Avatar: The Last Airbender
I have done my best to stay away from early reviews and opinion pieces regarding the new series. I have seen some of the headlines here and there, but have refused to click any further for fear of developing any more bias before giving the show its fair chance.
I think I am one of many people who remember the animated show with great fondness, and am also one of many who return to the series frequently to relive nostalgia at its finest. So as expected, after the disaster that was the 2010 live-action film, I was skeptical of this adaptation too. I had high hopes, and those were only extended higher when I saw the casting list, the preview trailers, and promotional material. I tried not to set expectations, but it was difficult when it is a series and franchise that continues to remain so close to my heart.
So diving right in, this is my first glimpse of the Netflix Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Episode 1: “Aang”
Less than a minute into the episode I was honestly very lost; the tag: “Capital City” didn’t give me a great sense of place, and I was unsure whether to say we were in the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation. But that being said, I did enjoy the ability to see the beginning of the war and the foreshadowing elements with regards to the powers of the Great Comet. Likewise, the set design in these opening sections was a treat, though this was let down later on with some sections feeling a little odd with the blending of real-life and CGI.
After the new prelude, the episode then tackles the first three episodes in the series. To which, I have a few critiques. First, while I didn’t hate the writing, the delivery felt flat on more than one occasion. Aang felt emotionless; Katara felt quiet; and Sokka was abrasive and uncharismatic. I did enjoy both Zuko and Iroh as even when a line fell flat, it felt delivered with purpose or intent. But after the opening sections, the episode was jumpy, flinging the viewer back and forth very quickly without a moment to really digest what was happening in each scene. As a result, it was an incredibly rushed experience with so much being thrown at you all at once, while at the same time, the pacing made it feel like nothing was going on at all. This is a problem I’ve had with a few series being adapted from longer-length animations, where the audience is accosted with so much all because the writers have a smaller window in which to tell the story. This therefore means that A LOT is left out, and so the story just doesn’t fit quite as nicely together. Yes, filler is removed but sometimes it is the filler that builds the characters properly.
For example, Aang’s discovery of the massacre of the airbenders, in the animated series, is long, drawn out, and utterly heartbreaking. He doesn’t know what happened, and so the full extent is so much more devastating when he sees the truth behind his abandoning. In the live-action, it happens right at the tail end of the episode and is almost glossed over. There is little connection between him and Katara, and his emotional state goes from destructive to understanding within a few frames. It feels very disjointed for something that was originally one of the best moments in the first season.
Episode 2: “Warriors”
This was a strange one. While the first episode covered the content of three episodes from the original series, plus an additional prelude, episode two focused solely on adapting “The Warriors of Kyoshi”.
The visuals in this series seem to be where its strengths lie. From the environments to the bending, I enjoy how they have made the world feel dynamic. The CGI is well done with clear time and consideration given to make each of the styles feel true to the cultures of each of the nations - even the fighting styles of the Kyoshi Warriors received this treatment. Likewise, the costume design feels very inspired by the original animated series. The feel of the series is right, visually, but then the content is where it drops off.
While the secondary plot following Zuko and Iroh is moving at the pace I would expect, the main group continues to be disjointed. For Aang, the main focus of this episode is him learning about his connection with his prior selves, and while Kyoshi has always been known as a strong-headed and volatile Avatar, in this, she is portrayed as cruel and threatening. She doesn’t feel like she is advising or guiding Aang, instead the way she interacts is absent of understanding. I was not expecting her to be compassionate, but other than pushing the plot towards the Northern Water Tribe, she served no purpose aside from degrading Aang. Then there is Sokka’s narrative. This episode was set to introduce one of my favourite characters: Suki. Like everything in this series so far, her narrative with Sokka was accelerated. I have no issue with this, as previously, I have acknowledged the constraints when making an adaptation like this. But the “love at first sight” trope feels very strange here with how Sokka has been set up. His interactions don’t have the same level of boyish confidence and Suki seems a little too eager, which results in a very uncomfortable on-screen relationship. The tension is still there, but there is a lack of authenticity and equality that made them so endearing as a couple in the original series.
Episode 3: “Omashu”
In short: this episode was a muddled mess. The Freedom Fighters from halfway through the first season of the animated series; the inhabitants of the Northern Air Temple from the end of the first season of the animated series; no sign of the absolutely amazing King Bumi save for two quick frames near the episodes climax; and the first appearance of the Princess Azula in one of the least threatening/intimidating ways possible - this episode tried to move the plot along in all of the wrong ways.
