I finished season 1, but it took me a bit because I was put off by the first couple of episodes and their wild tonal shifts.
Mhm. That identity crisis or when any show feels very episodic for idk... safety reasons. Makes the first season feel grindy like any of your '20 hours in' games. It's the same reason I could never complete the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series despite hearing similar praise about it improving dramatically over time.
And sure, it might be a shame that I'm missing out but then there's also more immediately enjoyable media for me to consume everywhere else. I definitely get it.
I think a large part that doesn't help with Avatar is that its reputation is rather inflated due to its influence and significance for [western] animation of that period of time.
When during it's original run, watching it was frowned upon by most in my circle but now I'm hearing 'Uncle Iroh' in rap songs and seeing kids who are as old as I was back when I first watched it, vibe his tea drinking aesthetic. Very different times lol.