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It's easy to be let down by media these days. Reboots and sequels, uninspired or cliched writing, and pervasive racism, sexism, and homophobia; all sorts of common problems make it very easy for me to get angry about the offensiveness or dullness or missed opportunities in the media I’m consuming. Many nerdy franchises have disappointed me lately: Man of Steel, Star Trek Into Darkness, Buffy Season 6, Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. Even the best franchises usually include a glaring flaw that cheapens the experience. I loved Guardians of the Galaxy, but even it had a few such issues.
Two of my favorite TV series have recently failed to impress: Doctor Who and The Legend of Korra. My love of Doctor Who began during the Russel T. Davies era of the reboot, when Doctor Who still felt unique. The most recent seasons are still fanciful and campy, but some of the Whovian magic that I loved feels gone. I suspect, as many do, that the fault lies with current showrunner and head writer, Steven Moffat, but there are already good articles about the (mis)direction of Who under his control. Suffice it to say that, in spite of my typically-unshakable fanboyism, I’ve started to wonder if I still enjoyed watching Who at all. Like recent Who, The Legend of Korra's second season fell short of my expectations, and the early episodes of season three seemed to head down a similarly unfortunate path. Though the show's ideas continued to be interesting, they all emerged at once in the season premiere, making it and the subsequent episodes feel scattered and lost.
This weekend, however, I was anything but disappointed in either show. Both Korra's stunning season three finale and the dark premiere of Doctor Who season eight were superlative.
If you haven’t seen these shows, take care. It's about to get spoilerrific in here.
An Ending - Legend of Korra: "Enter the Void / Venom of the Red Lotus"
To be honest, The Legend of Korra season three steadily improved after it's opening episodes, which jumped too quickly from "spirit world problems" to "political confrontations" to “the Air Nation reborn" to "holy shit who are these new awesome bad guys.” Luckily, the show soon focused on the two most interesting plots: the reestablishment of the Air Nomads* and machinations of Zaheer, one of the coolest enemies in the Avatar universe to date. Though the gathering of the wayward airbenders started to drag after a few episodes, the maneuvers of the Red Lotus quickly became the main plot line and an excellent one at that. Zaheer and his anti-Team Avatar tread the same lines of moral ambiguity and vaguely-agreeable goals that made season one's Amon so interesting and made the "more mature" premise of Korra so tantalizing in the first place. In the final episodes of the season, as Zaheer's plan reaches its conclusion, The Legend of Korra delivers the best episodes of the series.
"Enter the Void" not only includes incredible handcuffed bending from Korra and the undefeatable teamwork of the Beifong sisters, but also genuine maturity in Korra's decision to surrender herself and an awesome "oh shit" moment as Zaheer takes to the skies. Yet the episode’s most powerful scene was between Zaheer and P'li, Zaheer’s combustion-bending lover and co-conspirator. Together, they anticipate the success of their endeavors and, after some less-than-subtle exposition, display more genuine love than any protagonist couple in either show. It was a touching moment made more powerful because they're the villains.** Of course this apparently meant that P'li had to die later in the episode, which is the one thing which mars the episode for me (nothing's perfect I guess).
"Venom of the Red Lotus” revealed Zaheer's ultimate goal: to induce Korra's Avatar state and kill her during it, ending the Avatar cycle and "freeing" the world from its greatest leader. After all the build up, it wasn’t a very novel plan, but it was still interesting to see the Avatar state as an obstacle to the Avatar rather than the overpowered God Mode button it usually is. Unfortunately for Zaheer, it was still a God Mode button, allowing Korra escape her bonds while doing her best flame-spitting Hulk impression. An incredible bending showdown followed, featuring the evil side of airbending and some of The Legend of Korra's best animation. Zaheer and Korra’s showdown was the violent counterpart of season two’s excellent "Avatar Wan" episode and a brilliant homage to Aang and Ozai's final battle. Korra eventually emerges victorious, as do the newly-discovered-lavabender Bolin and Mako, who suddenly remembered he could use lightning. Even more interesting than the last fight was its aftermath: Korra’s palpable depression in the closing scenes implied defeat instead of survival. That being said, I could not have been more happy to see Jinora, the spitting-image of Aang, emerge with her airbender tattoos. That moment made me legitimately emotional and proved that, despite my previous misgivings, The Legend of Korra still has much to offer.
