So, you recently finished Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1, did you? Maybe you’re even like my colleague, Alexandra Ramos, who didn’t take her time, and instead binged the entire season in one night.
Either way, let’s talk, because I really want to discuss the “Spirited Away” episode. Because while, like the critics, I had mixed feelings about the season, I must say that the fifth episode was the best as far as I’m concerned. But, why did I, a massive fan of the original series, love the “Spirited Away” episode so much? Well, you’re about to find out.
Oh, and massive spoilers up ahead for the episode. Duh.
It's The Episode That Strayed The Farthest From The Cartoon
You know what? I’m the kind of person who wants his adaptations to be a little different from the source material. While a lot of people applauded the movie, The Martian, for sticking so close to the novel, I was pretty bored with the film since, you know, I already read the story. So, I really didn’t need a book-accurate version on the big screen, as there’s no bigger screen than the one inside my head.
That’s not to say that I want a story to stray too far from the source material, either. Like the movie The Lawnmower Man couldn’t be further from Stephen King’s original short story. That was taking creative liberties a bit too far. No, I’m more into adaptations like The Shining, which its original creator might have hated, but I enjoyed, since it was similar enough, but different in oh so many ways.
This is how I feel about the episode “Spirited Away” from this first season. It distinctly pulls from the episodes, “The Southern Raiders,” “Winter Solstice, Part 1: The Spirit World,” “Bato of the Water Tribe,” and “The Siege of the North, Part 2” from the original series, but it’s also wildly different from those four episodes, so it feels really fresh and new.
In the “Spirited Away” episode, Aang, Sokka, and Katara find themselves stranded in the Spirit World, which doesn’t happen in the original series. In fact, only Aang enters the Spirit World. It’s there where he encounters Avatar Roku, who warns him about Koh, the Face Stealer (who I’ll get more into soon).
The original episodes, “Winter Solstice, Part 1: The Spirit World,” and “The Siege of the North, Part 2” are both unique, but nowhere near as unique as this episode, which feels so distinctly different from the rest of this live-action season that it might even feel a bit jarring, which is why I loved it so much! It definitely shook me up!
It Was Legitimately Scary At Times
Koh the Face Stealer is a scary character in the original series. I mean, how could he not be? He steals faces, and he’s pretty much a giant centipede. But, Koh is especially scary in this particular episode, since he seemingly comes out of nowhere.
We first see him “attacking” (that’s honestly the best word I have for it) Katara, when she is brought back to a terrible memory she has of witnessing her mother’s death. But, while we are aware of Katara’s mother dying in the original series, we actually see her lit ablaze by a Firebender, which is horrific to say the very least. And then, to add to all of the frights, Koh makes his appearance and rushes up to the screen, offering a jump scare similar to what you might find in Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Then, we get Sokka’s encounter with Koh. Sokka’s scene is the one that pulls from the episode, “Bato of the Water Tribe.” It’s here where we see that Sokka feels like he let his father and his tribe down, only for good old Koh to reappear and offer another jump scare.
Finally, we have Aang’s encounter with Koh, which is the most like the episode, “The Siege of the North, Part 2,” since we finally see Koh’s full centipede form. And let me tell you, as somebody who is not a fan of giant bugs, I could have done without seeing that in live-action. It was scary enough in the cartoon, and it’s absolutely terrifying here.
It Pulled From Other Avatar Source Material
I’m a huge Avatar fan even outside of the cartoon. I’ve read all of the comics, watched The Legend of Korra multiple times, and have read all four of the Kyoshi and Yangchen novels. So, yeah. I’m a big fan. With that said, when I see stuff outside of Book 1 of the original series in this Netflix adaptation, I of course get very excited.
Episode 5 offers some of the most exciting elements from this universe. For example, we see the spirit owl, Wa Shi Tong, in this episode, who we don’t get to see until Book 2 of the original series, and even more so in Avatar’s follow-up series, The Legend of Korra (I don’t know if you know this about me, but I actually prefer The Legend of Korra to Avatar: The Last Airbender).
Not only that, but remember how I said that Katara and Sokka were trapped in the Spirit World, which doesn’t happen in the original series? Well, that’s because in this episode they’re trapped within the Fog of Lost Souls, which is a realm that we don’t even learn about until The Legend of Korra.
That’s right, this episode has multiple references to the follow-up series to The Last Airbender, which gets me all types of pumped for a potential The Legend of Korra live-action show. Hey, it could happen!
The Episode Gave New Life To The Characters
I’ve already talked about Aang, Katara, and Sokka, but they aren’t the only characters in this episode. Toward the end of it, we get to see Gyatso again, and he has an emotional moment with Aang where he tries to relieve him of his guilt of not being there when the Fire Nation wiped out the Air Nomads.
This is a pivotal scene, especially for Aang, because you can tell that he gets a great deal of weight off of his shoulders, given the guilt he’s been carrying all of this time.
We also get more moments with Zuko, Uncle Iroh, and also an introduction to fan-favorite character, June. Here, we see Zuko struggling to reconcile teaming up with a bounty hunter, given that he still feels too noble to do so, only for him to decide that he doesn’t have much of a choice. So, in every way, this “Spirited Away” episode is the best in the season; it's so multifaceted.
It Makes Me Excited For A Second Season
Lastly, “Spirited Away” makes me excited for a second season of this live-action adaptation. Now, I definitely didn’t love the entire season, as it felt a little bit lopsided at times. I also thought some of the acting left a bit to be desired, and the costumes and make-up weren’t always the best.
However, the fifth episode truly shows me all of the potential that this live-action version has to offer. Sure, I’m much, much more interested in what the series’ original creators are up to with their Avatar Studios. But, as somebody who was cautiously optimistic about this new Netflix series, I have to say, “Spirited Away” gave me hope for where they could possibly take this story if they have the opportunity to adapt Book 2.
But, what do you think? Did you also love the “Spirited Away” episode? For more news on all things The Last Airbender, be sure to swing around here often!
