Analysis of Season Two · 4:18am Aug 12th, 2012
Okay, here we go. Season Two is just waiting for us to analyze the hell out of it.
Just in case you forgot, though, the same rules apply as last time. This is all just my personal opinion. If you disagree (and since this is Season Two, I know you will), feel free to bring up your own. Just keep things as civil as possible.
Now, let’s begin.
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SEASON OVERVIEW:
Season Two opens with Equestria under siege by yet another superpowered evil menace. Unlike Nightmare Moon, however, the fiend they are now fighting is not a crying little pony inside of a giant ball of rage, but rather the literal God of Chaos, Discord. After managing to stop one of his chocolate rain-dispensing cotton candy clouds, the Mane 6 are whisked away to Canterlot so that Celestia can explain what happened.
And thus we get the first of many worldbuilding pieces in the season. Turns out that Equestria was around before Celestia and Luna were princesses; in fact, Discord was the former ruler. After torturing the ponies for eons, Celestia and Luna managed to use the Elements of Harmony to turn him to stone. Now that their link to the Elements has been severed, however, Discord has managed to break free, leaving only the Mane 6 to stop him.
They fail in less than ten minutes. Discord uses a riddle to trick Twilight into leading her friends into the castle’s hedge maze, where he strips them of their wings and horns and forces them to find the Elements without their powers. He then separates the group, leaving each pony completely alone. And to top it off, he uses his shapeshifting, illusion, and mind control abilities to break them by hitting on their individual flaws and weaknesses – save for Fluttershy, who he had to hypnotize.
And then the real fun begins. He allows Twilight to find her friends, now discolored and acting in the complete opposite fashion from their Element. He even gives Dash back her wings so she can fly to Cloudsdale, thereby forfeiting the contest and allowing him to spread his chaos even further. After mocking Twilight for taking the bait, he allows her to return to Ponyville, where the Elements of Harmony were hidden in the original book from the pilot. But by now, her friends are so terrible that their bonds have been broken completely, and after a failed attempt to use the Elements, Twilight breaks without any direct influence from Discord.
The Unicorn returns to the library, ready to pack up and leave Ponyville, only to discover that Princess Celestia has been desperately sending back her Friendship Reports. After reading through them, Twilight finally remembers how much she and her friends loved each other, which restores her to normal. Using the same tactic (albeit with a memory spell), Twilight manages to restore four of her friends, and after a harrowing chase, finishes by bringing Rainbow Dash back to normal. Now reunited again, and with their friendship stronger than ever, they reactivate the Elements and blast Discord so hard that he is not only returned to stone, AND has all his destruction undone, but is now frozen with the most terrified pose imaginable. (By comparison, his look after Celestia and Luna defeated him was more comical and mocking than anything else.) So once again, Twilight and her friends have triumphed over evil.
If “Return of Harmony” was an indication of the overall tone and theme of the season, then the next episode, “Lesson Zero,” set up the overall pattern. Now that Equestria is safe again, Twilight returns to her normal routine of hanging out with friends, making obscenely detailed lists of tasks to accomplish (it was there since “Winter Wrap-Up”), and of course, writing her weekly friendship reports. Only one problem: she doesn’t have a report to send this week, and the last day is almost up. Once again, Twilight’s fears of what her mentor will do if angered start to take hold, and she sets out in a desperate quest to find something to report on before she gets sent back to Magic Kindergarten.
Unfortunately, nothing Twilight comes across is actually a problem to be solved, and by the time she reaches a picnic her friends were having, she has completely lost it. But when they laugh the issue off as being rather unimportant, the still-panicking Twilight snaps like a Slim Jim and tries to cause a problem to solve. Unfortunately, she loses control of the spell, the sun sets, and a VERY upset Celestia comes down to fix the damage she caused and reprimand her for her carelessness.
