#people get frustrated about a lot of things in puppy stakes but ultimately puppies can do no wrong

[abirddogmoment]

A little bit about CKC pointing field trials (puppy stakes) in general for those who are interested in how they run.

CKC has its hunting dog events broken out pretty specifically. CKC is restrictive in which breeds can run which events (e.g., only CKC registered approved pointing breeds can run pointing tests, other breeds are excluded even if they technically could complete the exercises. Rory can only run pointing events, she couldn't do a retriever test or a spaniel test).

We also have a distinction in trials vs tests, as most other venues do.

Trials - you are competing against other people and being judged against a standard. You run in pairs. Top 4 dogs get placements, once you get enough points you get a field championship.

Tests - you are running alone and being judged against a standard for a qualifying/non-qualifying runs. 3 qualifying runs gets you a title.

We are currently running CKC pointing field trials.

CKC pointing trials have two main distinctions within them - puppy stakes and senior stakes. You can enter whichever stake you're ready for, with some exceptions (like age) - you don't have to run puppy stakes before running senior stakes.

Puppy stakes are a little lower pressure because they judge puppies' potential. Within puppy stakes, there are two main types of runs.

Open puppy stakes: any puppy *of eligible breed* between 6 and 18 months old. No birds hidden in the field, no gunshots on the course, 15-20 minutes running.

Derby stakes: any puppy of eligible breed between 6 and 27 months old. At least two birds hidden in the field, puppy needs to point birds if encountered, gunshots, 20-30 minutes.

We run open puppy for now. Here's how this goes:

We are randomly paired with another puppy and handler (this pairing is called a brace, the other handler and dog are our bracemates). We walk up to the start line together (usually the entrance to a big pasture) with our puppies on leash. Two judges (on ATV or horseback) give us a quick overview of the course we have to walk. The course is usually through a big open field with medium cover (think knee high grasses and shrubs, some wetlands, some hills but no forest) and typically avoids fencelines or roads. They tell us to release our dogs at the same time, so we let the dogs off leash and start walking (very fast, and I'm a fast walker to begin with). The course is usually huge, much bigger than we could possibly walk in 20 mins.

Usually the puppies play a little bit and then get to work. The judges are looking for puppies who can ignore the other dog and handler, judges, ATV, horses, and spectators, hunt independently, cover lots of ground (move fast and steady across the terrain while still sniffing), use the wind to follow scent, and respond to their handlers' directions. If the puppies want to play too much, the judges will ask the handlers to split up a little bit to encourage the puppies to work independently. Usually you stick within about 10m (25ft) of your bracemate. Puppies can range anywhere as long as they stay visible and ahead of their handlers. (Puppies are often about several hundred metres/yards away from their handlers depending on breed. Rory ranges about 50-100m in real life and about 75-300m in field trials. It is an exhilarating exercise in trust in my training.)

The judges follow behind us and then spectators can follow behind the judges, if they want. We have to keep up a very fast pace to encourage the puppies to cover as much ground as possible, not at a jog but pretty close.

In puppy stakes, you want to keep as quiet as you can. The judges are looking for instinct and basic potential, so you don't want to ruin that by giving your dog tons of directions. If your puppy follows directions, that suggests they need directions to function. If your dog ignores directions, that's unresponsive and also bad. Ideally you shouldn't say much during your run unless there's danger (if a deer runs out, you would recall your puppy) or evils (if your puppy is eating poop, you could recall or redirect). You are allowed to chat with your bracemate but you have to hustle fast so it's usually friendly but minimal.

One important piece of open puppy stakes is that there are no planted birds in the field! There may be wild birds, but it's unlikely. Many people "over train" their bird dog puppies on live birds, and then the puppies get really frustrated that there are no birds in the field after they search so hard. This causes puppies to slow down or give up entirely during their run, so this is something that judges look for. In real life hunting, there's no guarantee of birds so it's important that puppies can work through frustration without losing enthusiasm.

