Welcome to The Queue — your daily distraction of curated video content sourced from across the web. This one explores a brilliant example of a bottle episode in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an excellent show with strengths to spare. The animated series about warring element-based nations has a high standard when it comes to humor, heart, high stakes, and…bottle episodes! God, this show’s good.
Traditionally, a “bottle episode” is designed to save the studio money. To cut corners, bottle episodes stick to regular cast members and established sets, and largely consist of dive deeps into emotional narratives rather than move the main plot forward. At their worst, bottle episodes can feel forced and interrupt pacing. At their best, they can deepen characters and allow creative writers to shine.
“The Desert” (S02E011) and “The Beach” (S03E05) are shining examples of bottle episodes that work to a show’s advantage. Both episodes trap their characters in locations they can’t escape and give them opportunities to process and wrestle without progressing the main narrative. Technically they could be removed without impacting the main plot. But the show wouldn’t be the same without them.
You can watch “One Reason Avatar’s Characters Feel So Real,” here:
Who made this?
This video essay was put together by the Texas-based Royal Ocean Film Society, which is run by Andrew Saladino. You can browse their back catalog of videos on their Vimeo account here. If Vimeo isn’t your speed, you can give them a follow on YouTube here.
More Videos Like This
- Here’s another video from the Royal Ocean Film Society, on another animated banger, the decidedly not-kid friendly Primal
- Dutch animator Cas van de Pol is recapping the seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender with irreverently endearing cartoons. Here are his takes on Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3
- Captain Midnight has a handful of videos on Avatar: The Last Airbender. Here’s his video on why “Zuko Alone” is another episode that’s a microcosm of what the show did well
- Maybe you’ve seen the show before and you’re the kind of person who just likes to play the hits. Here’s a breakdown of Avatar‘s best vs. worst episodes. And here’s our take on the matter
Related Topics: Animation, The Queue