However, after learning what the source of Twilight’s worries was, and after the rest of the Mane 6 come to apologize for not taking the situation seriously, Celestia comes up with a different idea: each of them will now prepare their own reports, but only when they happen to learn something. And thus, Twilight’s burden was now shared by all five of her friends (plus Spike…and Apple Bloom, for some reason).
The rest of the season basically continued along the same line as the original, with a series of slice-of-life storylines revolving around the Mane 6, as well as Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
CENTRAL THEMES:
Growth: While the Power of Friendship is still one of the core concepts of the series, in this season it takes a backseat to more situations where the Mane 6 grow as individuals, and therefore as people. Twilight learns that failing to meet an arbitrary deadline isn’t the end of the world, Applejack comes to terms with failure, Pinkie learns to be responsible, and so forth. If the first season was about using your friends to get through life’s difficulties, then the second is about standing for yourself with the help of your friends.
Furthermore, most of the problems in the first season were caused by an external crisis, such as a snoring dragon or showboating magician. By contrast, most of the problems in Season Two were internal in nature, coming up not because of some threat, but just because of a flaw or failing on the part of the pony. There were still villains to fight and threats to overcome, but more focus was placed on overcoming one’s inner troubles and emerging a better person.
Family: While not central to every episode, the issues of family turmoil and togetherness emerges with surprising frequency this season. We spend quite a bit of time with the Apple Family as a whole, learning how they relate to each other and how they get along. We also get snippets into the families of Rarity and Twilight, with the former learning how to be a good big sister and the latter dealing with losing her beloved older brother. This takes the series away from simply examining platonic friendships, and instead extends the focus to familial bonds as well. After all, siblings may not be the same kind of friends as your mates on the school yard, but they are still friends nonetheless.
STRENGTHS:
The Humor: If you ask anyone what they liked about Season Two, 90% of the time this will be what comes up. While the first season had some good jokes and visual gags, the second ramps up the ante considerably. The timing and quality of the humor was improved significantly, with the writers becoming more accustomed to how the characters work as well as not getting bogged down with introducing everypony. Sometimes this got in the way of the episode, such as the infamous Chimicherrychonga scene from “The Last Roundup,” but otherwise it made the episodes more entertaining.
Individual Focus: This one was a bit of a double-edged sword (and we’ll talk about the downside in Weaknesses), but for the most part, the season’s emphasis on individual ponies allowed for characters normally shoved aside by the intense Twilight/Fluttershy focus of the first season to shine. The cast received significantly more depth this time around, with more time exploring what makes them shine and their foibles, and developed the entire cast in a number of different ways.
The Songs: The first season had some good music tracks, but the second blows it out the water. Whether it was an Image Song like “Smile,” a plot advancement tune like “Becoming Popular,” or a Disneyesque Villain Song like “This Day Aria,” the songs this season were catchy, memorable, and above all, actually really good for the most part. We also got some good Pinkie Pie songs, with “Oink Oink Oink” standing out as my personal favorite. There were a few less-than-stellar tracks that received a mixed reception, such as “Finding a Pet,” but for the most part, the songs were a big step up from the first season, and the entirety of My Little Pony for that matter.
Worldbuilding: The first season touched on Equestria as a whole, but mostly centered its attention on Ponyville and its traditions, customs, and seasonal activities. This season, we got to see pony holidays such as Hearth’s Warming Eve and Hearts-And-Hooves Day, and even learn how those celebrations were founded. We also learned more about Equestrian history, got a closer look at dragons, and even showed more of the species that populate this fantasy world. We even delved into pony pop culture, something that very rarely happens in shows such as this. Overall, we leave with a much bigger picture of Equestria as a whole, while also having more questions to explore.
Secondary Characters: The show’s secondary cast finally got a better chance to be explored this time around. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were retooled slightly to be less annoying, with less emphasis placed on Cutie Marks and more on the fillies just being friends. Big Macintosh and Cheerilee got the chance to share an episode together, with Big Mac even getting to speak in two episodes. Even Spike got two episodes to his name, with one exploring the vileness of puberty and the other focusing on his isolation from his own species. And Princess Luna finally came back to scream at us!
