The following feature was made possible by Netflix providing an advanced screener of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Whatever happened to old television? What happened to seasons with more than ten episodes? With the trend of streaming, there has also come the trend of six to eight episode seasons, and it just isn’t working all that well. While this model may work for more original stories on television or streaming, it is doing a major disservice to adapted works, most recently, Percy Jackson and The Olympians. While many enjoyed the series, many still felt it just wasn’t fleshed out enough with its eight-episode first season and often short episode runtimes that left some unsatisfied. Unfortunately, Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender suffers from the same issues.
Filler Isn’t Always Bad!
The first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender has a total of 20 episodes, with two two-part arcs, with each episode around 23 minutes each. Many considered the live action’s eight-episode run justified, as the total minutes remained equal in length to book one of the animated series, with each episode being around 40-60 minutes each, but it still just doesn’t work. There is only so much you can fit into an episode without it feeling completely bloated as it tries to handle way too much.
The big issue with the episode count is that there is just absolutely no room to breathe. The show has to keep moving because there just isn’t enough time to stop and smell the roses (develop your characters). This is something that could be remedied had they been given maybe just a few more episodes at the least.
The journey to the Northern Water Temple just doesn’t feel as impactful here as it did in the animated series. An adventure is supposed to have numerous twists and turns, sometimes pushing you places you never intended to go, and while we do get some of that, we just don’t get enough. This results in most of the dynamics and relationships between Team Avatar feeling incredibly artificial. For much of the series, many of them do not feel like they’re growing closer to each other; they’re just focused on the plot and moving it forward when the character work between the leads is suffering because, again… you’ve constricted yourself to only eight episodes.
Waterbending When?
Perhaps one of the biggest misdeeds is done to Katara. For much of Book One, we see Katara struggling to continue her waterbending training but still developing her skills. Of course, we still get to see her kick a ton of ass; her journey and progression feel manufactured. We never really get to see her struggle; we never get to see her train because there just isn’t time in the episodes to allocate that too.
It’s only proven further when we never actually get to see Aang begin training in waterbending. Halfway through book one, Aang already begins his training with Katara, who, while still a novice herself, has the skills to begin his training.
Nobody’s Perfect
Without going into spoilers, obviously, some things in Avatar: The Last Airbender are changed and moved around; no adaptation is ever going to be a 1 to 1, but they can try. Fans will learn that some big arcs from Book One are merged into one larger arc rather than them being their own episodes.
While it works for what it is, we miss out on prime character development time, we miss out on seeing Team Avatar struggle and learn to work together. A big issue with adaptations these days, like Percy Jackson, is that it can feel a lot more focused on its plot than its characters, making it feel like development is non-existent, just getting from point A to point B without ever really going through the process of it all.
Weekly Releases Who?
This might just be a personal thing and also due to the fact that I had to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender rather quickly in order to prepare for coverage, but Netflix should’ve desperately considered a weekly release for this show. They’ve said before it just isn’t in their release strategies to do weekly episodes, but I think it would’ve definitely benefited this show in particular.
Avatar is also a show that is intensely rich in lore and can be a lot for new fans to process. This isn’t implying that a bulk of the show’s audience is new fans, as this series is something few can say they haven’t seen, but it should still make itself more accessible to the minority of Netflix subscribers that may not be familiar.
Netflix’s model encourages binging; you can say, “oh well, people can choose how to view the show how they please,” but releasing it all at once just encourages spoilers and other issues that make personally choosing week-to-week viewing unworkable. You just feel like you have to keep going, and you never really stop yourself to take in and absorb what you’re seeing on screen, another example of this show just needing much more time to breathe.
See For Yourself
Not everyone may see it the way as others do, and that’s okay. Art is subjective, and everyone is able to absorb media how they see fit, but everyone also has their right to criticize what doesn’t personally work for them in a show.
While it can be a little rough around the edges, especially in the beginning, I do think the series finds its footing and becomes much better paced as it continues. If you’re a fan of the Avatar universe, I do recommend checking the show out for yourself because it does definitely have its moments.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is now streaming on Netflix. Check out a trailer below:
