@ganon15 said:
That's a new one! Care to elaborate why?
I've been thinking of how I wanted to answer this to the point I considered providing mini summaries/reviews for each episode but I think I want to save that for a full dive where I cover every episode in a future project so I'll just give a brief summary of how the seasons compare and some of the aspects that stood out.
Season 1 of course introduces the character's and establishes their core aspects and goals and how that impacts the dynamics between them. This is done naturally through a somewhat episodic "adventure of the week" style format that always manages to teach some sort of lesson that helps Aang to understand his duties as Avatar better while also expanding the world around them and making it feel more natural and lived in.
The first truly serious moment in the series is of course when Aang discovers the corpse of his former mentor and father figure Monk Gyatso. This discovery gives real weight to Aang's mission to stop the Fire Nation while also introducing the idea that Aang's avoidance of his responsibility is what lead to this outcome, something that he had been avoiding until faced with the reality of it ( magnified by it being such a personal loss ). This is followed up in the episode "The Storm" wherein Aang's guilt and trauma resurface and we're we're show that the isolation and crushing weight of responsibility capped off by the belief that he is about to be separated from his guardian who was the one source of shelter from all that caused him to run away which, in his mind, lead to the deaths of everyone he ever cared about.
Aside from the aforementioned episodes and the finale though, most episodes from the first season stick to the "adventure of the week" format. Actually, thinking about it, I probably would place season 3 above season 1. The main problems with season 3 is moreso the finale for me which, while I enjoyed immensely, is a bit of a copout in that it relieves Aang ( and the audience ) of the burden of having to choose between killing the Firelord to save the world or sticking to his pacifistic ideals and refusing to take a life by what is essentially a Deus ex machina in the form of the Lion Turtle and "Energy-bending." Other than that, there are very few problems with season 3 other than that it sort of feels like it's spinning its wheels with more episodic material ( similar to season 1 ) up until The Boiling Rock episodes ( wish they'd devoted some of that time spent on random Fire Nation episodes building up Azula's mental decline in the finale ).
Season 2 for me has the least flaws and the most interesting material.
Zuko's personal struggle, Toph introduction to the Gaang, Azula, Ty Lee and Mai as a threat both to our main cast, to the increasingly sympathetic Zuko and Iroh and, more broadly, the enemies of the Fire Nation. Ba Sing Se, the Dai Li, even the effect of the war itself on the common people. It all building upon the base setup for it in season 1 but more importantly, all of the material feels more connected than it does in season 1. It feels like it's actually building on itself as opposed to merely expanding it's own little corner of the world disconnected from everything else. I think that the themes and direction of the series were a lot more in focus by this point in the show in general.
Log in to comment