Oh, and there was that one incident where a fan character talked, but we won’t speak of that. Trust me, I have no nice words for either side of that debacle.
WEAKNESSES:
Retcons and Inconsistencies: Yes, Season Two had these. We all know about things like the hydroelectric dam and Twilight’s brother and the Friendship Express and…I think you get the message. The problem is, the show is still growing and evolving, dealing with an older demographic while also trying to keep its younger audiences happy. As a result, we saw a lot of ideas from old get discarded, and while a very good portion was just fanon, there were still things that didn’t match up betweens seasons, such as the level of tech and the inclusion of holidays like Nightmare Night. There’s nothing here bad enough to blow up the universe, but there were still issues.
Little Use of the Group Dynamic: Going hand-in-hand with the earlier Strength comes this sad loss. While it was nice to see the ponies as individuals, there were very few episodes that used the entire cast, or even a large chunk of it. Even in episodes where everypony showed up, the attention would be focused on one central character, like Dash in “May the Best Pet Win” or Twilight in “A Canterlot Wedding.” This was a tragic loss, and I hope that Season Three rectifies this. Everypony doesn’t have to be shoved into every episode, but there needs to be a better balance between the two ideas.
Characterization: While I praised the character focus above, there were still some issues I had with the character choices this season. A lot of the ponies were Flanderized to a degree, with Dash and Pinkie receiving the worst. The former was turned into an anti-role model by less skilled writers, while the latter became a hellbeast. (And no, I will never let that go.) A lot of this was to serve the episode, but that doesn’t make it right. There were also a few moments where characters did things that made no sense, such as three of the ponies eating the cake in “MMMMystery on the Friendship Express.” And, of course, you have ponies acting meaner. While that was an issue sometimes, remember that the entire town was full of racists in “Bridle Gossip.” It’s not like it’s been all sunshine and lollipops except for this one time.
Uneven Focus: This problem rears its head yet again. Rainbow Dash got the bulk of the episodes, with her starring in three and having a co-star role in another. Applejack only got two episodes; she was barely in the first one, and the second focused on her family and not just her. Twilight and Fluttershy were bumped completely out of focus until the last few episodes. Meanwhile, the CMC got four and Spike got two. So yeah, poor AJ, Twi and Shy.
Bad Scheduling: I don’t just mean the Hub putting this thing on at seven in the morning. The episodes were very poorly laid out, with several characters getting entire blocks of episodes or simply receiving several in short order. For example, Dash got two episodes in a row early on (“May the Best Pet Win” and “The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well”), while Fluttershy got two within two episodes of each other (“Putting Your Hoof Down” and “Hurricane Fluttershy”).
GREAT EPISODES:
While Season Two had its problems, it still gave us some great moments and episodes. So many, in fact, that just getting five required some painful cuts. Here is just a sampler platter.
1. Sisterhooves Social (Episode 5): This episode was just wonderful from start to finish. Not only did it introduce us to Rarity’s family, but it also built on the long-suffering relationship between her and Sweetie Belle. Even more surprisingly, the show actually rendered their sisterhood in a significantly more realistic manner, with the two getting into arguments but still loving each other in the end. We also got some funny moments with Sweetie and Apple Bloom fighting over Applejack, AB’s “One. Day.” threat, and the entire race at the end. That little hop Sweetie Belle does is just adorable.
2. Sweet and Elite (Episode 9): Wow, another Rarity episode. This one gets criticized a lot for Rarity getting away with lying and manipulating her way up the social ladder, but that really wasn’t what the episode was about. The story was more about the reason Rarity was lying: she was ashamed of her roots and thought they would lock her out of her dream of being a member of the Canterlot Elite. When push came to shove, she still stood by her friends and was willing to sacrifice her new social standing to defend them from the snooby nobles. There were some good character moments, some good humor, and a solid song. I also loved Celestia’s reaction to Rarity kissing her hooves.
3. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 (Episode 15): This episode was a lot of fun, but also delved into the Apple Family as a whole, the community of Ponyville, and actually made Rainbow Dash’s suffering funny. Granted, Pinkie was awful, but everything else was solid. The Flim-Flam Brothers have a good villain song – the first in the series – and their cider maker is both amusing and fits perfectly with the setting. I also liked how the episode was resolved, with the Brothers being defeated not by the contest, but by angering their market and turning their product to trash in order to compete.
4. Hearts and Hooves Day (Episode 17): A CMC episode here? Well, yeah. This episode focused almost entirely on the Crusaders turning into CheeriMac shippers and using love poisons to turn the two into puppy-eyed, near-incoherent messes. This episode works mostly because of the humor, as well as some wonderful background bits like the poor spurned filly and Twist pinning a heart onto Cheerilee. I also loved the meta commentary on the idea of badly-done shipping, where two character who have nothing in common are forced together by obsessive fans.
5. Hurricane Fluttershy (Episode 22): This is by far the most perfect episode of the second season. Everything in here works, from the sisterly bond between Dash and Fluttershy to Twilight reprimanding Spike for being a jerk, and finally concluding with the impressive tornado scene. What makes this episode even better, though, is the very adult lesson it gives. Fluttershy doesn’t become an amazing powerful flier by the end; she’s still the weakest adult Pegasus in Ponyville, but nonetheless managed to greatly improve her flying skills and self-confidence anyway. Dash doesn’t get to break the record, but she rallies the team anyway because, glory or no glory, Cloudsdale needs that water and they’re going to do the job. And the ending moral that every little bit helps is something people of all ages need to understand. Just because you’re not the fastest, strongest or smartest doesn’t mean you can’t contribute.
Runner-ups include: Lesson Zero (Episode 3), Baby Cakes (Episode 12), Hearth’s Warming Eve (Episode 13), Putting Your Hoof Down (Episode 19), and A Canterlot Wedding (Episode 25/26)
NOT-SO-GREAT EPISODES
And now we have the episodes everyone focuses on: the ones that crashed and burned.
1. The Cutie Pox (Episode 6): There are two things that really hurt this episode. First, the story is utterly generic. You can tell from the word “Go” just how this is going to end, who’s going to do what, and how quickly Apple Bloom will forget the moral. Granted, FiM is full of simple stories, but they at least put clever spins or dress them up real nicely. This episode is just dull. The second thing is the loooooooooooooooong sequence of AB playing with a hoola-hoop. The scene swallows almost the entire second act, and just when you think it’ll stop, it picks right back up with the filly now spinning plates at the same time. This is just a dull, forgettable episode.
2. The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well (Episode 8): Yes, you all knew this one would be here. This episode has become one of the most infamous of the entire series. The mere mention of its name sends fans frothing at the mouth. Heck, Merriweather Williams received death threats because of this episode. And while it’s not as bad as its reputation says, it still has a laundry list of issues. This was Williams’ first episode on the show, and it’s pretty obvious that she hadn’t quite figured out the characters, setting, and style of the show just yet. This is a very clear example of an episode shooting itself in the foot just so the jokes will work. And then you get to the toxic core of the episode: the characterization is simply wretched. Everypony is turned into a raging, backstabbing jerk just so they can teach Dash a lesson. Oh, and it had a hydroelectric dam. Yeah, this one was just a bad episode from start to finish.
3. Secret of My Excess (Episode 10): This one runs into the same problem “Owl’s Well” did. Spike finally gets an episode, and ends up sending the entire time as the villain. Not only that, but the whole idea of dragons growing larger and stronger in relation to their greed and hoard never made sense to me. Maybe it’s a D&D thing, but either way, it raises more questions than answers. Throw in Rarity using her sex appeal to con a gem from Spike in the beginning, and you have a rather poor episode. The only good thing is Rarity and Spike having a touching moment at the end, but besides that, this one was just a waste.
