Avatar: The Last Airbender Flashback: "The Cave of Two Lovers" Review

June 16, 2008 - This episode, the second in the season, was an annoying home run for me. Not only did it explore the relationships between our two main characters, but we may have seen a major turning point in Prince Zuko's life, and to top it off we got the back story and history of the first Earthbenders.

The annoying comes in with the hippie-dippy nomads who guide Aang and the gang to the cave. Their songs were brutal to listen to, and just plain bad, at first. But like most annoying things (N'Sync & Hootie and the Blowfish, to name a few), they began to grow on me, and by the end of the episode, I found myself trying to rock out to those awful jams.

Other than that, it was nice to see Aang and Katara get a little closer. Their relationship started to blossom in the first season and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes. Watching Katara teach Aang the Octopus technique in the beginning of the episode was awesome, and gave us a sense of where Katara is at in her bending. Something that I feel is important to show so we have a sense of who she can be.

Prince Zuko's inner turmoil grows bigger this episode, and I almost had a sense of him turning to the light side of the force. His character continues to be one of the most fascinating to watch. I am always excited to see where the writers are going to take him each and every week.

My favorite part of this episode was the Earthbending back-story and the story of the two lovers. I love explanation; I love learning new things about this world and not having to wait for it to happen if it happens at all. It's very smart writing, giving the viewers information early on. The more info we get the more we can focus on the story at hand, and not have to sit back and take energy out of our enjoyment of the show to wonder who that is or why that happens.

Overall this was a complete 180 from last week, but it moved along and had me laughing out loud throughout. For a guy who loves his action in cartoons, I thoroughly enjoy this episode's story and meaning, even though it lacked the kind of super action I crave.