Avatar: The Last Airbender / The Legend of Korra -

[Prophetic Spirit]

Well, time to resurrect this thread (or more like creating conversation).

I always thought about one specific detail in TLOK S1:
Why the fucking Elemental Dodgeball? I mean, isn't a bad idea but seems too dull in the first place. I really wanted a proper tournament fight, like the underground arena in the S2 of ATLA. Even there's a nice non-guarded plataform in that stadium to throw off oponents in a nice Yakuza fashion.

So, what are you thoughts on that?

 

[Rondo Richter Belmont]

Well, time to resurrect this thread (or more like creating conversation).

I always thought about one specific detail in TLOK S1:
Why the fucking Elemental Dodgeball? I mean, isn't a bad idea but seems too dull in the first place. I really wanted a proper tournament fight, like the underground arena in the S2 of ATLA. Even there's a nice non-guarded plataform in that stadium to throw off oponents in a nice Yakuza fashion.

So, what are you thoughts on that?

Pro-Bending was more or less just a plot device in the earlier plot of Korra, that soon as Season 2 rolls around becomes just irrelevant and only gets referenced only a few times after the first season, because it served its purpose.

If Bryke wanted to show off sports in their bootleg 1920's Asian New York, as a way of exploring more about this city founded by Aang and Zuko some time after the 100 Year War then they didn't do a good job.

 

[Übertroon]

Still haven't rewatched Legend of Korra because it means going through book 2, also the comics kinda soured my whole opinion of the franchise. Homophobe Sozin is so retarded that even my "woke" friends find it insulting

The worst part is that just a few simple improvements could have made book 2 more interesting and tolerable to watch. Especially Unalaq turning into the dark avatar was stupid and seemed to have little to do with his previously based character traits. I think the season would have worked better if Unalaq actually was a spiritual wackjob who thought he was bringing balance, and the plan was to combine both the dark and light spirit within the Avatar to create balance, leading to both dark and light spirit korra having to fight for control. This makes the struggle a more personal one rather than just pacific rim with giant spirits

 

[starborn427614]

Still haven't rewatched Legend of Korra because it means going through book 2, also the comics kinda soured my whole opinion of the franchise. Homophobe Sozin is so retarded that even my "woke" friends find it insulting

The worst part is that just a few simple improvements could have made book 2 more interesting and tolerable to watch. Especially Unalaq turning into the dark avatar was stupid and seemed to have little to do with his previously based character traits. I think the season would have worked better if Unalaq actually was a spiritual wackjob who thought he was bringing balance, and the plan was to combine both the dark and light spirit within the Avatar to create balance, leading to both dark and light spirit korra having to fight for control. This makes the struggle a more personal one rather than just pacific rim with giant spirits

He really is the worst villain out of the four. Didn't help that we got two waterbender villains in a row, just felt a bit repetitive.

 

[One Man Bland]

Well, time to resurrect this thread (or more like creating conversation).

I always thought about one specific detail in TLOK S1:
Why the fucking Elemental Dodgeball? I mean, isn't a bad idea but seems too dull in the first place. I really wanted a proper tournament fight, like the underground arena in the S2 of ATLA. Even there's a nice non-guarded plataform in that stadium to throw off oponents in a nice Yakuza fashion.

So, what are you thoughts on that?

I’m fairly certain the sport detours are because someone - either Bryke or a higher up - wanted a fantasy game to copy Harry Potter. It’s the only thing that makes sense as to why they’d make up a brand new sport that’s somehow confusing yet so dreadfully boring in action when they already showed the world is familiar with sports like volleyball and football in Aang’s time.

That and they probably realized that without the subplot the series would be over in like 4 episodes because there’s literally no reason for Korra to not focus on the Equalists.... which is hilarious given the choice to do a miniseries was so they could cut out all the filler and focus on the main threat. They try to justify it by saying that it’s the only way Korra got airbending techniques to make sense to her (even though she never actually tries to do the exercises the way Tenzin told her, and never listens when he says that bending/Avatar business is about more than just fighting) but it’s so half-assed that it just makes it look like the moral is that Tenzin, being the only real air nomad in the world currently, was supposed to be the real bad guy for not wanting his culture and traditions to be commercialized.

 

[starborn427614]

I’m fairly certain the sport detours are because someone - either Bryke or a higher up - wanted a fantasy game to copy Harry Potter.

