Yeah, I hated that episode too.
Season 2 and 3 are way better than 1, so look forward to those. There's an episode in Season 2 called "The Desert" and it was the reason I decided to watch Avatar. It's one of my favorite episodes.
However, there's a couple of episodes I don't particularly enjoy in the those seasons though, just like "The Great Divide" mainly because it doesn't progress the story, shed light on earlier events, or has weak action scenes. Still, all the episodes are generally more action packed, more story driven and more hilarious. This is especially true for season 3 with the finale being one of the greatest endings I've seen in recent history.