, but this ends up being one of the more humorous ones. Honestly, after the bleakness of the last two, the humour is welcome. For example, the Earth Kingdom general initially refuses the Avatar's help until the Terra Team gets trounced. Sokka then asks if he needs Aang's help, to which he sheepishly squeaks "Yes please". It's also quite funny when Sokka is annoying everyone by acting as a cheerleader. Meanwhile, Iroh complains about a vendor's cold tea and secretly firebends it. Zuko knocks the tea out of his hand, prompting Iroh to (in his words) "cry over spilt tea" as the Fire Nation's leitmotif plays on a sad violin.
Of course, that little incident does serve as a hook for the B-plot. As Jet tries to recruit Zuko to the Freedom Fighters, he sees Iroh enjoying the hot tea after complaining about it. This makes him realise that Iroh and Zuko are from the Fire Nation. Zuko even mentions that Iroh firebending his tea was pretty stupid. I agree, but there was a meme about that which talks about the audacity of it. Iroh was probably banking on the fact that nobody would suspect firebenders of being in Ba Sing Se, while Zuko and Jet are probably the only ones looking out for firebenders for opposite reasons; Zuko is afraid of being found out, while Jet is on the lookout for enemies.
All in all, this was a good episode.
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