Screw the Leaf

Ironic isn't it. The season was called Book 1: Air, and yet the airbending subplot was pretty much forgotten about until the final Amon confrontation, in which Korra had no other elements to default to. When she airbends, it's a punch. No circular nothing. Just FALCON PUNCH. It's just an accident too; her practice and Tenzin's wisdom are proven completely inconsequential to her airbending. Even when she discovers her new bending, she just goes punching away with her new power-up. The creators say that the reason her bending unlocked itself was because in trying to save Mako from Amon, she was being truly selfless for the first time. But that entire scene is overshadowed by that fact that she is saving her love interest, whom she's been pinning after. No one is going to see this airbending moment as Korra reaching maximum spirituality or selflessness, but rather the power of love prevailing over evil. You shouldn't have to do suck excessive homework just to understand why Korra did the thing. Also, how was saving Tenzin's children not selfless? Was she seriously thinking of herself the whole time?