Avatar: the Last Airbender Review. Episode 1.

Well, this took long enough. Seriously, I really didn't notice that MONTH had passed by when I announced this. Well, better late than never.

Okay, let's get started. The rules are simple: I watch the episode on Netflix, jot down anything I think is worth noting, and then give my overall thoughts on the episode(s). What do you think? Will I grow to love Avatar, or will I still find it as "okay" as I did when I first watched the series?

First, I just want to say that these thoughts are just my opinion, so take them with a grain of salt. If you love/hate show and disagree with anything I say, that's great! These are just own silly thoughts. I just wish to share them with you and maybe give you a different perspective. Please, don't hurt me

With that all out of the way, let's get started!

Episode 1: The Boy in the Iceberg

Synopsis:
Katara and Sokka, siblings of the Southern Water Tribe, go out fishing and discover a boy trapped in an iceberg. In a bright beam of light, he is freed and introduces himself as Aang, an airbender of the Air Nomads, a culture thought to have gone extinct for nearly a hundred years. Aang appears to be a friendly boy and introduces himself to the Water Tribe village and have some fun.

Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh, members of the enemy Fire Nation, are sailing near the area and notice the beam of light from Aang's freedom. Zuko, who is hunting for the missing Avatar, orders his ship to set sail toward the area to investigate. Trouble is brewing.

Highlights and thoughts:

