Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 2)

Ba Sing Sae, the heart of the Earth Kingdom.  Some say it’s the greatest city in the world and most don’t know a war is on it’s doorstep.  Seeking allies and assistance, Aang, Katara and Sokka find themselves drawn into a sprawling web of lies, deceit and conspiracy around every corner.  And while they have the blind but powerful Toph Beifong teaching Aang the ways of Earthbending, their most deadliest enemies, Zuko and Azula, are close behind with plans of their own for the Avatar and Ba Sing Sae.  As a stealth takeover begins, Team Avatar will have to remain more united than ever or risk losing it all when the war comes to Ba Sing Sae.

While it was pretty far from the perfection of its source material, Season One of Netflix’s Avatar adaptation showed much promise as it went along, enough for me to keep interested in what was to come.  Netflix certainly seems to have a lot of faith in the project as it greenlit the other two seasons pretty much right after Season One dropped.  And it looks like that faith has been rewarded as Avatar: The Last Airbender Season Two sits right there with One Piece: Into the Grand Line as a marked improvement over its first season.  It’s still not perfect but it’s proof that the showrunners have paid attention to notes and feedback, especially knowing all of the major new players and story beats the original Book 2: Earth contains.  Thank God that aside from a few iffy visual effects, they haven’t mucked it up.
 
I’ve gotta give the writers credit.  Condensing 22 episodes into a different TV format is challenging enough and that is partly what made Season One uneven.  Here though, the focus is even more razor sharp than before.  Save for the introductory episodes, most of Season Two takes place in the sprawling megalopolis that is Ba Sing Sae.  This is such a good move for a number of reasons.  For one, it’s where most of Book 2’s original action took place so tweaking and maneuvering original story beats around it works.  And then there’s the tension that is continuously boiling for much of the season.  Ba Sing Sae has lost none of the eerie conspiracy laden undertones hidden underneath the creepy smiles and inviting façade from the original show.  You’re just as trapped here as Team Avatar and when things explode on an action and emotional level, it’s an explosion that is earned.  If there’s one example of where this works best, it’s with Amanda Zhou as Joo Dee.  She’s still the same creepy smiled meme from the original but is somehow even scarier and more threatening when you push the questions a bit too far…like fear for your life threatening, it’s good stuff.
 
Ba Sing Sae itself looks incredible from the CG wide shots to the city streets.  The sets are pretty impressive and showcase that this season has had some extra budget thrown into it.  Same goes for the Spirit Library, wow it just looks so incredible and vast.  That said, some of the CG work can remind you as to why Avatar works overall better Animated than in Live Action.  The bending effects still slap but at times they can feel a bit hokey or just rough and unfinished.  A prime example is Aang learning to dawn Rock Armor.  The regular armor doesn’t look too bad.  The Jade Armor he assembles in the finale, ooof that looked rough.  But hey, at least there’s actual effort put into the act of bending a bunch of elements together unlike the 2010 film where it took like 5 Earth Benders to bend a single rock into a guys face.
 
What really helps this adaptation feel closer in heart and soul to the original is the cast.  The writing may be stronger but the core group feels more naturally comfortable with one another.  Interactions feel more genuine and you can tell the comraderie has only strengthened between Gordon Comier, Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley as Aang, Katara and Sokka respectively, between seasons.  Honestly, I knew we were ok in that department when Aang and Suki were measuring against each other cause of Comier’s obvious growth spurt between seasons.  The dynamics only get better with the introduction of the one and only Toph Beifong.  Miyako Cech IS Toph from the moment she steps into that underground fight ring, embodying the snark, toughness, vulnerability and humor that has made the character one of the best in the whole franchise.  She plays off the others so well it’s such a natural fit.  Team Avatar is whole at last and their banter is so good it wouldn’t shock me if several of the outtakes made their way to actual on screen footage.
 
As much as I love Toph though, the Fire Nation cast continues to be the big standouts in this adaptation.  Elizabeth Yu’s Azula continues to be my favorite character, portraying the famous baddie subtly yet no less dangerously.  Make no mistake, out in the open or locked in a cell, SHE is the one in charge.  Dallas Liu continues his excellent work as Zuko, who’s story gets a few new tweaks, especially in the romance department (lots of girls are thirsty for Zuko, go figure).  You feel for him as much as his animated counterpart and both revel in his successes and shed a tear when he messes up.  But oh man, what they did with Iroh this season?  He spoke of his past crimes against humanity in the original show plenty but in Season Two, we get to see Iroh deal with real PTSD being back in Ba Sing Sae and having to confront his past head on.  It’s powerful stuff seeing him so rattled and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee hits all the right notes, never once trying to invoke Mako’s famous portrayal and making this version of the character uniquely his own.  (Side note: they also focus a lot on Sokka dealing with the death of Yue in Season One that I don’t think they did much of in the original series.  It’s a nice arc for him too).
 
Honestly, Season Two has so many standouts on screen and behind the scenes I could be writing about them all day.  The last thing I will say is that there is ZERO change to the “Empire Strikes Back” approach to the season.  Like the Star Wars sequel that heavily influenced the original series, Season Two is bigger, darker and more character focused than ever before and it never shies away from putting our heroes and anti heroes in increasingly impossible situations.  It’s the kind of storytelling mastery that shouldn’t be changed much, if only to fit the new format in which the story itself is being told.  Season Two adheres to that philosophy and certainly leaves things on the appropriate enough cliffhanger that really makes me hope we don’t have to wait another couple of years to see Aang and the Fire Lord duke it out for all the marbles. 
 
With stronger writing, a narrower focus, and even better character dynamics, Season 2 is a heart racing watch across all seven episodes, showing it has learned much from previous endeavors and is growing stronger and better and I’d hoped it would after Season One.  The cast is stronger both in talent and in bond than ever and the new additions like Toph slot in nicely.  Nothing touches the OG but Season 2 is proof a competent live action adaptation with the right amount of talent, heart and understanding of the source can be done…you know unlike the rushed compilation mess that was the Shamylan movie.  Bring on Season Three and let’s finish this one out strong guys.
 
9/10