The Boiling Rock, Part 1

''This article is about the episode. For the location, see The Boiling Rock. For the battle, see Escape from the Boiling Rock.''

Writer: Aaron Ehasz

Director: Joaquim dos Santos

Guest Stars: Jennie Kwan (Suki), Wade Williams (The Warden), Ezekial Rollins (Chit Sang), Roger Rose (Bully Guard).

Overview
''Sokka and Zuko infiltrate the Fire Nation's top security prison, the Boiling Rock, in hopes of saving Sokka's father. After realizing Hakoda wasn't held there and instead discover Suki, Sokka and Zuko hatch a plan for the three of them to escape. Chit Sang, another prisoner, overhears the plan and joins their escape efforts. As they are nearing escape, a new batch of prisoners arrive. Sokka, Zuko, and Suki decide to postpone escaping to save Sokka's father, one of the new prisoners.''

Synopsis
Zuko serves freshly brewed tea to his new friends as they all hide out from the Fire Nation in the Western Air Temple. He tries to tell them all a tea joke his uncle once told him, but no one finds it funny because Zuko isn't a joke-telling kind of person like Iroh (and because he could only remember the punch-line).



As he is served tea, Sokka asks to talk to Zuko alone. He asks where Zuko thinks Fire Nation criminals would be placed. Hesitantly, Zuko answers in a prison out in the middle of a volcano, in the middle of the ocean, which they might have passed over on Appa going to the Western Air Temple. The prison is called the Boiling Rock. Zuko is suspicious of why Sokka would ask such a thing so randomly, but Sokka promises Zuko he isn't planning anything.

Sokka lied, as he tries to sneak to Appa in the middle of the night. As he climbs onto the saddle he finds Zuko waiting. Zuko berates him for such a poorly though-out plan of infiltrating the Boiling Rock prison on Appa. Sokka explains the invasion plan was his idea, and it failed, causing his father and many others to be captured and jailed by the Fire Nation. He wants to infiltrate the prison his father is held and rescue him. To Sokka's surprise Zuko decides to go along with him, instead of using Appa, he suggests they use the Hot Air Balloon that Zuko stole. The next morning, the gang finds a note written by Zuko, who fabricated in writing that he and Sokka had gone fishing together, and reminds Aang to continue his Firebending practice, to his annoyance.



Flying in the War Balloon, Sokka and Zuko sit in awkward silence. Sokka tries to break the ice, eventually they talk about girls. Zuko misses his ex-girlfriend Mai, who he left behind in the Fire Nation. Sokka says his first girlfriend turned into the moon. Zuko replies by saying "that's rough, buddy".

Later that evening they spot the prison below and descend in the balloon towards it. Large clouds of steam emit from the boiling volcanic lake surrounding the prison. Because the steam makes the air outside the balloon warmer than the air inside it, the balloon crash-lands at the beach outside the prison walls. Sokka dumps the remains of the balloon into the boiling lake so it won't be found. Zuko believes Sokka doesn't have any real concrete plan, and that they are in serious trouble if they get caught, but Sokka assures him he will think of something so they can get off the Boiling Rock safely. They infiltrate the prison unnoticed and steal Fire Nation prison guard uniforms and helmets.

Impersonating guards, they are ordered to oversee a quarrel. Chit Sang, a Firebender prisoner, is being harassed by a guard for not bowing down to him. Chit Sang declares bowing to the guards isn't a real rule, and walks off. The guard makes a whip of fire lash out as his back is turned, and Chit Sang Firebends to defends himself. Firebending is prohibited for prisoners in the prison, and Chit Sang is sentenced to "the cooler" as punishment. A cooler is a small, insulated cell kept very cold which prisoners are locked inside as punishment. At lunch break for the guards, Zuko asks other guards where dangerous criminals such as prisoners of war were confined. Zuko and Sokka meet up later on and Zuko tells Sokka that Water Tribe prisoners are not located in this prison. Sokka believes he has failed yet again, but Zuko tries to cheer him up by imitating Iroh's wise sayings. Sokka does cheer up, not from Zuko's attempt, but at the sight of Suki, who is returning to her prison cell.



Sokka locates her cell and enters, while wearing his helmet. Sokka then attempts to kiss Suki, but Suki believes Sokka is a Fire Nation guard and pushes him down, knocking Sokka's helmet off. Suki is overjoyed to see him and vice versa, then the two kiss. Zuko spots a guard coming and warns Sokka with some knocks on the door of the cell. Zuko tried to keep the guard out, at first with an excuse and then with physical force. When Sokka came out, back in his guard disguise, he helped the guard arrest Zuko to prevent suspicion, but whispers to him that he will figure something out, so Zuko allowed himself to get captured. Zuko is interrogated by the prison's Warden, who knows Zuko because the Warden is Mai's uncle. The Warden states that Zuko had broken Mai's heart after Zuko left the Fire Nation, and that he intends to turn Zuko in to his father and collect the reward.

