This episode is so dumb. Just people arguing over nonsense in the most uncompelling way possible. The two tribes are painfully simplistic and their cultural clash tedious to sit through because of it. While in theory I could get on board with a story about overcoming cultural divides and generational rivalries (i mean one of my favourite musicals is West Side Story) but The Great Divide does not do this type of story justice. Even as a story about Aang navigating the complexities of being a mediator is barely does anything interesting and adds nothing to his character. Though it was satisfying to see him be the one rational person among two groups of squabbling children.
Also can we talk about how horrifically xenophobic the Gan Jin are to the Zhang here. It's weird that this episode isn't cognisant of the intensity of the language the Gan Jin use against the Zhang. The Gan Jin call the Zhang barbaric, unclean, thieves while in contrast the Zhang call the Gan Jin... pompous. To treat these two perspectives as equivalent is so strange. Especially because the show frequently highlights the way the Fire Nation uses this rhetoric against the Witer Tribes and Earth kingdom to justify expansionism and genocide. It's just another example of how undercooked this episode is.
I was ready to assume this episode was overhated, but no it's just as dumb and bad as everyone says.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-11-19T21:04:55Z
5.4/10. This one was pretty dire. I cannot believe that in an episode about two warring tribes (and a literal snobs vs. slob conflict), they actually uttered the words "I guess we're not so different after all." Sometimes I forget that this is a kids show, and it's nice to have lessons here and there. But this was just the most predictable, generic story about two different communities finding ground imaginable. (Even if it does include the voice of Odo from Deep Space 9!) The one tribe being fastidious proper folks and the other being slovenly warriors is the laziest kind of divide, and the whole "learning to appreciate one another through overcoming a joint obstacles" was hokey as all get out.
The only real saving grace are the competing legend stories of the two communities. While the different perspective on the same event bit has been done to death, I appreciated the fact that the episode used different art styles for each retelling of it as a way to accentuate the different views of the different groups. It's a nice touch. And Aang lying and saying he knew the two patrons who started this whole thing 100 years ago, and that it was nothing, is at least an interesting twist.
But the most part this is just a paint-by-numbers kids show episode, teaching everyone a low-level lesson about differences being skin deep among common mistrustful communities (and shoehorning a rushed dispute and resolution for Katara and Sokka on the same terms.) Pretty weak.