As an elaboration: everything that made each of these instances so impactful was stripped back to basics with very little depth. It is clear that this is the writers’ first attempt at doing something original with the source material, to break away from potential comparisons and make the series “inspired by” rather than a direct copy of the original animated series but this was the wrong place to start. While Jet felt true to character, it took away from the importance of Sai’s internal conflict; likewise, the inclusion of Sai and Teo took away from the scale that the Freedom Fighters were willing to go to turn others to their cause. Both show the different desperate attitudes of those affected by the war and here, they both fell flat - which seems to be a commonality I am not thrilled with in the opening of this series.
The most egregious changes however come with the omission of Bumi and the inclusion of Azula. I expect that we will likely meet King Bumi in the next episode, but even Aang felt so distant from him. I don’t know if they have changed the story so that the two no longer know one another, but it made Bumi, as well as Omashu, feel very detached from the narrative - making it just another set piece in the background rather than somewhere that was originally very personal to Aang. I do hope that this is something that is corrected in the next episode. But with regards to Azula, I really wish the writers waited before introducing her. Having her as a background player this early, maneuvering the pieces, feeling odd. It doesn’t make her feel threatening; it makes her feel childish as her motives don’t derive from Zuko’s failures at the Northern Water Tribe but instead from the knowledge that he might be able to finally come home and surpass her as heir to the Fire Nation. The way it is portrayed makes it feel like she actually believes, and fears, Zuko could succeed, rather than setting her on her high horse as a vicious manipulator who truly believes that she is superior in every way.
However, the appearance of Cabbage Man was very much appreciated.
Episode 4: “Into the Dark”
Four episodes in and I think I have discovered the issue with the pacing: the main gang has too much going on, whereas Zuko and Iroh have just enough going on. I don’t think that a narrative change would have helped this series as Zuko and Iroh don’t have enough there to carry a full 50-minute episode, but in the short burst they do have the story is easier to tell through a smaller, more focused lens. They are 10% of the plot, whereas the other 90% is split between Aang and the gang. And therein lies the issue.
I was happy that in this episode we were introduced to King Bumi, but he, like the city of Omashu, felt odd. He felt hostile and cruel, and while I understand that they might have attempted to portray the effects of the war more realistically, it meant his connection with Aang didn’t feel as genuine. I wasn’t put off by the changes, but I think if they had taken this new angle with the original story, there would have been higher stakes and a better reveal when his intentions are made clear.
It was, however, another insight into how well they have portrayed Aang, as even with the chances to the narrative around him, and even when the story beats feel skewed or off, he still feels very faithful to the original character.
In contrast, beyond Bumi and Aang and Zuko and Iroh, there are Sokka and Katara - and they continue to walk on unsteady ground.
This episode included the secret tunnels beneath Omashu, something which originally didn’t appear until the group’s return to Omashu in Book Two: Earth. In the animated series, this was an episode filled with gags and jokes, but also one of the key moments in developing Katara and Aang’s relationship and trust in one another. Here, it felt like a side note, with repetitious dialogue between the siblings that made little sense for their characters. Sokka is the one to figure out the riddle, unsurprising given his intellect, but Katara is quick to dismiss him, despite knowing of that very intellect. Likewise, she continues to reference being treated like a child, while in the original she took on a more motherly role, something which Sokka always admired her for. The homage to the original song was nice to hear, but the purpose of the riddle was for the lovers to dim the lights and follow the tunnels. So, the new revelation about how Oma and Shu could navigate the tunnels not only made Sokka feel stupid for figuring out the original answer very early on but also made it feel like a “gotcha” moment for the audience, all so Katara could one-up her brother in the strangest way possible.
Episode 5: “Spirited Away”
This is the episode, I believe, which has undergone the most changes and so, while visually it is beautiful, it is scattered. So much happens, so much is squeezed into 50 minutes, and so little of it fits together nicely as a part of the completed puzzle.
It begins with Hei Bai, the spirit of the forest, but rather than simply dealing with Hei Bai and Aang’s first step into the Spirit World, Katara and Sokka come with him. The purpose of this, I think, was to introduce the hallucinations introduced in the swamp from Book Two: Earth - as Sokka meets a spirit who likely is meant to resemble Yue and Katara meets her mother. But it also then introduces Koh, the face stealer, whose role and lore seems to have changed in the series. Originally, Koh stole the faces of those who displayed emotion. He feasted on that emotion and as a result made an enemy of the Avatar after stealing the face of a past loved one. In this, he hoards his victims - including Katara and Sokka - to be eaten at a later date, which takes a lot of the threat away from this otherwise terrifying insectoid.
