MLP episode review: the Best Night Ever · 11:48pm Jun 24th, 2014
Okay, time for the nest night ever? Nope. Time for dreams to be dashed and nights to be ruined. And I'm not referring to the Mane Six, but to the other guests of the Gala who got screwed. Remember the warnings, folks! Because it's time to relive the opposite of...
The Best Night Ever
Pinkie is bouncing up and down, and in a clever move we pan back to see her on a trampoline. Twilight asks her to stop, because she's trying to concentrate. Rarity emerges from Carousel Boutique and gets Pinkie to come in. Pinkie puts on her air brakes-possible nod to an old Bugs Bunny cartoon-and follows her, but first asks Spike what Twilight's doing. She's working on a spell for the Gala. The others show up just as Twilight finishes studying. Spike sets down an apple, Twilight concentrates and we have a carriage. Off to the side, Cinderella applauds and holds up a 'ten' sign. Twilight looks quite... smug there. :p She goes over to Fluttershy and asks for her friends, some mice. Fluttershy's nervous, but Twilight reassures her. Her horn glows and the mice... become horse-sized mice. It's damned creepy, and even the music agrees! The others are aghast and for this...
Six.
Twilight says they'll be mice again at midnight. Then what the hell are they now?! Opal spots them, leaps onto one with claws extended and they spook. Rarity takes the piss outta Twilight and goes over to Caramel and an unnamed stallon to ask if they'll pull the carriage. We also get a pretty weird animation error with one guy's head. Twilight is embarrassed, natch. Back from the credits and we seeTwilight, Applejack and Fluttershy under hair dryers. Pinkie turns her on and... it's a twister, Auntie Em! Outside the door, Spike wants in. I don't actually know why he wants to go in, to be honest. Dash goes to let him in, but Rarity blocks her. They're getting dressed! in an inspired bit, Applejack reminds them they normally don't wear clothes. Episode, you win fifty points. Spike's excited that he and Twilight are back in their hometown and can hang out all night long! The rest are doubtful, though. Applejack spit-shines Fluttershy's hooves-literally. :D And she points out they'll be a bit busy. Straight-haired Pinkie says they'll be busy having FUN! And Spike is sad. :( Twilight says they'll spend some time together and he cheers up, and we do a clever fade to him driving the carriage, talking about his 'insider's tour of Canterlot.' Some interesting tidbits are the Princess' crown jewels for Rarity and the Princess' Golden Apple Tree. Wait, the Goldan Apple Tree? Come on, fic writers! And for Pinkie, his favorite donut shop. But inside the carriage, they're too busy talking. Spike cracks the reins and the ponies pulling aren't pleased by that. Natch. Fortunately, being friends with Rarity saves his hide.
At Canterlot itself we see a line of carriages. Spike opens up theirs and a glass slipper steps out, followed by everyone else. Spike sees them and... hops onto his tail. Okay... We get a shot of all six in their full Gala dresses. And Twilight does a title drop as fireworks go off. The music swells and we get their biggest number yet, "At the Gala". It's epic, it's great. It's a recap of everyone's dreams for the Gala. We also get Twilight having a dream for the Gala, which she didn't have beforehand. No, she really didn't care before about it. But now she wants to spend it with Celestia. This comes out of left field, pretty much. yes, this is me being a Doylist. :D
After the epic end of At the Gala, Spike slides in and says they'll all spend time to-gether and they all jet. I'll spend time with you, Spike! Back from commercial Twilight races up some stairs to Celestia, who says she's glad to see Twilight and wants her by her side the entire evening. So there's Twilight's evening. By the by, the stairway was uncrowded. Rarity spies Blueblood the Asshole and lackadaisically hurries to him. And no, that's not a contradiction in this case. He's everything she imagined! Rarity, you don't even know his name! She sees him, rose in mouth and probably some blood, too. It's all dreamy and Fabio-esque. A meadowlark flies by, possibly to the arena, and Fluttershy gives chase in a rather good segue. She hears some whistling and responds with some vocalizing. Next is Applejack, who kick-starts a stand-literally-that she must've had Doctor Whooves working on to fit so much stuff in. Soarin walks by, who's hungry as a horse. Nice! That's his primary trait in fanfic, apparently. Sale in the first minute! Inside the VIP area, we see some more Wonderbolts. Again, great transition. Spitfire jokes he's always hungry after a show, but he almost drops the pie! Oh, noes! Dash races over to save it, and Spitfire remembers her from Sonic Rainboom. She says she saved Soarin's apple pie, and we pan over to see him digging in. Spitfire invites her to hang with them, and she bounces in like Pinkie Pie, fangirling all the while. Very cute. And finally, Pinkie gets to the shiny dance floor. We see Octavia and Lyrica Lilac for the first time, too. Pinkie's gotta dance! Gotta sing! She bounces around like the ultimate sugar high and coffee rush at once, to everyone's shock. Yeah, it's a bit of a scene. She even bounces up on the stage and disrupts the music. Okay, no matter what, that's bad form, Pinkie! She grabs two ponies in a side-headlock and her voice cracks. We pan back to see everyone staring at her and she shrinks, her voice along with her body. And reality begins to set in.
