Mark Spoils: AtLA 30 Day Meme: Day Two

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

AtLA 30 Day Meme: Day Two - Least Favorite Episode

What is your least favorite episode?

Spoilers will be below!

An easier choice
'The Great Divide' is my least
liked episode, yes.

So what about you? Are we all Great Divide haters or at the very least dislikers?

Tomorrow: Favorite Character

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+7 Vote up Vote down

H. Torrance Griffin · 724 weeks ago

1.11 disliker, mainly because the whole Slobs vs Snobs bit pales when wedged between "Jet" and "The Storm". Even then it is average at worst compared to a great deal of A:tLA's competition.

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hpfish13 115p · 724 weeks ago

After much deliberation, I'm going to have to agree. The Great Divide is also my least favorite. But if I had to pick one for each season it would be The Avatar State for season 2 and The Headband for season 3. Though all these episodes are good, just not amazing, like the others.

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4 replies · active 724 weeks ago

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MichelleZB · 724 weeks ago

The Great Divide is definitely the worst. They seem to have learned their lesson after The Great Divide, because every other "filler" episode after it is great.

Honourable mentions: I always feel a little bored when I watch The Swamp. I find the Guru a little annoying, too. The Headband is a slow start to Season 3.

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Nikki · 724 weeks ago

Um, no. I don't hate The Great Divide. I don't feel much about it one way or the other. In fact, I can't think of a single episode in all of Avatar that actually elicits hate from me. I really don't understand the level of vitriol some of the more unpopular episodes get. I mean, I understand not liking an episode, but I don't understand calling an episode the "worst thing ever to be created by man." (Yes that was an actual criticism I've heard) Avatar is just never, ever THAT bad to me.

*SPOILERS*

Anyway, my least favorite episode is "Appa's Lost Days" season 2 episode 16. I have a few reasons for disliking it. Firstly, none of the main characters are featured in it. Secondly, I really don't like the story they gave to Appa. It felt like horrible things were happening to him JUST so they could happen. I suppose they thought it would get boring if Appa stayed in one place for too long, but his entire time on his own was a series of horrible events, one after the other. And why? Why do that to Appa over and over again? I felt no real purpose in any of it. other than to say to us, "See how awful it's been for him! He's had such a hard time!"

I have to wonder why he even should have a hard time. Difficulties, absolutely. But he was made out to be helpless and useless without Aang and oh, his life would be hell if Aang wasn't there to protect him! I really didn't like that at all. I would have preferred a story of Appa missing Aang's friendship, not how Appa suffers under the cruelty of others while Aang is away. And in the end, none of it mattered! None of what happened to him had long term affects that altered his character. I very much dislike pointless tragedy that is there simply so you feel sorry for the character and that's what the entire episode felt like to me. I got tired of it quickly and it frustrated me.

I also really don't care for The Swamp. The fight against the tree went on for much too long and it was entirely pointless to boot! Not to mention the Waterbenders of the swamp were very... stereotypical.

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1 reply · active 724 weeks ago

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chichichimaera 93p · 724 weeks ago

Probably 'The Great Divide', but it's more mild dislike than anything. I enjoy almost every episode of this show - it is consistantly high quality. Exceptions are probably Avatar Day, The Painted Lady and The Swamp, and the character of the Guru was always a little boring to me. But even these are good compared to a lot of what's on TV these days.

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Depths_of_Sea 88p · 724 weeks ago

I don't actually hate "Great Divide", I just have I kind of "Meh." reaction to it. Same with most of the popularly-hated filler episodes (excepting certain Season three filler episodes, which I love to pieces and will defend to the end).

I think the episode I dislike the most is probably either "Jet" or "The Runaway."

SPOILERY EXPLANATION BELOW

"Jet" I'll admit is pretty good actually, and beautifully drawn, and well-written, but I just don't like the titular character, and that brings the episode down for me. "The Runaway", likewise, had some really good moments (especially loved Sokka's talk with Toph about how he saw Katara's face when he tried to remember their mother, and the fight against Combustion Man was pretty cool), but aside from the confrontation with CM and some funny moments it was just pointless and didn't further the story or the character development much. It wasn't all bad, I just... didn't enjoy watching it as much as most Avatar episodes. "The Runaway" is one of those filler episodes I feel could have been cut easily in favor of a more tightly-written episode that interwove the plot threads better, and we wouldn't have missed a thing.