The judges kind of shout directions (go left, head for those trees) from behind to keep us on course. In the best courses, the judges make you walk a loop, but sometimes your time ends in the middle of a field. When your time is up, the judges will thank you and tell you to leash your dog. We recall our puppies and put them on leash and walk them back to our cars for water and snacks.

That's the whole run for open puppy! It's very low pressure. The puppies basically just follow their hearts and do what they were made to do.

Derby is extremely similar, except there are birds planted in the field. The puppies don't HAVE to find birds but obviously its preferable that they do. If they find birds, they must point (stop moving and stand still staring at the bird). They don't have to be steady to flush or shot (they can chase when the bird flies or when the gun goes off), and only blanks are shot in derby. The course is a little longer but everything else is the same.

In open puppy and derby stakes, the judges are just looking for potential. They want to know if your dog would be competitive in the senior stakes, so they're looking for lots of independence, lots of bird drive, lots of stamina, things like that. Because they're judging potential, younger puppies may be judged a little easier than older puppies.

I think that's the gist of puppy stakes in CKC pointing field trials! Send me a message if you have questions about our experience so far!

[t0ast-ghost]

Hmmm mmmmmm I have so many boys thoughts and since I’m not sleeping tonight I guess I’ll write them down:

(Spoilers for the Boys season 4. Don’t cry over spoiled milk show! Go watch it for yourself)

- Truthfully I didn’t like Hughie in the second episode they just made him (super forcefully) bring up his mom. I did really like all his other bits though especially the stuff we’re getting into with a-train (really hope they actually go through with giving him plot, since he’s supposed to be the main character and all that or whatever)

- every time a character got close to another I legitimately asked if they were gonna kiss

- butcher is my wet cat sad puppy murdering babygirl, he’s slaying this season by actually communicating and I hope it stays that way

- This is the second time I’ve seen Jeffrey Dean Morgan play a horrible person willing to weaponize children for their cause… and he’s good at playing that part (I feel they gave his character a lot of what Butcher was in the comics)

- I really do like what they’re doing with A-Train

- I really do hate what they’re doing with Annie and Firecracker, I get they have to have personal conflict but this feels shallow and although it’s believable that this grudge would last I think there should have been more thought put into the stakes of their relationship (Curry and Moriaty’s acting was so good for the bit where Firecracker threatens her but the stakes are so low and the hatred in the writing doesn’t feel built up enough for her to have that big of a reaction to the threat)

- Going back to Hughie and his mom, I think Quaid’s acting for the bits with his mom were phenomenal, I could relate to his frustration and his sadness was palpable. I think a lot of their moments didn’t feel great and I couldn’t put my finger on it but the conversation about how her depression lead to her leaving felt like the truth finally came out and now it’s hopefully going to feel a bit more like things are moving forward for them

- I’m a little surprised they actually had a character like splinter. Simply because he felt straight out of the comics, and I know how much they’ve veered away from the comics. I really liked the scene where Butcher got to take out a bunch of them simply cause he got to be good ‘ol Billy Butcher

- Homelander has me on a roller coaster because I was going to write a post while watching about how they write him really well in a mindfuck kind of way because you slowly start realizing you’re relating to his character and you can understand his actions, and right before I wrote that post he told the deep to suck off a train and I stopped dead in my tracks. I was legitimately scared in that moment because that also felt like something out of the comics but the difference is that the tv show wouldn’t or at least didn’t go through with it

- Homelander this season is even more brilliantly acted, and seeing him with Sage is a new interesting experience. I was trying to figure out Sage’s motivations and I thought I knew but really I didn’t know because I was trying to say she was fighting for a cause. That is wrong. She is constantly manipulating the people around her but it is solely to benefit herself and her happiness. Yes, she helps Homelander and is honest with him because that is the best way to keep herself happy and alive. She’s smart enough to know that manipulating him or trying to agree with everything he says will be a dead end. She’s still trying to please him and is ultimately playing by his rules but she’s the smartest player because she knows being inauthentic will only end up losing you power, and if you’re on the end of two hot glowing red orbs anyway, why not at least have an actual say