Outside, Blueblood introduces himself to Rarity and the audience. She spots a rose, say's it's lovely. Blueblood picks it, holds it out... and then puts it in his buttonhole. Fluttershy follows the whistling, but nope. It's the gardener, Mister Greenhooves. He's an old fellow, and wants you to... get on his lawn! He was the one whistling. Fluttershy spots the animals and rushes over, but they run off. "Oh, Fluttershy. You're such a loudmouth!" :( Inside the VIP area, Dash can't get a word in edgewise. I... don't feel too sorry for her, to be honest. We cut to Celestia and Twilight greeting attendees. Twilight begins to talk, but Celestia interrupts her. Okay, not cool, Celestia. You can simply greet them and listen to Twilight at the same time. If I can do it, you can do it. Outside, no sales for Applejack. Eh... this isn't a county fair. Free food inside, after all. "This ain't what I expected at all." Probably not the audience either.
We get a montage of, well, reality setting in. I do feel bad for them. But all of a sudden they pony up! Time to seize the day-er, night! Yeah, one clue to contrast fantasy with reality is all their imagine spots in Ticket Master were during the day. The Gala is at night. Day and night contrast, here. So back from commercial and... Fluttershy is setting traps for the animals. And I am calling the Royal Guard. She catches Greenhooves, instead. Dash headbutts into some poor stallion's flank, knocks him into the air and then 'saves' him. And there goes a lot of sympathy I had for her. Spitfire didn't notice, so she kicks him off. And there went ALL of it. Season-one Dash, you are an asshole. Rarity gives Blueblood a chance. They stop in front of a spilled glass with a foot-wide puddle. I am reminded of Robin Hood:Men in Tights. You know the scene. And Blueblood uses Rarity's cloak to cover the spill. Rarity, you gain all sympathy points Dash lost. Pinkie gets the band to play the Pony Polka, copyright Cheese Sandwich. We get another montage of the Mane Six trying their best to make it their best night ever. Fluttershy needs help or at least an escort off the premises! And at the end of the Polka, Lyrica Lilac tells Pinkie, "Young lady, this is not that kind of party!"
For the record, I agree with her 100% and am glad it isn't!!!!
Pinkie Pie... misses the meaning entirely. Ho, boy. Time for endgame. Shall we begin? Rarity buys some apple fritters from Applejack, and Blueblood makes rarity pay for them. Blueblood, you asshole. Rarity, you saint. Applejack covers for her, because she's awesome. Blueblood eats it, then spits it out because it's 'common carnival fair!'. Blueblood, come here. I have several Optimus Prime toys I'd like to hit you with, some with heavy die-cast metal! He goes inside to the buffet and Applejack realizes why no one's buying her food. She decides to 'dress them up a bit' and bring them inside. Oh, this can only end in tears! Fluttershty's gone full-on insane with her traps, complete with thunder and lightning backdrop. Maleficent would be proud! But she's hoisted by her own petard, and by her own trap too. At the ballroom, Pinkie gets a DJ set going without Vinyl Scratch and then commits some assault on some guests. Applejack brings in a large cake, Pinkie does a stage dive that catapults it... right at Rarity and Blueblood. And Blueblood cements his status by shoving Rarity into its path. Blueblood, I am this close to killing you in 'Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds'! Rarity rightfully snaps and chews him out, but he's had himself groomed. "Afraid to get DIRTY?!" You go, Rarity! She shakes her head at him, covering him in grunge and getting him ready for a Pearl Jam concert. He falls over, unbalancing a statue. Dash... sees it as her 'chance', and has regained no sympathy points. She gets under the statue, but loses her own balance and knocks into a column. Oh when the walls, come tumbling down! When the walls, come tumbling down! Celestia and Twilight come in and see the carnage. Twilight... "Well, it can't get any worse."
