Going Through Avatar: The Last Airbender Part Five

Hey, Jimmy and Tom are still talking this show!  Tom has seen it before.  Jimmy is new.  Both seem to be liking it.

But now there are some pirates and a kid gang to deal with in the episodes “The Waterbending Scroll” and “Jet.”

“The Waterbending Scroll”

The Aang Gang tries to get an instructional scroll while dodging Zuko and pirates.

jimmy:

tomk:  You like pirates?

jimmy:  Depends on the pirates. Those guys seem pretty jovial.

tomk:  How about the pirates Zuko tried to hire?

jimmy:  Not so nice.

tomk:  But also kinda easy to manipulate.

jimmy:  Just don’t tell them how much Aang is worth.

tomk:  Unless you’re looking to sow chaos and escape.

jimmy:  Then it’s ok.

tomk:  Sokka had another idea.

jimmy:  Worked better than his door opening idea.

tomk:  He also saved the scroll.

And he was right about stealing stuff.

jimmy:  Is he becoming the Worf of Avatar?

tomk:  The MVP?  I don’t think you have met that character yet.

jimmy:  It’s not your green leafy friend?

tomk:  Poison Ivy?  Wrong universe.

jimmy:  No. The Spectacular Cabbage Man.

tomk:  You mean Cabbage-Man?

jimmy:  Right.

tomk:  That’s not like you to make a mistake like that.

jimmy:  I got hit in the head with a water tendril earlier.

tomk:  You need to practice your bending. Mostly of your body so you dodge things better.

jimmy:

tomk:  Yeah, like that.

jimmy:  I’m old. I don’t bend like that.

tomk:  Not without practice, you won’t.

jimmy:  I need a body bending scroll.

tomk:  Watson will sell you one for six thousand kegs of Canadian beer. The good stuff. He doesn’t haggle.

jimmy:  That’s a lot of beer.

tomk:  Well, if you didn’t trade for that moose whistle, you’d be closer to a down payment.

jimmy:  That’ll come in handy. You’ll see.

tomk:  To call the Moose who follows you into the bathroom?

jimmy:  Well, not then. But at some point…

tomk:  Like when you swipe Ryan’s car and need to get off in a hurry?

jimmy:  More like when the car is going over a waterfall.

tomk:  That would require getting off. In a hurry.

jimmy:  Then yes.

tomk:  Can you get off anything in a hurry?

jimmy:  God no.

tomk:  That’s why you need the scroll.

jimmy:  That’s still pretty pricey.

tomk:  You could try swiping it when your gang has Watson distracted.

jimmy:  I could…

tomk:  You have a gang now?

jimmy:  You don’t?

tomk:  I have a support crew. They don’t assist with crimes.

jimmy:  It’s ok if the crime is against pirates.

tomk:  Watson is a pirate?

jimmy:  You don’t want to know what kind.

tomk:  …

So, Iroh lost a game piece.

jimmy:  This reminds me of a story. My stepdad called me and had lost his car keys while at Costco. So I had to go to his house, get his spare set and drive across town to bring them to him. When we got there he checked his pockets and what did he find?  His keys.

tomk:  Did he have a lot of stuff he bought like Iroh?

jimmy:  I don’t recall.  Probably.

tomk:  Did he get a good line in like when Iroh agreed with Katara that what happened was basically her fault?

jimmy:  I don’t recall.  I was too pissed off that I went through that and he had the keys in his pocket.

tomk:  I think I know what happened next.

jimmy:  Pretty close.

tomk:  Angry Jimmy is a scary Jimmy. He might steal your boat.

jimmy:  Or your mystery box. It could be anything.

tomk:  I took the boat. Why would I take the mystery box?

jimmy:  It could be anything!  Even a boat!

tomk:  Like the boat I already have?

jimmy:

tomk:  Jimmy, did you take the box?

jimmy:  Who could resist the allure of the mystery box?

tomk:  Well, me.  Quagmire.  Cleveland.  Joe.  Ryan.  The Newmans.  Cousin Minka.  The Beaver.  Sokka.  Katara.  Captain Jake.  Popeye.  John Cabot.  That weird guy who calls you Joe.  Anyone named Martha.  And, of course, Batman

jimmy:  Sheesh.

tomk:  But Aang?  He’d totally fall for it.

jimmy:  He’s a kid at heart. And everything else.

tomk:  It’s a wonder Aang isn’t the one that gets them in trouble every episode.

jimmy:  The siblings are also kids.

tomk:  But somehow more mature kids.

jimmy:  Are they more mature or just older than Aang?

tomk:  Aang is 112.

jimmy:  Just like Steve Rogers is 82.

tomk:  He’s still the most mature Avenger.

jimmy:  That’s true.

tomk:  Even more so than the much-older Thor and Hercules.

jimmy:  Thor crossed my mind, but he’s certainly not the most mature.

tomk:  So, Aang is Thor?

jimmy:  In this case…yes?

tomk:  Well, he can summon strong winds. If he learns the right bending, he can probably conjure a storm.

jimmy:  There you go!  Play his cards right and he could be the first storm bender.

tomk:  First?  Probably not.

jimmy:  Last?

tomk:  Well, I suspect only an Avatar could bend storms. You’d need to master Air and Water just for starters.

jimmy:  So is there anyone besides the Avatar that can bend more than one thing?  Like can anyone bend 2/4 or 3/4?  Or is it all, one or none?

tomk:  Just the Avatar. And there can only be one at a time.

jimmy:  Like Highlander.

tomk:  Sort of.

jimmy:  Like High Liner fish sticks?

tomk:  …

Sure!

jimmy:  Interesting.

tomk:  In that case, you should have a real feast.

