User Reviews

The episode itself was nicely done.

Entering the Northern Water Tribe was looked great of course (honestly it even looked great in the 2010 movie with all the music) so I expected nothing less, but it was still nice to see.

Finally this episode mentions some of the problems I had in earlier episodes, like Aang not learning waterbending and his whole goal. Aang mentioned it before but know it finally feels acknowledged... So Aang goes to see Kuruk! And I got to say it nice to see that the writers did their homework and read the novels! I already thought about it when Kyoshi told about her youth, and now it was brought up again by Kuruk about his fight with the spirits! Which was great to see!

What I mean with "it suffers a bit from the pace of earlier episodes" is the following: this episode got line like "They traveled the world", "we fought and saved a lot of people". And sure they did... but off screen... the whole "We are finally there" vibe doesn't here at all. Which is a little sad.

When it comes to Katara's story, it was nice to see that kept the water tribe traditions in this series, which katara stnading up to it. So Yeah we got the fight with Pakku... unfortunately it didn't end like I think it should be. This moments they just shouldn't have changed. In a lot of shots you kinda see close-ups of her necklage. But they don't do anything with it. So no Pakku and Gran-Gran backstory (spoiler: also not in the next episode) and in the end Pakku never trains Katara or Aang.

Which is such a shame...

At last Sokka story with Yue. They changed up Hahn a lot by actually being a nice guy, also to Sokka. Yue got some nice interactions with Sokka. Sokka make a funny nodge to the anime saying "And say what?, "Hey there, Sokka, Southern Water Tribe?" Yue later reveals her whole spirit story with a little extra thing.

Changes I honestly didn't mind, the interactions were fine.

This episode was very middle-of-the-pack for me. They did not overstuff it with contents like some of the earlier ones in the series, which is a good thing. It more or less followed a single one of the animated episode, but added new lore.

There was however many weak points in this episode. I try to stay away from direct comparisons, but there are some very puzzling choices. In an episode that is to a large extent about learning waterbending, why is Aang still not even trying? I am guessing they are leaving the "learning waterbending" arc for a "time jump" between season 1 and 2 due to the actors ageing. Still, this was one of the reasons for their presence here, so why?

I have also mixed feelings about Pakku not deciding to teach Katara and her becoming "her own master". Admittedly, the reason he eventually accepts in the animated was weak, and the idea that Pakku changes his minds only after the attack in the next episode is more grounded, kind of matching how women's rights was advanced after WW2 in some countries because of how much women contributed to the economy during the war effort. Still, Katara becoming a master without training and in such a short time is dubious, and the "Girl Power" aspect is not a good enough reason for this. To be fair, it was also too fast in the animated.

Finally, last rambling: Azula's arc... Was this whole for this? I really think removing Azula from season 1 would have been better. Her arrival in season 2 and her cold deadly strength was absolutely amazing in the animated. Now we see her as physically strong but emotionally weak, which is really sad.

So overall, a decent episode, but with many small aspects preventing it from being thoroughly enjoyable.

This Episode begins with Prince Zuko, he has to leave because the Firenation knows that Zuko spoke with Aang. Commander Zhao bombed Prince Zuko his boat. Aang, Katara and Sokka have arrived in Agna Qel'a. Sokka is flirting with Princess Yue. Princess Yue kissed Sokka. The Firenation is travelling to Agna Qel'a. Prince Zuko survived Commander Zhao his attack. Katara fights with Pakku, a strong waterbender who is also a master at Agna Qel'a. Aang, Katara and Sokka see that the Firenation is nearby. Solid Episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1, this was just okay. Not many exciting moments, hoping for a great final!

Whereas the last episode benefitted from razor sharp focus on Zuko's story, every plotline in this episode failed to have the impact that it should. Sokka's courtship with Yue, for instance, fails to have the sweet innocence of the original and is not replaced with anything equal or better. Yue is played with surprising stiffness by Amber Midthunder (I once again blame the direction- the performances are too consistently lacking by too many good actors for me to blame the individuals) and we are not given a strong visceral reason for their attraction to each other. Yue, in the live action show, is more down to earth which creates less contrast to the also down to earth Sokka. I admire that the writers wanted to give Yue more dimension than her animated counterpart (who, to be fair, lacks depth), but the live action Yue has less of a stand out personality than the original (Yue's combination of otherworldliness and innocence made her stand out, at least). The writers of this show need to learn that having a character explain more of their own backstory and motivations does not make for a strong character if their personality is bland.

Katara's plotline, too, lacks oomph. In the animated series, her stubborn willfulness and pride is what causes her to initiate the fight with Master Pakku. The animated show demonstrated many times before that, while she is often sweet and nurturing, Katara can get fired up when she grows frustrated. In the live action, Katara has been too passive most of the season for me to believe that she would be willing to go against an entire (sexist) cultural tradition for her beliefs. The fight between them, too, lacks the snap and speed of the original animated counterpart. The writers and directors smoothed out Katara's rough edges making her a less compelling character in the process.

Aang's conflict on whether to let his friends help him or not doesn't land, because it doesn't take any convincing at all to change his mind. The show, thus far, has both repetitively spammed the beat where Aang has a grim attitude towards his responsibility and has not made Aang truly struggle with any decision. Aang never seems in deep pain about any of the dilemmas he faces- he more just seems kind of bummed out about them. That makes his conflict in this episode not feel as meaningful as it could.