- The gore is going well so far. I’ve appreciated it. Especially the beetlejuice-esque scene where Kimiko has her face torn off and you only see the back of her head and the reactions

- Ryan has so many good scenes. His scenes with Homelander are punctuated by quiet, you can hear every thought screaming through, but what would saying any of it actually accomplish? His scenes with Butcher are so heartfelt, I’m glad they’re finally able to talk. But Ryan still dealing with his grief and guilt is heartbreaking. And on top of that him thinking that the closest person to his mom seemingly hates him and would never want him adds so much to the emotional confusion that he’s experiencing. He obviously needs to leave Homelander, but he still doesn’t want to leave his dad which makes sense because this is currently the only source of love he has from anyone and it was promised unconditionally (even though it is very conditional)

- Frechie’s gotta tell that guy that he killed his family but I was really glad they gave him a boyfriend. I forgot that him and Kimiko weren’t a thing so I got really excited that Frenchie was getting to be awesome and polyamorous. I am glad that Kimiko has asserted that they are friends tho

- I am so intrigued by the brain worm

Thoughts upon second rewatch:

- Opening could’ve been bloodier or more horrific. They toned it down :( but the flesh and blood melting off that guys face was pretty good. And the Todd scene is pretty horrific.

- The way Ryan and Homelander speak in unison about people being ants is so telling, and makes sense with the later context of Homelander wanting Ryan to be an exact replica of himself

- The way that Ryan in this season is so focussed on fear, because he is scared but the people around him won’t admit to that, so when Butcher finally communicates with him and tells him that he’s most afraid of dying without making amends I think that finally gains Ryan’s trust back

- They really are changing Butcher’s character, he’s not just ‘do thing to get thing and it’s justified by the end result’ he’s finally thinking about the people around him and considering them even if the results aren’t fast. He doesn’t give the info to Vick, he doesn’t drug Ryan, and he’s really trying to help even if he is still being a shit about it

- The talk between Vick and Homelander in the opening is sooooo good cause of HL’s little voice crack, he’s losing it

- KIMIKO PAINTS HER NAILS!!! they’re blue :)

- I feel like Hughie’s hatred towards Vicky is forced upon him. Like I guess he hates that she lied to him (but if he thought about it he’d realize that it’s reasonable for her to want to hide her powers especially since she’s been shamed about them for most of her life) and I get they have very different views with her under vought’s thumb and all. But since they’re recruiting A-Train I’m wondering if there’ll ever be a bit of a redemption for her cause I feel like wanting supes to be allowed to live like normal people is not a bad thing, it’s just that she’s working with people who view supes as superior

- “He killed that poor cunt in broad daylight, and they fucking cheered.” Alongside Homelanders “I save people, they cheer. I fucking kill people, they cheer.” is like, they both understand this fact. Homelander will get what he wants no matter what and Billy wants to take him down a notch. Same as always and yet so many changes.

- I missed that the acid that Hughie threw on Vick was Frenchie’s creation the first time around. Also missed Hughie’s failed pep talk, I love that loser. I didn’t miss that no one else is able to understand Kimiko, which sucks

- I want Karl Urban and Simon Pegg to be in the same room again but that’s just my star trek fan talking

- Is that the first time Hughie and Butcher properly hug in the series?

- There’s a weird obsession with phones this season. Especially with hanging up on people. Also an obsession with “no/yes, sirs” which I think is them upping the show of power dynamics

- I thought that octopus sounded familiar. It’s Tilda Fucking Swinton.

- “He always knew he was destined for greatness, because he came from greatness.” Good job guys. I see your little joke

- I did not notice that all the guys setting up Firecracker’s stage were splinter who is played by Rob Benedict (Chuck in Supernatural)

- One of the background noises at the Truthcon mentions an “Alex Jones look alike contest”

- When Ryan throws Koi against the wall in other shows that would be his turning point. The point in which there’s no going back for him. So I’m really glad that it’s just the point in which he needs to talk to someone, that it really does upset him. Unfortunately he goes from one horribly emotionally repressed man to a slightly less emotionally repressed man who is dying

- I hope whoever that person that Kimiko knows turns into a new found family member

- M. M slowly realizing why Butcher was such a bitch to everyone on the team. And it’s because no one listens. Ever. Unless you’re actively threatening them in one way or another

- I don’t know what that bloody metal rod in Sage’s room means even after a rewatch. So I guess I’ll find out.

