Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most creative shows ever made for children’s television. It has many stories and arches that hit on topics kids’ shows tend to shy away from. That doesn’t mean it’s without moments of ridiculousness. Here’s a list of my top ten most ridiculous moments or episodes in the series.
10. The Cave of the Two Lovers
Ok, so pretty much anything with the hippie nomads is insane. They’re relatable when they forget the lyrics to the song and then randomly remember the words hours later. No matter how much you love or hate them, I’ve not met a single fan who doesn’t sing along to “Secret tunnel!” My favorite part of their antics is poor Sokka’s reaction to them.
9. The Northern Air Temple
This entire episode made the list, but finding clips of the best moments proved to be very difficult. The candle-clock is humorous. Then comes one of the slime bombs and blowing up the natural gas. Each one individually would be alright, but so many crazy things happening makes this a pretty ridiculous episode.
8. Imprisoned
With Katara trying to get into the Earthbenders’ prison, her idea seemed fairly foolproof. But there seemed to be an emphasis on the fool in this episode.
With the Fire Nation soldiers seeing a clearly staged fight, and a rock not moving, they were understandably confused. Then with a clear prompt and a floating rock, ok, they come to the conclusion of bending. Bravo. “That lemur’s bending!” Cue facepalm.
If these are the standard soldiers one would find in the Fire Nation, how did they take over and stay in power?
7. The Headband
Cut loose. Footloose. That’s pretty much the premise of “The Headband”. There are a number of ridiculous moments in this episode. From Aang’s noodle Fire Lord to the secret dance party, childish antics abound. Sokka and Katara have to pretend to be Aang’s parents, and it’s hilarious, but also lends more doubt into the intelligence of the Fire Nation.
6. Avatar Day
This episode. That’s it, the entire thing. I feel like it was an excuse to show us some Kyoshi. Her coming to Aang’s defense… or not, was the one saving grace of the episode. But the justice system of that town? What is that? If there’s a high crime rate in that town, their “justice” system is the reason.
5. Bitter Work
The baby moose-lion. ridiculous, but oh so cute. Foo Foo Cuddly-Poops and Sokka may be the reason this episode makes the list, but it’s a great interaction.
Sokka has always been the comic relief with his overflowing sarcasm. Him offering the universe to give it up is a big step. Add to that meat, he’s giving up who he is. But then he stays true to his character and continues on with both. For the better, I think.
4. The Desert
This whole scene with the cactus juice and the subsequent reaction of Sokka are the reason this episode is on the list. And it’s also hilarious. The initial partial fourth-wall break in a The Truman Show-esk advertisement, paired with Katara’s reaction to Sokka, makes the scene. Then, when Sokka forgets about Katara’s bending, his reaction adds humor to a tense situation.
3. The Ember Island Players
Everything about this episode I love. Yes, I know it’s on my list of ridiculousness, but I still love it.
“Did Jet just die?”
“You know, it was a little unclear.”
As someone who watched this with a friend (her first time) recently, this was precisely her reaction to the actual scene. (She then concluded that, he was clearly not dead, but I digress)
This episode felt like the writers took the chance to poke fun at the show, the fans, and the characters. They even get to the Great Divide and just move on without addressing it. But I will.
2. The Great Divide
This episode… What? What is the point of this one? The different anime styles of the various versions of the story was pretty neat, but why was it an episode? Ok, I get that it was supposed to introduce Aang as the bridge between people groups and a peacemaker and all that, but still.
And drumroll for #1
Okay, I’m only half kidding. It would make #1 on my list, but it doesn’t technically fit the requirement of being from the show. So moving on the the real #1
1. Nightmares and Daydreams
This episode was amazing and ridiculous. As someone who has a lot of weird stress-induced dreams, I totally relate to Aang’s pain. I mean mine haven’t been the “If I fail the world ends” kind of stress, but I get it.
With the various dreams, anime styles, and strange reactions by our sleep-deprived hero, the episode is a rollercoaster of humor. The rest of the team tries their hardest to help him get some sleep, relax, or get his mind off of the stress, all to no avail.
Culminating in a hallucination with a talking Appa and Momo in a duel with talking sheep, dancing rocks, and a many-armed Guru Pathik, it’s a crazy scene and shows how overwhelmed and stressed Aang is and his need for sleep. Finally, at the end, Aang gets to sleep, and has another dream that turns one of his many previous dreams on it’s head, so he comes out on top.
Did I miss any crazy scenes or episodes? If you have any other tenacious stories that were laughable or completely fell flat, sound off in the comments.
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