E3 - Minor Spoilers · 4:03pm Nov 30th, 2013
First off, we need to get this out of the way.
Scoffs at your most daring challenges. Seriously, you've trained bees and you need to wear suits? Lol. Try harder, girls.
Episode was fun. Had a very strong start and then kinda coasted along on inertia for a while. Fluttershy and Rarity's scenes were quite a bit better than AJ and Dash's, IMO. Fluttershy hurting herself to help a friend is kinda like a giant macrocosm for her. I just kinda felt that it sort of petered out near the end. It started plot-arc focused and ended with a DUN DUN DUNNNN, but didn't really reveal anything about the plot arc. I guess that the SoL "pointlessness" really shows through when you emphasize plot by beginning and ending with hints like that. The two don't mix so well. I'd actually put it as lower tier than the premier.
This is the second (or third, YMMV) episode in a row that Pinkie was basically a non-entity for. Kinda annoyed about that. I hope they haven't decided to relegate her to the roll of comic relief only. Hell, her little novel-thing was actually kinda fun. Let's hope for something that gives her a chance to not just be a gag real next week.
At least we got the new Framing Device.
At least your favorite character's new role makes people laugh. For a period during Season 2, and a little while in to season 3, my favorite character's role made me play "How much shit am I going to have to put up with from the HURRDURRBITCH dumbass-crowd?" every week.
Sleepless in Ponyville was a godsend.
Anyway, this episode was fun, it could have explained a little more about the arc, but god damn, at least they're trying this time, instead of the "Little black book in the premiere" to "LOL UR A PRINCESS NOW" situation that Season 3 had.
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True!
I'd point out that Lesson Zero did the same switch focus of the show thing and still managed to have a moral :V
Pinkie a non entity? Her bullshit drove the plot. Screw that, Pinkie is the plot!
I'm more concerned about how, for the second time in a row, Twilight's friends are useless without her. In fact, they're even worse. At least they were able to save her in the premiere.
At least Pinkie is capable on her own. So capable that she can do things even she didn't know she could do!
I felt that Pinkie was definitely not a non-entity though she had the least screen time.
Twi on the other hand was "get frustrated, read a book, be oblivious, help friends". Very formulaic with little conflict and if she had not even been in the episode, almost nothing would have changed.
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Formulaic does describe the whole episode. Not that formulas are always bad. The real take away I get is that last week's ep at least inspired me to draw SOME thing. This week's? Nothing. I have no inspiration. I struggled for a few days to come up with something, and the best I've got is Fluttershy doing stuff to herself under the tapestry. It's non-sensical and not even that fun of a concept.
I can easily say that this is very much like Ticket Master in that it's unoffensive but nothing that would hook me.
Ill be honest I thought Pinkie was going to scare them all out of the castle (whether accidental or not I was not sure) and then declare herself most daring pony. Granted she was the least scared of the lot.
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That said, it is easily one of my favorite episodes in the series. The setup, the reveal, the freakouts, the characterization, the visuals, the setting, the seperate plotlines and layered story arcs... All top tier IMO.
I was so disappointed they were wearing suits. D:
I am sadly like Twilight in this setup, lol.
Found an awesome/rare book? EXCELLENT! Let's commence reading it and be completely oblivious to everything else around me until a long time has passed before I look up from my book and go "what's going on here?"
Personally, I think that the thing with the beekeeper suits was about social responsibility: it wouldn't be nice to give little girls the idea of trying to get covered in bees without at least wearing protection.