Here’s a fun fact. The Legend of Korra ended its run on December 19th, 2014. Interestingly, gay marriage was legalized across the country on June 26th, 2015. So that means that the Nickelodeon show introduced a legitimate bisexual relationship even before gay marriage was fully legalized in this country. That’s huge!
That said, a lot of people will contend that the show didn’t do enough to promote that central gay relationship in the series. But what if the series was made today? It’s 2020, and people tend to be a lot more accepting of gay relationships on TV and in the media, even when it comes to kid’s material. Here’s what The Legend of Korra voice actress Janet Varney had to say on the matter:
I think that things have really come a long way in the last few years, and that at the time, it was a really big deal that Korra and Asami ended up together at all. And I really appreciate Nickelodeon being on board for it, and they were. But I also feel again that an envelope was being pushed on the kind of drama and trauma side of things, and that was really what the fourth season was focusing on.
In other words, the bisexual aspect wasn’t the main focus of the fourth season, which may have been for the best, given the arc that Korra was going through in dealing with all the trauma from Season 3. But a lot of fans like to point out that there were still subtle hints to her and Asami's relationship if you were just looking closely enough, most notably in how Korra would sort of blush when she was around Asami in Season 4.
But here’s another question: should the creators have made it clearer, and would it be clearer if the show ended today? Here’s what Janet Varney, who currently stars in the IFC comedy Fortune Rookie, had to say:
I don’t know if things would have been that different if the finale was ending tomorrow. That’s more a question for Mike and Bryan [the creators of the show]. But I think it made sense the way it played out, and I’m just so happy that they continued with the graphic novel to tell the story that Korra and Asami had together.
Yes, there is a graphic novel that starts up in the aftermath of the TV series' events. Called Turf Wars, it actually takes place directly after Korra and Asami go through the portal into the spirit realm. And if you read the story, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about their romance. Korrasami is canon, and their budding relationship is a major part of the narrative.
So we’ll never really know if Korrasami would have been clearer on the show if it was made today, but at least we still have the comics to spell it out for those who found the ending to be too ambiguous. As for the show itself, you can currently catch the entire series since it's now available to stream on Netflix. To find the streaming giant's complete schedule for the rest of 2020, head to our rundown of Netflix premieres, as well as our 2020 Fall TV premiere schedule.