4. A Friend in Deed (Episode 18): I already covered most of the reasons I disliked this episode in my look at Pinkie Pie, but there’s more to my hatred. This episode has a small problem that also snuck into “Luna Eclipsed.” By the end of the episode, Pinkie has humiliated Cranky, messed around with his property, destroyed his toupee, and finally burned his most prized possession. Cranky announces that he doesn’t want to be friends with her, and even Twilight and Dash tell her to give him his space. But no, that would mean Pinkie was wrong, and we can’t allow that. So they pull Matilda out of their flanks just to give the pink pony a means to save face, make friends with Cranky, and learn a lesson that had no bearing on the episode at all.
5. Dragon Quest (Episode 21): Okay, this one went down better than “Secret of My Excess,” but it still had a lot of problems. First, Rarity’s character was horribly off, sliding way too far into the depths of G3 Rarity. Second, the story basically paints all the teenage dragons as brutish male bullies made of evil. And third, the ending is just…horribly depressing, especially when we see Spike inserting himself into a photo of another party he wasn’t invited to. It had some good moments, like giving us Crackle, the single most powerful being in the totality of existence. But still, this one just felt like a missed opportunity.
The few that barely escaped eternal shame: Read It and Weep (Episode 16), Ponyville Confidential (Episode 23)
CONCLUSION:
Season Two had a lot stacked against it as it came in. Lauren Faust left after consulting on the episodes, and only had a direct hand in the first half at all. The show had attracted a new demographic, and the production team had to try and find a way to capitalize on this. Season One was off the air long enough for everyone to start idolizing it, with many fans coming in during the summer after watching the whole first season in one go. And then there’s the rumor (which I’m not sure is true, but does explain a lot) that Rob Renzetti also left around the same time as Faust, meaning pretty much all the responsibility for running the project fell into Jayson Thiessen’s hands. Thiessen is an animator.
Given that, it’s amazing Season Two turned out as well as it did. Granted, it took some time after the Faust-supervised episodes to get back into the swing of things, but the first third and last third are full of good to great episodes. The show took more risks, taking episodes into rather dark territory at times. The removal of the E/I basically freed the writers from having to avoid things like “egghead” and ponies acting mean at all.
That doesn’t mean, though, that this season was flawless. Far from it, in fact. The show basically had to evolve to survive, and things didn’t end well with a lot of the attempted retcons. Issues like pacing and poor writing remained commonplace, only with the hate for Polsky being redirected to Merriweather Williams. The show became a lot more humor oriented, with almost no adventure episodes. And even the group episodes, which all but disappeared, rarely capitalized on the whole cast as well as the first season.
This season is hotly debated, and even three months after it finished, flame wars are still burning over just about everything. Nobody here is going to agree exactly with what I said in this post. There is just a lot of passion involved whenever this season is discussed, and sometimes it worries me. Granted, similar issues happened during Season One, usually during the week between episodes, but here it just feels a lot more personal, like M. A. Larson kidnapped your baby or something.
Still, whether you preferred the first or second season (and I can see all of you leaning towards first), both seasons were good in their own ways. With a third season on the way, a new editor in charge, and a lot of tantalizing spoilers floating about, here’s hoping the show continues towards great things.
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Well…that’s that. Hope you enjoyed, and feel free to express your rage.
I actually liked both seasons for various reasons. I don't really know why but I never really get as angry over bad episodes as the rest of the Internet seems to. So you didn't like Mare Do Well, that doesn't mean you can go around giving death threats to the writer or anyone who did. I can agree with much of what you've said though, Cutie Pox was pretty forgettable, even though I thought the truth plant scene at the end of it was funny.
I'm breaking my usual silence to just say that I'm loving your blog. Not only are you a fantastic author (and I love you stories), but you just write excellent analyses of the series as well. Keep up the good work.
281789
I agree with the above poster. I believe the "Don't like, don't read/watch" rule still applies here, sending death threats are just way too excessive.
If a person really want to comment on the episodes they don't like to the writer, take the episode apart, analyse the crap out of it and tell the writer why it's bad and not send them death threats.
