I thought I'd finally see what all the fuss is about, and so far I'm pretty glad I have. It's true that it doesn't get off to the strongest start with some pretty basic storytelling and episodes which feel a bit too much on the childish side, but it continues to build a world that becomes fascinating and extremely well thought out. The characters become more interesting and complex as it goes on and start dealing with themes that are far above the "kids show" roots. It's also pretty funny.
Prince Zuko may be the most compelling character, with the first impressions of him being an extremely vanilla bad guy who is evil just because. Episodes reveal more about what's going on with him and I actually began rooting for him to have some luck. I also love his Uncle Iroh who walks the line between comic relief and genuinely important mentor.
Aang isn't the best protagonist at times due to his immature nature and the fact that he keeps repeating a lot of the same mistakes before learning from them. Katara stands out as the one to watch, with her brother Sokka being unfortunately relegated to the "idiot" role most of the time, but when he has something important to do it makes it have all the more impact.
I'm not in love with the anime-inspired visual style and jerky frame rate (I really struggle with Japanese style animation, it's always been a massive turn off for me), but later episodes have some striking art. Looking forward to seeing where it goes next.
Going into the season, I had one concern above all others; would one more season be enough to wrap everything up, or would it feel rushed! The answer is: kinda! The season hit every beat it needed to- heck, it even hits most of them well- but I couldn't help but think it'd be boosted if everything had a little more room to breathe, if we got just a little more time with Catra and Glimmer bonding, a little more time on Catra and Scorpia reuniting, a little more time on Adora and Catra's reconciliation... well, okay, it sounds like most of these are about Catra, and for good reason! Her redemption arc is one of the cornerstones of the show, and they pulled it off. It's just I was hoping they would knock it out of the park. But it's not just her. Adora's and Glimmer's conflict was the driving force of Season 3, and here, it's resolved in about one conversation. Bow and Glimmer get an entire episode devoted to it, and they should have! It's just that an episode should've been devoted to them as well.
I sound overly harsh- it's just that everything that is here is so great. The amount of things they did squeeze in for secondary characters like Entrapta, Mermista, and Scorpia was impressive, and even more minor characters like Double Trouble get fun send offs. It's just the curse of 13 episodes a season- everything has to be economical and serving of the arc. 'Filler' is a derogatory term, but I think it's used too harshly. Filler fills in the gaps. I wanted to see more of Adora and Catra as friends before dating. I wanted to see more of Catra and Glimmer leaning on each other and learning about each other in a hostile environment instead of it lasting a mere two episodes. What's there is great; I just want more. And really, is that even a criticism?
If there's one real criticism I have, it's that Shadow Weaver's arc feels particularly unearned, like they only decided how it would end near the last second. But other than that, the season hits its marks. The themes resonate with a precise clarity, the characters are fully drawn, and the level of representation it has is unmatched. I'll always want more of this show, and if Season 5 isn't the best season it's ever had, it's at least a damn good send-off.
