The pilot fell a little flat to me, not gonna lie - but episode 2 was pretty awesome. :) It's kind of like they hadn't fully warmed up for episode 1 or something, because the quality rose significantly after that. And look, let's just all accept that there's never going to be a live action adaptation of ATLA that truly satisfies us. We love the original too much, it's just an impossible standard to keep up with. This adaptation is no exception. It doesn't 'quite' live up to its source material. But there are still things to love about it. The stunning cgi being one of them. The bending looks super cool. We all remember how it took like four earth benders to lift a single rock in the Shyamalan movie, which was laughable. In this adaptation, they're just as skilled with their elements as in the original. I appreciate that. Overall, it's an aesthetically pleasing series. I do agree with some of the other reviewers in regard to the acting, however. Some of the actors come across as a little inexperienced, especially in the pilot. But in their defence, I think the script sort of makes it difficult for them. Some of the dialogue falls flat, even when it's supposed to be super impactful and dramatic. Plenty of telling-instead-of-showing. It gets a little weird at times. Especially when some of the scenes lack a background soundtrack, so it's just them having straight-to-the-point conversations to the sound of wind. (This, too, got better after that first episode.) And despite the acting perhaps lacking every now and again, I think they managed to stay much truer to the original characters this time around, which I'm so happy about. Sokka is so much funnier and wittier than in the movie. I actually RECOGNISE him. :) Same goes for Aang. He's a lot better here than in the movie - brighter, happier, more prone to jokes. It's so great to see, after the super stern Sokka and very serious Aang in Shyamalan's version. I think they cast a really good Zuko, too! One of the best actors in the show, hands down. (The actress playing Katara could do with showing a bit more emotion though. Katara was always very expressive - here, she just sort of 'barely' reacts to what's going on around her, with only a few exceptions.) Unfortunately, episode 1 didn't make a great first impression, but I really urge you to give episode 2 a try. :)

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