Full-Time Gremlin

like, close enough, welcome back 2008.

There's no way to tell how old anyone on this site is—Until it comes to media literacy. 'Cause jesus, tell me you don't know how to analyze text without telling me you don't know how to analyze text. Tell me you don't know how to write an essay and that AI does the thinking for you. Y'all saw good, old-fashioned literature class and decided you were too good for it, huh?

It's comical (and tiresome) to watch people complain that the origin of the Painted Lady changed, that things happen in a different order, or that some characters don't behave as they did in the original, failing to see that the change of symbolism, order, and motive is all in service of 1) brevity and 2) adding complexity. And while the brevity part had its issues (really, one of the worst parts of the adaptation, if you ask me), the character complexity is literally one of the best things about the show. From Iroh to Aang, everyone is a little messier and more human, and that's brilliant.

The dumb stuff ppl are fixating on to complain is just. ugh. It's almost like you don't know what an adaptation is—which I'm beginning to suspect, is the case. And while you can't generalize, the lack of critical thinking and media literacy as compared to what veteran fans used to score when they were kids watching ATLA is factually less with, er, the newer ones. Though to be fair to the gen z's and alphas, this fandom has had some.......takes over the years lol. But I digress.

So, do I like S2 a little bit more because I just hate the cheap takes that pass as criticism for it? Yes. Yes I do.

Things I did like:

Episodes 3,4 and 7 were definitely the best ones. Ep 3 was particularly good in the classic avatar way.

I laughed a lot with the gaang's dynamic, LOVED the costume design for the King's party, and WHOEVER DECIDED KATAANG SHOULD BE ONE-SIDED/AANG FEELING IT'S UNREQUITTED/KATARA BEING TOTALLY BLIND ABOUT IT??? 10/10 I loved that.

It's a very refreshing take because even as an og Kataang shipper, one thing I've always noticed is how meh their dynamic can get in the OG because it has always felt so fated.

I am glad they are giving Kataang more obstacles this time around, and the fact Aang is REALLY going to have to work for it.

That being said: ZUTARA

GIRL. GIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLLL.

Like, I get it now.

I LOVED that they used the Blue Spirit/Painted Lady thing as parallels. Never have I wanted Zutara to be canon as much as now. LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I AM GOING TO BE SICK. POWERCOUPLE OF VIGILANTES AAAAHHH.

THE FUCKING CAVE SCENE?????????!?!?!!?!?

"NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU HATE THIS FACE, KATARA, I HATE IT MORE" SOBBING THROIWNG UP IM GOING TO KMSSSSS

As usual, Zuko and Dallas Liu keep carrying this adaptation on their backs.

Speaking of characters with troubled backgrounds: TOPH. I LOVED what they did with Toph's family, the fact they are war criminals. UGH I do love a reformed rich kid!!! The classic I am not my bloodline's mistakes. LOVED THAT. Also loved her scene with Iroh and the little wink-wink moment of "yes. 'STRANGER'".

Also, I really loved the depth they gave her to her polite society skills. I feel like Toph's being crass in the show was sometimes overused for the sake of a punchline and I really like the balance they achieved with her here, like, they did a great job capturing her energy, but I appreciate that this Toph also knows how to play the socialite game and we see it much more than in the show.

And FINALLY! THERE'S KATARA'S AGENCY! That was the thing I was most critical of in S1, the fact they assigned a lot of her functions to Sokka in S1. I was glad to see they made her pivotal again, and loved those moments when you could see her fieriness shining through.

This also worked very nicely with the fact they let Sokka be a LOT more Sokka this time around. Also the actor--not just him, but Toph's and Azula's--someone needs to study their voice acting skills because what do you MEAN THEY SOUND JUST LIKE THE ORIGINALS

I REALLY appreciated that Iroh himself had some growing to do here. It was a nice touch to see him become the Uncle Iroh we all know and love, and it was also a very balanced parallel to the transformation Zuko was going through.

I AM SO GLAD HE MADE IT UP TO THAT PREGNANT WOMAN BECAUSE THE WAY I GASPED WHEN HE TOOK HER THINGS, SINCE HE DIDN'T DO IT IN THE OG. LIKE NO ZUKO WOULD NOT STEAL FROM A PREGNANT WOMAN ARE YOU INSANE.

Big fan of Ty Lee and Mai clocking Azula's batshit crazy from Day 1, love the setup.

In general the series was executed well, within its constraints. I feel like we did get those classic beats of Avatar humor a little bit more than in S1. Aang jokingly saying he knew who to blame if he wasn't waterbending-ready to Katara, Sokka going like "What lunatic would do that?" and then immediately cutting to Azula, Aang, Katara and Sokka trying their very best to follow Toph's instructions about how to behave at the party, there were a lot of funny moments.

Also the cinematography in the King's Party??? Like hello Wes Anderson??? I get the feeling that whole sequence was made with a lot of love.

Things I did not like:

Not a big fan of the way they summarized the plot this time around.

Like I said in my first post, I know a lot of these choices were made for the sake of brevity but a lot of important beats in S2 felt like we were breezing through them.