At this point I ready the mother and father of all Gibbs-smacks... as the doors burst open and the stampede happens. And Fluttershy. good fucking lord. "You're... going to. LOVE! ME!" and the Gala disintegrates. Celestia tells Twilight to run and she whistles up her friends. They beat hooves, Rarity losing her glass slipper and them destroying it so Blueblood can't trace it to her. Clever girl... :D
At Pony Joe's Spike is getting drunk off coffee and donuts. Hmm, interesting bit of dragon biology. :p The Mane Six come in and Joe knows her. I wonder if Bo knows Twilight, too. Spike asks how their best night ever was, and then we fade to him saying it sounded like the worst night ever. They all agree, then laugh as their sanity snaps. Twilight is worried how Celestia will feel, and on cue, Celestia comes in, saying it was the best Gala ever! Oh, so this is when I start looking cock-eyed at her! She says it's always awful, and was hoping they could liven things up a bit. Oh, that does not sit well with me. And even though it didn't turn out as planned, it didn't turn out so bad for this group of friends. What about the other attendees?! Spike says they should've done what he suggested, and twilight says he was right. And being here together has made it... The Best Night Ever! And credits.
Thoughts
*Breathes out* This... isn't gonna sit well with the vast majority of you reading this on RPG.net and the majority on Fimfic either, I reckon. But...
Okay, I do love this episode. It was epic. It was a great subversion of expectations. It kept up a great pace and had some insanely good scenes and twists on familiar scenes. It was funny, and a good lesson about expectations and the realism of fantasy versus reality. Awesome songs, and Spike being right in the end was cool. But...
Overall, while I do feel some sympathy for the Mane Six, you know who gets the VAST majority of it?
the other attendees not named Blueblood. They had their night ruined and it being laughed about in the end legit pisses me off.
You see, as I ramble for a bit, here's the deal. I would've vastly preferred the Gala as it was, not as how Pinkie would've liked it. I'm not really a party kind of guy. And the Gala as it was, was fine. It really was. But the Mane Six didn't like it, so they tried to force it to conform to their ideals. I can't exactly fault them for it, especially since in the case of Rarity and Twilight they didn't do anything really wrong. And Applejack's cake was the victim of poor luck/timing. Pinkie, Dash and Fluttershy on the other hand... no. Considering their actions I actually don't have much sympathy for them at all. They started out with good intentions, but by the end I'm thinking jailtime.
Yes, I know. I don't get it.
Anyway, the other guests... far as I can see? They did nothing wrong. At all. Hell, considering Pinkie's and Dash's actions we're talking the patience of saints here! They weren't rude, jerkish or really anything. they might seem that way through the Mane Six's eyes... but I don't see things through their eyes. Hell, now that I ponder it... is there even an actual nobility?! Beyond the Princesses and Blueblood, any one of them have a noble title? That's been bugging the hell out of me.
Do I blame the Mane Six? Kinda sorta yes/no. They obviously didn't go there with the intent to ruin things, but by the end they... sorta did. Well, some of them. And that does not sit well with me at all, since I know I'd be one of the ones who had their night ruined. Okay, lemme quote something from InsertAuthorHere's
review of this episode:
We finally meet up with Spike again, who is now drowning his sorrow in donuts at Pony (later Doughnut) Joe. It might be a bit of a coincidence that the others found him there so quickly, but it’s established that Twilight frequented the shop during her time in Canterlot, so she probably knew this would be a safe place to recover. And hey, when you and your friends have destroyed the most important event in Canterlot, wrecked part of the castle, and had your hopes and dreams crushed, you’d need a doughnut too, damn it! However, this is also kind of a weakness in this episode for me; the girls get over the mess very quickly, and while it’s obviously there to facilitate the moral (which is a good one), it just feels like they got over things too fast.
And finally, we get the twist. Celestia arrives to tell them that the GGG is always a horrible, boring event, so she invited the friends over to liven things up. She did not have them come over specifically to bring the house down. That was just a happy little side effect. In any case, she’s not angry that they’ve caused millions of bits in property damage, and the episode ends with everypony laughing, while back at the Gala, that one pony is digging for her grandmother’s brooch…
That last part really hits me. And it's why as much as I love this episode, it doesn't sit well with me either. I know they didn't intend to ruin the night... but in the end, the night was ruined.
