We’re at the last few chapters of Book Two of Avatar: The Last Airbender. This season has been a tough watch at the end. The beginning, with the introduction of Toph, is so much fun. I had forgotten, though, where the arc is headed. Let’s push forward through the darkness.
ONE
Inside our gang’s Ba Sing Se house, Sokka draws childlike illustrations of Appa.
TWO
Katara and Aang enter with a professionally printed poster of Appa. Sokka, who’s been working all day at it, protests. Toph (who, remember, is blind) says his posters look great to her.
THREE
Gliding over the city, Aang and Momo drop leaflets.
FOUR
Transition to the tea house where Iroh serves customers. A man with sparkling rings, mentioning that the city is raving about the tea, offers Iroh his own shop. Iroh’s boss protests, but the sparkly man outbids him, offering a house in the upper city. Zuko is unimpressed. Stepping outside to get away from them, Zuko catches a floating Appa poster. His eyes narrow with purpose.
The gang relaxes at their house when Aang returns from dropping his leaflets. At the door is the original Joo Dee. She’s her cheerful self. When Sokka asks if she’d been thrown in jail, Joo Dee says she was only on vacation at Lake Laogai. She’s come to rebuke them for putting up posters, which is against the law. Aang explodes, telling her they’re tired of waiting. Excited to break rules, Toph earth bends away part of the house and the gang walks out. Two Dai Li agents watch from a neighboring rooftop.
Cut to a dark, creepy room in the palace. Long Feng chastises Joo Dee for her failure. When she begins to weep, saying the gang no longer trusts her, Long Feng says, “The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.” Her face immediately goes slack and her pupils dilate. “I am honored to accept his invitation,” she intones. After she leaves, Long Feng talks to his henchmen while staring into a large, evil green fire. He’s worried they’ll lose control of the Earth King, but he can’t confront the Avatar directly. He’ll try to handle it “quietly”.
SWITCH
Iroh packs his apartment and speculates on names for his new tea shop. In response, Zuko shows him the Appa flyer. We have a good life here, Iroh suggests. “Think about what you want.” Angry, Zuko says he wants his destiny.
FIVE
The gang pastes up more Appa posters, going separate ways and spreading out. Katara is interrupted by — reveal the voice, the shoes, the face — Jet, who offers to help. Immediately, Katara bends a wave attack at him. He drops his swords in a show of peace. She throws ice spikes to pin him to the wall. The rest of the gang runs up. “Jet’s back,” Katara deadpans.
From his hand Jet unrolls an Appa poster. He wants to help. That’s good enough for Aang, but Katara still refuses: “He’s lying.” Toph steps forward to feel the wall behind Jet. She can sense that he’s telling the truth.
Jet leads them to a large barn where he overheard two guys talking. Katara remains doubtful, but Toph discovers a wad of Appa’s fur on the floor. An old janitor pushing a broom confirms that the large creature was taken away yesterday to some island. A rich person on Whaletail Island bought him. Looking at the map, they see how far the island is. Aang doesn’t care; they must find Appa.
Without Appa to fly them, the gang discusses train and boat trips as they walk toward the wall. From an alley, Longshot and Smellerbee call out to Jet, excited to see him. “How did you get away from the Dai Li?” they ask. Jet denies he was ever taken, and Toph, hand on the ground, declares that both sides are telling the truth. It’s Sokka who realizes Jet’s been brainwashed. Fade out as everyone closes on Jet.
Fade in on the moon. Running through the streets is the Blue Spirit, Zuko in his disguise, chased by Dai Li agents. They throw earth bending fists at him, but the Blue Spirit emerges behind the agents, blades ready.
Cut to the gang interviewing Jet. They speculate (correctly) that Jet and the Janitor were a ruse. Appa must still be in the city, maybe even in the place the Dai Li took Jet. Pitiably, Jet genuinely doesn’t know what they’re talking about. They try to jog his real memories by forcing him to recall what the Fire Nation did to his family. He tries, but it’s too painful.
Using her water bending healing, Katara soothes him. Jet has a vision of Long Feng, standing on the water and glaring at him. Falling into the water, Jet remembers his torture at a lake. Sokka calls out what Joo Dee said: a vacation on Lake Laogai. “That’s it!” Jet remembers. Fade to black.
The gang stands on the shore of a lake, but there’s no sign of a base. Toph senses a tunnel and earth bends it into view. A long ladder leads down into a maze of passageways. As they walk through, they see a room full of women. A Dai Li agent tells all of them that their names are Joo Dee.
