TV Review: AVATAR: SEVEN HAVENS: Season 1, Episodes 7-9: A Big Storm is Brewing [Paramount+]

Avatar: Seven Havens Season 1 Episodes 7-9 Review

Paramount+ʻs Avatar: Seven Havens: Season 1, Episodes 7-9 TV Show Review. After a series of fun adventures and well-meaning side quests, things begin to turn. The art begins to glow, more mysteries are set in motion, secrets have begun to be unraveled, and characters are put to the test in the penultimate pack of episodes. This run of episodes is the showʻs strongest yet, and we are left bracing for the storm thats ahead.

First up are the art and visuals in this batch of episodes. While the simplistic art style is still prominent, the action and its flow have never looked smoother. Building on that, these episodes feature some of the most stunning visuals of the series so far. There is really one moment in episode 9 that is no doubt going to end up as someoneʻs desktop wallpaper. 

Seeing glimpses of the outside world beyond Elloraʻs walls has been very interesting. This batch of episodes gives us a glimpse at 3 of the other seven havens. It’s not much, but the glimpse of the culture we do see is fascinating, both in what is new and in what are remnants from previous entries in the series. It’s a nice peek behind the curtain of what will certainly be explored further in upcoming seasons of the show. That, plus a lot of fun new characters and new dynamics, will keep the show fun going forward. Specifically Zi (Dianne Doan), a seemingly scary firebender bandit who has a heart, of not exactly gold but not stone either. Her brief encounter with Daemin (Darren Barnet) was fun and kinda cute. It will be interesting if the show does something with the two of them, especially if it makes Daemin more relevant to the story.

Now, what this means for the show beyond this season is an interesting question. We have seen enough of Ellora, and with the other havens becoming more apparent and the upcoming split between the girls increasingly apparent, perhaps the introduction to other Havens foretells the next havens the girls will go to. Either together or separate.

Now that the terror twins remain top-tier characters in this show, this batch of episodes has really favored Nisha (Aishu Devan) over Pavi (Saheli Khan). Not that Pavi was being idle, but over the course of these episodes, it really set the groundwork and explored Nishaʻs identity as the avatar and her relationship with Korra. Nishaʻs eagerness to distance herself from her predecessor had only made her more and more like Korra, leading to similar mistakes. It’s a tragic telling, and it’s also so stressful to see a child caught up in this crisis of self-identity. Paviʻs journey in these episodes primarily centers on discovering what happened to their parents, and she remains reluctant to assume the role of the Avatar. In fact, she only steps up to Avatar-related duties if her sister is on the line, and when she does, she is quite adept at it. Hopefully, the end of the season will see her take a big leap toward accepting her role as the Avatar alongside her sister.

Now, previous reviews have been critical of the Agam (Sakina Jaffrey), the friendly baker who had seemed to have too much food and too much generosity for someone living through a food shortage. At the time, those criticisms seemed to be a writing oversight meant to show more of her generous nature, and to have the show do more telling about the worldʻs systemic problems than showing. But there is a moment in the show that really turns all that nitpicking and childish characterization into foreshadowing. It seems a bit silly now looking back on it, but there was more going on than what was given credit for.

If there were any drawbacks to these series episodes, it is episode 7, where they finally tie up the loose threads that seemed to be carelessly left hanging from episode 4 and see what became of Uki. It makes sense for what was seen in that episode, and it ended with a bittersweet parting of ways. But the sentiment seemed to have been reversed for episodes 8 and 9, where Uki pops up again and kind of undermines her messaging in episode 7. Though because of this, it becomes the catalyst for one of the most dramatic and stressful moments in the show so far, so it’s not too much of a mark-off.

What has really shone through in this bunch of episodes is the overarching theme of how fear damages individuals and society alike. Throughout the series, we were warned that the truth won’t let people feel safe, that survival is more important than individuality, and that problems/secrets should be hidden rather than dealt with. These toxic societal problems have been bubbling up infront of our eyes in each episode, and they explode in the providence, especially in the series’ first two-parter, “The Emissaries”, parts I & II. Where fear and paranoia about the Avatar, the energy entity, the faceless, all come to a head. Each major character is given a choice on how to respond to it, and for the most part they all make the wrong call. It’s sad, infuriating, but also cathartic. As we are now, the darker undertone of Seven Havens will now be fully fleshed out, going into the season finale. 

Seven Havens has begun pulling out all the stops in preparations for a grand finale. Teasing at a new status quo and new places for our characters to explore, we are left with a series of episodes that do not disappoint. Seven Havens hasn’t looked better, and even though things are beginning to look bleak for the cast, the audience should see it as a welcome step into the bigger Avatar world.

Rating: 8.2/10

Leave your thoughts on this review of Avatar: Seven Havens: Season 1, Episodes 7-9 below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons.

Readers seeking more Paramount+ articles can visit our our Paramount+ Page and our Paramount+ Facebook Page.

Readers seeking more TV show reviews can visit our TV Show Review Page, our TV Show Review Twitter Page, and our TV Show Review Facebook Page.

Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Mobile App, Google News, Apple News, Feedly, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Telegram, Mastodon, Flipboard, Bluesky, and Threads.