Celestia's bit at the end is fifty-nine kinds of skeevy for me, too. Okay, you want a funner night? fine. Do NOT ruin the nights of a lot of your loyal, adoring subjects to get your jollies and then laugh it off!
So, let me explain. No, it's too long. Let me sum up. I love the episode overall, but there's parts that bug the hell out of me.
Headcanon
Blueblood was a former member of the Royal Guard and actually pretty good at his job. He can trace his lineage right to Princess Platinum and her father, Blueblood I. Canterlot predates the Ancient Kingdom of Ponyland by a few weeks and was where the Unicorn tribe came from in the play. The Gala was originally a celebration for the Dream Valley enclave after getting through the year intact and alive.
So... that's season one. Thank you to all who's followed this, either on fimfic or RPG.net. I know I can be a bit... impassioned, go against the grain and rambling. Tomorrow will be a simple 'summing up season one' post. Also, I might run a caption contest, but I'd have to gather my Soundwaves first! Again, thanks for reading this so far. Onto season two!
Ok so I may have to rewatch the episode to get what you are talking about but I do have a less sympathy for Rarity at leat to me she was coming off as bit of a gold digger. Honestly the only one of the mane six that really wasn't acting selfishly was Applejack, though it was pushing it.
I won't comment on Celestia as we don't know what the other guests were thinking about the mess. Though you are right the other guests weren't jerks and if they were nobles then the whole fanon take on them is BS.
Headcanon: Blueblood, Crown Prince Osmium Blueblood XXIII to be precised, is a member of the Concordiat Marshal Service and is also pretty good at his job and doesn't want to jeopardize it with mare (and some stallions) gunning to be his consort and only his consort. The Gala also celebrates the state opening of the Assembly so only happens every other year.
Honestly, the only main character I can see much sympathy for is Fluttershy. She had a simple plan, and given how her unique talent should work, those palace animals should have been all over her. There was really no explanation for why those animals were avoiding her. (Of course, going yandere on them was a bad reaction, but it was a reaction.)
The others, though? Each one had false expectations and the Gala couldn't be faulted for not meeting them. (I assume that AJ thought, in her simple country wisdom, that a Gala is just a fancy word for 'fair' and saw no problems with setting up a stand.) Including Spike, actually. He knew months ahead of time that they had specific plans, yet acts surprised when they don't want to ditch those plans to hang out with him instead. And do we see him try to spend time with any of them while they're going about their business? Does he stand by Twilight, or keep AJ company? No. Apparently he felt so miffed about them ditching him, he just left the castle to go eat donuts. Way to show your loyalty, New Rainbow Dash.
And I wholly support the idea that Equestria does not actually have a noble caste (Wrote a fic about it recently, actually). My (stolen) headcanon is that they used to have one, but their attempt to play Celestia and Luna against each other in order to establish some kind of influence on Celestia was one of the reasons for the rise of Nightmare Moon; when Celestia found out, she kicked them all out and made them work for a living.
About the only one I had any sympathy for was Rarity.
Yeh the whole 'Prince Charming' thing is kinda cliche, but what can ya do?
As for the rest, well maybe they should have called this ep 'Arrogance and Selfishness is Magic'.
* Twilight - can talk to/meet/party with the Royal Sisters whenever they have time. She has Spike write her letters all the time. (Which still annoys me to no end...I mean really, can she do *nothing* for herself??) Who knows how many of the other guests never got to meet her in person before?
* RD - wanted to monopolize the Wonderbolts, the way Twilight wanted to do w/ the tyrant. Ignoring the fact that others may want to say 'hi' to a big celebrity. It's not all about her....
* AJ - I have no clue what she was thinking. Why would she think taking snacks to try and sell would be a good idea? Did she really think down home cooking would be better? If its a choice between a highly trained chef, and some yahoo from the sticks, I'll go with the chef. At least in that venue you won't be charged for it. Assuming anyone would think of having walking around money with them.
* FS - I get she wanted to see the animals. But acting like a nut? I bet she'd freak if anyone back home acted like that to the local wildlife.
* PP - like you said, she tried to turn it into her kind of party. Not caring if anyone else was enjoying themselves.
I get that they got carried away with their expectations. But that doesnt mean everyone else had to suffer for it. What about Octavia? What did this do to her chances of getting other high profile jobs?
The way Celestia said about how boring it was, and that she hoped they'd liven things up, made me want to give her a punch in the damn mouth.
Just because she's bored to tears with the ponys who worship her, pay taxes, and do all the other things that make any country run, doesn't mean she should fuck their night up just for laughs. Secure in the knowledge that no one would dare say one word about it to her. That arrogant bitch.
