1.1 and 1.2: "The Boy in the Iceberg" and "The Avatar Returns"

[lizbee]

Go forth. Discuss.

Comments

[lizbee]

I have to admit that, while I liked these episodes, it wasn't until later in the first season that I became absolutely hooked on the show. The opening stories do the set up, and do it well, but I think the aspects of AtLA that I love best derive their power from the established world.

Having said that, there are a bunch of moments that I really love, mostly for what they say about the characters:

Aang and Katara, penguin-sledding:

"I haven't done this since I was a kid!"
"You still are a kid!"

Highlights the way Katara (and Sokka) has taken on adult responsibilities, and Aang's attempt to keep living in denial. Kids grow up fast in this world, but the war has accelerated it.

(Speaking of adult responsibilities, while Katara has most of the stereotypically feminine jobs, and it's her feminist rage that sets off the entire story -- and man, how angry was I that all that was removed for the film? VERY. Anyway, yes, despite that, Sokka is the one we see with the children. Obviously, as the oldest male in the tribe, he's got the responsibility of essentially helping to raise all the little boys. This ties into one of the things that I find quite interesting about the Water Tribe siblings, that while Katara is a very nurturing person, and Sokka embraces the role of sexist jerk, they both transcend those roles at the same time.)

And, of course, Zuko's comment to Aang:

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose, being raised by monks, you wouldn't know of fathers."

Oh, honey.

[nonelvis]

It was a little strange going back to these episodes and seeing the characters before all the events that change them into who they are by the end, particularly Zuko. He seems outright evil in these first two episodes, though you at least get a hint of his impatience and occasional ineptness.

I also remember being surprised by Aang's crush on Katara when it was revealed later in the series, but on rewatching these first two episodes, I see it's foreshadowed here with Katara questioning why he's looking at her "like that." I can't wait to see what other stuff I missed the first go-round!

[lizbee]

I was seriously disappointed in Zuko these first two episodes, because I knew he was very popular with the fandom, and he seemed like a two-dimensional, bumbling sort of villain.

[nonelvis]

I forgot to mention earlier that I was glad I'd read your comments here before watching the episodes again, because I think you're exactly right about Katara and Sokka's roles. From the first scene we get with Sokka and Katara in the boat, I agree Sokka comes off as standard sexist jerk, but when we see him in the village, there's a lot more to him: he's not just playing father figure to the littlest kids, he's keenly aware of his responsibilities as the senior warrior, and is fiercely protective of the village even though he's hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. In fact, this early on in the series, he might be the most fully drawn of all the main characters we see.

[nonelvis]

I had the same problem. Fortunately, he got a lot more interesting.

[lizbee]

Which is funny, since by all accounts he's the character who went through the most changes from conception to execution. Even in the season 3 commentaries, the producers sound a bit amazed as they realise he's absolutely nothing like the character they had planned.

[yukinoomoni]

There are a lot of things you miss if you only watch the show once. The first two episodes are evidence of this, I think.

I remember watching it online and thinking, "Okay, so obviously they're trying to be anime and trying not to be", especially with the scenes on the canoe and the backgrounds chosen for the high-action parts. I also found that Sokka was hilarious, and Katara was interesting, but I was worried that all she would be was a girl-police. Zuko definitely comes off as a Gargamel-type, but the second time around, there are many hints of his messed-up past.

Did you notice how high Aang and Katara's voices are in these episodes? It's really surprising, especially if you get used to the lower voices later in the series.

[lizbee]

I remember watching it online and thinking, "Okay, so obviously they're trying to be anime and trying not to be", especially with the scenes on the canoe and the backgrounds chosen for the high-action parts.

Yeah, my flatmates saw those scenes and went, "Wow, they really love Studio Ghibli."

Did you notice how high Aang and Katara's voices are in these episodes? It's really surprising, especially if you get used to the lower voices later in the series.

Yes! And now I'm annoyed, because I can't place where they become lower, and I don't even know if I'll notice when it happens!

[yukinoomoni]

Katara's voice goes lower by the third episode, and by the fourth it stays at the decibel that is used for the rest of the show. Aang, however, has such a gradual voice-change that it's REALLY hard to peg when it changes for good. The VA really does grow up on-screen.

[nam_jai]

I've finally finished the series so I can participate in this comm! I'm just going to begin at the beginning and hope nobody minds my comments out of the blue on older posts. Hopefully I'll catch up to the current posts at some point.

Like you, I wasn't immediately hooked this early on. Obviously, I enjoyed it enough to stick with it, though other people's praise and promises of it eventually getting really awesome was a factor in my keeping with it. So glad I did!

On the subject of the war, an interesting difference in my first impression and rewatching: The first episodes certainly do make the point that there's a war on, but I don't think I quite internalized the idea the first time round. I mean this in the sense that the first time I saw it, I pretty much looked at Zuko's attack on the village as the actions of one person, and due to the unusual circumstance of Aang's presence. But on rewatching, I have a much stronger sense of the bigger picture, and from the perspective of the villagers, this is not some rogue Fire Nation guy on a personal quest; to them, he's just one in a line of Fire Nation military doing what they do.

Like I said, of course, the bigger picture is essentially laid out in these episodes, but for me it was a matter of getting the information through exposition and coming to really know it, if that makes sense.

Oh, and a small but fun moment of "Yay, continuity!" came when I spotted the Blue Spirit's swords on the wall of Zuko's quarters, in plain sight. :D

[nam_jai]

(Latecomer to the conversation here.)

One of the few things I was spoiled for going into this show was that Zuko would have a redemption arc, so I was predisposed to keep an open mind about him. But a character eventually being a good guy doesn't necessarily mean he'll also eventually be a really interesting character. Like you (and yukinoomoni below) say, there are hints in these first episodes, laying the groundwork for the dimensions he'll get, but they're much easier to pick up on in retrospect.

The other thing I was spoiled for was thanks to my awareness that there had been a mega-shipwar -- I knew the "winner" of said war. So the foreshadowing of Aang's crush jumped out at me for what it was right away!

[lizbee]

Yay! More comments!

On the subject of the war, an interesting difference in my first impression and rewatching: The first episodes certainly do make the point that there's a war on, but I don't think I quite internalized the idea the first time round.

You know, that's really interesting. I don't know if my early sense of the war as a personal thing was a consequence of being a little spoiled, or just ... a different perception.=

[nam_jai]

I wasn't spoiled that the series was set during wartime, but the viewer is informed pretty quickly. So maybe it's a different perception. But this is a big reason I like rewatching things -- how information I may have taken in intellectually the first time around becomes something I can really feel after the story has so thoroughly immersed me in its world.

And it's a matter of what I am paying most attention to: First time around, my focus in the attack was on Zuko, recognizing, oh, here's our bad guy (who I have been spoiled to know will eventually be a good guy), and on Aang as the individual he's after. Whereas once this is all old news to me in a rewatch, I can focus on the sidelines and see how from the villagers' perspective, Zuko is unremarkable -- Aang may be an unusual circumstance, but Zuko is just another Fire Nation guy showing up to terrorize them.

Sorry, I don't know if I'm repeating myself or actually explaining myself better, or if I even needed to! :)