Introspection

"Kora Alone," Legend of Korra/"Zuko Alone," ATLA

Lens Past Fifth is an experimental television anthology. Each piece takes a single episode from television and briefly looks through it.

From Latin intrōspect- ‘looked into’, from the verb introspicere—“to look into, to examine, to observe attentively,” from intro- (”inward”) + specere (”to look at”).

shadow

Alchemy:

“The mind can be a powerful ally or your greatest enemy”—Katara.

Our opening scene shows Korra battered and bruised looking at her reflection in a shattered mirror—a representation of her convoluted sense of self. Suffering from PTSD and alone, Korra stays within the confines of pain. After many battles, she avoids the shadow of her past self instead opting to search for her spirit. Unfortunately, only the past is found and her shadow leads her to more battles (on the lowest scale); a fight club. After dodging an accident, a spirit disguised as a cute dog gains her trust by scaring away her shadow leading Korra into the Swamp. She innately wants to find her spirit yet she struggles with confronting the old version of herself that experienced incredible trauma. Her mind is disconnected from her body causing the confusion that governs her reality. Her readiness to move on ignores the severity of her PTSD leaving her in a confrontation with her shadow. A shadow that beats her up, chases her, then captures her with a chain so it can lure her into a pool of poison. Yet there was no poison, only mud.