That and they probably realized that without the subplot the series would be over in like 4 episodes because there’s literally no reason for Korra to not focus on the Equalists.... which is hilarious given the choice to do a miniseries was so they could cut out all the filler and focus on the main threat. They try to justify it by saying that it’s the only way Korra got airbending techniques to make sense to her (even though she never actually tries to do the exercises the way Tenzin told her, and never listens when he says that bending/Avatar business is about more than just fighting) but it’s so half-assed that it just makes it look like the moral is that Tenzin, being the only real air nomad in the world currently, was supposed to be the real bad guy for not wanting his culture and traditions to be commercialized.

Ehh I wouldn't go that far, she does end up using his teachings to win the match. She's a slacker in most areas, but that was an example of it being done right. I wish there were more moments like that.

 

[One Man Bland]

Ehh I wouldn't go that far, she does end up using his teachings to win the match. She's a slacker in most areas, but that was an example of it being done right. I wish there were more moments like that.

The problem I had is that it goes against everything that ATLA showed us about airbending, everything Tenzin was saying airbending is about, and even what the episode/show itself was leading towards just to give Korra a win.

Aang and Toph demonstrate the philosophies behind the elements where if earthbending is about “you either punch the rock or you don’t” then airbendimg is about working to circumvent problems. Tenzin attests to this in his own lectures. Korra however spends the entirety of her training with Tenzin trying to force airbending to conform to her fighting-focused training model and charges head first into a wall (literally), blames Tenzin for her lack of progress and breaks his irreplaceable nomad relics when she doesn’t get her way, and then magically figures out the footwork in the third act when doing the combat sport. There’s no thematic or narrative link between the pro bending and the air nomad philosophy, and the sport plot doesn’t even continue to help her with air bending, Korra just kept shoving the square peg into the round hole until she had a breakthrough without actually earning it - the only one who actually has to change is Tenzin, by giving in to Korra’s demands.

It’s clear that they were trying give Korra the same arc Aang had with his first earth bending lesson, but the difference there is that Aang was actually forced to step out of his comfort zone in order to understand the earthbending philosophy, while Korra’s lesson is that things should conform to her comfort zone and it’s everyone else’s fault if they don’t. It’s kinda mystifying comparing the two side by side for how what should be the same message can get so mangled.

 

[starborn427614]

The problem I had is that it goes against everything that ATLA showed us about airbending, everything Tenzin was saying airbending is about, and even what the episode/show itself was leading towards just to give Korra a win.

Aang and Toph demonstrate the philosophies behind the elements where if earthbending is about “you either punch the rock or you don’t” then airbendimg is about working to circumvent problems. Tenzin attests to this in his own lectures. Korra however spends the entirety of her training with Tenzin trying to force airbending to conform to her fighting-focused training model and charges head first into a wall (literally), blames Tenzin for her lack of progress and breaks his irreplaceable nomad relics when she doesn’t get her way, and then magically figures out the footwork in the third act when doing the combat sport. There’s no thematic or narrative link between the pro bending and the air nomad philosophy, and the sport plot doesn’t even continue to help her with air bending, Korra just kept shoving the square peg into the round hole until she had a breakthrough without actually earning it - the only one who actually has to change is Tenzin, by giving in to Korra’s demands.

It’s clear that they were trying give Korra the same arc Aang had with his first earth bending lesson, but the difference there is that Aang was actually forced to step out of his comfort zone in order to understand the earthbending philosophy, while Korra’s lesson is that things should conform to her comfort zone and it’s everyone else’s fault if they don’t. It’s kinda mystifying comparing the two side by side for how what should be the same message can get so mangled.

The two methodologies do seem like chalk and cheese when you get right down to it. Still, that's not really the part I take issue with. I knew the series was going down a stupid path when Korra had that whimsical look on her face and it cut to Mako brooding. I hoped it was just Korra starstruck and in awe of the concept of Pro Bending, but alas. It was just another bout teenage romance schlock. And not the enjoyable, likable kind as with other shows of that period.

 

[Chilson]

The problem I had is that it goes against everything that ATLA showed us about airbending, everything Tenzin was saying airbending is about, and even what the episode/show itself was leading towards just to give Korra a win.

