Not bad, just not a favorite. The only point of interest is the young woman in Aang’s vision, and she’s only interesting if you’ve seen the series before. I whine in more detail after the breakdown.
BOOKEND
Iroh sits roadside, begging. Zuko finds it humiliating because they’re royalty, while Iroh is so humble it’s embarrassing. A mean person forces him to dance for money, using swords to prod him. Zuko looks on, angry.
ONE
The team flies on Appa. Relaxed, Aang thinks and dreams. Below them is a swamp.
TWO
Appa’s headed down, waking everyone. What’s wrong? I think the swamp is calling me, Aang says. It wants us to land. Sokka resists, scoffing that the earth could be speaking.
A whirlwind attacks them. Aang bubbles Appa and everyone on his back, but the ball explodes and all are thrown clear. The humans land together, but Appa and Momo are gone.
THREE
Aang air bends his way up a large tree to look around. Nothing in every direction but swamp, and no sign of the animals.
FOUR
Cut to Appa tangled in vines. Momo helps, chewing him free. The minute he tries to fly, Appa is again caught.
Meanwhile, the humans move through the swamp, Sokka cutting through vines. Aang is very nervous about this. It feels alive. We have a POV of some kind of Swamp Thing with vine hair watching them.
Intercut with Appa and Momo trying to move through the swamp.
Team camps for the night. The swamp makes scary noises, but Sokka is imminently practical about it all.
SWITCH
As they sleep, the Swamp Thing grabs Sokka. He cuts free, Katara bends herself away, and Aang air jumps out. They’re now separated and alone.
FIVE
Two men, a kind of redneck stereotype, see a giant Appa footprint in the mud and begin tracking him.
Katara sees someone and calls after. Hello, Mom? She runs forward but it’s only a stump.
Sokka, cutting through and yelling for the others, sees a vision of Yue. She disappears.
Aang sees a giggling girl in formal dress. She fades away before he can get a good look, but her profile and voice are clear and distinctive.
The swamp rednecks find Appa and lick their lips. Possum chicken. As Appa swims away, the men windmill their arms and water bend the boat after him.
As Aang chases after the mysterious girl he slams into Katara, and then the two of them hit Sokka. They tell each other their stories.
SIX
The visions led us all here to this place, Aang says. The center of the swamp is this tree, its heart. It’s been calling us.
SEVEN
Sokka, keeping the same tone, says it’s just a tree.
EIGHT
Swamp Thing arrives and the team battles it. Air bending, wave cutting, and vine slapping from their adversary. Sokka gets sucked into it.
Meanwhile, Appa (our very good boi) is being chased and terrorized. Momo ends up in a trapper’s bag.
Back to the battle, with more creative bending. Finally, we get a peep at a man inside of the Thing. They’re able to grab him.
He ends up being a nice guy. Recognizing the Avatar, he says, “Come with me.”
A philosophical lecture follows about the sacred swamp that called to Aang. It’s all only one tree that’s spread its root system for miles. The whole world is one organism. People we’ve lost, people who are gone, are still connected to us. That’s the meaning of their visions. With that, Aang touches the tree and finds Appa. Hurry.
The team comes in time to rescue Appa. As the boats capsize, the water benders recognize each others’ ability and connect. We’re kin! (That slightly terrifies Katara.)
NINE
At redneck camp the groups share a meal of bugs. Sokka still feels sure that everything mysterious was completely explained by nature. A bird screeches and a vine thwacks it.
BOOKEND
The mean man who made Iroh dance walks through an alley. The Blue Spirit disarms him and takes his swords.
CRITICAL NOTES
Bookends, eh? If Iroh and Zuko had showed up anywhere else in the episode, I would’ve rolled them into the One and Nine. They’re so distinct, though, and separate that I prefer calling them Bookends. What’s interesting is that I forget about them. Iroh is treated badly at the start. To delay Zuko’s reaction is quite delicious.
What’s with the rest of this episode, though? It’s a bit of a sludge. The team becomes separated at the Switch. Okay. The Five is the dream sequences they each have. Okay. Proceeding from there, the Six becomes clear. The tree. Sokka’s disdain for the supernatural becomes the Seven. In the face of all that’s happened, he still chooses to diminish nature’s power, so the Swamp Man attacks on its behalf. Okay.
That Six means that the Three has Aang up the tree, looking about. The mirror is: this tree is the heart of the swamp. Okay. Like I said, sludge. All the beats are there, and they’re good beats, too, but the presentation is mushy. The explanation of the tree is also in the Eight. There’s too many trees! Visually, I mean. Thematically, too, I guess. I prefer a crisper story structure.
Also, people tried to eat Appa. Get out with this episode.