• 1. Okay, we're starting off with the (I'll admit) iconic intro ("everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked"). I don't remember it being different in the first episode. Huh. How about that?
  2. Katara states that she doesn't believe the Avatar cycle is broken, and she still has hope the avatar will return. I'll get back to this note.
  3. We got a pretty good score after Katara exposits the lore behind this world. The music is something I always rather enjoyed (most of the time). Glad to see that part is still on my good side.
  4. Okay, first problem for me: Sokka and Katara are fishing, and Sokka gets upset that he gets soaked by "magic water". Here's a nitpick: I get that it's implied that Sokka has been isolated to living on the South Pole all of his life, but shouldn't he still know that bending is a rather common thing in the world as to not call it "magic water"? I mean, his mother was murdered because she claimed she was a water bender. Still, in the grand scheme of things, this is just a nitpick. Not a big deal.
  5. Sokka blames Katara for messing fishing up because she's a girl. I had forgotten that Sokka was a little sexist in earlier episodes. He does get over that over time, thank goodness.
  6. Ah, the trope of breaking something important without realizing it. In this case, breaking an iceberg that unleashes another iceberg where Aang is. Well done, Katara. After a century under water, someone finally found the guy. Good job.
  7. Big beam of light blasting through the sky when Aang is freed. Hmm... was that always thing? I want to say it's because of the Avatar State, but I'm not sure. I don't remember there being big beams of light blasting into the sky whenever the Avatar State appeared. I'll give this show the benefit of the doubt and say I had forgotten. We'll find out in the future episodes.
  8. Yes, first look at my favorite character of the series, nay, franchise: Zuko with his honor, followed by his equally awesome uncle, Iroh, with his tea. Good for them that they just happened to be sailing by the south pole while Aang conveniently unleashes a big beam of light into the sky. Am I harking on this too much? Maybe. You do have to give shows a little latitude with plot convenience. Still, oddly convenient.
  9. Now, we finally meet Aang. First thing he does is ask Katara to go penguin sledding. I never was a fan of his humor in the early episodes. After all of these years... that still hasn't changed. Oh, boy. At least he matures as the series progresses.
  10. We see Appa. Fluffy guy. I like him. Yay.
  11. Got an unfunny "flying sister" joke from Sokka where he immediately receives karma in the form of Appa's mucous. Gross out humor. Not a fan.
  12. Aang is airbender. Who knew?
  13. Never was a fan of "yip-yip", either. It felt too childish to me.
  14. Zuko states his honor is on the line, and that separates his search for the avatar from those of Ozai's, Azulon's, and Sozin's searches. Gotta love the guy's determination. Part of the reason he is my favorite.
  15. Okay, here's a problem: Katara asks Aang if he knows anything about the Avatar, and he lies about not knowing him. Katara later mentions that nobody has seen an airbender in about a hundred years. Does she not know that the Avatar came from the air nomads, last time? Did she not notice that Aang was frozen in an iceberg, a WATER element, for a very long time? Can she really not connect the dots enough to at least suspect the airbender frozen in water who unleashed a powerful beam of light into the sky might be the said avatar? I thought she said she had hope in the avatar's return. Girl, think about all these things and how they might connect. ZUKO guessed the Avatar with the beam of powerful light, alone.
  16. Anyway, Aang lies about not knowing the Avatar. He was under stress, and he tends to make some bad choices when that happens. I'll get more into that whenever we reach "Bato of the Water Tribe". Still, explanation is not justification. I'm not a fan of the liar-reveal trope.
  17. Aang has a dream/flashback on how he got frozen in the iceberg, revealing *gasp* he IS the Avatar! Who knew? I mean, besides the audience? Answer: Katara, for missing all the clear signs. Also reveals that Aang lied. Shame on you, Aang.
  18. Katara notices Aang's tattoos while he dresses up, confirming the question that she already knew the answer to: Aang is an airbender. Girl... airbender, first one seen in a hundred years, iceberg, powerful energy light in the sky. Connect the dots. SERIOUSLY!
  19. Aang meets the village, and Gran-gran says an airbender hasn't been seen in a hundred years... seriously, Katara, do you not suspect a thing? At the least the villagers didn't know the beam of light came from Aang or he from an iceberg. You have no excuse, Katara!
  20. Aang shows off his glider. Cool.
  21. Property damage from negligent flying. Not cool (and not funny). Good thing for Aang only Sokka seems to mind.
  22. Aang hears that Katara is a waterbender. Audience learns bending styles are different. I like that.
  23. Katara "senses" Aang is full of wisdom (seriously, that's all you suspect from everything you seen with the guy? ), and then we see Aang got his tongue stuck on his staff. That felt straight out of the school of Butch Hartman (brownie points if you get that reference). Good thing the little kids find Aang's tongue funny. I haven't laughed at anything he's done so far.
  24. Cut back to Zuko training in firebending. Cool stuff.
  25. We can just tell Iroh has a lot of wisdom. Awesome. I wonder if Katara will sense that? From what I've seen so far, she might suspect the opposite and think Iroh is the Avatar.
  26. Zuko demands Iroh teach him more advanced firebending techniques. Iroh agrees to do so after he eats some roast duck. That actually made me chuckle. First time in the entire episode.
  27. Sokka "trains" the local children to be warriors, and we get a potty joke. I'm just shaking my head at this point.
  28. Sokka mentions the war, and Aang clearly doesn't know anything about that. He's been in the iceberg for a long time. But enough on that. He sees a penguin (or that world's version of a penguin) and runs toward it at high speed. Eh, stupid but it's the first time Aang made me snicker, so... progress?
  29. Cut to Aang and Katara in a field of penguins. Not a fan of Aang's way with the animals. Nope, progress has not been made.
  30. We learn that Katara is the only waterbender. Okay, setting up to go the North Pole. Good setup.
  31. Penguin sledding looks fun. I want to do that.
  32. Fire navy ship. Katara FINALLY realizes that Aang had been stuck in that iceberg for around a hundred years. Does she not listen to her grandmother? We've already gotten that info, or at least connected the dots, something she failed to do repeatedly
  33. Aang is distraught with the time pass but is happy he got to meet Katara. Sweet I guess? Romance has never been the Avatar franchise's strength. More on that when we get to future episodes.
  34. Aang accidently sets off a booby trap: a flare in the sky. Almost pointless. Zuko was already heading in that direction, anyway. All the flare did was give Zuko a first glimpse of Aang. The village, too, but, like I said, Zuko was heading there, anyway. Well, if I remember correctly, I think the flare will be a little more plot relevant in episode two.