- Closing thoughts; bring in more A-Train and Hughie moments (also get people to call him Reggie so I don’t have to write A-Train every time)

Hughie has weed in his desk

If y’all wanna talk about this with me (especially after reading all that) feel free to do so

Uhhh more thoughts here

[papi-chulo-arthur]

Arthur Morgan | Relationship Alphabet

A = Activity (What they’re favourite activity is to do with you)

Arthur loves to take you horse riding. He’s a simple man that enjoys the little things in life, so if he can have you on the back of his horse, arms tucked around his waist and chest pressed up against his back, then he’s one happy man. More than that though, he loves reaching the destination. He will sit in a field with you all afternoon, sketching in his journal while you explore the surrounds.

B = Beginnings (How they act at the beginning of the relationship)

After years of being torn down, Arthur is an insecure man. You were probably the one to instigate the relationship in the first place, with Arthur thinking he wasn’t good enough for a person like you. But once Arthur realises that you genuinely have feelings for him, he spends more and more time with you. He still gives you plenty of space but quickly learns that you’d rather have him by your side.

C = Communication (How do they communication with your S/O?)

We all know Arthur is a man of few words and even though he slowly opened up to you throughout the course of your relationship, he still doesn’t know how to formulate the words to express exactly how he’s feeling. Instead, Arthur displays his emotions through actions. If he’s feeling a lot of love for you, he’ll help you with chores and hold you tightly at night. However, if he’s a little frustrated with the way things are going, he tends to distance himself.

D = Drunk (What they’re like when they’re drunk)

LEnNy? Okay, so we all know what this guy is like when he’s drunk. Although, being drunk around you puts Arthur in the mood… Big time

E = Emergency (How are they in emergency situations?)

Arthur is a smart guy. He’s been in enough terrible situations to know how to keep a level head. If your safety is at stake, or you’ve been hurt, he’s going to take every precaution not to put you in further danger. He strategizes and executes his plan. At the end of the day he wants to keep you safe and pain free. However, if you are in pain, he’s not going to leave to your side. If someone needs his help, he’s busy taking care of you. Charles wants him to go hunting? Not today, he’s taking care of you.

F = Free spot (Any canon I come up with)

Arthur is the king of oral. The way he smirks when he sees you squirming above him really gets him going. And his hands? Arthur has giant hands that are perfect to hold your hips down so his tongue can have full access.

G = Gifts (What kind of gifts do they give? What kind of gifts do they receive?)

Arthur reads people well, so they kind of gift he gives changes depending on who he’s giving it to. But Arthur loves to give you gifts. He replaced an old pen you lost with a shiny new one, he bought you a new blouse in town so you could wear it out on a date with him, hell, he even brought you back a puppy do you wouldn’t be so lonely when he wasn’t in camp. As for receiving gifts? Arthur doesn’t expect a thing. He’s always been a giver, not a taker, so something as simple as cleaning his gun for him is a real treat for this man.

H = Hugs (How they show affection/cuddle?)

ARTHUR RADIATES HEAT. It’s the truth. He is a human fireplace and that is why he is the best person to cuddle. In Winter of course Arthur knows this. He’ll lull you over to him and pull you body back against his. This man LOVES being the big spoon, kissing the top of your head and pulling the blanket around your body.

I = Irritation (What is something that irritates them? How do they show their irritation?)

It’s the little things that tend to annoy Arthur, like if someone disrespects the women in the camp, he can’t help but say something to them about it. He doesn’t aim is frustration towards you though, whoever bothered him is going to know about it and that’s all there is to it.

J = Jackpot (If they come into a large sum of money, how do they spend it?)

Arthur Morgan, the kindest human being on the Earth is going to make sure that everyone he loves is provided for. He’d give Abagail a sum of money to help out with Jack, he’d donate some to the camp funds and he’d help out people along the way.

