Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the few shows that I can say are pretty much perfect, alongside Madoka Magica and the first three seasons of Community, though you wouldn't fully understand why just by watching its first season. Book 1 of Avatar is a really good yet fairly lighthearted introduction to the show, but it's the brilliant world building and foreshadowing for the later seasons that make it so amazing.
Everyone knows Avatar's story by now, its opening narration is pretty much iconic, but basically 100 years after the Fire Nation took over the Avatar World and the Avatar who was supposed to stop them vanished. Eventually, two kids named Katara and Sokka found the Avatar (named Aang) frozen in ice, and now it's their job to find a way to defeat the Fire Nation and save the world. Throughout this first season, Aang, Katara, and Sokka pretty much just travel around the world as they head from the South Pole to the North Pole, where they plan to have Aang master water-bending. This gives Book 1 somewhat of an episodic adventure structure, which each episode introducing a new location. Some episodes are more plot-heavy than others, but they are the exception. Most episodes this season are fairly light in tone, with some fun action scenes, goofy humor, and a charming dynamic between its main trio. However, what makes this first book so excellent despite its simplicity is the amount of world-building it manages to accomplish.
Pretty much every location visited, every new character introduced, plays an important part in the later two seasons (especially Book 3). Having the cast slowly travel north as they explore the grand and detailed world of Avatar is a genius way to slowly dole out world-building and lore episode after episode, so that the next two seasons can start playing around with the locations that have already been established earlier on in the show. It gives the sense that the creators behind Avatar have a very clear vision for their world, resulting in one of the most detailed, well-defined, and thought-out worlds in any media ever. Even better is the magic system, that being bending. There are four elements that can be used to bend, water, fire, air, and earth. Each of these elements have a completely different way of being used, and the combat styles of the respective benders are vary drastically. This results in tons of incredibly inventive action scenes as we see the different bending styles play off each other, and as the show progresses, we continue to learn new applications of bending that still fit within the show's rules.
In addition to the pretty masterful world-building, Avatar's characters are also excellent. As mentioned before, the main trio between Aang, Sokka, and Katara is really great. They all bounce off each other fairly well and it's a joy just to watch them interact. The sarcastic Sokka is a particular highlight, as he gets all the funniest lines. The villains are also great too, especially the calm and wise Iroh and the "anti-villain" Zuko. Zuko was pretty much exiled by his own father, the ruler of the Fire Nation, so he wants to capture the Avatar to prove his worth. As the season goes by, you slowly learn how conflicted he is, how awful his past was, and how much of a foil he is for Aang. It all lays the groundwork for one of the best character arcs of all time. The animation is also pretty great, though not as good as later seasons. Avatar tries an animesque style that looks really nice and expressive, and the sheer amount of detail in all of the locations just adds to the amazing world building.
There are a bunch of really strong episodes this season, particularly the ones that really further the plot:
Avatar Roku: This episode serves as the midway point for the season and it shows. It's packed with action as Team Avatar storms the Fire Nation to speak with Avatar Roku. The final act reveals just how high the stakes are for the show, along with the ultimate goal to defeat the Fire Nation before they can use the power of Sozin's Comet to rule the world. It's insane just how much of the series was laid out by the ninth episode.
The Storm: It's impressive just how much this flashback episode manages to cram in. We get flashbacks for both Zuko and Aang, confirmation that Zuko's father is the Fire Lord, a crazy action scene in a storm, and an ending that solidifies Zuko and Aang as two sides of the same coin. Avatar's flashback episodes have always been amazing, and this one in particular showed me just how great this series could get.
The Blue Spirit: This episode works as a perfect followup to The Storm, as after we see how connected Aang and Zuko's backstories are, we get to see them work together as Zuko saves Aang from being captured by the Fire Nation (likely so he can capture him himself) in one of the season's best setpieces, laying the groundwork for Zuko to have some sort of redemption arc.
The Waterbending Master: This penultimate episode finally has Team Avatar arrive at the North Pole, and it looks stunning. It does a great job of setting up for the season finale, with Zuko being presumably assassinated, while also have an entertaining main storyline of Katara trying to get in on Aang's water-bending training, resulting in a really cool water-bending fight.
Siege Of The North: This finale is just plain epic, especially for a Nickelodeon show. This whole episode is just an hour long war sequence as the Fire Nation attacks the Northern Water Tribe. The action is spectacular throughout, and the episode goes places I didn't think it would go, with the antagonist Zhao straight-up killing the moon at one point. It's emotional, exciting, and ends on some great hooks for Season 2 with the introduction of Zuko's sister Azula.
Overall, while more simplistic in nature than the later seasons, Book 1 of Avatar is an excellent start to the series with great characters and some of the most effortless world-building in any show ever.
4/5 Stars
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