S01.E01: Aang

[The Crazed Spruce]

Episode description coming.

Edited February 22 by The Crazed Spruce

[The Crazed Spruce]

Quote

An Airbender comes to grips with his new reality as war erupts. A century later, a pair of Water Tribe siblings make a discovery that changes everything.

 

[Stardancer Supreme]

So far, I am impressed.  Yes, I had all the nostalgia feels. This is turning out to be a decent retelling of Aang's story. 

ETA: I forgot to mention how much I loved that they featured Avatar Kioshi in the wonderful ATLA opening! And Gran Gran reciting the famous story to Aang of what happened since he disappeared just before the Fire Nation decimated the Airbenders. 

Edited February 22 by Stardancer Supreme

[thuganomics85]

Man, I can't believe they made a series out of that bad M. Night Shyamalan movie years ago.  They really will remake everything! (Kidding!  But I am still prepared to dodge all of the stuff that is rightfully thrown in my direction.)

As someone who hasn't seen the animated series (yeah, yeah, I'll add it to the list), I thought this was a pretty solid adaptation for a newbie, with out they introduced all of the characters, the world building, and set things up for the future.  The gist is that there are four nations in the world; Fire, Water, Earth, Wind; that can control/bend the elements, the Fire Nation is kind of (or run by) dicks bent on world domination, and it's up to the Avatar to maintain balance.  Also, Aang is now the only Airbender left due to that attack 100 years ago (although, if I were a betting man, I'd put money down on other ones showing up at some point.)  Simple enough!

The actors playing Aang, Katara, and Sokka were well cast and did great jobs with the material.   

Prince Zuko is already becoming my favorite due to hitting all of the classic angsty tropes that are usually associated with adversaries in YA/kid friendly material: right down to the dad issues!

Always great seeing Paul Sun-Hyung Lee and I like the Uncle Iroh character so far.  Also great seeing a few other familiar faces like Yvonne Chapman and Hiro Kanagawa pop up in roles as well.  Guess we have to wait for Daniel Dae Kim though.

What's the over/under that a gang from Earth Nation eventually joins the party?

[Stardancer Supreme]

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

As someone who hasn't seen the animated series (yeah, yeah, I'll add it to the list), I thought this was a pretty solid adaptation for a newbie,

 

You have got to see the source material! Get it in DVD/Blu-Ray immediately.

[tennisgurl]

Just now, thuganomics85 said:

As someone who hasn't seen the animated series (yeah, yeah, I'll add it to the list),

Put it at the top of your list ASAP, the whole series is on Netflix! Its an absolute classic and so lives up to the hype. 

I have been excited/nervous about this show since they first announced it, especially after the movie that shall not be mentioned, and while I am sure nothing will beat the original, I think that this is off to a strong start. You can tell the people behind the show were really using that sweet Netflix money, the costumes, sets, and effects all look amazing, and if they keep it up its just going to get better. There were some definite changes, some of which I was sort of meh on and others I really liked, we will just wait and see what happens this season and what they end up using and what they cut. 

The casting is solid all around, already leaps and bounds above most of the cast of the movie of which we do not speak of, I especially like the kid they cast as Prince Zuko, my very favorite angsty boy. He's just boiling with rage and desperation almost every second he's on screen. 

With this not being a kids cartoon they are clearly free to get way more bloody and violent in this one, no hiding how nasty it is to fight people who can burn you alive by waving a hand. I was surprised to see them starting out with the massacre of the Air Nomads, if I remember right that was never actually shown on the show, we just saw the aftermath when Aang came back 100 years later. It reminds me a lot of how in the One Piece Netflix adaptation what seemed much more cartoon-y in an anime becomes shockingly brutal when its in live action. 

I got such chills when Gram Gram started doing the famous introduction that we got in every episode of the cartoon. 

Edited February 22 by tennisgurl

[ProudMary]

I'm watching only Episode 1 today as I want to savor instead of binge. I did a re-watch of Book 1 of the original series within the past few weeks, so it would be fresh in my memory.

