Season 4 episodes so far · 9:00pm Dec 21st, 2013
So now that I’m free once more, I got around to finally catching up on the episodes that I missed.
Castlemania was actually the best episode I’ve watched out of the four so far. It expanded heavily on the castle, gave us a small insight into Celestia and Luna’s lives during their residence there and some good comedic relief to boot.
Some of the animation was really well done in this and it was nice to see Twilight taking an authority role once more in the group. The reveal of the organ player was kind of obvious from the beginning but in my opinion it didn’t take much out of the episode. I don’t know what to think about the stinger at the end. Since it hasn’t been brought up since, I’m inclined to believe it’s Zecora.
Daring Don’t was good but a bit mixed bag for me at least. The incompetence displayed by our main characters was on occasions, just plain irritating. The writers continue to show that they are unwilling to let Twilight do anything badass by making her just a motivational speaker in this.
Not too bothered by Daring being real. It also confirms my suspicions that the comics are independent of the show and like Equestria girls, are open to interpretation by the fandom (I’d get into a rant about the comics but that’s for another day) Kind of enjoyed the interactions between Daring and Dash, it suited in a way.
The villain Azhni-whatever his name is, was a rather ok villain with a unique design. Like the demonic South American vibe I got from him. His plan was stupid but that’s beside the point really. The pony tribesmen confuse and fascinate me. It shows that Equestria is bordered by wild and untamed land (Yet the show writers obviously forgot that by traveling north near the crystal empire the climate there should really not be jungle. What is this, the movie 10000 BC?). There is story building opportunities from this.
Flight To The Finish is a CMC centred episode that the writers are obligated to throw in every season. I do enjoy these episodes since there a nice break from the status quo. This episode’s highlights were Scootaloo’s dilemma facing her flying and the fact that Diamond Tiara is being discriminating towards her thus showing us that Equestria can actually be inhabited by jerks that aren’t in Canterlot.
Oh and the judge person. Can’t remember her name but it was long and extremely British. I found her absolutely delightful. The animation for her was a breath of fresh air from the stock characters and her not taking shit attitude was wonderful. I really hope she gets to star in more episodes.
Finally we get to today’s episode Power Ponies. I must say that I’m impressed that the writers have enough creative licence to explore new avenues and like the last episode this was a welcome change of setting even though I must question why a comic book shop would sell a trans-dimensional comic to a small child is anyone’s guess. Maybe it was Discord in disguise.
Speaking of villains, I liked the ones in this episode. They were simply hilarious. Not very threatening but that’s not what the writers were going for. I genuinely laughed hard at Maneiac. I mean she was just the perfect amount of over the top for a villain. So were her hench-ponies as well.
The power ponies’ powers were too brief for me to really get into them. I mean with the exception of the unbelievable and strangely fitting Flutter Hulk, we really didn’t go in depth that much. Yes I know it’s a 22 minute episode and that they did the best they could in the time allocated but still. The message at the end felt like déjà vu for some reason. Spike being told that he is worth some significance to the mane 6 sounds like it’s already been done. Overall the episode was alright but not great. It could have been much better though I’m unsure as to how they could have done it better. Also they are renovating the old castle. I assume that’s a nod to where Twilight’s seat of power will be. Shame they couldn’t you know, hire some damn contractors rather than do it themselves.
In conclusion I’m liking season 4 so far. This is the closest the series has gotten to emulating series 2 without copying it. I really hope that the episodes continue to go along as strong as these openers despite some of their deficiencies. My confidence is buzzing now. Almost makes me forget about the train wreck that was Equestria Girls and most of season 3. Let’s hope they keep it up and not let us down.
Until next time.
