Avatar: The Last Airbender was ostensibly a series for kids, but, like the best of the Pixar movies, had a depth of characters and themes that made it resonate with a much larger and older audience. It also had a lot of awesome bending battles. Being the sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender, this show had a lot to live up to, especially after the truly terrible live-action movie adaptation by M. Night Shyamalan. I'm happy to report that it does, in spades. I've watched these first two episodes four times now, and each viewing it seems better than before. Out of all the shows I watch, right now this is the show I look forward to watching the most every week.
"Welcome to Republic City"
The greatest idea that Bryan Konietzko and Micahel Dante DiMartino had was setting this series 70 years after the end of A:TLA with the new Avatar as the protagonist. Any sequel has to strike a balance of being different enough that it doesn't feel like a retread, but being familiar enough that fans don't turn on it. They've struck a pretty perfect balance here. The world has changed in 70 years, radios, electricity, and cars (called satomobiles) exist now, but there's still that core world element of bending. Katara seems to be the only one of the Gaang left (Aang and Sokka are the only confirmed deaths, though), but we see their legacies in the children and grandchildren they've left behind. Like Aang, Korra needs to learn bending, but the only form of bending that Aang already knew when we first met him. The Gaang traveled all over the world, but we've seen all that, now the location is static in Republic City and we get to delve more into the problems facing one place.
It helps that this first episode eases us into these changes. The prologue starts with the familiar naming of the elements and a nice little history lesson from Tenzin. Republic City is introduced here, but the first half of the episode takes place at the South Pole, and (except for the better animation) could almost be lifted from A:TLA. It's good that the show gives us a nice familiar setting to introduce us to our hero, Korra. She's a good earth, fire, and waterbender, but is headstrong in a very teenage way. Once we get to Republic City we see the many aforementioned changes. Korra being new to this city, as well, gives us a cipher to learn all these new and exciting things. Toph's daughter, Lin, is the leader of the metalbending police, there's an anti-bending movement taking root with the non-benders of the city, and there's a homeless man with an amazing sparkling bush. That homeless man is the first indicator of the problems facing what is suppose to be utopian city. The second indicator being the Triple Threat Triads, a mouthful of a crime organization that uses groups of three people with one of each bending style (the exception being airbending because Tenzin's family are the only ones). Not that I want to wish harm on the poor phonograph salesman, but I do kind of hope he becomes the new cabbage merchant. Overall a great introduction to this series, giving us a new world, laying out Korra's character arc, and even giving us a short glimpse of the bad guys at the end.
"A Leaf in the Wind"
I mentioned above Korra being headstrong in a very teenage way. That is addressed more thoroughly in this second episode. Many television shows these days write terrible teenage characters, confusing being whiny with the frustration of being a teenager. Frustration is a key word here. Korra is frustrated that she can't learn airbending as quickly as she learned the other three. She's frustrated that Tenzin won't let her leave the island. She's frustrated that she knows Tenzin is right about needing to have patience, and that in turn makes her even more frustrated that she doesn't have patience. Never does Korra come off a stupid whiny teen, though, because we understand where he frustrations come from. Without the world to save and without a full-fledged appearance yet of this series' big bad, there can be more focus on character.
This is still an introductory episode with showing us probending and meeting two new characters in the brothers Mako and Bolin. Probending is a really neat concept and a much more coherent sport than some other made-up ones (I'm looking at you quidditch, the point system never made sense!), and it turns out that the pressure of it is the perfect teaching tool for Korra. Tenzin's moment of triumph when the Fire Ferrets win their match is a great little beat that gives us a glimpse of Aang before he reverts back to his serious self. Bolin has taken on the Sokka role as the fun-loving guy while Mako is the brooding firebender, à la Zuko. Bolin's confusion at how Korra can bend multiple elements makes me laugh every single time I watch it. The staring out the window scene at the end seems to be setting up a Korra-Mako romance, which makes me a little leery, but Konietzko and DiMartino have a good record in the past (though I'll always be rooting for Sokka to wise up and be with Toph). I'm also really enjoying Tenzin's kids, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo, with Meelo being the stand out. His "be the leaf" wavy arms, falling asleep during meditation, and outburst of Tenzin being a bad teacher are highlights of the episode for me.
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