The casting seems quite good. Aang is perfect, unlike in that film which shall not be named. They condensed quite a bit of story into Ep. 1.  

This is definitely a nitpick, but it bugged me. Katara and Sokka wouldn't have known how to get Appa into the air because they never saw Aang get him airborne. This could have been easily accomplished by giving us one quick scene where the trio had some FUN together. Penguin sledding, perhaps? Humor was such an important part of the original series. The fact that we saw none in the first episode has me a bit concerned. 

Overall, it was good. I'm cautiously optimistic. 

[JustHereForFood]

I've never seen the animated series either. I keep hearing how good it was, so it's on my list, but I haven't gotten around to it yet, so I figured I would try this new version in the meantime. (Plus, I don't even know where I would watch the animated series, I most certainly do not have it on Netflix in Europe.)

It seems a bit uneven so far, the world looks great, the powers are interesting and the actors are good, but I did not realize it was going to be aimed mostly at kids (completely my mistake, should have realized it), there was way too much exposition and repetition for me. Yet at the same time, the revelation that Aang was frozen for hundred years was sort of undersold. Was the animal (sky bison?) frozen as well? Or is normal for them to live that long, but why would it not try to get help all that time? 

I am also really, really tired of chosen one stories and endless debates about taking responsibility you didn't ask for vs. wanting to live a normal life, so I hope that is going to be kept to a minimum. I will give it a few more episodes, because it looks very good visually and I want to support fantasy with more diverse casting. 

[Lugal]

Not much I can say that really hasn't been covered already, but this was impressive!  I purposely didn't rewatch the animated series so I could come at this one with fresh eyes.  The casting was solid, everyone seemed to fit the roles perfectly: they are Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko and Iroh.  They got big Netflix money behind them and it shows.  You can tell the people behind the scenes are fans rather than trying to cash in, or worse fanboys/fangirls.

I thought the Air Nomad Genocide was well done, brutal without becoming gratuitous (we don't need to see everyone getting burned alive) although I almost wish the fight between Sozin and Gyatso would have lasted a little longer, just to see the two masters going up against each other (and since the cartoon showed Gyatso's skeleton surrounded by three dozen dead firebenders, there's all those theories over the years that he pulled the air right out of their lungs).

I like that Wolf Cove was a real village, as opposed to the cartoon where it looked like Gran-gran, Katara, Sokka and a few kids.  I loved Gran-gran giving the opening narrative in front of the four elements symbols, but my favorite scene is probably when Aang's in the brig and Iroh visits him.  Very good interplay with Aang's "what do you believe?" and Iroh dodging the question.  And they kept Iroh's love of tea!

18 hours ago, ProudMary said:

This is definitely a nitpick, but it bugged me. Katara and Sokka wouldn't have known how to get Appa into the air because they never saw Aang get him airborne. This could have been easily accomplished by giving us one quick scene where the trio had some FUN together. Penguin sledding, perhaps? Humor was such an important part of the original series. The fact that we saw none in the first episode has me a bit concerned. 

I seem to recall in the cartoon it took them a moment to figure it out (deleted scene perhaps?)  I can handwave it, because when Aang was floating and calling Appa, was he saying yip-yip?  I thought they brought some humor into it with Sokka.  This was a heavy episode (opening with a genocide, after all) so I can see why the humor was minimal.

22 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

What's the over/under that a gang from Earth Nation eventually joins the party?

We're all looking forward to meeting her next season!

[Maelstrom]

The original animated show is one of my two favorite series of all time, so I too was extremely wary when this remake was first announced. The full trailer last month finally won me over, and this first ep didn't disappoint.

There are differences from the original, as we knew there would be, but despite the changes I really do feel they kept true to the essence of the original. I can feel the effort and the love poured into every aspect of this, from the script adaptions to the actors' performances and even down to the set dressing. There were so many little details lifted directly from the original, and every note really felt pitch perfect. They even kept the same musical themes and cues! And the ending music! Squee!

