The Legend of Korra Series Review

I loved the first season probably because it felt like a continuation of "Avatar: The Last Airbender". After all, in Aang's adventure we did get all the elements except Air, so it was really great to see Korra learning to master that element and grow as a person. I know there was complaints about "the ghost in the machine" finale, but I didn't mind it and I felt that there was something spiritual going on that we, the audience, did not yet understand.

Therefore, the logical next step, after the avatar is a master all four elements, would be a spiritual journey. I remember little teases of the spirit world during A:TLA and really craving more of that. It was really awesome seeing Wan and getting an understanding from the very beginning, but then all that interesting potential storyline was torn away never to return. I remember being very confused at the end of the second season, but still being interested on what changed in the world.

Four new anagonists are introduced and random people seem to gain the power to bend, but only air. Why only air? I don't remember it ever being discussed. There is an existence of a group, opposite of the White Lotus, called the Red Lotus. What was their plan? I'm not really sure. Are there still members of their group in the universe. ::Shrug.:: It feels like we got more questions than answers in the third season, and the Avatar, who doesn't really know what to do with her life, is almost killed. It definitely feels like things are way out of balance.

So, what will our avatar do to bring the world back into balance? Nothing. Not for a while it seems. She's still messed up after 2 years, I believe. There was a random soldier who took it upon herself to fix what was broken, and became power hungry in the process. Where the Fire nation took over after avatar Aang disappeared, it felt like the beginnings of that, but instead with the Earth nation, and I could appreciate that logic. At the end of the day, I guess it's ironic or may be fitting that Korra destroyed the city that Aang built.

Disney's Frozen Review

Disney's "Frozen" warms the heart and is sprinkled with comedic moments that make it a really great film. I appreciate movies that don't follow the same mundane formula, movies that actually challenge the form, and "Frozen" does that in spades. It earns a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

American Horror Story: Coven Review

Overall, I'm sad to say that I really did not enjoy this season.  Some of the episodes were hard to get through or even get amped up enough to even play/watch them on my DVR.  It was VERY difficult to care about ANY of the characters because none of them had any redeeming value.  The overall themes of witchcraft and Voodoo are not really themes that interest me, but I was hoping the show would have changed that;  it did not.  The convoluted plot and multiple storylines added little enjoyment to the ultimate direction of the show which, in my opinion, was finding a new Supreme and ensuring the future of the school.

Specifically, in the finale, it felt like Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) was Professor X, recruiting witches instead of X-men to her academy.  Also, the witches testing their abilities of all Seven Wonders at one time in the same episode felt forced and rushed.  I would have thought that maybe the writers would have put the witches in positions where they needed to use one of the Seven Wonders to save herself or a loved one from trouble throughout the season, but that didn't seem the case and the witches pretty much did whatever they wanted.  Why even have a school then?  Why save and ensure a future for something we don't care about?  The school was just a centralized location that brought together a bunch of witches that repeated the same mistakes of the past but somehow came out smelling like roses in the end.  The final twist was this was supposedly Fiona's (Jessica Lange) plan the whole time to get her daughter to realize her power?  Sorry, but that’s bull, very farfetched, and very out of character for her.  I expected Fiona to have a second knife hidden to kill her daughter and regain her power during the final hug.  When she just died so did her entire character that had been presented this whole time.  Disappointing.

Other thoughts:  I don't think the Kathy Bates character or even Stevie Nicks was needed.  All the past events added nothing to the present.  It would have been better if the school was actually in Kathy Bates character’s old house, but they were two separate locations and I felt it wasn’t really needed.  Also, the Axeman character and his story felt out of place.  Papa Legba also felt shoe-horned into this season.  If the writers had introduced him earlier on, it could have made the show more enjoyable.  Lastly, it's hard to care when a character dies when death isn't treated as a final destination and a character could come back at any time.

I don’t like being negative about a show and even though I didn't like this season of American Horror Story, I’ve enjoyed Ryan Murphy’s work up until this point and I hope he has something better in store for Season 4, something that really pushes the boundaries of television and entertainment.