The Painted Lady

The Painted Lady is an excellent stand-alone episode. (Possibly less liked because it didn't move the main story forward at all.) However the smaller story the episode told was rich with mythic layers throughout... power, action, belief, superstition, disharmony, pollution, sickness, poverty, spiritual intervention, inspiration, autonomy, liberation...

Truly, Avatar: TLA, for a contemporary children's show, is above and beyond the average fare. This episode is a stand-alone example of that statement.

I loved the brief final scene.

I genuinely think this is one of the best episodes in the series, i can't believe it's rated so low. I genuinely think if aang or toph was doing what katara did in this episode, it would be rated higher.

Not only does this episode show that katara has not lost her compassion, despite her hardships and the way she treated her father in the episode previous, but the fact that she is the spitting image of the painted lady is so symbolically rich and important. It paints katara herself as a symbol of both hope and compassion. Also, when she is revealed to be impersonating the painted lady, the town she saved is furious. It mirrors the scene in "Zuko Alone" in which zuko saves the little boy and he still tells him he hates him. It's the little things like that one has to notice to fully enjoy and appreciate this show (which is art). One person cannot change everything, it takes many people working together. Katara by herself cannot change the opinions of the fire nation citizens, and zuko cannot do so in a small earth kingdom village. The fire nation is equal to other nations in this way.

Because underneath the brilliant animation (Katara's facial expressions really pop) and brilliant writing there are enough morality lessons in this episode to raise an army of decent kids.