The actors were all fantastic. All of the cast interviews I've obsessively watched in recent weeks made me confident that they would great in their roles, and I wasn't disappointed by any of them. This first ep combined a lot of story points and set up pulled from all three series of the original, so it's understandable there wasn't as much time to focus on exploring character, at least not for everyone. I look forward to seeing everyone get their turn in the spotlight in the coming episodes.

I loved the scene of Iroh visiting Aang after he was locked up, it was a stroke of genius to add, and makes me hopeful that Iroh's backstory will be explored a little more fully this time around (and hopefully we'll get to see more of Lu Chen in flashbacks?). And his love of tea! Iroh's face absolutely lit up every time he mentioned his jasmine tea, and I commend Paul Sun-Hyung Lee for such a wonderful touch.

Agree that Gran Gran getting the famous opening monologue was perfection, and gave me chills. Loved they kept the opening sequence with the four different benders. I thought they did a good job of really laying out what an Avatar is, and what their importance and place in the world is. I figured from the casting announcements that there would be more focus on past Avatars (Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yang Chen) and I really liked that they were all introduced here by name, if not all face to face.

The Airbender genocide was as hard to watch as I thought it would be. I'm grateful that they didn't get any more graphic with it, and hope that holds for the rest of the series' darker parts. Gyatso was an absolute delight, and I hope we see more of him in flashbacks - I loved that the actor even captured the same laugh as the original voice actor!

The locations were breathtaking. I don't know how much they were actually outside in the wilds of British Columbia and how much was digital, but every single locale looked completely real, and so detailed, that I want to just walk around and explore. And as I mentioned, the set dressing and props were so well done that I want to go back and freeze frame every scene just to see what's there.

I have to mention the pigeon-rats and pig-chickens wandering the streets of the capital in the opening scene. Ha!

[Valerie]

Love that we got to see Aang's past with Monk Gyatso. That was painful to watch.

Gran Gran getting the OG opening monologue was a perfect choice.

Iroh is wonderful. Zuko is great, and I can see the subtle changes that differentiate him from just a copy of Dante Basco's performance.

I found Katara's actress to be the weakest of the three, but overall I think the young actors all have good chemistry off of one another.

[MissLucas]

Okay, this is an embarrassing question for someone who has watched the animated version more than once, but here goes. How did the Fire Nation know that they hadn't finished off the Avatar in the attack against the Airbenders? And why did they keep looking for him or her if there had been no signs of Avatar activity for 100 years? Was that ever explained? Was it explained in this episode and I missed it?

[Stardancer Supreme]

5 hours ago, Lugal said:

I thought the Air Nomad Genocide was well done, brutal without becoming gratuitous (we don't need to see everyone getting burned alive) although I almost wish the fight between Sozin and Gyatso would have lasted a little longer, just to see the two masters going up against each other (and since the cartoon showed Gyatso's skeleton surrounded by three dozen dead firebenders, there's all those theories over the years that he pulled the air right out of their lungs).

That would have been cool, but this iteration had Sozin and the airbender children in that room. Gyatso was trying desperately to save the children; I have no doubt that he would have done that to take Sozin out while sacrificing himself. 

[Spartan Girl]

Okay, I’m only one episode in but the Twidiots bitching about all the differences can STFU because this is good. Not as good as the original series but still good!

Edited February 24 by Spartan Girl

[Stardancer Supreme]

3 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Okay, this is an embarrassing question for someone who has watched the animated version more than once, but here goes. How did the Fire Nation know that they hadn't finished off the Avatar in the attack against the Airbenders? And why did they keep looking for him or her if there had been no signs of Avatar activity for 100 years? Was that ever explained? Was it explained in this episode and I missed it?