You earned this fine German cuisine.

jimmy:  Nice!

tomk:  I hope you like brownies, jalapeno poppers, and potato pancakes.

jimmy:  I do!

tomk:  Is it better than watching the Aang Gang get the better of some pirates?

jimmy:  I feel I could do both.

tomk:  Eating while they beat pirates?

jimmy:  Yes. Sounds like a great 22 minutes.

tomk:  Maybe it’s time to move on to the next 22 minutes where Sokka finds himself in a position where he might be right but nobody will listen to him.

jimmy:  I’ll listen.

tomk:  Does anyone besides me listen to you?

jimmy:  …

No.

tomk:  Well, maybe Aang, Katara, Momo, and Appa will listen to you when you listen to Sokka.

jimmy:  It’s not looking good, but let’s find out.

tomk:  Good idea.

“Jet”

Sokka is a bit leery of a charismatic rebel fighting the Fire Nation.

jimmy:  It’s like I always say, never trust a guy who gets too excited about explosive jelly.

tomk:  I hear ya.

jimmy:  Yup. Or this guy.

tomk:  Yeah. Those guys. Jet’s probably their nephew.

jimmy:  With a little more joie de vivre.

tomk:  I dunno. Crazy Harry and the Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight seem happier.

jimmy:  Fair. Maybe “charm” is what I was looking for.

tomk:  That is a better word. What teenage girl doesn’t have a misguided bad boy phase?  And what preadolescent boy doesn’t think living in a treehouse and eating candy for every meal with other kids isn’t the coolest thing possible?

jimmy:  I’d do that now.

tomk:  Can you still climb a tree?

jimmy:  Can we have one of those rope elevators instead?

tomk:  Just be aware trees don’t usually come with one of these:

jimmy:  Hmm. Maybe your treehouse idea needs some work.

tomk:  Not everyone is cut out to be Peter Pan.

jimmy:  Did Peter Pan blow up a lot of dams and not be concerned with the casualties of war?

tomk:  Well, the Disney cartoon version is super racist.

jimmy:  Is it?  It’s been a long time.

tomk:  I’ll let Honest Trailers show you.

jimmy:  Everything is racist these days.

tomk:  I’m not touching that one.

jimmy:  That’s what I figured.

tomk:  But how about that Jet guy?

jimmy:  He’s a smooth operator.

tomk:  He also likes to play the “dead mother” card.

jimmy:  Motherless children have a hard time when their mother’s dead.

tomk:  But Jet sure sounded exploitative about it every time he brought it up.

jimmy:  Sounded or was?

tomk:

jimmy:  He sure played Aang and Katara.

tomk:  They lack Sokka’s instincts.

jimmy:  And after they mocked them so…

tomk:  I think it’s a sign Sokka is smarter than he appears to be, or he just gets better with experience.

jimmy:  Or both.

tomk:  Yes. Or both. Like you when you practice anything.

jimmy:  People don’t like it when I practice the banjo in the office.

tomk:  But you are clearly getting better.

jimmy:  Nice!

tomk:  The number of cats screaming in agony as you play has gone down noticeably.

jimmy:

tomk:  Yeah, might want to cut down on the pelvic thrusting while you’re at it.

jimmy:  You think that would help?

tomk:  Do you want to play it right or play it sexy?

jimmy:  I want to play it right sexy!

tomk:  Ok, that might be possible. But I don’t think most people consider the banjo a sexy instrument.

jimmy:  That guy sure does.

tomk:  That guy might be on a watchlist. Just like Jet.

jimmy:  Whose watchlist?

tomk:  Not a good one.

jimmy:  So I was thinking it odd that in the beginning battle with the Fire Nation, nobody, ya know, bends fire. But I guess it’s not everyone in the nation, just a select few.

tomk:  Sokka is a member of the Water Tribe, and he can’t bend.

jimmy:  Exactly.

tomk:  The Kyoshi Warriors were all Earth Kingdom citizens who can’t bend. Same with Jet and his crew.

jimmy:  Yes, yes, I said I got it.

tomk:  And you know who else can’t bend?  The Moose.

jimmy:  That lying son of a bitch.

tomk:  He never said he couldn’t.  Mostly because I don’t think the Moose can talk.

jimmy:  You haven’t been drinking with him.

tomk:  Bars in Canada serve quadrupeds? 

jimmy:  On the deck outside, sure

tomk:  All kinds of cows and squirrels and things out there I guess.

jimmy:  Well, they don’t drink at bars Tom. I mean, c’mon.

tomk:  I think we’re getting off-track here.  We were talking about Jet the Jerk, not Jimmy’s Bar Crawl.

jimmy:  Jet the Jerk had a lot of loyal followers.

tomk:  It’s the Jerk Squad.

jimmy:  Best sellers at the Jerk Store.

tomk:  They might be Jerks by Association. Misguided perhaps.

jimmy:  Just takes one bad apple…

tomk:  Yes, but Jet is an understandable Jerk. Fire Nation soldiers killed his family. He sees everyone from the Fire Nation as evil. That sort of thing happens in the real world.

