Make Discord but Keep Friends [episode spoilers!] · 6:07pm Nov 7th, 2015
I didn't even bother rewatching Scare Master because I've seen it twice now and it just does nothing for me. As for today's ep, it may be the lowest-stakes episode in the show's entire run, and yet it wasn't that bad. Maybe a tad forgettable.
Rating: Okay
Okay, so first off: I'm assuming the title is a reference to the movie What About Bob? (Does anyone even remember that? Maybe it's not...) Discord turns into Bob Ross, twice. This cannot be coincidental. Also, bonus for extra-relevant Back to the Future references.
Okay, so, uh... I guess this was twenty-two minutes of Discord fucking with Twilight. (Twicord shippers might be on to something...) My headcanon says it's punishment for her devoting a weekend to order; chaos spirit don't play with that. But hey, how season one is that first scene? I liked that. Got some unwanted Lesson Zero vibes toward the end, but at least she didn't go overboard, plus Zecora still exists.
And, uh, well... Discord did a lot of really strange stuff, even for him. The snake thing was just creepy. He pulled a lot of bizarre faces. I do still like the Bob Ross thing, though. Did we really need two Discord episodes this season though? I mean, despite MFbKD turning out all right (aside: did you notice he had the Smooze in a jar on his fishing vest?), I wasn't looking forward to this one, but I guess it was okay.
And Twilight definitely should have gone with the deceit approach rather than tell everyone she thought they were under a spell. Just sayin'.
Man, there's just nothing to say about this. I could maybe make some observations if I was watching it in real-time. I think this is gonna be one of the less-memorable episodes of the season, though.
Amending Fences
Crusaders of the Lost Mark
Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?
The Cutie Map
Rarity Investigates!
Brotherhooves Social
Make New Friends but Keep Discord
Hearthbreakers
The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
Castle Sweet Castle
What About Discord?
Canterlot Boutique
Appleloosa's Most Wanted
Scare Master
Tanks for the Memories
Slice of Life
The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
Made in Manehattan
Bloom & Gloom
Princess Spike
Party Pooped
Our Town
The Pony I Want to Be
We'll Make Our Mark
I'll Fly
The Vote
Make This Castle a Home
The Rules of Rarity
Sisterhood
Hush Little Sister
Light of Your Cutie Mark
Dream Flower Song
For my part:
I love Scare Master more each time I see it.
I really should be used to Fluttershy episodes sparking personal revelations by this time, but this one hit me hard and in a very surprising way. The episode made me realize that, even though folks seem to appreciate the reviews I write during the Writeoff, since they make me miserable while I'm writing them--I have literally no idea how you do it, PP: the process of writing a review twists me up so badly inside, I'm grouchy for hours afterwards--I don't have to write them if I don't want to. Yes, it's apparently something I'm good at, but it's not something I enjoy, so I'm going to do as little of it as possible from now on.
Mike
3527724
I'll say that it definitely has one of the best morals of any episode ever. I mean, talk about something important to let yourself do!
Eh. I prefer Twinkie when it comes to shipping Twilight with incomprehensible eldritch entities.
As for the episode... yeah, that was just pure, concentrated meh, wasn't it? And the idea that Twilight doesn't think she's allowed to get jealous is kind of ludicrous after two map episodes.
Yeah, this one was just there. It was weird, not that interesting, and pretty forgettable. It couldn't hold my son's attention, whereas he really liked rewatching the Nightmare Night one ad looking at the costumes.
3527846
I did at least like the continuation of "Twilight is going stir crazy because she can't map".
Though again, it begs the question, why can't she just tag along? Just go see the sights or something, you don't have to stay in the castle all the fucking time!
Who is Bob Ross?
3528027
He was a painter who was famous for his half-hour "learn to paint" series where he would give kind encouragement, wisdom and sometimes humor in a very soft, earnest manner. Here's why he's become relevant again.
Pinkie Pie staring at everypony's butt.
"What kind of fertilizer have you had your nose in, Twilight?" is the best AJ line yet.
Discord, when keeping up with Dash, was going so fast he went plaid.
3528082
YES
3528166
inb4 a hundred stories about Discord doing a Sonic Plaidboom.
*puts away "My Little Discord" sign*
Chalk up another confusing entry from the writer of Princess Spike, because this episode was honestly an exercise in tedium. Yes, I do think there's something important in recognizing that you don't have to be involved in everything your friends do, especially if someone you distrust is part of those activities, but I feel like that shouldn't have come at the expense of telling a decent story?
So Discord deliberately planned a weekend of fun without Twilight to get under her skin, and he at least got a slap on the wrist for that, but who cares when everyone's laughing together at the end? And I'm fine with never knowing the serpentine, citrusy, nuts and bolts of his inside joke, but it wasn't enough to stretch into 22 minutes of animation. This ep's a bit "Equestria Games" in the kind of story it wanted to tell, but I'm not convinced this show operates best along those lines.
At least we got Flutterrange, I guess?
^This. I had been patient with the episode until then, just waiting for some kind of payoff that would take me by surprise... Was it seriously beyond Twilight's mental capability to consider maybe having Spike brew up some tea for her friends, sneak the potion into the teapot, wait until they had all drank, wait a few seconds more, and then ask if they felt any different? I mean hell, she could have even gotten away with saying "Why didn't the potion work?" after that and then getting called out. Even that would have been better.
This episode earned a resounding "meh" from me. Nothing memorable about it at all, except for my disappointment. But, in a season that has been fairly consistent, I guess a few duds were inevitable.
3529179
It's really bad when the sight gags and pop culture references are the best part of an episode. :/
3529514
At least the duds haven't been angrifying. And even the one that made me mad was thoroughly entertaining regardless. :B
3528166
That spaceballs ref was about the only thing I enjoyed of this episode.
This episode felt so… low stakes. Everyone actually being under a spell or Twilight time traveling would've jazzed things up, but also would've been painfully contrived.
What I think would've helped, and this is asking a lot for a 22 minute show, is a subplot: something else going on the background, even if it's just Spike's continued inability to eat his gems because Twilight's dragging him everywhere.
Still… Marty McPinkie!
I think the Zecora scene was my favorite part of the episode. She comes off as sly and knowing, especially when she admits that her cauldron doesn't do anything.
Otherwise, I agree with the consensus; going by your previous observations about pace, this would seem like a mellow season 1 episode if not for Discord's presence as a friend. I thought Twilight would wonder at the fact that the rest of the mane six seem to have accepted him as a friend almost completely by now, something I don't think she or I thought would happen so soon after Twilight's Kingdom.
3578499
She did wonder a little bit. And then she happily cast him off at the end of the episode. :V
(You're totally right about Zecora, we need more Best Zebra.)
3578709
I feel like we would get more of her if they hadn't trapped themselves with the whole rhyming thing. And that also applies to fanfics, since I feel that a lot of writers know how easy it is to mess up and thus they don't even try.