The realizations and discoveries didn't feel earned, it felt like we were being rushed to hit the beats with zero conflict and payoff. A masterclass in writing conflict--In a bad way, lol.

The acting direction was HORRID. Like, I know for a fact this cast is talented! Because even with the cringy script, they managed to have some moment where they really shined. The conversation between the water siblings, Katara's moments when she got trapped into the BSS wall, etc. But tell me why did they make EVERYONE act like they're in a high school play, just standing around, not even moving their arms? There were moments where it seriously interrupted the disbelief for me.

Like there was one moment with Iroh and the guy that's trying to mug him where the guy is crying and he's like "It's okay." The guy goes silent and after a long pause Iroh's like "It's okay!....... Come..... Sit" And they just stand awkwardly for a moment before anyone moves.

There's a moment when again, Iroh comes home and Zuko is there and the delivery is like "Oh......... Zuko (like evidently, who else?)..... You're home" When the delivery could've been more like "Oh, you're home."

But there are MANY more, especially in episodes 1 and 2.

I have to thank the writers because S2 was a masterclass in how not to edit scenes 💀 At many points, it felt like a manuscript that still needed a few revisions.

Also: I 👏DID👏 NOT👏APPRECIATE 👏WHAT 👏Y'ALL 👏DID👏 TO👏 AANG'S 👏CHARACTER.

They butchered my boy.

Like.

Okay, I need to take a few breaths, I'm so pressed about this haha.

FIRST OF ALL.

WHAT POSSESSES YOU TO THINK HE'D TAKE SO LONG TO APOLOGIZE TO KATARA? TO ANY OF HIS FRIENDS?

And the way he kept snapping at her even BEFORE they lost Appa???

ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME AANG????

THIS BOY HAS WORSHIPPED THE DIRT KATARA WALKS ON SINCE SHE BROKE HIM OUT OF THAT ICEBERG AND YOU MEAN TO TELL ME WE'RE JUST SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE HE'S GOING THROUGH A DOUCHEBAG PHASE?????

The og series took its time to deveop characters, we can all agree on that, right? Even though Aang is grappling with Appa's loss, the TWO times he was ever despondent to Katara he apologized within 20 min.

I mean, I just. idk. This was one of the choices I had the most difficulty with because you simply can't set up Aang beginning to discover he has feelings for Katara and then suddenly make him be so rude to her without as much as whining to Appa and Momo.

But I digress. Good luck making Kataang believable in S3, I guess lol.

Speaking of boys that don't know how to talk about their feelings.

SOKKA.

I am very on the fence about this romantic confliction/ptsd side quest they gave him.

Like on one hand, I like it because it's the sort of thing a female romantic lead would be reduced to and it was nice to see it being flipped for once. Like, "my personality is that I: lost my girlfriend."

Is it good writing? No.

But hey, at least there's equality.

I didn't enjoy he didn't get to resolve that in S2 BUT. I am sure it will all be worth the wait when he and Suki reunite in Boiling Rock. Because we stan a boy that knows how to apologize (I hope).

And it's again one of the reasons why I really didn't like the douchy way they made Aang behave for pretty much the last 2 episodes. It felt like an echo of Sokka's "I'm being short with Suki because i have FEELINGS uwu" and imo, it's a pretty surface-level motivation, even if it's induced by trauma. Because what do you want? Zuko, water tribe and air nomad versions?.

Like, I KNOW Aang can be self-centered with his friends sometimes, it's one of his flaws that I love most. But when you rush through it (which, in the defense of the adaptation, the original sometimes did too) it just feels a little ???? isn't he supposed to be like, nice????

Watching NATLA rn and I'm only on ep 2 but like, is it me or did the writing and delivery actually get worse? And before you come at me, I enjoyed s1. It had its kinks but it was campy and fun, and it was a good starting point. S2 feels SO much more stiffer than the first one. The refugee B plot feels like an overkill to add character motive, and I know they go to Won Ji Ton's library, so why make them find out about the comet so soon? They had to compress a lot of info because S2 is super lore heavy but they way they did it still feels lazy because S2 was characterized by they gaang having to EARN their information, and in the adaptation it's presented in a platter without them having to do anything. It's for the sake of brevity, but still. It feels like they copypasted the plot highlights onto the script. S1 felt like "this is my take on the plot" and that worked. S2 feel like "OG plot told me to say this, so I'm saying it."

Also, the acting directions. The cast is talented! Why are you making them talk like they're robots? It backfires so many times because I feel like S2 is trying to find more balance with the classic gaang banter, but they are so serious and so stiff so much of the time that it's jarring when a scene goes like "oop. stop. time to be funny! ok, time's up."

🩷💜💙

I've been working on "The Gifted" project for quite a few years now, and it's finally taking published-book shape :D If you are interested, I would appreciate your support on Instagram and TikTok :) You can find me as @gironwrites on both.

A huge thanks to @rileythecalicocat on Instagram for the lovely commission of the dumb brick trio 💜💚💙