SIX
Jet remembers a room large enough to hold Appa. He leads the gang to its door and prepares to open it. Reverse angle to Appa in the room as the door opens and a silhouette greets him. It’s not Aang, though, but the Blue Spirit. Appa, chained, growls.
SEVEN
Back to Jet’s door. The gang walks into a large, empty room.
EIGHT
The door closes behind them, trapping them. A voice from above leads them to look up. The ceiling is laden with chained bodies. When Long Feng commands, “Take them into custody,” the bodies become Dai Li agents, dropping down to attack. Everyone fights. Toph rebuffs their earth bending attacks, Jet upends them with his hooked swords.
When the gang sees Long Feng escape out the door, they give chase. Aang and Jet end up together in a room with running water. Long Feng closes the door behind them and confronts them. His message to Aang: leave the city and I’ll return your bison. Jet takes an offensive stance, ready to support Aang. Long Feng says, “Jet, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.” Jet accepts, his pupils enlarge, and he attacks Aang.
Cut to Appa growling and stomping at Zuko’s Blue Spirit. The door opens and Iroh enters. Asking him ironically if he plans to keep Appa stored in their apartment, Iroh begins to yell and take Zuko to task for never thinking things through. He urges Zuko to consider whose destiny he’s really following. Dropping his swords and mask, Zuko screams in frustration.
Crosscut to Aang screaming as he dodges Jet’s attacks. Aang asks him to remember who he is while Long Feng insists he has no free will. Jet sweats as his pupils vibrate. When Aang says, “You’re a Freedom Fighter,” a montage of Jet’s memories flash by, coming faster and faster. His pupils contract and he throws a sword at Long Feng. Dodging, Long Feng sends a powerful earth bend at Jet.
When the dust clears, Jet is down. Long Feng escapes as Aang rushes to Jet’s side.
Jet, only his eyes moving, apologizes to Aang. Toph opens the door and the gang runs in. Katara brings her water bending healing, but it’s “not good”. Longshot tells them to go get Appa while he and Smellerbee stay with Jet. With a touch of his cocky smile, Jet tells Katara he’ll be fine. As they leave, Toph whispers to Sokka, “He’s lying.” Longshot notches an arrow and guards the door while Smellerbee, crying, attends to Jet.
Another door. It’s the gang entering Appa’s cell, but he’s gone. Only his six ankle chains remain. Aang assumes that Long Feng has beaten them here and taken Appa.
The gang bursts onto the lake’s shore. However, Long Feng and his henchmen are already here and ready to fight. They outnumber our crew and surround them.
In flies Momo, landing on Aang’s shoulder. He directs their attention as he flies up and towards the sun. His silhouette disappears, to be replaced by Appa’s as he flies toward Aang like a vengeful bullet. He bashes through the Dai Li, rescuing the gang, then lands in front of Long Feng. Scowling, Long Feng takes a stance and attacks. Appa grabs him with his teeth and skips him like a pebble across the lake.
Everyone runs forward to hug Appa.
NINE
From the air our gang looks down at the lake. Katara grieves, and everyone hugs her. They fly on and away.
Zuko and Iroh emerge from the tunnel. At Iroh’s suggestion Zuko drops the Blue Spirit mask into the lake. Roll credits.
CRITICAL NOTES
Lake Laogai is a horrible place and genuine tragedy happens here. I’ve never particularly liked Jet, but no one should face this kind of torture. We assume he’s dead and it makes us sad.
In counterpoint, Appa is free and our gang is reunited (finally). Still, for a children’s show, the last half of this season has been unusually grim.
I would argue that one thing that keeps us hooked is a solid storytelling structure. When characters face unknown danger, a predictable format helps us stay grounded. The Switch is lovely: Zuko drifts as a tea shop waiter until the flyer reignites his purpose. From passive in the Four, Zuko becomes engaged in the plot in the Five. His beat at the Six is critical to everyone’s success. And at the Eight, Zuko is required by Iroh to leave behind a passivity he didn’t even recognize he’d been carrying throughout the series. In the overall arc of this season, Zuko’s implied decision — he rescues Appa and releases him — is a key beat, possibly a Seven.
I’m especially pleased with the Three/Six mirror. Aang passes out fliers, looking to find Appa. We never expect Zuko to be the one to find him. It’s a wonderful subversion that has resonance to the plot.
We’ve been waiting for many episodes to see Aang and Appa reunited. The Eight is very satisfying. When Appa takes the horrible Long Feng — an adult-level villain — and tosses him like a toy — a childlike resolution — we shake off some of the horror of this episode. It feels like we can finally move forward with the arc of this season. Appa’s capture has been a long Five in this season’s Enneagram. It’s great to turn the page.