So I know this week’s episode of Legend of Korra was full of action and revelations and flashbacks (!!!), but let’s talk about what you all want to talk about — romance! I mean, I know that there’s a point to this show (and all shows) besides who’s going to end up with who, but I’ve been steadily avoiding discussing the subject of who Korra’s going to end up with and my opinions on it, and after the way Mako acted this week, I feel like I’ve probably put it off for long enough.
So, straight talk — Mako seems to be Korra’s intended romantic endgame. Mostly, I’m cool with this. I mean, he’s not my favorite. But if we’re assuming Korra’s going to end up with a dude (and as a note to the Korra producers who are probably not reading this, if you’re considering the possibility of Korra and Asami getting together, consider this an enthusiastic “yes” vote from me), he seems the only logical choice. My other favorite dudes are Tenzin, Meelo, and Bolin. Tenzin and Meelo wouldn’t work with Korra for the obvious ick factor, and Bolin’s crush seems to have pretty much bit it ever since he saw Korra and Mako making out. Which I think is fair. I feel like seeing your crush making out with your brother probably kills whatever feelings you were having.
The problem with Mako is I don’t love him yet. To be fair, his character isn’t inherently adorable the way Bolin’s is. And that’s okay! I’m all for growing to love Mako the way I grew to love Zuko, but he’s going to need a lot more development. Of all the main characters, he’s probably tied with Asami if not being beaten by her in terms of development, only what we’ve seen of Asami so far is way more likable. What we’ve seen of Mako makes him sympathetic, but it also makes him hardcore trip what I call “the douchebag alarm.”
Okay, so for dudes reading this (because almost every girl who’s reading this, I’m guessing, knows exactly what “the douchebag alarm” is), what I’m referring to is this thing every girl I have ever met develops in high school. It’s a very useful internal sensor that tells us when a guy is too much of a jerk to date. There are a lot of ways to trip this, like wearing Ed Hardy or referring to yourself as a “nice guy.” Mako hasn’t done that, but he has done the following things:
Clacked by Julia Hass 
on Jun 13, 2012 @ 15:36 EST5EDT
Well done as always, Jules. And I know we’ve discussed this earlier in the week, but #1 on the douchebag list still irks me.
I completely agree on all points. I actually think Bolin/Korra is downright adorable. I have yet to see the reason why Mako and Korra ‘like’ each other.
bolin is by far my top pick for korra its to bad that mako and korra saying the L word in the season finale I feel like a lot could be done with Bolins character, I feel like they put him in as just comic relief… sokka in atla started that way to as comic relief. But sokka had a lot of development and matured as the show progressed, Sokka will always be one of my favorites.
Yeah, a lot more could have been done character development wise with all of the characters on the show instead of focusing on romance, but maybe that can be the second season. One can hope.
Totally agree. Mako has been the least well developed of the main players on the show. I don’t personally really care who Korra ends up with (if anyone), but I’d really like to see the Legend of Korra develop its characters with as much skill as the original series.
I agree, when I saw the final moments of that last episode, it was yeah a sweet moment, but then I couldn’t help but wonder, “what’s his deal?? Poor Asami.” I think of all the characters in legend of korra, the one with the most development by far has been Amon. He’s also by far the most popular character. Just look at the nick message boards and wikis. Not saying the show in general is terrible, I LOVE it. Just that if they’re gonna focus that much on the villain versus the heroes, name the series “Avatar: The Legend of Amon.”
I think people should cut him a little slack. He got sort of a raw deal with his parents being killed and taking care of Bolin at any costs. Bolin has been able to live kind of carefree so that’s why they have such completely different personalities. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bolin but I think Mako and Korra make more sense, they have a lot more passion whether it’s fighting with each other or for the ones they love. I’m not going to justify Mako’s jerkishness because let’s face it he has his moments but he is a hormonal teenage boy who all have a track record for making terrible decisions. I think he might if told Bolin that she wasn’t girlfriend material after Bolin expressed his interest in her and I’m pretty sure it was out jealousy. I think Mako is afraid of his feelings for Korra so he hid behind a relationship with Asami. I mean who wouldn’t want to date her, she’s beautiful and actually really cool but I don’t think they’re right for each other. It just sucks that Asami is going to be hurt in the process.
I would argue that Bolin hasn’t been that well developed either (even though that’s mostly because of the directing and producing fail of not giving him enough screentime), but since the points you brought up and extremely valid, I’m not gonna say anything. Plus, Bolin and Korra would be so adorable together. I think Bolin would also balance out Korra’s more intense traits with his mellow and carefree ones.
Maybe with the latest episode including the attractive somehow-related-to-Zuko character, Iroh, we’ll have another possible love interest? O.o
Mako needs way more development, agreed. I personally think he should stay with Asame and work things out. Korra should fall for Bolin or something. Asame is pretty cool and I like her and Korra so much as characters. It’s cool to have a non-bender in Team Avatar 2.0. I just hope Asame doesn’t go down an evil road and becomes the next villain (or just bad) in season 2 or something. That’d suck. After seeing Turning the Tides, this weeks episode, there’s gonna be some serious group problems in the finale.