Episode 8 Review · 7:34pm May 24th, 2015
Dude. That was fun.
This episode had a lot going for it. I had been longing for a bit more worldbuilding since the season premiere, and this episode promised exactly that. They gave us a new area, namely, the land of Griffinstone, inhabited by *SPOILER ALERT* Griffins!
...OK, fine, big shock on the griffins. But aside from the new lands, this episode added something else that may have been even more important: LORE. The entire backstory of the land of Griffinstone is given, along with several new characters, items, events, and even a certain amount of culture! As a fan, that's really cool. As a writer, that's invaluable for future writing. Canonical lore is the stuff I dream of.
Seeing Gilda again was...well, a mix of feelings. I never really liked her a lot the first time around (either as a character or as a villain), so seeing her again made me wonder if she was gonna get reformed, reinvented, or explained. Turns out, it was kinda all three. See, Gilda's upbringing in a broken community is what contributed to her...um...less than cordial attitude. Her entire home was afflicted with the same dour outlook, so it was only natural that she picked up on it and let it influence her, as well. Her constant banter with Pinkie was a nod to her first appearance, and while I felt it was a bit of a stretch to see the two of them come to terms over something as convenient as baked goods, it still served its purpose. Gilda's turnaround into less of a villain seemed a little rushed and kinda far-fetched when you consider it all. It was probably my main drawback to the episode.
As for Dashie and Pinkie, I thought their parts were quite well-done. When they first arrived in Griffinstone, they both seemed genuinely eager to help out, but they stuck to their individual personalities to do it: Dash, with her typical gung-ho, action-first mentality, and Pinkie, with her...uh...whatever you call her approach. It was an interesting bit of character development (especially with Rainbow Dash) to see their willingness to help in spite of their previous encounters with the brash griffins.
I caught a few references, most notably the Shrek one ("PINKIE!") and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. And there was that whatever-the-hay-that-was moment with the Pinkie commercial...I'm still scratching my head about that.
All in all, I really had fun with this one. I was really looking forward to some world expansion, and this episode delivered not only that, but a good story, a decent lesson about rebuilding what's broken, and some much-appreciated lore building. I'm still not sold on Gilda's reformation, but that's less a mark against the episode than it is an unwillingness on my part. A good weekend.
And to all my American friends, Happy Memorial Day!
ChronicleStone Episode Score: A-
Yeah that was a great episode. It's my favorite so far this season. I'm really glad they brought her back and they patched the fued between Dash and Gilda. But anyways happy Memorial Day to you too.