A Painfully Honest Review of Netflix Avatar

George Takei didn't reprise his role as Koh, that wasn't his role in the original, he played the Prison Warden on that Earthbender Metal Barge.

My kids got bored with the live-action show after 2-3 episodes, and now we’re half-way through a re-watch of the original series. Silver linings. ✌️

One day, executives will learn that it's actually MORE risky to adapt/remake a successful story than it is to adapt/remake a middling one.

I'd argue Sokka's initial sexism was ALSO because he was a child playing at pre-mature 'man-hood' because he'd been forced to take that role because his father was taken away from him by war. War had more fucking impacts than "cool battles" which they forgot to make a dumb opening fight.

The producers had originally said that they were, quote, "trying to appeal to Game of Throne's fans" with this new adaptation, so when Sokka and Katara entered the Secret Tunnel instead of Aang and Katara and the hippies started singing about love, I thought Sweet Home Alabama was about to start playing as the intro music for Cersei and Jamie Lannister.

Katara in this show got hit the worst with the writing of all the characters. She is so passive and basically nothing like her animated counterpart.

Ironically, Sokka's portrayal in the original Avatar actually feels really damn progressive once all is said and done, even by today's standards. A guy that grew up with a limited world view but doesn't grow to resent the outside world, instead adapting to become a strong leader is something you rarely see nowadays. And that's an important thing to show, that it takes a lot more strength to admit that you're wrong, than to stand by what you already believe.

So fun easter egg: in the original show it's implied that nobody can see airbending. The air blasts and stuff are just visual for the audience. There's a line Xin Fu and the Boulder. Where thr Boulder states he saw no bending from Aang and that Toph must've taken a dive and split the money with him. This alludes to the fact that even in universe, nobody can see air

one of my favorite advices for writing is the bigger the tragedy, the less you show. that's why the air temple scene in the cartoon was so impactful. not just the tonal shift but it left a lot to the audience's imagination of how and why this genocide happened and the more we find out throughout the show, the worse it gets. especially when we are shown multiple times through Aang and his flashbacks that airbenders are pacifists

The fan theory is that Monk Gyatso sucked all the air out of the room like Zaheer and took all those Firebenders with him, because his clothes don't have any burn marks on them, meaning he died from something besides fire.

One thing I think was really missing from Katara's personality was that, KATARA WAS SARCASTIC TOO!!!! Not as much as sokka obviously but it was there!!

My main problem with the series is quite ironically that it somehow actually feels like the theater play that the Gang saw in season 3. They saw themselves be portrayed and over exaggarated but yet, at the same time polished. The characters in that play said all of their emotional baggage and their hopes and dreams in such an abundantly upfront way that it was clear to the viewer, that it was meant to sound ridiculous. The characters in the live action series aren't, as you said, put in situation where they play the characters but rather explain themselves as a whole in form clumsy monologues with tears and emotional music. That doesn't build tension or mystique. Also not letting the viewer know the characters whole backstory in the cartoon series was pretty nice because when the episode with Aangs and Zukos backstory dropped I was hooked.

20:40 - "And then a tidal wave snuck up on him" had me laughing so hard

The largest crime here is killing the character development. Aang was running away from his responsibilities as the avatar; Sokka was sexist and naive; katara was hot headed and reckless at times. Characters with struggles who learned and grew was what made the show so impactful to begin with, and that’s been thrown out the window.

This is another great example of "probably would've been alright if it wasn't a beloved property."

M. Night was a big victim, but I disagree on him being the biggest. That, imo, would go to Noah Ringer, who played Aang in the film. Because apparently, the Avatar fandom hadn't learned from the Star Wars fandom that maybe you shouldn't bully the child actor playing a lead character en masse. The way he was being treated ultimately drove him out of acting just as his story was beginning. I hope he's doing better now, wherever he is.

Okay but why’s the old guy got perfect hair in the middle of a war. The whole thing feels so costume-y

I'm definitely not the first person to say so, but Aang's childishness and playfulness wasn't important just for him as an individual character, but as a theme of the series itself. The war killed the air nomads, but it also destroyed the childhood of all of the nations (e.g. the fire nation kids being disconnected from their own culture of dancing and music). There are other child characters in the show who have been forced into adulthood, which Aang returns to them. This is also why it's important Aang doesn't kill Ozai at the end. Yangchen could sacrifice her air noman beliefs to be the avatar, because air nomad culture would persist. Aang is the last airbender. If he killed Ozai, Ozai would have philosophically succeed by "proving" that the air nomads pacifism and joy couldn't survive in the world.

"Show, don't tell" has never felt this palpable to me

I really wish they had put in the line of "YOU STILL HAVE MUCH TO LEARN, AND PAIN WILL BE YOUR TEACHER" during the agni kai with Zuko and his father. Showed how brutal Ozai was, even with family.