Asami's Absence: I was waiting for some throwaway line to explain that. She can't have been negotiating with Varrick because he was busy incitin' war last week. And she can't have been using Bolin as her connect because he was also "busy" with "comic relief".
 
Aang's neutrality: I thought Aang was supposed to be…

Careful about the koala-otters. Otters are just fuzzy little river wolves.

Nah, she just lies there.

I've only ever seen the opening credits for this show, so I have to know: are the closing credits in the finale a lumberjack-themed take? Like, with wood chips flying and sawdust screaming in agony? Sap on the blade of the axe?

I'm not sure I'd describe Zuko or Korra as materialist. Zuko was more about HONOR and other intangibles and was into meditation from the start of the series. Sure, he was bad at it, but he had that leaning and we never saw Iroh prompt him to do it. Korra is probably a little closer to being materialist, but that's…

Zuko had pretty good reasons to be a shit. He wasn't sympathetic because he was a nice guy, it was because you could see him struggling with internal conflicts he (at first) barely understood. But I agree Korra was a lot more understandable and sympathetic in this episode than in the openers.

I agree. If they break up soon it will likely be so they can get back together further down the line.

Moby Dick? You mean the giant, white sperm whale? With the veiny-looking scars? Where's the sexual undertones there?

The funny thing about the White Lotus secluding her is that they bombed completely when they were actually put to the test in season one. They had to be saved by fartbending.

-There's also a lot of parental drama on my father's side. My father has four siblings (and a younger half-sibling we never see), and I see sparks fly whenever they're together. I think they captured what it looks like well, but I admit I have a personal connection to this stuff that invests me in it and you might not.
…

@avclub-146bc30c345d31f3468fec764a1970e1:disqus : Hey, I forgot her completely! In my defense, so did Toph. I'd love for any maternal figure to have the prominence the fathers have gotten in this series. The writers have been good about writing women but the fact that most mothers in this series are both saintly and…

Question: What IS Unalaq, on the totem pole? Yue was a Princess, which suggests there's a royal family out there. You don't call the Chief's daughter Princess. (That might also explain Sokka calling himself a peasant). So, is Unalaq the mayor? The King? The Pope? Either way, clipped pronunciation and face-shrouding…

-Varrick's a convenient character. He's a one-man industrial sector and business class! I guess writing him as a lawyer or a spokesman for some consortium would have ruined the Howard Hughes vibe. If he ordered that kidnapping, he's pretty hardcore. How much of his silliness is a bluff?
-The conflict between siblings…

They've been good at imperfect dads and relied a little bit too much on evil dads. I'm looking forward to finding an imperfect mother in this series.

How far apart are Aang's kids in age? Because I could buy Aang taking Tenzin alone on vacations if Bumi and Kya were old enough to have lives and careers by that point, and I could also imagine the world being unsettled enough that he really didn't have time for vacations when the other two were growing up, but could…

I'm curious how much time Bumi spent with Sokka. They have almost the same role in their groups, although Bumi hasn't had a chance to be daring or inventive yet.

Aang playing favorites: called it! Although I'm sure it'll be explained as Aang trying to make sure the Airbender culture wasn't lost while he had the chance (the poor guy did live through his own people's genocide. I can understand how that might screw up your parental priorities).

Korra cheating at the airbending ball race kinda DOES show how inferior her airbending is, and how she hides this from herself. I don't like the direction for the character, but it wasn't just shown through exposition.

@sarapen:disqus : Yeah, that's what I was getting at. I can get why Zuko would be thinking in eugenic terms, because he's in the royal family. I always figured part of his arc was realizing his own worth and getting out from the shadow of his family, which would involve moving past this eugenic mindset.

Yeah, "nothing" is an exaggeration. Seeking out the spiritual stuff is pretty different from when she hit a brick wall with the airbending and just gave up. But she didn't learn much. She hasn't changed her approach to bending (as a vehicle for punches) or to her role as the avatar (as a vehicle for punches).