* Hey guys, NOMADS DON'T HAVE PERMANENT TEMPLES.
** Also, that P'li was WAY taller than Zaheer was a nice touch.
A Beginning - Doctor Who: "Deep Breath"
For every ending, there is a beginning, and there is no show for which this is more true than Doctor Who. After a long and up-and-down run with Matt Smith’s excellent Eleven, last year’s “Time of the Doctor” Christmas special introduced us to Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor, the Doctor “that was never supposed to happen.”* Twelve's regeneration was quite unlike that of his previous incarnation: Twelve emerges into a world where there is still a companion by his side. As such, the first episode of season eight is not just the Doctor’s struggle to learn about himself, but also Clara’s struggle to adapt to the newly-wrinkled regeneration of the titular Time Lord. Of course, this existential crisis couldn’t take place in a therapist’s chair, but rather in the midst of a alien plot fraught with murder and mystery.
My biggest complaint with the episode is the dinosaur macguffin. While it does result in some highly amusing lines from Twelve, it adds nothing to the narrative. I’m not interested in spectacle for spectacle’s sake, which is exactly what the reptile becomes. Furthermore, it dies horribly halfway through the episode, which is grim and highly upsetting. Of course, grim is the exact direction in which the show is headed. Mocking humor, grisly death, and an overwhelming sense of bleakness pervades the whole episode. The plot is standard Who fare involving a group of cyborgs from the future attempting to rebuild their time-crashed spacecraft with human organs and travel to the “Promised Land.” As “typical" as it is, it also feels more like older Who than the Doctor-centric, quasi-magical episodes of recent seasons. The Paternoster Gang also returns in this episode, and while the fan-favorite group makes for some great moments, I’m starting to become weary of constantly returning to them and Victorian London. In contrast to the unchanging personalities of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, Clara became far more captivating in “Deep Breath". This is a welcome change after she spent most of her episodes with Matt acting charming and flirtatious, but lacking in depth. Clara is confused and angry without the dashing Smith and gets to flex her acting muscles while at odds with both Vastra and her transfigured Doctor. She spends a lot of the episode on her own and performs all the better for it. The only confusing part of this plot is the reason for her anger: of all the companions, the “Impossible Girl” should’ve been best equipped for the Doctor’s transformation, so it’s rather odd that it pains her as much as it does.
In spite of all the other great performances, it is the Doctor, as always, that carries the show through its initial “Deep Breath.” No matter how frustrating other parts of the show get, the Doctor is always worth watching. Even John Hurt (the one-off “War Doctor”) played the role incredibly well alongside Tennant and Smith during the 50th anniversary special, and both of the former Doctors were at the tops of their respective games. Capaldi continues that rich tradition even in midst of his half-crazy post-regeneration throes. His interpretation is as cruel and bitter as the show’s atmosphere, but retains the Doctor’s loneliness and devotion, insanity and intelligence. Capaldi’s Twelve is, unlike his three reboot predecessors, a Doctor prepared to atone for his sins. He no longer uses a charming, handsome, and youthful mask to hide his dark nature from his associates or himself. He confronts the necessity of murder directly (“I’ve got a horrible feeling I’m going to have to kill you.”), he challenges his own childish delusions (“I’m not your boyfriend Clara […] I never said it was your mistake.”), and he is still unafraid of the dangerous journey ahead (“… and unlike you, I’m not looking for any Promised Land.”). On the other hand, he’s still overly proud of his new outfit, excited about his Scottish-borne ability to blame problems on the English, and convinced that doors are too boring as he leaps from a window. In spite of his age, Twelve is a new type of Doctor, one unfamiliar to the 2005 series yet closely tied to the curmudgeons of the original. This Doctor might be the fresh perspective that the show needs, and I’m excited to follow him “into darkness."
* The oft-quoted “12 regenerations” rule, which of course was total bullshit. No one’s going to let the Who gold mine die. Again.
While Korra and Who were the highlights of my television watching this week, I’m sure there are those out there with other opinions. Did you like the emotional ending of The Legend of Korra? Were you intrigued by Capaldi’s interpretation of the crazy man in the box? Or did you enjoy something else entirely from the weekend, like the True Blood finale? Let me know what quality TV exceeded your expectations this weekend.
You can find this pleasantly surprised review and a few others at the N3rd Dimension.
