Like I said, as a writer, I can recognize these things. I've graduated college with a degree in writing and I now do freelance editing work and also work in a publishing press.
That's exactly what I'm doing, except I haven't graduated college yet. That might be the reason why I completely agree with you.
Pokeplayer, it is true that one can mix up the order of what one reveals in their writing, but remember that this is a kid's show that, despite it's inherited fan base, still needs to start off on a good limb. To do that, especially for a younger audience, one needs to start off with a clear introductory story. As Ryuukokoro said, it has all the markings of a TV pilot. This is what any show must do to ensure that it gains fans from the start. (as a corollary, this is also why most shows start getting really developed, complicated, and multi-episode story arcs in and around the 3rd season, because the authors feel like they've sufficiently set up the all-around story and characters. If you listen to the special features and interviews usually included with DVD collections, this is a common thing for directors and scriptwriters to say.)
Also, if this wasn't the pilot episode, which do think was? None of the other episodes I see look like they've been written to start the entire series off.