"The Beach" and "The Runaway" share the problem of giving Combustion Man far too little space, with his silent pursuit of the Gaang and their subsequent escapes providing great action beats but don't feel consequential to the story.
Her insecurity over feeling like a party-pooper - and subsequent dalliance with lawbreaking alongside Toph - feel like repetitive retreads of character development already established elsewhere. Hindsight may be one of Netflix's most valuable assets in adapting Avatar, and it's only with the benefit of looking over the whole story that the repetition of episodes like "The Runaway" becomes clear. As far back as Book One, the series established that Katara could be uptight ("The Great Divide") or flirt with breaking the rules ("The Waterbending Scroll") or clash personalities with Toph ("The Chase").
RELATED: The Legend of Korra: Kya Is Not One of the Best Waterbenders - and That's OK It's hard to escape the feeling the same could have been accomplished alongside other plots in Book Three without spending the majority of "The Beach" focusing on the villains during their vacation. Zuko's development unfolded over the course of Avatar's first two seasons in parallel to the Gaang's story and managed to convey some of the series' best moments.
The problem is that it feels like a ponderous point in the plot, given that the overarching story grinds to a halt to focus solely on characterization. Their mission to hunt down the Avatar seemingly complete, it makes sense they would kick back for some time off to enjoy their success.
"The Beach" does an outstanding job shedding light on the inner workings of Azula, Ty Lee and Mai alongside Zuko's own struggle to adapt to his homeland. One of The Last Airbender's biggest triumphs came in fleshing out its characters across the board, regardless of whether they were antagonists or protagonists.
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