"Korra" Season Wrap-Up

I'm very behind on television posts. I know the first season of "The Legend of Korra" ended a while ago, but I just finished off the first season. Need to put down a few thoughts here. Spoilers ahead!

First, I'm a little disappointed that that new series doesn't quite operate independently from the previous series. You definitely don't get the full impact of the show unless you've watched "Avatar: the Last Airbender," and you're familiar with the old characters like Katara and Iroh, and you already understand concepts like the Avatar State. "Korra" is very plot-driven, and there often isn't time for the character development that the first series was so good at. So the creators wind up relying on a lot of ideas and relationships that were previously established. This makes "Korra" very much a sequel series that plays best to a slightly older audience that is familiar with the "Avatar" universe already.

This is not to say that "Korra" isn't a perfectly good watch. I think it's better than the first year of "Avatar" by a pretty wide margin, and it gets through much more complicated material more quickly. By the finale it's juggling a bigger cast of regular characters, including Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami, Tenzin and his family, Lin Beifong, and the various animal sidekicks. I don't think that the villains are nearly as compelling as Zuko and Iroh, but Amon and Tarrlok certainly have their moments. The season's big conflict with Korra battling the Equalist movement was ambitious and intriguing, and it certainly did its job as an action series with a fast pace and lots of inventive combat. The animation and the soundtrack were superb throughout.

Where I think the show faltered a bit was with the characterization. The show moved way too fast in the romance department, before we really got to know the kids. I think the show really could have used a few episodes that centered on specific characters to get a little deeper into their backgrounds and their personal growth. Korra had several, but Mako and Bolin were definitely a shortchanged. The ad copy made a point of telling us that it was almost unheard of for siblings to have different bending powers, but nobody brings it up in the actual show. There are a few mentions of how the boys had a rough time growing up on the streets, but that's never expanded on either. Asami and her father, who are fairly minor characters, end up with a better arc than they do.

And then we have the appearance of General Iroh right before the big finale episodes. He's got Zuko's voice actor and is the namesake of one of the best characters from the first show, so he's surely someone important. If you didn't know any of this, the General is an odd blank, a new ally who wastes no time in getting in on the action, but he's more of a symbol of outside forces that haven't been dealt with yet, than anything else. On the other hand, there are characters who do get fleshed out nicely despite limited screen time - Lin Beifong, Tenzin, Pema and the kids, Tarrlok, and in a roundabout way Amon too. I was surprised at how well the characters were used, and there were a few good plot twists that I didn't see coming. Heck, nobody got the truth about Amon right!

And of course there's Korra. I've liked the character since the beginning, but her development's not as satisfying to follow as Aang's was. She's still the same brash, spirited, can-do young Avatar-in-training that she's always been. She's made some friends, fallen in love, and had to overcome some tough opponents and situations, but has she really grown or changed? Maybe. It's not so clear, because the show juggles so much, and Korra's spiritual awakening has been on the back burner for most of the season. And depending on how you interpret the ending of the last episode, her struggle isn't nearly as epic or arduous as Aang's. Then again, Korra is older, her story is very different, and the show itself is working with a different format and constraints.

"Korra" has set itself up very well for a second season, and a third if we're lucky. I may be hard on the show, but I'm very grateful for it. I love the "Avatar" mythology, the wonderful worldbuilding, the kickass characters, and I count myself lucky for the opportunity to spend more time in this universe. I think "Korra" could be better, but it's pretty damn spectacular already, and I can't wait for next year.
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