 

It wasn't explained in the show. I saw an explanation derived from the A:TLA comic books that Sozin and the Fire Sages determined that the Air Nomad Avatar was still alive when no Water Tribe Avatar showed up. Then to make sure that they disrupted the Avatar Cycle, they targeted the Southern Water Tribe waterbenders. As an aside, if they had gotten Aang, the next Avatar would be weakened since there wouldn't have been any way for the next one to learn Airbending. (The Avatar Cycle is Fire, Air, Water, Earth.) 

[SVNBob]

9 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Okay, this is an embarrassing question for someone who has watched the animated version more than once, but here goes. How did the Fire Nation know that they hadn't finished off the Avatar in the attack against the Airbenders? And why did they keep looking for him or her if there had been no signs of Avatar activity for 100 years? Was that ever explained? Was it explained in this episode and I missed it?

 

5 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

It wasn't explained in the show. I saw an explanation derived from the A:TLA comic books that Sozin and the Fire Sages determined that the Air Nomad Avatar was still alive when no Water Tribe Avatar showed up. Then to make sure that they disrupted the Avatar Cycle, they targeted the Southern Water Tribe waterbenders. As an aside, if they had gotten Aang, the next Avatar would be weakened since there wouldn't have been any way for the next one to learn Airbending. (The Avatar Cycle is Fire, Air, Water, Earth.) 

 

There's also the implication that they thought they had ended the Avatar cycle, and that Ozai sending Zuko to "find the Avatar" was a snipe hunt.  Hence Iroh saying that Zuko returning to the Fire Nation, successfully no less, would be "unexpected".

[The Crazed Spruce]

Not to mention that they had 100 years to hunt down any stray Air Nomads who might've been away from the temple that day, and a huge army more than up to the task.

[Maelstrom]

17 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Then to make sure that they disrupted the Avatar Cycle, they targeted the Southern Water Tribe waterbenders.

12 hours ago, SVNBob said:

There's also the implication that they thought they had ended the Avatar cycle, and that Ozai sending Zuko to "find the Avatar" was a snipe hunt.  Hence Iroh saying that Zuko returning to the Fire Nation, successfully no less, would be "unexpected".

I haven't read any of the comics but I always assumed it was a combination of these two things.

[bluvelvet]

I love the animated series and was hoping this would go well. I was pleasantly surprised. Really enjoyed episode 1.  I liked that they had the air nomads and the genocide which just made you realize how evil Sozin was. I also wondered about their plan to kill the avatar because the water tribe avatar would just take that person’s place so I didn’t understand why they wanted to kill vs just capture. 

[baldryanr]

On 3/11/2024 at 4:32 AM, bluvelvet said:

I also wondered about their plan to kill the avatar because the water tribe avatar would just take that person’s place so I didn’t understand why they wanted to kill vs just capture. 

True, although at the very least, it would have bought them more time.  Successfully kill Aang and you've gotten many years of a world where the avatar is too young to be a threat.  Plus the new water tribe avatar would be much more vulnerable for quite a while.

[PurpleTentacle]

I'm only getting to this now because at the time of release I got to "an earth bender!" and was like "nope!". If you think you need clunky exposition in the first 30 seconds of your episode that's not a good sign.

Same thing again with Aang talking to Appa later. "Let me tell you all of my emotions so I don't have to act them!" and then Grangran even later (in a vacuum that would have been cool, but not with all the exposition dumps in the episode). Also if Aang isn't running away in this version, why is he flying into a storm, on his leisurely clear your head evening flight? He should have seen it from miles away. And how far did he fly anyway? There was no storm at the temple.

I'm not a big fan of the genocide of the air nomads being frontloaded anyway. If you have to show it, it should be in a flashback later.

Also Monk Gyatso not taking out a whole room full of fire nation soldiers before going out was a big disappointment, I have to say.

Why is every second actor in this mumbeling? Ever heard of ADR?

Edited March 18 by PurpleTentacle

[Trini]

Getting to this late; I have a lot of the same comments that have already been said. The casting is great; especially Aang who of course is crucial. This was a good set up for those who are new to this franchise, but had lots of nods to the original for fans.