Later, Zuko and Suki are doing mopping duty together in the prison, and Suki agitatedly recognizes him as the person who almost burned down her village. Zuko awkwardly tells her it's nice to meet her again and moves away. Sokka, still disguised, gathers the both of them for a plan, which Chit Sang overhears and invites himself in as well. They plan to use a cooler to ride their way out like a boat. First, someone will need to unscrew a cooler cell free. Zuko volunteers by pretending to mop and bumping into Chit Sang. Then, the two fight and Zuko Firebends. After that, he is sent to a cooler cell and, having used his Breath of Fire technique to keep warm, is successful in unscrewing the cooler free. However, guards pass by and the two hide and overhear that war prisoners are coming the next day, and Sokka thinks there is a chance his father among them.



That night, they bring the loose cooler cell and Chit Sang brings two of his accomplices along to escape. Sokka, knowing about the arrival of new prisoners tomorrow, decides against escaping and stays at the prison to break his father out. Suki and Zuko agree to stay, while Chit Sang leaves with his friends. At dawn, Chit Sang and his friends are sweating in the cell-boat, so Chit Sang breaks a piece of metal to use it as an oar. Unfortunately, he is burned by the steaming water and yells out in pain. The Fire Nation guards are now aware of an escape attempt and catch the cooler cell drifting away. Meanwhile, Sokka, Suki, and Zuko hide and see the prisoners come out of the lift used to transport prisoners into the prison. After a few come out, Sokka loses hope of seeing his father, until one last person is called out: Hakoda.

Series Continuity

 * Sokka mentioned that his first girlfriend turned into the moon, referring to Yue.
 * This was the first episode in which Aang appeared yet did not bend.
 * This was the first episode in the series in which Zuko called any members of Team Avatar by their real names. He spoke Sokka and Appa's names out loud, and he wrote Aang's name in a letter.
 * Zuko used his Breath of Fire technique to keep warm, like he did in "The Siege of the North, Part 2".
 * In "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse", Aang was the one who decided to keep attacking, while in this episode, Sokka said it was he who was the one who made the decision. Sokka may feel responsible as it was his decision to let Aang make the choice.
 * If you look closely at the last of the prisoners exiting the gondola (the one before Hakoda), you'll see one of the pirates in "The Waterbending Scroll" and "The Waterbending Master". This was also referenced when two guards were discussing the new prisoners while Sokka and Zuko were in the cooler.

Trivia

 * The design of this prison is a reference to Alcatraz Island, a real-world island prison, which was nicknamed "The Rock." As with the Boiling Rock, Alcatraz boasted a history of no successful escapes.
 * The Warden is voiced by American actor Wade Williams, who has a starring role as Captain Brad Bellick on Fox's television series Prison Break, about a man jailed for a crime he didn't commit.
 * "The Cooler" is the name of the isolation cells used in the prisoner of war camp in The Great Escape.
 * When Sokka was disguised as a guard, upon entering Suki's room, he was not recognized by Suki. Her lack of recognition prompted Sokka to say "Oh, you don't recognize me? Maybe you'll recognize this." This is a variant of what Suki said to Sokka when Sokka didn't recognize her as a security guard for Full Moon Bay.
 * It is ironic that the Boiling Rock is inescapable because of the boiling water, as the water in the San Francisco Bay surrounding Alcatraz Island is very cold, making it equally inescapable.

Goofs

 * When Sokka said, "Good, you've met," to Zuko and Suki, Suki was the one who said they already had met when Zuko burned down her village. However, Sokka was also there, and should have already known that. Still, before Suki mentioned her village, Sokka smacked his own forehead as if realizing his mistake.
 * When Sokka was explaining the escape plan, Suki and Zuko's mops were leaning against the stairway behind them, but when Chit Sang jumped down and said he wanted in, both mops were gone.
 * When Sokka and Zuko were rolling the cooler down the hill, the cooler door was closed, but when they stopped at the bottom of the hill, the door was already open.
 * When Sokka lifted the rock hiding his stuff, his sword wasn't there, but in the next frame he picked up his sword from behind the same rock.
 * When Chit Sang pushed the cooler-boat off the shore, his left foot dipped into the boiling water, but it didn't seem to hurt him. Yet when a few drops splashed his hand later, it was so painful he screamed.