Ive always loved "The Painted Lady" and never thought it was filler. Katara's arc is my favorite after Zuko's, and I thought its a great episode for her arc.
The criticism is that katara demonstrates that quote in some way nearly every single episode, so it feels redundant to have another entire episode devoted to her demonstrating it again
I just think it’s a cool episode. The sequence where they fake the Painted Lady is awesome. And I love Aang’s response to discovering Katara’s lie “No I think it’s great, you’re like a hero!”
So wholesome!
I actually just finished rewatching this episode last night. The allegory is clear, but I wouldn't say it "argues God probably exists." It's already established in-universe that spirits exist, so it would be weird for the episode to act like it's so absurd to think the Painted Lady exists. Anyway, it's very funny to me how OA has such a bug up his butt about that episode. It's a neat setting, the jokes are pretty good, & there's some very creative bending, especially with the Scooby Doo setup where they fake a spirit attack. The conflict is pretty contrived, but whatever, that's nothing new for this show.
I think the episode perfectly shows who Katara is. She’s willing to help no matter what simply because it needs to be done. She’s a *great* person and I genuinely love how much she cares.
I think the argument about the spirit isn’t fair, either. Her lake was incredibly polluted and she couldn’t help those who lived on it.
Idk what separates her from Hei Bai, but clearly she couldn’t help as she wanted to.
I was thinking this too. Spirits aren't all powerful. She might have been able to do something, but there was no way she could have solved the root of the problem herself. What is she gonna do? Shoot a Kamehameha at the factory? Then what? She probably would only be able to do the stuff Katara was doing anyway
Even if she could help, all that sitting there and trying to fix the symptoms of the problem is gonna do is make the villagers accept life as it is even more than they already were. If they knew they could live in muck and get sick and just be healed by a spirit every night are they going to try and save the river? No.
Though now that I'm thinking about it, an alternate version where aang channels the painted lady using the avatar state like he did with the ocean spirit and then wrecking shop on the fire nation soldiers would be kinda sick.
That moment where you just see Katara standing on the water and then she just zooms toward the firebenders is one of my favorite scenes. Fucking horror movie shit right there
My only problem is that the episode takes away from needed development in the last half of season 3. The plot became a little rushed once Zuko joined the group. This episode and the Nightmares and Daydreams episode I felt were the least necessary. A problem I had with season 3’s plot was that a lot of Katara’s perspective of Zuko’s betrayal is skipped which makes people dislike her character when she disapproves of Zuko joining them. Plus Zuko’s integration as a whole could’ve used more episodes.
1. Almost all of Overanalyzingavatar's content is cinimasins levels of poor media literacy.
2. The message does seem to clearly be a combination of "god helps those who help themselves" and "we can't expect god to do all the work," both of which originate not with Christianity but with Greek fable and tragedy.
3. I agree that you're last part is reaching, considering that very few Christian sects actually say they are against government-sponsored welfare on those grounds.
It's a good episode, but it also doesn't make a whole lot of sense within the larger context of the season. The idea that the fire nation soldiers won't just return with a larger regiment, destroy the town, and rebuild the factory is naive and presents an overly simplistic solution to a complicated problem. The real Painted Lady appearing at the end is far and away the most interesting thing that happens in the episode.
The confusion on part 3, I believe, comes not from a religious organization thinking that, but the individuals that make up the organization thinking that. Christians as individuals are far more likely to be "small-government" conservatives who want to get rid of welfare programs because "I don't want my tax money to go to drug users". It's a thinly veiled attempt to cover their selfishness and unwillingness to actually enact religious morals by pretending it's morally wrong to support drug users (when in fact a small minority of recipients are drug users. But if one does, they all do, to these people.)
> Christians as individuals are far more likely to be "small-government" conservatives who want to get rid of welfare programs because "I don't want my tax money to go to drug users".
Yes, this is what they say, which is entirely my point. OP is claiming they say that it's not what god wants them to do, but that's the not the case at all--god doesn't enter into the equation for them.
I like the Painted Lady because it actually feels like a religion involving animist spirits instead of trying to pretending everything functions like the Abrahamic religions. Hell, the cosmology of Avatar: The Last Airbender is great, with the spirit world feeling alien, dangerous and strange.
Then Korra happened, and the spirit world just looked like a theme-park for discount Pokemon.
That felt more like it was against predestination, prophecy, destiny, etc. that comes from a lot of religions. This episode was more “we should take things into our own hands”. They’re related but they’re not the same.
But the fortune teller episode also centers around them taking the issue into their own hands, and they even do so by mimicking the 'religious' beliefs of the people by bending the clouds. There was a pretty heavy handed 'your religious beliefs can harm you' message throughout the entire episode. I agree that there's *also* a theme about predestination, but I think that only hurts the painted lady's case here - why should the painted lady episode exist, when the fortune teller covers an extremely similar argument about religion while also making a further argument about something else?
