*SPOILERS*

 When Netflix announced that they would be making a live-action remake of the beloved animated show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, I was cautious, to say the least. I was reasonably concerned, because the last time they tried this, it was a total nightmare. M. Night Shyamalan’s Avatar movie is quite possibly the worst adaptation of all time. With bad acting, worse effects, and its unforgivable inaccuracy, a sequel was thankfully never made. Because of that, the idea of a live-action Avatar remake was put away… until Netflix got greedy again.

  The first episode starts off with a bang, which might actually be a bad thing. The show starts out with the attack on the Southern Air Temple and while the fighting looks cool, it disserves the story. Aang finding the aftermath of the battle 100 years later is far more powerful than watching the actual thing. The show also changes Aang’s reason for running away. Instead of being overwhelmed by his responsibilities as the avatar, he just goes for a quick fly on Appa to clear his head, making any argument that the characters DO make later on that he abandoned everyone completely invalid.

  The show also almost completely removes Sokka’s sexism which on paper, is a good idea, but in practice, it hurts his character. It removes his arc of learning that he was wrong time and time again and learning to be better. It also hurts Suki’s character. In the original show, Suki is strong, confident, and smart. In this version, they make her drool over Sokka and reject her better judgment. In the showrunner’s quest to make the show less sexist, they actually made it far more sexist. Getting rid of an integral part of Sokka’s character removes his ability to grow as a person. Having flaws isn’t a bad thing, it’s what makes a character likable and relatable. People love Sokka from the original show because he is well-written and funny.

  Also, instead of making Katara work to become a water-bending master, she just becomes one with minimal training. This removes any sense of reward because she doesn’t even need to try. Her water-bending skills also become her entire character’s motivation and personality. 

  Instead of being a goofy kid who is constantly getting distracted, Aang is serious and on-task. This show doesn’t understand “show don’t tell” and just tells the audience that Aang likes to goof off instead of showing us. He also doesn’t water-bend at all during this season.

  The father/son relationship between Zuko and his uncle, Iroh, was handled pretty well. I did tear up when Iroh insisted on goingwith Zuko on his quest. But that was because “Leaves From the Vine,” which is a song that Iroh sang in the original show about his son who had passed away, was playing. Because of this, the type of reaction I had can only happen if the viewers have seen the original show.

  Overall, this show misses the point of what the original show stood for: growing from your flaws, learning to rely on the people around you, and that true honor comes from yourself.