[8.2/10] An Appa story that is essentially a one-bison version of Homeward Bound with a little Frankenstein thrown in for good measure? You can bet your behind I’m there.
What impresses me with this show is how much it conveys using just its visuals, without any dialogue. Particular kudos belong to Dee Bradley Baker, who gives the audience so much to go on as to what Appa is thinking and feeling through this ordeal with just a variety of grunts and groans.
When he’s fighting the various sandbenders, we feel his struggle and how hard he’s fighting. It’s a pretty easy bit, but when he’s captured by that jerk in the circus, we want nothing more than for him to escape such harsh and unfair environs. (And the connection to the kid who reminds him of Aang is a nice touch in that regard.)
My god though, those flashbacks to the little baby flying bisons melted my cold cold heart. Not only is a nice excuse to see some mini-bisons being cute out there, but it deepens the connection between Aang and Appa and helps explain further why Appa is so determined to get back to the Avatar.
His running into Suki is also a nice touch, if only because of how hurt and afraid he is at the time. The whole fear of fire gets overplayed a bit, but the way he’s clearly been through so much and is struggling to go on when Suki finds him creates such pathos in this poor mistreated creature. The scenes where he has spines sticking out of him, his fur looks haggard and fray, and he’s fearful of anyone coming near him create such a sense of pity for such a kind, gentle animal.
I don’t know that we really needed the run-in with Azula & Co. immediately after, but it was entertaining enough to see her and her compatriots clash with the Kyoshi Warriors. And the follow up, with Appa trying to return to familiar surroundings and ending up meeting a Guru at the Eastern Air Temple, portends all sorts of interesting things. The Guru is an appropriately weird character, but the way he bonds with Appa and sends him toward Aang, speaking in broad strokes mysticism all the while, made for an interesting denouement to all this excitement.
Of course, he has to get captured by the guy who seems to be the season’s big bad before we can go, which ends things on a bit of a down note, but still, it is, true to the Homeward Bound influence, an incredible journey that owes a great deal to the animators and design team for communicating so many emotions and so much character from a big fluffy sky buffalo. The fact that a wordless beast can inspire so much feeling is a testament to how good the A:TLA team is, even when they’re working with one hand tied behind their backs without the use of dialogue or typical story progression.
