Mako needed more “focus”
At times during The Legend of Korra, I was frustrated at or indifferent about Mako. Then I warmed up to him. Then I reached the end of the series and saw what the showrunners were trying to do with him and I realized that, of all the characters in the series, I was most like Mako. (I’m the one always casing the joint and looking for exits. I’m the protective, cynical one. And I even think I experienced love the way he did.) I liked how they framed his relationship with Korra at the end -- the platonic friendship -- but I can’t help but look over the rest of the series and wish that they did more for Mako.
The showrunners gave Mako a lot of time and attention, but it felt like, outside of 1x03, there was no real focus on him as his own character, in a way that was truly meaningful either to him or Korra.
Mako is such a “wouldn’t it be cool if...” character. I know there are some people who think this makes him the “writer’s pet” because he gets to do these awesome things and escapes repercussions. I look at Mako and think, “He’s the chick + 80′s orphan” (except they gave the positive qualities of the 80′s orphan to Bolin). Go back to the 80′s and 90′s and think of “the chick” -- able to do cool things without a lot of thought going into it. Yeah, that’s Mako to me. When Mako hits Amon with lightning? That’s when “the chick” hits the villain over the head with a vase so the hero can regroup but Mako can shoot lightning out his fingers so it looks more heroic.
I don’t care what gender anyone is. I don’t care much for those types of storylines.
But then we get to Book 2 and I’m really frustrated. And, you know, it’s not him bickering with Korra and all that that grates me. What drives me nuts is nearly everything that happens in Republic City.
Why did Mako choose to be a cop? How does this affect his relationship with the Triads? Like, shouldn’t this affect his relationship with the Triads?
And I know this storyline had nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to do with Korra. But, you know, they could have made it about Mako and his identity -- him choosing what kind of person he wanted to be. It could have been about him coming to terms with a criminal past or separating his current self from what he may have been thinking of himself. This would have tied in really well with what Korra and Tenzin were going through.
But no. Nope. Everyone around Mako is made stupid. Mako is even made stupid and running around all Cassandra Truthing by virtue of being an eyewitness more than starting at the same level as everyone else and being clever solving it. (And I think the creators realized this because “The Terror Within” does this sort of story so much better!)
But it doesn’t get much better for him in Books 3 and 4. He’s an orphan and he finds his extended family. There’s a hug. He gives up his scarf. Then... then...? Oh, his family is funny comic relief and even chide him on his past love triangle mistakes. Was there a point?
And, again, they could have tied him to another theme that was running rampant in the back half of the series. They could have given him something about “belonging” or define him against his family. But, like, that stuff was reserved for Beifongs, Satos, and Bumi being an airbender. (To be fair, they failed with Korra in this aspect, but Korra had so many other things going for her.)
And then we have Kai and Wu. Like Kai and Wu get better character development when they share scenes with Mako than Mako gets throughout the series.
But, hey, we have this action sequence and it requires a bender with a high joule rating!