K = Kryptonite (What is their ultimate weakness?)

If you bring Arthur a cup of coffee in the evenings and have a cuddle with him around the fire, then you’ve got the man wrapped around your finger and he will do anything, like ANYTHING for you.

L = Laughter (What makes them laugh?)

Arthur chuckles at just about anything, but he was in stitches the day he tried to teach you how to ride a horse properly. You just couldn’t get the hang of it, and he’d honestly never seen someone so bad at it in life. So while he helped you, he laughed, which only made the situation lighter and put you more at ease. You remember him clearly saying, “If you rode this horse as well as you ride me, you’d be a champion.”

M = Morning (How do they wake up in the morning?)

Arthur is an up-an-at-em kind of guy. Generally, he’s awake before you are. So, when he slides his body out past yours, he places a soft kiss to your temple and tucks you back in.

N = Needy (When do they feel particularly needy? Do they show it?)

Arthur Morgan is the opposite of a needy guy. He’s spent his entire life worrying about the livelihoods of others, so when it comes to his needs in the relationship, he always pushes them aside in order to fulfil what you need first. However, if he’s had a long day and you’re able to coax what he needs out him, then he’s more than willing to let you help.

O = Oasis (What is their happy place? Where would they go if they didn’t have anything holding them back?)

Arthur loves being out in the West. He’s at his happiest when the he’s sitting on a rock, watching as the sun burns away the stars of night and takes it rightful place in the sky. He loves how the early mornings have a refreshing chill in the air, but he loves it more when you can join him. 

P = Pain (How do they handle pain? How do they handle you being in pain?)

Arthur has never been one to shy down to a fight. Over the years he’s learned how to handle the pain inflicted to him by others. A punch? Hardly feels it. Slashed by a knife? It’ll heal. But your pain is a completely different story. Arthur’s sole concern if you and if he can help take the pain away then he will.

Q = Quote (What’s a quote that fits them and your relationship?)

“Never chase love, affection or attention. If it isn’t given freely by another person, it isn’t worth having.”

R = Reunion (How do they celebrate seeing you after a long time of being apart?)

Arthur is an observer. When he rides in on his horse, he’ll silently watch you for a moment, waiting for you to spot him. When you finally lay eyes on him, he can’t take the grin from his lips. Arthur envelops you in a giant bear hug, crushing your body against his. He’ll share a tender kiss with you before slinging his arm over your shoulders and walking back to your tent with you. He wants to hear everything you have to say about what’s been happening in your life as he lays you down and puts his lips all over you.

S = Stress (What stresses them out? How do they deal with stress and how do they relieve it?)

Not much and everything seems to stress poor Arthur out. He’s dealt with so much in his life that he copes well with stress. However, he does get a little agitated when a plan’s gone wrong, but it’s nothing that taking a ride out to the woods and sketching the beauty around him can’t fix. He also likes to listen to what you have to say, finding that listening to your perspective gives him space to breath.

T = Terror (What are they afraid of?)

The only thing Arthur is afraid of is losing you. He doesn’t think his heart could take being broken again. You keep him sane, a man of higher honour than he’s used to being. He’s sure he’d end up like Swanson if he were to lose you.

U = Unique (What is a quirk that is unique to them?)

Arthur is a complete gentleman, and while this isn’t a completely unique trait, he’s one of very few men around camp that has complete respect for the women around him. He’s happy to hold anyone’s hand to help them from a platform or carry their things so that they don’t have too.

V = Violence (Do they fight a lot? Are they a good fighter? What is their fighting style?)

Arthur has been fighting all his life. The guy knows how to throw punch, block a punch and take a punch. He’s one of the better fighters around camp, although he’s not a fast as a he used to be. But, you don’t have to be fast when you’ve got his strength.

W = Wow (What do you do that really surprises them?)

Arthur will never forget the night that you set up camp, just for the two you in, in a secluded spot by the river. He’s always amazed when you give yourself to him, but you see you in all your glory while the stars twinkled above you? Oh, and the light droplets of rain that dampened your skin and matted your hair as you made love? That was an incredible evening.