Aang and Toph demonstrate the philosophies behind the elements where if earthbending is about “you either punch the rock or you don’t” then airbendimg is about working to circumvent problems. Tenzin attests to this in his own lectures. Korra however spends the entirety of her training with Tenzin trying to force airbending to conform to her fighting-focused training model and charges head first into a wall (literally), blames Tenzin for her lack of progress and breaks his irreplaceable nomad relics when she doesn’t get her way, and then magically figures out the footwork in the third act when doing the combat sport. There’s no thematic or narrative link between the pro bending and the air nomad philosophy, and the sport plot doesn’t even continue to help her with air bending, Korra just kept shoving the square peg into the round hole until she had a breakthrough without actually earning it - the only one who actually has to change is Tenzin, by giving in to Korra’s demands.

It’s clear that they were trying give Korra the same arc Aang had with his first earth bending lesson, but the difference there is that Aang was actually forced to step out of his comfort zone in order to understand the earthbending philosophy, while Korra’s lesson is that things should conform to her comfort zone and it’s everyone else’s fault if they don’t. It’s kinda mystifying comparing the two side by side for how what should be the same message can get so mangled.

It doesn't even make sense for air-bending to be her major roadblock. Water is opposite of fucking fire, not air. Its pretty much the sole reason the water tribe were able to hold out for 100+ years against the fire-benders who struggled in the cold wet isolation during ATLA.

She should have logically struggled with fire bending. Of course Bryke couldn't even get this right though because they had to force this conflict between Tenzin and Korra.

 

[One Man Bland]

The two methodologies do seem like chalk and cheese when you get right down to it. Still, that's not really the part I take issue with. I knew the series was going down a stupid path when Korra had that whimsical look on her face and it cut to Mako brooding. I hoped it was just Korra starstruck and in awe of the concept of Pro Bending, but alas. It was just another bout teenage romance schlock. And not the enjoyable, likable kind as with other shows of that period.

That was definitely another thing that made that whole subplot such a black hole. So much time was wasted on that crap.

It doesn't even make sense for air-bending to be her major roadblock. Water is opposite of fucking fire, not air. Its pretty much the sole reason the water tribe were able to hold out for 100+ years against the fire-benders who struggled in the cold wet isolation during ATLA.

She should have logically struggled with fire bending. Of course Bryke couldn't even get this right though because they had to force this conflict between Tenzin and Korra.

To be perfectly fair to Bryke, I can totally see the logic behind the decision to make it so airbending is difficult for Korra given the way the season is structured. In ATLA there were a bunch of other obstacles that stemmed from the road trip elements: in Water Aang can only know as much as Katara (which isn’t much at first) until they get to the North Pole, Earth spends a third of the season looking for Toph before Aang spends the rest of it learning to be direct (culminating in Aang taking this lesson to Ba Sing Se by barreling through the bureaucracy), then with Fire Aang learns the hard way that you can’t cheat the element order & that he needs to learn from a fire bender who doesn’t view fire bending only in the context of destruction like Zhao or even Jeong Jeong. LOK doesn’t have the means to make obstacles like this because it takes place in one location and Tenzin is available, so it makes sense on paper to have Air be a season long conflict by having Korra struggle with it.

Problem is, they shot this concept in the foot right off the bat with Korra’s “you gotta deal with it” gag making this conflict feel artificial (seriously how did she master water bending and not air bending when they’re so similar?) and it needed to be given a connection to the main plot by having it so Korra’s airbending problems parallel how her normal “shoot first” methods make things worse. They seem like that’s the direction they’re going by having the main conflict revolve around bender vs non bender rights, but it was like they decided it was too hard to think of a way for Korra to resolve that issue so they instead they made the bad guy a hypocritical fraud for her to punch to hand wave all the equality questions instead.

Bryke in general seem to be obsessed with the kind of plots where the main character learns they were right all along or perform major ass pulls Fun fact: in the original drafts Aang was supposed to instantly master firebending in the climax, by mimicking Ozai’s movements in a routine straight out of a vaudeville act. Really wish I was kidding. and with Korra being the culmination of all their worse writing sensibilities those ass pulls were a lot more obvious.

 

[Übertroon]

That was definitely another thing that made that whole subplot such a black hole. So much time was wasted on that crap.