This ep shows why Luna is best Princess. She'd be more gracious then to ruin a night, or possibly the only chance, a lot of them had to meet one of the rulers, just for something to do.
I am convinced this show promotes a very odd sense of priorities. I call it "The Uncanny Valley of Jackassery". Characters who try to bring about the apocalypse or commit comparatively lesser crimes like enslaving a town while tormenting children or corrupting a powerful artifact of good with the intent to use it to create a slave army as a prelude to conquering their former nation as more forgivable than being an everyday jerk.
You know what I would like to see? An episode where the wacky hijinks is not brushed off at the end of the episode. Where we see the party organizer of these kinds of events breaking down into tears after the Mane Cast ruins her events yet again, and angrily confronts them about it.
Possibly include an argument from the Mane Cast finding her parties boring, only to counter that if Celestia found them boring, one would think she would mention it, since everypony would bend over backwards to accommodate her, inadvertently shaming Celestia because this makes her realize she was being passive aggressive.
Until "Rainbow Falls," that was all we had to work with! He flew, and he liked pie. Now we know that he flies and likes pie, in every meaning of the word.
As for your opinion of the episode, I'd say Celestia's the one to blame. She knew what she was doing when she handed out half a dozen tickets to an adventuring party. Twilight might get a bit as well, since she never disillusioned her friends when it came to what to expect. Yes, she'd never been, just could've at least told Pinkie about the expected etiquette and Applejack about the catering.
No, it's just the same trick as the pie shoot-out in 'Over A Barrel'.
2231940 Also referred to as "Protagonist-Centered Morality", wherein the heroes are forgiven for things they do while non-heroes aren't when they pull the same thing. (I'd like to see a fanfic where Trixie is harassed for what she did with the Alicorn Amulet, and somepony says "Wait, didn't Rarity do the same thing with that spellbook?")
2233982
Did anybody other than Twilight actually find out about that? Rarity did a pretty good job at hidin' her involvement, somehow.
...that would be pretty good, though. Rarity tries ta bully Trixie about the Amulet, Twilight brings up the spellbook... an' then one by one bystanders get involved, bringin' up more an' more disasters "our heroes" have caused without even bein' corrupted by anything, purely for the same pride they find so much fault in.
Season one? Ah seem ta remember her nearly lettin' an innocent pony plummet to her death in season 2, bein' the first to assume the worst about a pony she barely knows in season 3, an' bein' the only one of the Six ta literally know less about her Element in season 4 than she did in season 1..
You're a fic writer. Why don't you write it?
Why? You don't depict him as enough of an a-hole to deserve such a fate. I've never liked Prince Blueblood.
It Smells Like Nirvana if you ask me.
Who's Bo?
You know I find it interesting how in "The Elements of Harmony and Savior of Worlds", Megan and her family's presence in Equestria and at the Gala improved upon the proceedings quite a bit. I see it as an effect of her role as savior as a savior enters into the world and heals its errors.
I also liked this episode well due to its whole subversion thing and its lesson on expectations. Alongside "Party of One", it really emphasizes that MLP is not your typical "girls" show. However, I never really realized as you did that the other guests at the Gala really go the shaft. I don't know. Perhaps I feel they deserve it under the assumption that other guests are snobby nobles, or yet worse still, snobby capitalists. And Celestia's attitude towards the proceedings is in line with my idea of an ideal monarch who loves her people and doesn't let herself get pushed around by capitalists and upstart nobles. Or perhaps I'm just reading paleoconservative principles into a children's cartoon.
LAdies and gentlemen...I give you...MY MOST HATED SEASON FINALE! Oh, I don't hate it for some of th reasons others might. I hate it because, well...for some of the above and it was tame! I mean, come on. We are at the end of the first season, no idea if this show is actually gonna take off and how do we end it all? A freaking one part episode! How does that happen?
However, for all my hate (in case you are wondering-Twilight's kingdom and Wedding are 1 and 2). This episode does provide me some headcannon. See, as far as I am concerned, this is where Shining and Cadence got engaged. There was a hilarious and fun bit of the two trying to propose to each other, with their friends helping out along the way (You know, Shining's buds from the comics), but kept missing each other at different points. Then, under a silver moon, they purpose in a silly way and this is also where the mane 5 meet Shining for th first time. Shining, though, is proven to be a goofy idoit and forgets to tell Twilight.