That powerpoint presentation
It's all true! I didn't know the water bender really had lost her arms until other people talked about it. I just thought she was always in 'ready-mode', because when Katara was ready to really battle her arms would turn into water. But she really has no arms. She is hardcore! She needs to go up against Eska, who has all her body parts (that we know of) but is mentally insane. (Eska needs to go up against Opal first ;) )
The fact that Korra is not only about a woman of color (dark skinned Inuit), but also is filled to the rafters with strong women of many Asian-like ethnicities is something to think about. There may not be any black people -- but there aren't any white people (except maybe the redheaded chick who starred with Bolin in those 'movers'), either.
They also had the balls to have two main female characters talk to one another and not fight over a man. They even had a scene showing how freaked out a male character was. People talk about the Bechdel test all the time. The Legend of Korra blows most live shows out of the water with how often their female characters talk to one another (thought Avatar: The Last Airbender is probably still the gold standard when it comes to that, cartoon or live).
They had the balls to have a male character look up to a female character, and name her as his inspiration in life... and it come off as normal, instead of quota-meeting/political correctness. We don't have to be told Toph is bad-ass, we've seen how bad ass she is in action as a little girl and through her two daughters by two different unknown men (again, wow!). Her worthiness of being someone to emulate is real, not wedged in as a 'today's lesson'.
They had the balls to show us that people get old. They did it in ATLA, too; but how often do you see shows where female characters are allowed to age and still be worthy of respect even when their hair is gray, their back is bent, their skin is wrinkled? They didn't ship Zuko off on a bus, either, now that Iroh II exists. They showed the old man as an old man, not as quick as he used to be, but still bad ass.
They had the balls to give us villains who are more than just batshyt insane with no other purpose except evil for the sake of evil. The scene after Zaheer and the crew busted his old girlfriend out of jail was remarkable for how it turned four villains into people, too, who had lives beyond their mission to get Korra. Both Amon and Unalaaq also had motives beyond 'evil for the sake of evil', backstories that explained why they took the dangerous paths they did, and it showed. And the best part is that Korra was able to learn from them, in spite of their villain status. The insight she gained from them, and the ability to use such gifts for the sake of balance, is not insignificant. I don't know what Korra will learn from Zaheer and the rest of the Red Lotus, but it will be significant in her journey to becoming a full Avatar.
They had the balls to give us realistic family dynamics. It's easy to understand why Mako and Bolin's dad left home, and it wasn't because of a tragic background involving abuse. It's easy to understand why Lin and Suyin have issues with one another, and why Lin still has issues with Mom. It's easy to see why Bumi, Kya and Tenzin have their own tensions towards each other and towards their parents. The latter two family relationships are made richer because we saw their parents as children and teens, while we see their children as middle-aged adults. It is weird, but it works. Blanks have to be filled in. Those blanks sell the reality.
As for Nick not advertising Korra...................................... again, I ask, is it really Nick Mexico's fault for leaking, like, six episodes and forcing Nick to rush not only the other episodes but a hastily cobbled together trailer in order to catch up? Or was the fix in? They didn't handle the leak well at all, advertising wise. Not having the episodes up on their website -- and then bragging about it the week before last -- was worse. It was dirty. I still don't understand why they made that decision, cutting off fans who were hearing about it by word of mouth from actually viewing the new episoes legitimately. But I'd be lying to say I didn't enjoy seeing two Korras episodes a week 'elsewhere'.
Oh well, they claim that the other episodes are going to go digital next Friday. We'll see. I really hope this is not the end of the Avatar universe. It's one of the best things on television, and it would be a serious loss to lose it because of leaks and an unprepared network.