Additionally, the episode doesn’t stop there, as Gyatso, Aang’s mentor and friend who died in the attack on the Southern Air Temple, appears to offer him guidance in the Spirit Realm, directing him towards Roku to learn how to save his friends from Koh - something which makes little sense as it was Kuruk not Roku who met with Koh previously. It also feels like a strange point to send Aang to Roku’s Temple as in the animated series the purpose of this was to learn about the coming of the Comet, not how to battle against Koh. True, Roku did help with this but it was when Aang entered into the Spirit World at the Northern Water Temple to learn about the Sun and Moon spirits.
There is a lot that has been incorporated into this episode and it flings the audience through every aspect of the Spirit World, as well as some new aspects too, all while leaving the plot with Hei Bai to the wayside. It is the halfway point of the series and with everything crammed into the first glimpse of the Spirit World, it very much feels like the writers just now realised how much they still had to cover before the end of Book One: Water.
As a side, Azula was also shown again in this episode, and I have very little care for her. She is a spoiled child who acts like a spoiled child. She is not threatening or villainous in any way; she is petty and childish. It doesn’t feel like she is Ozai’s chosen child, in fact, by the way she is portrayed on-screen, without knowing of Zuko’s prior shame, it’s hard to believe why Zuko was exiled in the first place.
Episode 6: “Masks”
This is by far the best episode in the series so far - and I am so glad it is. This is the episode where we are introduced to the Blue Spirit, and to budding relationship between Zuko and Aang.
With the opening and ending narrated by Iroh, we are finally able to see Zuko’s true vulnerabilities, to see the truth of his character which will eventually see him join the main group in the later seasons. These flashbacks are so faithful to the original source material and add in just enough extra information to really hammer home that Zuko’s strength is in his compassion and understanding. Giving personalities to the legion of men that he saved, and that resulted in his exile and his scars, was an addition that has been well-welcomed among all of the rather questionable choices in previous episodes. Likewise, it was nice to see the choreography between Aang’s airbending and Zuko’s sword skills in the escape from Pohuai Stronghold.
However, there were two things about this episode that left me feeling deflated.
The first was how quickly the conflict with Koh was resolved. The sense of urgency and threat was non-existent and the trade was made during Iroh’s closing speech within a few seconds of footage. It also resolved the issue in the village without resolving or quelling Hei Bai, which I thought was strange.
Then the second was that there was no instance of Sokka or Katara in this episode, and somehow, I felt this only added to my enjoyment of it. So far the most solid characters have been Aang, Zuko, and Iroh - with a few exceptions for minor occurring characters - and this episode was all about them. They were the stars and, because of that, everything fit together nicely. Conversations felt natural, connections felt genuine … each moment was given its dues and there were very few instances of scenes feeling disjointed or conflicting. It’s just a shame that the three of them will spend very little time on-screen in this way in coming episodes.
Episode 7: “The North”
This episode was a bit of a strange one as there was a lot I liked and a lot I cared very little for.
First off, I enjoyed the changes made to Yue’s narrative and to Hahn’s character. Both gave Sokka a newfound sense of purpose that displayed all of the great things about his character - from his intellect to his compassion to his awkward charisma. It was nice to see him, both the character and the actor, have a spotlight and really shine.
For Aang, it was nice to see Avatar Kuruk. I didn’t feel it was necessary, but in the same vein, I didn’t feel the interaction or inclusion detracted from the narrative; it simply accelerated the plot and reinforced the difference between the attitudes of Aang and his predecessors.
But while I thought these changes and additions were a welcome change to prior instances, the secondary narrative I wished was simply not included.
We were able to spend some time with Zuko and Iroh as General Zhao made his plans to attack the Northern Water Tribe - and I will admit, I am enjoying the increase in Zhao’s incompetence as it truly feels like his ambition and ego are blinding him to all reason. However, what I am not enjoying is the evolution of Azula.