 X = Explicit

Arthur loves it when he’s get to relax and you take the reins. He’s happy to lean back against the wall and look up at you while you slowly ride him. His hands grip your waist perfectly, and he swears he’d got a goddess on top of him.

Y = Yucky (Is there something that grosses them out so badly they can’t handle it?)

Micah. Micah grosses Arthur out.

Z = ZZZ’s (What are their sleeping habits?)

Arthur is a light sleeper. He’s more times awake during the night than he is asleep. He does like to cuddle when he sleeps though. This man is the perfect big spoon and he knows it.  

[lokgifsandmusings]

Definitive Ranking of Book 1 Episodes, #8/12

8. 1x10 “Turning  the Tide”

Baby cramps, heroic sacrifices, turn-based combat, and some quality time for Hiroshi and Amon. 

If you read my last definitive ranking, you knew this episode was coming next. And full disclosure: I actually don’t overly mind it. I think the pacing is pretty decent and moves, the interpersonal tensions are...unfortunate though understandable given everyone’s perspective/history, and it raised the stakes of the season in a pretty tangible way.

Now, that said, this is also the episode many point to as where the wheels sort of came off in terms of the main plot. Amon bombed the city, and immediately all nuance was stripped from the narrative. The Equalists went from having a point, but going too far in their pursuit of their definition of justice, to being more one-note villains looking to break Republic City. From Nolan’s Bane to Lady Shiva, if you will. (I’m probably wrong about this comparison in some way.)

TEC is really good right now btw. And interestingly Nolan’s Bane is rather like this Ra’s.

What’s dangerous about this criticism is that it can veer into “well it’s not what I wanted territory.” But I truly don’t think it’s controversial to say that the best potential this season offered was digging into the nonbender vs. bender conflict and how the latter group’s privilege was creating quite the untenable society. I mean...that’s what the antagonist and the Equalists were built on, after all.

What’s weird is that Bryke did seem to want to tap into that, at least somewhat. “When Extremes Meet” showed the oppression of the masses in a pretty stark way, and a way that specifically evoked police brutality in our world. It’s impossible to separate Tarrlok rounding everyone up from today’s cultural context. Hell, even the series opener had Korra pointing out how the city was “totally out of whack”, because it was. She witnessed extortion and the domination of the triads first-hand, not to mention arbitrary “no fishing” rules when there were people who clearly were struggling to feed themselves.

In “And The Winner Is...” Amon painted the shock gloves as a means of liberation. Then there’s also a very valid reading of debending as “disarmament”, particularly when Amon was just targeting triad members. His debending of Tahno undercut his point, but there was some neatly spun bullshit about the bending-worship culture and Tahno being a symbol of all that was wrong.

I guess what I’m saying is that there was a very strong, consistent thread regarding the nonbenders’ plight and relegation from positions of recourse. There was room to debate Amon’s method and desired outcome, and obviously that room was filled with characters like Asami who would never blame benders as a monolith or join the Equalists, yet still were committed to justice. Granted, she was only given her father as a sounding board for those beliefs and it was framed in a very personal, rather than systemic way, but we at least know people like Asami exist, and are probably in the majority. (The full stadium for the probending final suggested that, for example.)

So what the hell were Bryke thinking when they had Amon and Hiroshi bomb the city? We’re not talking a targeted attack on the police department either...we’re talking a major bombing campaign that looked pretty damn arbitrary.

It’s like...they came up with a way to script the world that would have rejected Korra as a symbol (as her arc demanded) and challenged her to find her own voice and place within it. They also came up with an antagonist that was chilling in the way that you could see people signing onto his campaign, yet was out of balance in his method of achieving equality. But then Bryke were worried that given these two components, they didn’t have a way to argue our protagonists’ side for them or something, so they just...had the Equalists bomb everything.