To be perfectly fair to Bryke, I can totally see the logic behind the decision to make it so airbending is difficult for Korra given the way the season is structured. In ATLA there were a bunch of other obstacles that stemmed from the road trip elements: in Water Aang can only know as much as Katara (which isn’t much at first) until they get to the North Pole, Earth spends a third of the season looking for Toph before Aang spends the rest of it learning to be direct (culminating in Aang taking this lesson to Ba Sing Se by barreling through the bureaucracy), then with Fire Aang learns the hard way that you can’t cheat the element order & that he needs to learn from a fire bender who doesn’t view fire bending only in the context of destruction like Zhao or even Jeong Jeong. LOK doesn’t have the means to make obstacles like this because it takes place in one location and Tenzin is available, so it makes sense on paper to have Air be a season long conflict by having Korra struggle with it.

Problem is, they shot this concept in the foot right off the bat with Korra’s “you gotta deal with it” gag making this conflict feel artificial (seriously how did she master water bending and not air bending when they’re so similar?) and it needed to be given a connection to the main plot by having it so Korra’s airbending problems parallel how her normal “shoot first” methods make things worse. They seem like that’s the direction they’re going by having the main conflict revolve around bender vs non bender rights, but it was like they decided it was too hard to think of a way for Korra to resolve that issue so they instead they made the bad guy a hypocritical fraud for her to punch to hand wave all the equality questions instead.

Bryke in general seem to be obsessed with the kind of plots where the main character learns they were right all along or perform major ass pulls Fun fact: in the original drafts Aang was supposed to instantly master firebending in the climax, by mimicking Ozai’s movements in a routine straight out of a vaudeville act. Really wish I was kidding. and with Korra being the culmination of all their worse writing sensibilities those ass pulls were a lot more obvious.

The equalists were always wrong though, and their fans should be thrown out of airships

 

[One Man Bland]

The equalists were always wrong though, and their fans should be thrown out of airships

Given how Toph in the final season gives a whole speech about how the moral of LoK is about how all the villains (including Amon) made good points and it was just their actions that were wrong, and a lot of statements outside the show by Bryke, the intent was always that the nonbenders/equalists were people with legitimate grievances led astray by one guy.

A lot of that got muddled in Bryke slapping together ideas and everything they thought looked cool without regard for the actual setting. Hence how you get inherent contradictions like the show telling you that benders are the supposed ruling class despite most of the reoccurring non-benders being wealthy (and one being based on Henry Ford) while the most of benders characters are poor.

 

[RumblyTumbly]

I really like the concept of Pro-Bending. Sports are a big part of society and a showcase of mastery of special skills, and make for really fun games. And for Korra, it made sense as a way for her to better herself and her skills, and find her center. She's more competitive and hot headed than Aang, so such a competitive outlet for her abilities seemed appropriate for her.

Its been a while since I watched Korra, but I remember the game having rules that made sense. It was better than say Quidditch, which is basically "The Mary Sue Game" where the rules are superfluous and revolve entirely around The Seeker, Harry, being the hero. I don't remember Pro-Bending having that problem.

However, unlike Quidditch, I don't recall Pro-Bending having any big payoffs either. Quidditch had big moments for Harry and even Ron, and they felt satisfying. I don't recall Pro Bending ever going anywhere beyond Korra joining the team.

 

[Chilson]

I really like the concept of Pro-Bending. Sports are a big part of society and a showcase of mastery of special skills, and make for really fun games. And for Korra, it made sense as a way for her to better herself and her skills, and find her center. She's more competitive and hot headed than Aang, so such a competitive outlet for her abilities seemed appropriate for her.

Its been a while since I watched Korra, but I remember the game having rules that made sense. It was better than say Quidditch, which is basically "The Mary Sue Game" where the rules are superfluous and revolve entirely around The Seeker, Harry, being the hero. I don't remember Pro-Bending having that problem.

However, unlike Quidditch, I don't recall Pro-Bending having any big payoffs either. Quidditch had big moments for Harry and even Ron, and they felt satisfying. I don't recall Pro Bending ever going anywhere beyond Korra joining the team.

It was supposed to be where Korra finally "understood" air bending. The problem is that Pro-bending takes up a good third (at least) of the entire season, is intercut with all the awful romantic triangle crap, and is inherently opposed to the teachings of air-bending. She is also the avatar and should have never been allowed to compete on the basis that she can bend 3/4 elements. Its a pretty large point in ATLA that Ang was excluded from air-bending games and competitions due to his inherently superior abilities, and he only knew how to air-bend at that point. Pro-bending involves all 3/4 abilities she has supposedly "mastered" and she would have a huge advantage even if she promised not to cheat. How the hell could any audience member take the competition seriously, especially as she started to almost single handedly bring up a bottom tier team to become champions.

