The Legend of Korra (TV Series) The Spirit of Competition (2012) User Reviews

s01e05

[urakamuse · 7/10 · 8 May 2012]

I'm not going to write a summary cause I hate spoilers, however, I will indicate certain character developments so be forewarned.

the rating of seven is essentially based around the fact that the development of the Main story arch has diverted to Korra's other activities which is that of pro-bender. This breaks up the story a bit and allows for this to be akin to the calm before the storm.

where this episode lacked in the suspense and tension of the impending doom, posed by Armon, it made up for in teenage angst and a developing love triangle, which is always amusing when done well, which this episode has.

is it predictable, of course, but at the end of the episode you feel that it has set the team dynamic and is a future trigger for comedic relief.

all in all a pretty enjoyable episode.

In response to other reviews

[thiagsdo · 9/10 · 8 October 2023]

I want to start by saying I understand why other people didn't like this episode. I also had some of those negative feelings too.

You dislike Korra in this episode a lot. People just can't understand why this is a good thing. What this show does much better than the last airbender ever did is actually make the bad guy someone you can really understand and show that things are not so black and white.

The fact that korra is immature and is not perfect at all is actually very relatable as she has been trapped on her own on an island for her whole life and always been the centre of attention. This is very different from the previous characters in avatar as they all had to grow up quickly due to their circumstances.

But you are missing that aang is also very immature in a lot of ways at the start too. He is just younger so it is in a very different spirit and his upbringing is very different too.

It is actually a beautiful thing that korra is so different to aang and even that this show is so different.

It shows that the writers really understand what they are creating and all the things that were missing in avatar are present here.

I don't think that takes away from either show. Both are pretty much perfect in their own right.

What this does is actually make korra relatable. I know you all want to root 100% for the hero and the bad guy is just some evil man who is hell bent on achieving power. But life is not that simple.

That is one thing I think that firlord ozai really lacked. They achieved this well with zukko and azula.

But every step of the way in this show you find your self having empathy and actually understanding the "enemy". They are not just some "bad guy". You see that korra is actually naive and doesn't actually understand how the world works.

But this is what sets it up for such a beautiful character development.

What she goes through in all the seasons but especially the last season when she gets poisoned, is that she has to reach the lowest parts of herself to actually become the best version of herself. This is what made zukko so relatable and I think is actually executed in a much more complex way with korra.

Don't get me wrong zukko is one of the best characters that has ever existed anywhere. And I too dislike korra at the start. But this is definitely intentional.

The fact that we dislike her is only a reflection of our own lack of self löve. We too are not perfect and we have probably made a lot of similar mistakes in our lives. But the only way I have learned from these mistakes personally is by going through my lowest points to show me what's really real and important and this is how we grow up.

By the end she absolutely does grow up. She becomes a mature young woman and actually shows empathy and understanding for kuvira.

This is such a beautiful development. And executed in a beautiful way. To suggest that this episode is just filler is silly.

If this episode angers you to the point where you stop watching it says more about you than the show...

I realise I missed a few points. I think the way Bolin is written in this episode is actually very poor. I initially rated this show 10/10 but it gets a 9/10 because I do not find bolin funny at all pretty much during the entire show. They missed the mark with him in my opinion. He develops into a very strong character in later seasons but his comedy... not so much.

AWESOME!!!!

[crazynat-67197 · 10/10 · 17 August 2020]

This episode had so much drama, I loved every second of it. The tournament had me on the edge of my seat and the love triangle is delectable, mwah. Impeccable episode

I bet this episode makes people drop the show

[shakedatjunk · 6/10 · 3 July 2021]

The show has been fantastic until this point. Great animation, choreography, music, and voice acting as always.

This episode almost immediately makes all 3 lead characters unlikable. Korra is selfish and full of herself and belongs to the streets at this point. The older brother knows his younger brother likes her a lot and still kissed her back while he already has a girlfriend. Then they make the younger brother cry like a little baby annoyingly and comedically rather than reacting mad and distant like someone normal would do. It's like they were trying to lighten it with comedy and the tone clashing didn't work at all. Then by the end of the episode everything is fine. Wtf?

I can see why people got turned off to this show and why Korra was so hated. The creators of Avatar and Korra are geniuses, but they almost ruined the interest in this show with 1 episode. Good thing I know how good it gets or I wouldn't continue probably.

Not a fan of the love triangle

[kobedawson · 7/10 · 28 April 2023]

Probably the worst episode so far in the season, as the spotlight is mainly on the love aspect of the show.

First of all, I think the show kinda rushed the relationship between Mako and Korra. It could definitely use some time to develop over the course of the show.

Second, I don't think relationships should be the focus, I liked the lessons and relatable teachings of fear and patience in the previous episodes and would love to see more of that moving forward.

And third, I think the focus should be on both Korra's characters and the interactions that she makes. Love is a beautiful thing, but I think it should have more time to evolve between the characters.

I also hope we get some character shining moments from Mako and Bolin as well. Not a bad episode by any means, just decent/ok.

Korra: A Lesson in Cheating

[ninjavanish · 4/10 · 15 May 2012]

This post contains only minor spoilers, but if you haven't seen episode 5 The Spirit of Competition from the series the Legend of Korra then maybe you should stop reading now! At the time this review is posted, 6 episodes have aired. This episode is easily my least favorite and here's why: A few of the main characters cheat on their girlfriends/date interest, which caused me to dislike two main characters. This episode couldn't decide if it was supposed to be serious or comical so both were mingled together giving it an unbalanced feel. The main storyline with Amon is completely ignored, so this episode is the very definition of a Filler. Although the episode had some moments of humor, you could skip it and not miss anything from the main story.

Just so you know, overall I'm loving The Legend of Korra but this episode was the exception. I would skip it unless you're really into Shipping characters.

Everybody sucks

[thefoochie · 3/10 · 13 January 2023]

Geez, when I'm rooting for korra's team to lose then you know the writers screwed up...

So, what happened?! I've been enjoying korra so far, it's been good, not great, until this episode, which was just trash. I've always hated love square storylines in television, but this was one of the worst executions of that. Listen, writers. Conflict between characters is necessary. However, forcing the conflict by making everyone unlikeable is not the way to do it!

Bolin and mako weren't that bad in this episode, at least not compared to korra, but they still had some annoying moments. Bolin catching them kiss was so contrived and dumb. I kept rolling my eyes when Bolin called mako a traitor. But korra! Oh my lord was she awful. First, she insists to mako that he likes her, even though he clearly says he has feelings for Asami. Then they get into this painfully predictable fight that exists solely to further the plot along. I mean seriously, this whole conflict exists just to rack up the "tension" when the characters play poorly in the bending match.

Also, korra kissing mako was so cringe-inducing. Just... why?! That moment when the avatar, one of the strongest characters in the story, has the emotional intelligence of a middle schooler.

My last gripe in the episode comes from the bending match, which in an episode full of predictable moments, is ironically too unpredictable. Instead of the 3 characters putting aside their drama and teaming up to win, korra wins the game all by herself. This honestly just confused me. There was no reason to have korra save the day. Literally the only possible satisfying way for them to win would be to team up. Cause you know... that's how conflicts are resolved? Idk man this ep is just weird... 4/10 because they made up at the end, otherwise it'd be a 3. Also rami malek is in this haha.