Korra: When Extremes Meet - Thoughts

Before I go into more depth on my review of the episode and my overall thoughts, I'd just like to say that this is the first time in ages that a television show (I don't watch tv very much), let alone an animated television show, has left me feeling so giddy and intrigued. I was practically rocking back and forth and bouncing off the walls by the time the credits for episode 8 rolled, like some obsessively hyperactive kid in an asylum with colorful candy-coated walls.

That being said, I genuinely liked, no, LOVED and ENJOYED this episode far more than I did with episode 7 (which was also a pretty good). This is an episode where we get to see more bender-on-non-bender oppression play out (when before it was limited to mostly talk and bender triad activity) and it culminates with Tarrlok abusing his political power to place an unfair curfew on all non-benders while successfully arresting and imprisoning every member of Korra's gang. The highlight of this episode was mainly that we get to see the other extreme end of the spectrum in which benders take advantage of their powers over non-benders.

The only thing I didn't really care for was the brief tension between Asami and Korra....again. After Ikki burst out her statement over Korra liking Mako, I figured Korra would just quickly deny and blow off Ikki's words (ex. "lol kids are crazy, Ikki's just messing around srsly Asami that's not true lolol kids these days") in an attempt to cover for herself, but nope. As much as I like Korra, I expect Asami to be the more mature of the two in these situations, but it seems apparently even Asami has some feelings of jealousy and suspicion, given the brief scene in the car. Tbh, it feels like a number of girls in the Korra series devolve into catty children when romance is involved, even if they're upstanding or mature people otherwise (I'm also looking at you, Penma and Bei Fong) and it's sort of peeving me out there. Then again, I don't think the Avatar series, as great as it is, was ever entirely great at handling romance, and I'm not a huge Avatar shipper. More action and intrigue, less romantic teen drama pls.

I think my favorite part was pretty much hands down watching Korra and Tarrlok fight it out in his office (I knew it was coming as soon as I saw that wall of water in the background). I genuinely became scared while watching that episode, despite it being a Nick show, that Korra was going to go berserk and kill Tarrlok in her fury (I'd actually saw this was one of the more violent episodes in the series).
Additionally, I think it's fairly safe to say at this point that Tarrlok has become the Dolores Umbridge of the series. I haven't seen this much unanimous hatred for a character in a fandom I've been a part of since forever. Which brings me to another thing. Look, there are a lot of things that give me "slimy" feelings about Tarrlok. I never cared for his fake political charms, and I always got some sort of "sleazy" feeling for a lot of his on-screen appearances. We all knew he was up to something no-good, but I don't think many of us expected him to be dangerous on quite that level. At this point, I think it's fairly safe to say Tarrlok is just as dangerous as Amon, and also a control freak to boot.
He wants Korra in his Task Force, but when she and her friends try to stop Equalists on their own, he gets upset. He has the most power in an all-bender council, and he's already abusing his position to pass restrictive and unjust laws over non-benders with the only real council opposition coming from Tenzin. To restate what I've said before, the man is a conniving sack of lies.
Yet, at the same time, I'm actually interested in where his character is headed (I wouldn't put it past him to go insane later on, maybe with power). But throwing bloodbending into the mix? Yikes.
I'm going to be honest. Despite the (justifiably) unanimous hatred for his character, I actually sort of like him. Like...I like his character without actually liking his character. If that makes any sense. I still get "icky" feelings whenever he shows up on-screen, and I absolutely despise his penchant for power-grubbing, manipulation, and all-around skeeziness (as well as his blatant hypocrisy). But at the same time, I sort of like the guy (as a villain) and I actually sort of DO want to see some shades of gray with him (even though it's pretty evident that Bryke went out of their way to show how obviously slimy he is by making him smile that weird "imma pull some bad shit real soon ya'll gunna see" conniving smile every other time he was on-screen).
Oh, and I'll at least give him an award for being the first non-firebender in the series to be a major antagonist. I was getting really sick of the whole, "a firebender did THIS to me, a firebender killed my family, a firebender burned me, my mother, my father, family, farm, etc. etc." Never, "oh a waterbender drowned my family" or "an earthbender crushed my family to death." Fire isn't the only thing that hurts, kids. And, frankly, seeing the damage water and earth can do really gets the imagination going (I'm not even going to go into icebending, sandbending, metalbending, and the ever-so-feared bloodbending, folks).
So...first major Korra bender antagonist that isn't a firebender. Four for you, Tarrlok, you go Tarrlok. Breakin' stereotypes....or....something (but seriously, going up against the Avatar with only one element at your disposal when the moon isn't even fulll....not bad, not bad...).
Of course, he's still scum, and scum that I'm not particularly fond of. But I sort of like the character (despite "not liking" his character) and, dare I say it, I actually think he's sort of cool. Welp.
(I still love Korra though, even with her temperamental flaws. Seriously, punching through shards of ice, guys).
But the part where she stated he was just as bad as Amon, it's clear it really struck a chord with him, and I want to see where that goes later on.

Overall, this episode was probably one of my favorites (if not, my VERY favorite), and I can appreciate Tarrlok as a villain.