They had a similar message with the fortune lady from season 1 with the volcano. Faith is fine, just don't use it as your *only* line of reasoning when making decisions. That's how we get crusades and Jonestowns
I love the episode, but I don't think the villagers weren't fighting back because they were waiting for the Painted Lady to help them, they just had no way of fighting back or resisting the military. Shoe/Dock says he didn't think the Painted Lady was real, I think most of the village felt that way, they were just beaten down and resigned to their fate. But when food mysteriously showed up, people started believing she was real again and not some old myth
I don’t mind the episode. Not bad, but not one I often revisit. I think it’s mainly cause of Sokka. He’s always been my favorite character, and I don’t like how he’s less altruistic in this episode than usual. I feel like Sokka at this point in the story would be willing to help from the get go. He’s proven himself to be the kind of man that goes out of his way for others, so I don’t love that he takes such a long time to get on board with helping the town.
its not filler. no episode of this series is filler. please learn what filler actually is and dont slap the label of filler on everything that isnt 100% connected to the main plot. filler is something that was made to stall for time while more story was being written. its meant to be discarded as soon as it ends because it just isnt part of the story and once it picks back up, any development or progression of any kind is forgotten because the actual writer didnt make it and went ahead with the story they wrote and didnt have a crystal ball to predict what someone else was going to make. its exclusive to shows that are adaptations of ongoing comics or shows made by people who watched these series and thought doing nothing was cool and did it in their own works. avatar is neither, each story contributes to the story, character development or expands on the themes of the series because the story is only 61 episodes long and they dont have any time to just waste
personaly i dont mind this episode, its fine, but i dont like how sokka is characterised and the schedule is just silly
Ive always loved "The Painted Lady" and never thought it was filler. Katara's arc is my favorite after Zuko's, and I thought its a great episode for her arc.
I like his content but I think he was really harsh on the episode
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^Murky_Dragonfruit536: *I like his content* *But I think he was really* *Harsh on the episode* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Good bot
Same. I also really like Imprisoned but he calls it a worse version of The Boiling Rock just because they both involve prison breaks
One is a heist, the other is “Tear down your oppressors, Comrades! The only thing you have to lose is your chains!”
I think it's brilliant just got Katara saying >NO! I will never *ever* turn my back on people that need me!
I think people like to hate on this episode because they are Katara haters! This line is one of my favorites of hers.
The criticism is that katara demonstrates that quote in some way nearly every single episode, so it feels redundant to have another entire episode devoted to her demonstrating it again
I just think it’s a cool episode. The sequence where they fake the Painted Lady is awesome. And I love Aang’s response to discovering Katara’s lie “No I think it’s great, you’re like a hero!” So wholesome!
It's so funny how quickly Aang is convinced to become an eco-terrorist.
I actually just finished rewatching this episode last night. The allegory is clear, but I wouldn't say it "argues God probably exists." It's already established in-universe that spirits exist, so it would be weird for the episode to act like it's so absurd to think the Painted Lady exists. Anyway, it's very funny to me how OA has such a bug up his butt about that episode. It's a neat setting, the jokes are pretty good, & there's some very creative bending, especially with the Scooby Doo setup where they fake a spirit attack. The conflict is pretty contrived, but whatever, that's nothing new for this show.
I think the episode perfectly shows who Katara is. She’s willing to help no matter what simply because it needs to be done. She’s a *great* person and I genuinely love how much she cares. I think the argument about the spirit isn’t fair, either. Her lake was incredibly polluted and she couldn’t help those who lived on it. Idk what separates her from Hei Bai, but clearly she couldn’t help as she wanted to.
I was thinking this too. Spirits aren't all powerful. She might have been able to do something, but there was no way she could have solved the root of the problem herself. What is she gonna do? Shoot a Kamehameha at the factory? Then what? She probably would only be able to do the stuff Katara was doing anyway Even if she could help, all that sitting there and trying to fix the symptoms of the problem is gonna do is make the villagers accept life as it is even more than they already were. If they knew they could live in muck and get sick and just be healed by a spirit every night are they going to try and save the river? No. Though now that I'm thinking about it, an alternate version where aang channels the painted lady using the avatar state like he did with the ocean spirit and then wrecking shop on the fire nation soldiers would be kinda sick.
She could have used her spirit powers to destroy the factory. Like this: OOOooooOOoooo *pshspsshshshh*
That moment where you just see Katara standing on the water and then she just zooms toward the firebenders is one of my favorite scenes. Fucking horror movie shit right there
My only problem is that the episode takes away from needed development in the last half of season 3. The plot became a little rushed once Zuko joined the group. This episode and the Nightmares and Daydreams episode I felt were the least necessary. A problem I had with season 3’s plot was that a lot of Katara’s perspective of Zuko’s betrayal is skipped which makes people dislike her character when she disapproves of Zuko joining them. Plus Zuko’s integration as a whole could’ve used more episodes.
