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Avatar: The Last Airbender isn’t just one of the best-animated kids shows, it’s one of the best shows. Full stop. Nickelodeon’s element-manipulating, anti-war epic easily waltzed into the final four of our One Perfect Binge project. And if you haven’t had a chance to check out the show (or if, like us, you feel compelled to re-watch the whole series every so often), good news: Avatar is now available on Netflix stateside.
In a series with very few weak links, sussing out which episode is “the best” often comes down to a matter of personal preference. And yet, you’d be hard-pressed to find any “best of” list that doesn’t feature “The Tales of Ba Sing Se.” The episode is a low-stakes character showcase, with each of our main heroes (and villains) embarking on their own small (yet meaningful) vignette in the city of Ba Sing Se. The video essay below, “The Perfection of ‘The Tales of Ba Sing Se,” offers a breakdown of not only why the episode is one of the show’s best, but why it’s emblematic of what makes Avatar so special.
You can watch “The Perfection of ‘The Tales of Ba Sing Se’ – Avatar: The Last Airbender” here:
Who made this?
This video comes courtesy of Captain Midnight, who releases video essays about their pop culture interests every Thursday on their YouTube page. Captain Midnight’s love of Spider-Man is infectious, and if you want to get heady about superheroes, he’s your guy. You can follow Captain Midnight on Twitter, here.”The Perfection of ‘The Tales of Ba Sing Se'” was edited by Andrew Elliott, whose YouTube account you can check out, here.
More Videos Like This
- Captain Midnight has a handful of videos on Avatar: The Last Airbender, so if your heart desires, you can have a little mini-marathon. Here’s a video on why “Zuko Alone” is another episode that’s a microcosm of what the show did well.
- And here’s another one from Captain Midnight about why Uncle Iroh is the heart of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
- One more Avatar episode-unpacker from Captain Midnight: how “The Storm” was a turning point in the show.
- 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. Here’s our take on the matter.