It’s frustrating, because Amon’s targeting of council members and the policemen were effective parts of the episode. It was clever how they went about doing that (down to the exterminator-in-disguise and giant magnets), and the action surrounding those two events worked. Yeah, we had a weird turn-based combat thing going with Mako, Korra, Bolin, and Asami outside of the police department, but it also showcased their individual abilities and their collective action as a team outside of a car.

What boggles my mind is that Bryke had the perfect mouthpieces through which they could have dug into the implications of the story they were telling: Pema and Asami. I know I’ve complained about the wasted potential in their one shared scene before, and probably too much for most people’s liking. But come the fuck on; these are the two most prominent nonbenders in the show (at this point), and the focus is Pema’s baby cramps instead of us hearing it articulated why they can’t side with Amon—why it is that his methods are too extreme.

I think what’s worse too is watching this in 2018. Fighting back physically against oppressors and dismantling corrupt systems is a whole lot less of a hypothetical thought exercise than it used to be, and more like issues and decisions we may well have to grapple with. So let’s hear a word put in for nonviolent resistance! Let’s see what the counter ideas from the nonbending perspective look like. And for the love of god, let’s have people actually object to Amon’s various puppy-kicking moments. Hell, he and Hiroshi could have even had a conversation about the “necessity” of what they’re doing! It could become clear that Hiroshi disagrees, but is kind of in for a dime, in for a dollar, and blinded by his own personal grievance.

Ugh, I’m doing fix-it fic again, aren’t I? But these are very valid storytelling options that were ignored. Hiroshi just became the guy who provided tech, rather than someone who could have like...challenged this a little. Make him singularly focused on wiping out the triads, and it can become increasingly clear that his “acceptable loss” meter is wayyy out of balance, while Amon has no true interest in being remotely measured and is after every bender. Idk, I’m just spitballing here, but I do feel that actually digging into this would have made his ultimate defeat more satisfying. And the off-screen presidency less of an ass-pull and more something that came out of a dialogue introduced in Book 1.

None of these problems are contained to “Turning the Tides,” I should note. “Skeletons in the Closet” had very bizarre aftermath of the bombing, and also introduced personal stakes for Amon that were entirely separate from the cultural dynamic the season was digging into. Like it’s a fine story that he was cynically capitalizing on it for his own purposes, I guess, but then there was so little between him and Korra that any larger point was missing (unlike, say, Kuvira who was also personally driven, yet a perfect foil and actively “taking over for Korra” in Korra’s mind).

It’s just that “Turning the Tides” truly lived up to its name; it was the episode that scrubbed all nuance away from the plotline, even wrapping up the plotline was notably “worse” in terms of quality of the show.

What’s odd is that despite this, it was still fairly enjoyable, and not just because it gave us our first whiff of Makoperator.

As I said, the two bigger action sequences were good. Asami and Mako’s ongoing fight was not exactly compelling TV, but still gave Asami a fair bit of agency and was “realistic” enough for teenagers. Lin agreeing to protect Tenzin’s family shows us that once again she’s Too Good™ for literally everyone around her, and of course her sacrifice at the end was completely gripping. Too bad it gets undercut.

The worst that can be said outside of the implications is that the fart-bending was cringe-worthy, and I’ve yet to figure out a rationale for the necessity of that failed Equalist invasion during Pema’s labor. Rohan wasn’t even given a name like “Aemon Steelsong” where the situation of his birth affected anything. I guess it was cute to see Ikki, Jinora, and Meelo’s capabilities, though we also get that in “Endgame” (sorry, Lin).

Altogether, that’s why this episode ranks as back-middle. I can’t really complain when I’m watching it...just when I think about it.

But again and again I keep coming back to the main issue of the season: Bryke didn’t understand what they wanted to say. Not for Korra’s arc at all, and now as this episode demonstrates, not for the tensions introduced.

It was a cool concept, but this is the moment that marked it for just that, and nothing more.

#12 1x12 “Endgame”

#11 1x05 “The Spirit of Competition"

#10 1x11 “Skeletons in the Closet”

#9 1x06 “And The Winner Is...”

1x10 photo recap found here

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

Book 4 ranking/essays found here