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echinodermata 118p · 724 weeks ago

Probably The Great Divide. Not a big surprise. I did try to defend it a bit on Watches, but I do consider it the weakest of the episodes. It's still watchable, and I'd sooner watch it than watch my least favorite episode from most other shows I like.

I will say, though, Jet rates near the bottom of my list. It just doesn't really do anything for me, personally.

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Manself 84p · 724 weeks ago

I hate to be repetitive, but, yes, The Great Divide is my least favorite. In order to justify this post's existance, though, I am going to list my other not-as-good-as-the-rest-of-the-epsidoes-but-still-good episodes:

Bato of the Water Tribe
The Northern Air Temple
The Avatar State
The Headband
The Runaway

But, seriously, with a show like ATLA, even the not-so-good eps are streets ahead of most cartoons (and, IMHO, a lot of live action shows).

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Medli 141p · 724 weeks ago

Yeah, The Great Divide. I don't hate it, it's just kind of there, a bit boring and sandwiched between Jet and The Storm (which we all know I adore). Rather unfortunate all around. But all things considered, if that's the worst it gets... that's not so bad.

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fantasylover120 77p · 724 weeks ago

Great Divide for the win, no? Or is that loss? It's not that it's horrible or anything. There are cute moments. It's just that in the large scheme of things in the whole show, it's just pointless. Being sandwiched in between Jet and The Storm didn't really help matters either. But being Avatar, even their most pointless and worst episode is a million times better then some which says a lot about Avatar's quality.

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affableevil 107p · 724 weeks ago

I...don't know? I mean, even the "bad" episodes are considered bad just because they're not blow-your-mind-amazing as the rest of the series. So I guess I'm going to have to say I don't even really have a least favorite episode. Avatar is just that good

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Dragon Elexus 124p · 724 weeks ago

I’ll go and be predictable and say the Great Divide. I think we’ve already gone over its faults extensively, and even if you personally enjoyed the episode and don’t think its that bad (and really, it isn’t, it’s just the most ‘meh’ of the ‘meh’ episodes) I don’t think you could really call it a highlight of the show.

Since we all know its flaws, I’ll explain why I think its flaws are more significant than ones that I know often fall into least favourites for people, and some of my least favourites. For example, ‘Avatar Day’ is my second least favourite because of how freaking annoying those villagers are. Yes, I understand having a historical thing against the Avatar, but you are all patently selfish, close minded and ridiculous. What saves this episode for me is how absolutely wonderful Sokka is, and that Kickass bit with Kyoshi, since past avatars being epic will never stop being awesome.

I know that people often say that ‘The Beach’ is one of their least favourites, but I personally really enjoyed it. Yes, it was filled, but it was filler dedicated to character pieces; not the heroes’, but the villains. I rarely seen any story which takes such time to flesh out the villain’s motives and make them more sympathetic. Add in the fact that it highlights even more Zuko’s frame of mind, Combustion Man, and some good jokes, it’s an enjoyable episode, even if some of the humour seems out of place. (Also, I like Mai and Zuko as a ship. They’re cute.) Some people also get bored by ‘The Swamp’, but I really love the creepy supernatural aspect to it and the thoughts of visions of past loved ones. Also, hi Toph!

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Openattheclose 99p · 724 weeks ago

I feel like a complete rewatch of this show is necessary before I start picking favorite and least favorite episodes, but as of right now my least favorite ep is The Swamp. I was just bored by it, and fell asleep watching it, which is something I rarely do.

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TDM · 724 weeks ago

The Waterbending Scroll. I love pirates as much as the next person, but even they don't save it for me.

Honourable mentions: The Great Divide doesn't have much substance, The Swamp does nothing for me...

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Hyatt · 724 weeks ago

Predictable answer: The Great Divide.

It was one of the first episodes I saw, and between it and the heavy-handed anti-sexism of The Kyoshi Warriors, it left me with the wrong impression that the characters never learn their incredibly obvious lessons. Kyoshi Warriors improved in my eyes upon actually watching the series in order and realizing that Sokka wasn't just playing the token chauvinist guy for the episode, but that it was a real character flaw that the episode helped him address, but the Great Divide... not so much.

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@redgarlic68 · 724 weeks ago

I must abide to the "love" for The Great Divide. That episode was pointless, didn't add ANYTHING to the ongoing story (something practically all other episodes did) and it was entirely meh.

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

AtLA 30 Day Meme: Day Two - Least Favorite Episode

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