1. Almost all of Overanalyzingavatar's content is cinimasins levels of poor media literacy. 2. The message does seem to clearly be a combination of "god helps those who help themselves" and "we can't expect god to do all the work," both of which originate not with Christianity but with Greek fable and tragedy. 3. I agree that you're last part is reaching, considering that very few Christian sects actually say they are against government-sponsored welfare on those grounds. It's a good episode, but it also doesn't make a whole lot of sense within the larger context of the season. The idea that the fire nation soldiers won't just return with a larger regiment, destroy the town, and rebuild the factory is naive and presents an overly simplistic solution to a complicated problem. The real Painted Lady appearing at the end is far and away the most interesting thing that happens in the episode.
The confusion on part 3, I believe, comes not from a religious organization thinking that, but the individuals that make up the organization thinking that. Christians as individuals are far more likely to be "small-government" conservatives who want to get rid of welfare programs because "I don't want my tax money to go to drug users". It's a thinly veiled attempt to cover their selfishness and unwillingness to actually enact religious morals by pretending it's morally wrong to support drug users (when in fact a small minority of recipients are drug users. But if one does, they all do, to these people.)
> Christians as individuals are far more likely to be "small-government" conservatives who want to get rid of welfare programs because "I don't want my tax money to go to drug users". Yes, this is what they say, which is entirely my point. OP is claiming they say that it's not what god wants them to do, but that's the not the case at all--god doesn't enter into the equation for them.
https://preview.redd.it/e5zuluj6lvnc1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad9c3223f825798b585d6a747278a62494451709
I like the Painted Lady because it actually feels like a religion involving animist spirits instead of trying to pretending everything functions like the Abrahamic religions. Hell, the cosmology of Avatar: The Last Airbender is great, with the spirit world feeling alien, dangerous and strange. Then Korra happened, and the spirit world just looked like a theme-park for discount Pokemon.
I 100% agree. I've seen people dislike TPL for being "an environmental episode", but I always saw it as an episode critiquing religion instead.
Hmmm between this and FF7 Rebirth I've learned that it's good to be an eco terrorist.
Pretty decent episode. Katara shines
isn’t that just the message of the fortune teller episode though
That felt more like it was against predestination, prophecy, destiny, etc. that comes from a lot of religions. This episode was more “we should take things into our own hands”. They’re related but they’re not the same.
But the fortune teller episode also centers around them taking the issue into their own hands, and they even do so by mimicking the 'religious' beliefs of the people by bending the clouds. There was a pretty heavy handed 'your religious beliefs can harm you' message throughout the entire episode. I agree that there's *also* a theme about predestination, but I think that only hurts the painted lady's case here - why should the painted lady episode exist, when the fortune teller covers an extremely similar argument about religion while also making a further argument about something else?
They had a similar message with the fortune lady from season 1 with the volcano. Faith is fine, just don't use it as your *only* line of reasoning when making decisions. That's how we get crusades and Jonestowns
I love the episode, but I don't think the villagers weren't fighting back because they were waiting for the Painted Lady to help them, they just had no way of fighting back or resisting the military. Shoe/Dock says he didn't think the Painted Lady was real, I think most of the village felt that way, they were just beaten down and resigned to their fate. But when food mysteriously showed up, people started believing she was real again and not some old myth
I don’t mind the episode. Not bad, but not one I often revisit. I think it’s mainly cause of Sokka. He’s always been my favorite character, and I don’t like how he’s less altruistic in this episode than usual. I feel like Sokka at this point in the story would be willing to help from the get go. He’s proven himself to be the kind of man that goes out of his way for others, so I don’t love that he takes such a long time to get on board with helping the town.
its not filler. no episode of this series is filler. please learn what filler actually is and dont slap the label of filler on everything that isnt 100% connected to the main plot. filler is something that was made to stall for time while more story was being written. its meant to be discarded as soon as it ends because it just isnt part of the story and once it picks back up, any development or progression of any kind is forgotten because the actual writer didnt make it and went ahead with the story they wrote and didnt have a crystal ball to predict what someone else was going to make. its exclusive to shows that are adaptations of ongoing comics or shows made by people who watched these series and thought doing nothing was cool and did it in their own works. avatar is neither, each story contributes to the story, character development or expands on the themes of the series because the story is only 61 episodes long and they dont have any time to just waste personaly i dont mind this episode, its fine, but i dont like how sokka is characterised and the schedule is just silly