Lorraine Marchan

Lorraine MarchanHonestly, it was pretty good. They did increase the maturity level a bit(now more PG-13 than TV Y7). It just shows a bit more of what the cartoon hinted/implied/expressly stated but did not show. Since the show is only 8 episodes vs. the 20+ of the cartoon, we miss some of the comedy and lighter stories, though we are to assume these happened since background characters mention these adventures. This also means certain story lines/characters important to the overarching narrative get spliced together that were originally separate. We miss a bit of Aang's character development this way in the "smaller" stories. In those particular stories, we saw more of Aang's growth as the Avatar. Katara has a stronger focus on having lost her mom, though this just might be due to not having seen the cartoon in a while. We aren't seeing the season 3 level of anger for this yet, but we'll see. Toning down Sokka's sexism did not affect the character as much as I feared. They refocused that energy towards the root of his sexism-being the main defender/warrior of the tribe and trying to keep the tribe safe. Sokka spends the season questioning and learning about being a warrior and leader. He ultimately gets the most character growth to me out of the 3. Zuko is played a lot deeper than expected. The actor infuses all of his acting choices and line delivery with a level of sadness and grief that I felt immediately empathetic. He truly gives this feeling of a teenager who is hopeful, scared, and overwhelmed, projecting a front of being a leader without showing weakness. The adults were, of course, amazing. Overall, I could say the pacing feel a bit rushed, but that is most likely due to the merging of storylines that I know were originally separate. It lacks some of the silliness I enjoyed in the original, but with the tone they were going for I sort of understand. I think the show might have benefited from having slightly longer episodes to give them a chance to breathe.