Meanwhile, Sokka and Katara, perhaps because they had other relatives, don’t blame everyone for the actions of their leadership.

jimmy:  Blaming the Fire Nation is one thing. Willing to sacrifice innocents from another nation, who have also been conquered by the Fire Nation, is another.

tomk:  Yeah, but his attitude is somewhat understandable. One of the things Avatar is praised for is how good it is as a series in depicting how war affects people, including the average Fire Nation civilian citizen when we finally start to meet some.

jimmy:  Like that old guy.

tomk:  Yes. The nameless old man knew Sokka was trustworthy and not like Jet, so he helped save a lot of lives in a village full of both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens.

jimmy:  What a surprising turn of events that regular citizens are normal people no matter where they live.

tomk:  For a kids show, it is different. Remember the old man who turned Haru the Earthbender in to George Takei?  That old timer was from the Earth Kingdom.

jimmy:  Ok, so not all regular citizens…

tomk:  And for that, he forever failed Jimmy’s Jerk Test.

jimmy:  Indeed.

tomk:  But the point for that episode is there can to collaborators during occupations, or for this one that Fire Nation citizens might have been living in the area for decades or longer and it may not matter much. It doesn’t make a person automatically good or evil.

jimmy:  Not to Jet.

tomk:  Which is something that is wrong but understandable about Jet.

jimmy:  Man, I dunno.  I guess I understand it, but am never cool with the killing of civilians.  Particularily when this isn’t even Fire Nation territory.

tomk:  And that’s the reaction you should have. It also suggests territory may have been more malleable before the war.

jimmy:  Yeah, people from different nations living together hardly seems improbable.

tomk:  The old man clearly lived in the village long enough to be a trusted member of the community.

jimmy:  Or he had the biggest board with the biggest nail in it and no one wanted to cheese him off.

tomk:  But then Sokka wouldn’t have thought he was harmless and Jet would have been right all along.

jimmy:  That’s true.

tomk:  Sokka doesn’t want to beat up the elderly. Leave that to less reputable people.

jimmy:  He was right about walking too.  Just got unlucky.

tomk:  He just has a poor sense of direction.

jimmy:  I don’t think it is about direction, they didn’t know the Fire Nation was there.

tomk:  They were going the wrong way at the end of the episode.

jimmy:  Well, if you’re going to get all technical about it…

tomk:  You usually do. I learned it from talking to you.

jimmy:  You should know better than to listen to me, Tom.

tomk:  It’s hard to have a conversation with you if I ignore whatever you say.

jimmy:  I do it with Watson all the time.

tomk:  That’s not really a conversation.

jimmy:  It works for me. But maybe we need me more here for our, heh, readers.

tomk:  Yeah, syrup is better than jelly.

jimmy:  No doubt.

tomk:  Still, I think it is safe to say Sokka is not jealous of Appa’s arrow, and communication is important.

jimmy:  Are you jealous of Appa’s arrow Tom?

tomk:  Me?  No. You?

I mean, you do love Stingray.

jimmy:  Greatest.  Avenger.  Ever.

tomk:  Still needs to be in a movie.

jimmy:  I’m sure it’s coming. Armor Wars probably.

tomk:  That arrow is pointing towards a threat.

jimmy:  

tomk:  …you know I meant Iron Man, right?

jimmy:  Oh.  Right.

tomk:  Ok, Jimmy, I think you get it now. Jet was bad. Sokka needs a better map. And Aang still needs to learn more bending.

jimmy:  And Aang and Katara should be careful who they make fun of.

tomk:  Clearly.

jimmy:  Next time they won’t be so quick to mock.

tomk:  No, they might have other problems next time.

jimmy:  They probably won’t be walking though.

tomk:  Actually, there is some walking ahead.

jimmy:  Again with the walking.

tomk:  There’s a reason here beyond Sokka’s instincts.

jimmy:  Appa is tired.

tomk:  Appa has a different mission this time.

jimmy:  Different than being the world’s first Uber?

tomk:  He just has something else to do while Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Momo have to go somewhere on foot.

jimmy:  Huh. Who knew flying bison had other things to do?

tomk:  Well, it will make sense when you see the episode.

jimmy:  I guess we should watch it then.

tomk:  All your questions will be answered so long as you limit your questions to “Why are they walking again?” and “Where’s Appa?”

jimmy:  I can do that.

tomk:  OK then.

NEXT TIME:  Tom and Jimmy will return with more Avatar talk!  Be back soon when they discuss the episodes “The Great Divide” and “The Storm”!