If it had to happen, it should have been for a single episode where all the air-bending teachings she can't really grasp with Tenzin come together in a moment of clarity. She leaves the bending team now that she realizes what air-bending is all about and returns to Tenzin with a better understanding so she can properly learn to air-bend under his tutelage. She can still see and train with her friends, but she has grown both as a person and the avatar. Fairly generic, but it gets the damn job done and doesn't waste time.

 

[One Man Bland]

I really like the concept of Pro-Bending. Sports are a big part of society and a showcase of mastery of special skills, and make for really fun games. And for Korra, it made sense as a way for her to better herself and her skills, and find her center. She's more competitive and hot headed than Aang, so such a competitive outlet for her abilities seemed appropriate for her.

Its been a while since I watched Korra, but I remember the game having rules that made sense. It was better than say Quidditch, which is basically "The Mary Sue Game" where the rules are superfluous and revolve entirely around The Seeker, Harry, being the hero. I don't remember Pro-Bending having that problem.

However, unlike Quidditch, I don't recall Pro-Bending having any big payoffs either. Quidditch had big moments for Harry and even Ron, and they felt satisfying. I don't recall Pro Bending ever going anywhere beyond Korra joining the team.

Admittedly I tend to exaggerate a little on how convoluted probending’s rules are just to give it gaff, but there’s definitely a few that are pretty bullshit - namely the one where you lose the first two rounds but will auto win the whole game if you knock everyone off. Imagine if there was a rule in tennis where you could be down 40-Love, but could win the match if you beaned your opponent in the face.

Really all the problems stem from how Bryke either don’t play or don’t follow sports, because from a design standpoint it’d be awful to play. It’s a game that’s primary goal is to push the opposing team from one end of the playing field to the other, but unlike similar sports the actual space looks barely bigger than a tennis court so there’s an unforgiving margin forever. The matches are practically over as soon as a team crosses the first threshold, and the only times we see anyone recover from that is when Korra’s plot armor kicks in.

Which brings me to my biggest gripe: the matches are just boring to watch. Combine the above with the fact that that the players have to stay so far apart, the use of bending is so heavily regulated (with earthbenders getting seriously screwed in that department) and there’s zero focus on strategy in matches to compensate, and you get this distracting start-and-stop pacing to anticlimactic matches that’s pretty much the antithesis to why people play/watch sports. People want to see athletes operating at peak performance and do crazy shit for the win, and athletes play to be challenged, not pussyfoot around each other from across the room with carefully controlled love taps lest they get too invested in the match and throw more than the allotted 3 seconds of water. If you wanna have a sport tournament take up a quarter of your run time, you better give it your all to make it have the same thrill of watching real athletes compete.

I just can’t picture anyone ever looking at something like pro-bending as it’s presented, and deciding “That’s so much more fun to watch than Earth Rumble.”

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

I couldn't get enough of Avatar.

I was hoping to like LOK just as much, but I gave up after 5 episodes.

I tried, I really did.

 

[starborn427614]

I couldn't get enough of Avatar.

I was hoping to like LOK just as much, but I gave up after 5 episodes.

I tried, I really did.

Five, huh. Yeah I can see why you'd drop it there.

 

[biscuitscilia]

Well, time to resurrect this thread (or more like creating conversation).

I always thought about one specific detail in TLOK S1:
Why the fucking Elemental Dodgeball? I mean, isn't a bad idea but seems too dull in the first place. I really wanted a proper tournament fight, like the underground arena in the S2 of ATLA. Even there's a nice non-guarded plataform in that stadium to throw off oponents in a nice Yakuza fashion.

So, what are you thoughts on that?

In some way, I almost feel like that was added in as a nod to the tournament storyline in Hunter x Hunter. It's kinda similar in that Korra used the tournament for experience but it was done in a far worse way. In the end, it really distracted from the narrative when we should have been focusing on more interesting stuff. I think Ehasz was the one who was actually interested in exploring bending and how it worked.

