Review: The Legend of Korra “The Reunion”

Korra finally made it back to Republic City. And it’s about time.

Spoilers Below

Well, Korra made it back to Republic City, managing to stay there for about 20 minutes of the whole episode. However, with an episode entitled “The Reunion,” I would expect more going on than Korra, Mako, and Asami going to lunch with Wu tagging along. I called that this was going to be rather disappointing, and I guess it didn’t disappoint in that aspect. I guess seeing Asami kick some ass is a very slight plus, right? Oh well, not everything can be a bag of gold.

I was expecting Korra to have a grand return to Republic City, with much ballyhoo and pomp and circumstance, just like prior seasons. But that wasn’t the case. The episode went from her touching down and seeing the Tenzin clan, right to meeting with Asami and Mako. Then the added tension between Korra and Asami, then a couple minutes later with Korra and Mako. They are playing this three years away thing a little too hard. No “why were you away,” just a bunch of:

The outburst from Asami kind of sealed that for me, then went overboard with Mako going, “I’m supposed to trust your Avatar hunches?” When has that ever been a problem before? Oh, right. It wasn’t Korra having a hunch, then go slap chop some fools this time around. Now, it’s “we gotta fix your screw up, Mako.” I wasn’t buying it all that much, and seemed pretty forced. All of this is pretty bad, but there was a pretty bright light at the tail end of this tunnel.

For the first 21 minutes and 30 seconds, there was nothing there. Yeah, you have a story with Varrick, Bolin, and a bunch of camp escapees. Unfortunately, the entertainment with that is at a minimum, basically when Bolin was lavabending to protect himself and the fugitives. But there wasn’t all that much time devote to Bolin and Varrick, because we had to resolve Wu and his disappearance.

In a last ditch effort to save the episode, a scene with Kuvira at the Banyan Grove Tree. Kuvira found that the roots of the tree are so much more powerful than the spirit vines from Republic City. The episode ends with a mech chopping the roots, and I couldn’t help but go, “oh shit.” Shit is going to get real, and quick. Kuvira is screwing with Toph’s home. She didn’t take any crap from Korra, and I think she’s going to take less than that. This is going to be something really monumental, and I can’t wait for this confrontation.

Unfortunately, we still have to deal with Korra’s comeback. She is going to find something that will give her the magic power mojo to defeat Kuvira. That means more of Korra going “I’m too weak and can’t do anything.” Korra has been made to be an obsolete character, especially with so many other people doing such bigger things. If it wasn’t for the Avatar, there would be no need for the Great Uniter, Kuvira, or any of the villains. I just want something promising to happen. “The Reunion” marks the second straight episode that I have been pretty disappointed.  This marks the first episode of the second half, and it got off to a much slower episode than the season premiere. There’s only so much time until there’s no more Korra.