  And those were my highlights for episode one. My first response: yikes. This episode took some effort to get through. I had to pause on a number of occasions and even walked away at one point. Granted, the first episodes on shows, especially of this type, usually aren't the greatest because they have to start establishing characters and lore. Still, Team Avatar did not endear themselves to me. I found them unfunny and Katara borderline idiotic. Sokka was not any more the wiser, either, but he clearly did not care much for the Avatar, unlike Katara who claimed to have had "hope". I'm glad to see I still like Zuko, Iroh and their dynamic. We didn't see much of them, but they did catch my attention in a positive light, definitely more so than Team Avatar. I hope it stays that way. Well, actually, I hope I get to like Team Avatar more. Time will tell.

  My arbitrary grade for this episode: C+
  Sentence: "CONNECT THE FREAKING DOTS!"

  So, what are your thoughts on this episode? What are your thoughts on my thoughts of the episode? Was there something I missed that could've made me enjoy it more? Did I give you more food for thought? I'd really like to know!

  See you next time!

Comments

[Radiant Sparkle]

Based on what you typed here, and what I recall of the episode, I'd say Katara wasn't connecting the dots because she took one look at Aang, and something inside decided "He's cute..." And with that realization, her ability to think critically just sort of packed it in and took a vacation.

[DeltaXeno1138]

Sokka doesn’t know why their mother was murdered at this time. That’s a revelation for Katara and the audience in the later episode.

And he was only nine years old when they lost their mom. I don’t believe we’ve been told when Katara was left as the sole waterbender in the south pole. I’m thinking if he saw any waterbending that wasn’t from Katara, he was probably too young to remember it.

[RS-Belle14]

5327789
Hmm. Well, I can't say I agree with that theory. In a future episode way far off, Katara tells Aang she doesn't know how she feels about him. Their relationship (if you can even call it that) isn't even established yet. As far it's shown, Katara just met another bender for the first time in her life and hopes he can teach her, not realizing airbending and waterbending are two different beasts.

Even if it was true, I'd have to say that's still pretty bad on Katara's part. World at war, savior potentially in front of her. Her thoughts: "He's cute." Bad, Katara. Bad. I know looks are the first thing people notice, but I really hope she wasn't thinking about him that way 24/7 after they just met. That's... creepy.

[RS-Belle14]

5327806
I don't recall whether or not Sokka new the reason behind his mother's death, but, as I said, that part is just a nitpick. I can let that slide, though part of me wonders if he ever heard stories of other benders. I mean, I think he would at least know about firebending since it's currently the nation attacking the entire world.

[DeltaXeno1138]

5327818 He doesn’t say so when he tells the story to Zuko. We only learn it from the guy who killed Kya.

Oh for sure. He witnessed fire nation attacks on his village.

Some people on youtube are reacting to Avatar, and they expressed some disbelief over Sokka’s skepticism, and it got me thinking about how he initally views bending. Most bending he’s seen has probably only been from firebenders, who he has grown up to recognize as enemies due to their attacks and their starting the war, and his sister who is still a novice at the start, and he states that her attempts to waterbend always leave him soaked.

I never considered it, but I think it makes sense that he’d have a bit of a negative view toward it.

[RS-Belle14]

5327845
Yes, I'm sure he doesn't start out very fond of bending, at least of the fire bending. Still, he called it "magic water". I get it's get exposition to the audience, but I still gotta nitpick.

[Radiant Sparkle]

5327808
Heh. Well, yes. But it's also very human. Pick any gorgeous or hunky supermodel of your favorite persuasion. If that person walked by you in the real world, would you be concerned that maybe they were the best hope for humanity's survival? Or would you just short-circuit on "WANT!" It might be shallow of her to get flustered by the cute boy, but it's also very human.