http://popinsomniacs.com/2014/12/the-legend-of-korra-series-finale-is-revolutionary-but-at-a-cost/
This article explains a lot of my frustrations with the finale well, while also giving praise for what the series did good.
I read all of that (it was quite long) Tbh I rolled my eyes a bit at the breakdown/buildup of Korra in books 3 and 4, if only because they'd already regressed her during book 2. But unlike book 2, what occurs at the end of book 3 and the start of book 4 I feel actually serves a purpose to her long term character development, whereas the crap that happens in the first half of book 2 was just needlessly dramatic.
Did they not have time to flesh out Kuvira enough? I'm not sure about that one. She had a lot of screen time and again I liked how things were revealed about her, including her relationship with Batty batty boom boom. The good thing about Kuvira is that she's less one-dimensional than the other characters.
Overall I feel like the story and charfacter development in Books 3 and 4 were told in a more mature nuanced way so I can actually understand why people feel like they've been done out of something because they're used to the show being well... less subtle.
Also this person says that Korra and Mako have romantic development through books 3 and 4 which is an absolute illustration of what I said about being unable to take off the hetero glasses, because Korra and Mako very very clearly undergo a distinct shift from romance to friendship over the course of books 2, 3 and 4. The vast majority of the audience assume from the very beginning that Makorra is the OTP and will end up together (again), and I'm glad they decided to be mature about it and have them stick to what they said to each other in Book 2, which is "this, us, just doesn't work" rather than dragging out some bullshit will they, won't they storyline.
This person disagrees with Kuvira being the final villain, and tbh I can see that too. You could have switched around any of the other villains and had the same character development for Korra at the end of Book 4. I've said numerous times that something as big as the overarching story during Book 2 would have functioned better as a finale season, but then you don't have all that world development with the spirit portal and stuff.
As for the final scene being inappropriate as the last ever scene, well you could say the same of ATLA couldn't you. This one I think has more meaning to the show as a whole though, because this show has been about Korra's development and the show makes a very strong point about Korra having "only just begun", so for her to end the series going backpacking with Asami makes a very strong connection with the idea of going on a journey and finding yourself.
Also:
She absolutely did not have to go through pain and suffering to undergo "character development"
Utter bullshit. People seem to think that pigheadedness = badassery when it comes to Korra, and it's not true. No one is saying that she was never compassionate but as most teens are, she's pissed off with everything most of the time. Very often in the show this clouds her judgement, and it's repeated over and over again to really hammer the point home. She goes "YOU BAD, BAM PLOW AVATAR MAGIC" then fails
repeatedly and yes, I do essentially believe she needed to be taken down a peg or two to realise that it's not always about hammering down the bad guy until they stop. The villains of this series are real people who aren't diabolical and crazy like Ozai (aside from maybe Unalaq who is a bit nuts).
