If you haven’t seen the first three episodes, check out my reviews for those! Here’s the two-episode premiere, and here’s episode three.

This episode started with a bang. Avatar Korra’s father and mother are immediately arrested by her uncle, Unalaq. Korra pleads with her uncle and assures him that her parents are innocent. Instead of listening to the Avatar (like people should start doing), he says Korra must leave it up to a trial. After all, her father did host a meeting of the rebels.

Like everything else Unalaq has done, my hackles rose in suspicion. I mean, yes, her father hosted a discussion, just like any good leader should do! They talked about rebellion, but her father never said yes to it. Instead, he encouraged Korra to attempt to find a middle ground and go talk to her uncle. Understandably, my suspicion of Unalaq has grown from episode one. I don’t trust him, and I think he’s up to something.

The trial plays out, and the judge finds her mother innocent and her father and the rest of the men guilty. The surprise comes when the judge sentences all of them to death. Korra flies into a rage and threatens the judge’s life. Unalaq steps in and asks the judge for clemency. The judge grants it, and sentences the men to life in prison instead. Even though Unalaq stepped into help, I still don’t trust his motivations. Who knows, maybe he set this whole thing up! For that matter, I think he set up Korra’s father to be banished too – and maybe he’s calling the spirits to attack the tribes!

Meanwhile, back in the air temple, Tenzin finds his daughter around a table with sky bison babies having a tea party. She says a prayer and is thankful her brother and sister aren’t there, because they’re mean. Instead of dragging her home, Tenzin asks if he can join the party. They are both happy to be away from the stress of family problems. But as times goes on, they realize that both the adult siblings and the child siblings really aren’t that bad. Tenzin’s daughter expresses her thought that maybe even though no family is perfect, they’re always there for you. Tenzin agrees and they rejoin their family, apologizing and receiving apologies in return.

I loved this whole arc. Like I said in my previous article, I could tell exactly what message the creators are trying to send. It was cute and touching. I was happy for a little break in the drama-filled Korra storyline. It was really nice to see Tenzin soften up and express love to his family and his children. Oh, and we got to see a photo of Ang as a father! Woo, Ang grew up well, if you know what I mean! Tenzin definitely takes after him.

Going back to Korra’s problems, she corners the judge, who tells her that Unalaq set the whole thing up (just as I suspected!). It turns out that no-good Unalaq actually did set up Korra’s father to be kicked out of the Northern Water Tribe. Damn him!

Korra goes immediately to her friends and the merchant Varrick. They plan together to break the rebels and her father out of prison, even though she promised her father she wouldn’t do anything rash. They find Unalaq at the prison, who reveals he sent the rebels out on a boat to the Northern Water Tribe to serve their sentence there. Korra puts some hurt on Unalaq via bending, and they rush out on Varrick’s boat to save her father. With some more fancy bending, Korra rescues everyone. Once she’s explained to her father what’s going on, he encourages her to go get help from the central government.

It was fun to see some awesome bending, and I do like how all of Korra’s fights end with no one majorly hurt or dead. I think that again shows how seriously she is starting to take her responsibility as the Avatar. The fact no one really dies could just be because it’s a kids’ show, but I like to think it’s Korra specifically using bending in a way that doesn’t kill, but only detains, her foes. I think her next move should be to go get Tenzin and have him help her convince the government to aid them.

I am curious, though, about the spirits. We haven’t dealt with them in the last couple of episodes. From the intro to the show, you can tell that Korra does learn how to spirit bend, so I’m definitely looking forward to see how that plays out. I’m also worried that Unalaq is controlling the spirits and encouraging them to attack.

On a side note, Bolin’s relationship hasn’t gotten any better with the creepy water tribe twin. He takes Asami’s advice this time to just be honest with her and tell her how he really feels (pretty good advice!). But when he does, Eska freaks out and says they must marry each other. Yep, this girl is definitely crazy. At the end of the show, Eska shows up, her makeup streaming down her face, chasing the boat they have all escaped on – so who knows how that will turn out. I enjoyed their relationship a little more this time, but again, I think it’s a little heavy-handed and not that funny. It’s also interesting to see the different advice he’s gotten from people; the advice they give shows a lot about their character. For instance, Varrick tells him to just lie big and then get the hell out of there. Not someone I’d want to get on the bad side of, or necessarily have as my friend.

All-in-all, I definitely enjoyed this episode. Things are about the get a lot more complicated, and I predict that Korra will need to learn spirit bending before this mess can be fixed. I’m happy with how Korra’s character is developing. She is starting to gather evidence and consider her options before acting, which is awesome. She’s making her own decisions, and I think, so far, they are good ones. But she’s still willing to listen to advice, and if it’s sound, she accepts it and changes her plans. For instance, she wanted to stay and fight with her father, but instead she took his advice and is now going to the government for help, which is probably a good idea.

Can I watch the next episode yet?

Score: A

New episodes air Fridays at 7pm, EST.