It seems to me that not many people are happy with the first few episodes of season three. I don't think people should be judging them as harshly as they are, because alot have been saying that so far the season is full of filler episodes. First off, the show is not going to start off with a fight after fight after fight, so let me explain a little bit of reason behind this.

1. Everyone thinks that the Avatar is dead, so why would they be going after him. Zuko and the assassin are the only ones who know that he is still alive and when they do go after him, it will be done quietly.

2. Aang and friends are disguised as being part of the Fire Nation colonies (brilliant in my book), and therefore are not prominently displaying their bending and home nations.

3. All TV shows have its slower episodes, especially in the beginning to help set up its story for the rest of the season. The Headband episode gave us the information on how the gaang got their new firenation outfits, the "big brother" firenation government, and last but not least the assassin. The Painted Lady showed us some new spirits in the Avatar World, Sokka's master plan, and how the firenation treats it's own citizens as if they were from the earth kingdom.

Its these details that help set up the story, because without this setup we would be completely lost when the final battle comes around. My whole point of this is to calm down. We will get our action packed episodes because when they do come its going to blow our minds. By having huge fight sequences right now, the ones that are the most important won't have the same impact.

In the recent events after the premier of the Season 3 opener, The Awakening, I've noticed that alot of people are not pleased with this episode. Now I'm trying not to be judging or anything as I know there are some episodes that are relatively blah in some peoples opinions. My point here is to try and help others understand that not everyone can be pleased. While I was extremely pleased with the episode, others I know were not. We have to keep in mind that this is a rather small portion of the Avatar community and that the majority of viewers are as pleased with the episode as I am. However, most of the concerns are coming from the technical aspect of it. Editing did seem like a slight problem in the episode and the episode overall seemed a bit rushed, but you have to consider the details and plot points that needed to be finished. This episode had to have a different outline that the season two opener. Season one closed on a happier note while season two closed on a cliffhanger. Trying to finish up the plot from season two had to be done fairly quickly. I'm sure that the writers could have wrote a two hour long opener for the new season, but they also had to start a new storyline and all this had to be done in 22 minutes. That is an enourmous challenge on their part and they pulled it off great! Yes there are a few inconsitances but what show doesn't? While I know that it is hard not to point out all of these minor mistakes, we shouldn't let it bother us. The show that we know and love is finally back and we are all looking forward to what could and probably is, the best season of Avatar yet!

Phantom Planet is probably the best cartoon series finale that I have seen (will see if I say that again for the finale of Avatar). It was a wonderful story, about Danny finally getting fed up with his ghostly half only to realize that he was more a part of him than he realized. The ending was beautiful, not just the Danny and Sam part but how all of the countries in the world recognzied his effort in saving the world and finally being accepted for who he really is. Its sad that it was not aired in the US first, but I would like to shout out a thanks for those considering us over here who are DP deprived and allowing us to see it along with you.