In this episode, we had the first look at lighting bending, one of the higher forms of bending, and despite the stunning visuals, I had a few issues with it. Firstly, the motion felt wrong for Azula as the movements seemed very similar to Iroh’s techniques which were based on the styles of water benders. Azula’s lightning always felt controlled, but it also felt quick - it was as rash and as impulsive as she was and so better encapsulated the destructive power of the storm. She was never at the eye of the storm, able to truly direct and control it, she could only ever unleash it. Then, came my perspective of her narrative. From the perspective of a viewer, I feel like I am meant to empathize with Azula, that I am supposed to see the struggles of a child doing everything they can to be worthy to their father, but herein lies the problem. That is Zuko’s narrative. Azula is meant to be his counterpart, and only when he accepts who he is does her cracks start to show. In this, they feel too similar, and as a result, when the prior (Zuko) is done so much better than the latter (Azula), it is hard to care about both.
I don’t know if this will feel as strange to newcomers to series, but at the moment, it is difficult to visualise her as a future antagonist and the young woman who will go on to conquer the mighty Ba Sing Se for the Fire Nation and “kill” the Avatar.
Episode 8: “Legends”
As a finale to the series, I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. The original plot at the Northern Water Tribe was the linchpin of the first book of the series so it makes sense that this is where the first season of the live-action series ends - and of course, it means that fans of the series can start the “my girlfriend is the moon” memes as early as possible.
From start to finish, this episode felt like the original siege on the Northern Water Tribe, with the changes and improvements to character from the previous episode bolstering much of the side plots in the finale. In a lot of ways, this finale felt more organic than the original episode with the tragedy being felt on a much larger scale. Though it might be a little too late for some, it was nice to see that Sokka was allowed to continue to develop and that Katara finally had her moment in the spotlight.
Likewise, I didn’t mind Zhao’s death as the pay-off was some much-needed exposition. This I liked, as it gave a reason why Azula has been presented in the way she has. Zuko was meant to push her, to challenge her, to make her break from the box and become what Ozai wanted her to become. But this is a little bit of a double-edged sword as I feel like this revelation came a little too late. To pull off something like this, the seeds need to be sown early and yet, the “tell all” speech from Zhao regarding Azula’s true nature came very much out of the blue - and for fans of the original animated series, it might have felt like justification for the poor writing surrounding her character.
However, everything that needed to be set up for the second season has been set up - though with the fall of Omashu and the prediction of the Comet well before the end of Book Two: Earth, it seems the writers are indeed accelerating the story - and all of the major plot points were able to be wrapped up. But it did leave me wondering, what was the point of what came before?
The animated series was no stranger to filler content, but with such a tight ending, looking back at the earlier episodes of live-action series, they feel drawn out and almost unnecessary. “The North” and “Legends” are so self-contained that they feel out of place, with very few things from previous episodes being brought up or referenced. Not to say this is a bad thing, as it was refreshing to see the show end on a high, but in the animated series with the events of the North taking place halfway through Book One: Water, it gave space and time for connections to emerge - to make the siege feel less isolated from the rest of the story being told.
Overall Thoughts
Having some time to process the series as a whole I have come away with a few different takes.
There is a lot this series does wrong, but there is also a lot it does right - which I think can easily go overlooked. For instance, while there are moments where the CGI falters, the CGI for the elemental bending, set designs, and spirit designs is on point. Likewise, the choreography for the fight scenes and the dedication of the cast to these scenes are to be applauded. Yes, there are points where the costumes and dressing look cheap, especially in the wigs and hairstyles, but at the same time, you can see where time has been taken in an attempt to pay homage to the stylings of the original series.
I do feel that some of the inclusions and changes made to the overall story are pretty poorly implemented, but I feel moving forward this has the potential of being corrected should the show be renewed for a second season. Zuko, Iroh, and Aang were well developed, and come the end of the series, I feel Sokka and Katara were both finally able to find some footing as part of the main cast. I eventually became invested which is what you want from an audience, and while it might be a little too late for old fans, I think that new fans won’t mind the strangeness of the pacing as much and can therefore become invested sooner.
But, as one of the “old fans”, would I recommend this series?
Yes, I would. But I think it would come with a major caveat. If you are, or were, a fan of the animated series, leave those nostalgia goggles behind and wipe away the rose-tinting to come at this series with fresh eyes. The Netflix adaptation is by far better than the 2010 film, but if you watch this series believing it to be the same as the animated series, you will be greatly disappointed. The homages and inspirations are clear, but the way they have been handled is not always the best, so keep that in mind if you choose to dive in.