 

[One Man Bland]

In some way, I almost feel like that was added in as a nod to the tournament storyline in Hunter x Hunter. It's kinda similar in that Korra used the tournament for experience but it was done in a far worse way. In the end, it really distracted from the narrative when we should have been focusing on more interesting stuff. I think Ehasz was the one who was actually interested in exploring bending and how it worked.

Have either Bryan or Mike ever expressed interest in HxH? The only anime I’ve ever heard them cite directly as inspiration is Miyazaki films, so I just always figured that the pro-bending side plot was because tournament arcs are such a cliche staple to generic shonen at this point.

But yeah, from everything I gathered a lot of the actual world-building (or at least the heavy lifting to make the world-building connect meaningfully to the story/characters/themes) was done by the writing, art, and consultant teams and Bryke had little to do with this process (according to the commentary they spent very little time in the writing room’s brainstorming sessions) and their own process mostly throwing cool images they’ve seen/found together into a blender and chasing whatever aesthetic or isolated concept happened to tickle their fancy that week. By the time they got to LoK they were kinda “over” the martial art based bending system and Eastern mythos/philosophy/culture that served as the basis for ATLA, which was ultimately to LoK’s detriment considering it was replaced with a more generic system & Korra not being spiritual was supposed to be the first season’s whole thing.

It’s funny, I recently stumbled upon some old blog posts by Mike Dimartino about the making of the Zuko’s mom comics, and he has a few choice words that I found enlightening to what Bryke valued when making a story and their thought process in writing - namely that they take the GoT approach in that unexpected plot twists are automatically good writing and that they’re willing and borderline eager to discard pretty much anything previously established to force it to fit the story they currently want to tell... one sentence after quoting Tolkien of all people. Though it’s funny to me that he references Lost (and, Christ in a hand basket, the fact his all time favorite show is Lost explains so, so fucking much) because I saw a retrospective review on it that argued the reason Lost fell apart, and the same mistake Lost’s later copycats make, are that it sacrificed coherent character development and narrative/thematic cohesion to compliment that character development for cheap shock value that either doesn’t add or actively devalues what came before it - which I think sums up the main problem with the comics & LoK quite nicely.

 

[Chilson]

Have either Bryan or Mike ever expressed interest in HxH? The only anime I’ve ever heard them cite directly as inspiration is Miyazaki films, so I just always figured that the pro-bending side plot was because tournament arcs are such a cliche staple to generic shonen at this point.

But yeah, from everything I gathered a lot of the actual world-building (or at least the heavy lifting to make the world-building connect meaningfully to the story/characters/themes) was done by the writing, art, and consultant teams and Bryke had little to do with this process (according to the commentary they spent very little time in the writing room’s brainstorming sessions) and their own process mostly throwing cool images they’ve seen/found together into a blender and chasing whatever aesthetic or isolated concept happened to tickle their fancy that week. By the time they got to LoK they were kinda “over” the martial art based bending system and Eastern mythos/philosophy/culture that served as the basis for ATLA, which was ultimately to LoK’s detriment considering it was replaced with a more generic system & Korra not being spiritual was supposed to be the first season’s whole thing.

It’s funny, I recently stumbled upon some old blog posts by Mike Dimartino about the making of the Zuko’s mom comics, and he has a few choice words that I found enlightening to what Bryke valued when making a story and their thought process in writing - namely that they take the GoT approach in that unexpected plot twists are automatically good writing and that they’re willing and borderline eager to discard pretty much anything previously established to force it to fit the story they currently want to tell... one sentence after quoting Tolkien of all people. Though it’s funny to me that he references Lost (and, Christ in a hand basket, the fact his all time favorite show is Lost explains so, so fucking much) because I saw a retrospective review on it that argued the reason Lost fell apart, and the same mistake Lost’s later copycats make, are that it sacrificed coherent character development and narrative/thematic cohesion to compliment that character development for cheap shock value that either doesn’t add or actively devalues what came before it - which I think sums up the main problem with the comics & LoK quite nicely.

Funny, because I don't even think they got losts "twists" right. Lost's twists are nonsensical garbage that were difficult to predict because they were nonsensical, LOK and the comic's twists are boring and easy to predict. Sure these things still ruin potentially interesting characters, but the characters were already so one dimensional and the betrayal's/reveals so telegraphed that it was hard to give a shit when it happened.