I can relate to your opinions and I am glad you were at least a bit fair in your criticism. I don't treat the show like a work of art, as it is engineered for little girls that don't even know Derpy exists.
Wow, people sent death threats to the writer of the Mare-do-Well episode? That just wrong.
I actually don't know which season I like more. I guess I'll just say I enjoyed them equally.
I liked season two. Season one was better, yes, but two was still good.
Meh, there's a fine line between character flanderisation and character refinement. I think S2 had something of a mixed kettle of both, but more so the latter than the former. Then again, I only first watched S1 in late September (all over the course of three days) and it wasn't until a month or so later that I started to pay much attention to any of the fanon. As such, I had a lot less time to build up preconceptions of who these characters were before S2's take on the matter came into play.
That said, I do think that one character in particular got it bad, but for me it wasn't Pinkie Pie or even Rainbow Dash, rather, instead I felt it was Twilight Sparkle. Not sure if it's just because someone decided S1 Twilight was too close to being a canon Sue, but in S2 every time she got a spot light episode it was only so she could go crazy. First it's late friendship reports, than it's worrying over a future catastrophe that never happens (and would never have been an issue if she hadn't time traveled to stop herself from worrying in the first place), finally it's turning rather superficial evidence into an open accusation of how EVIL her brother's bride to be is (even if she turned out to be correct, she still went about handling the situation in the worst way possible). Over and over again Twilight was repeatedly her own victim and worst enemy. This character trait was already established in S1 episodes like Swarm of the Century and A Bird in the Hoof, but it seemed like S2 all but forgot she could be anything else.
...Though I guess such a complaint must sound pretty silly coming from me (considering my current writing project).
*Stands up and applauds*
I didn't agree with everything on your S1 analysis, but I agree with everything--literally EVERYTHING--in this post, especially the part about Hurricane Fluttershy being the best episode.
One thing that struck me about season 2 was that some of the character development would have made more sense in season 1. Also, as much as I loved Sweet and Elite, I really have to wonder how it was NO ONE recognized Rarity. Ok, Jet Set and Upper Crust maybe, they have their noses stuck so far into the air its a wonder they notice anything, but Fancy Pants? Rarity has had her designs featured by a famous fashion mogul (Hoity Toity), used by a famous pop star (Sapphire Shores), and is a two time national hero, the second time coming with an award ceremony from the gorram princess of Equestria!
By extension, not recognizing RD's name, despite her pulling off a sonic rainboom, winning the best young fliers competition, and the aforementioned national hero bit seems off too. 
I also feel that Read it and Weep wasn't a bad episode itself, but it just kind of piles on the negativity on poor Dashie. Had the other two RD episodes not existed, this wouldn't have been as bad.
283492 That reminds me...
A Canterlot Wedding: Part 1 Let's put some dialogue in at a certain part.
"Look! It's our captain's sister! She's a two-time hero of Equestria! RAISE YOUR WEAPONS!!!"
Pinkie Pie really does become a monster in Season 2
She wasn't so inconsiderate in S1, she wasn't so aloof to the needs of others that she did things to hurt people without realizing it. I suppose it wouldn't be a bad thing to explore that character flaw *some* of the time, but she seems to behave in that way all of the time.
In season 1 she was around to bring levity to a tense situation and encourage a more easygoing outlook on things, but in season 2 her wacky antics often do more harm than good.
It always bothered me that she seemed to rather enjoy some of Discord's chaos, and yes this has been explored thoroughly by many many fan works, but honestly its not too far of a stretch to think that she would team up with Discord in some way.
The end of civilization is *not* a good trade-off for chocolate rain
As for Rarity's behavior in Dragon Quest
There is an explanation to her garish outfit when the rest of them are all wearing camouflage to spot the dragons from a blind.
She's wearing Dazzle Camouflage
Fabulous!
A kind of camouflage used on battleships in WW1 and WW2.
It was made to be confusing to people looking through rangefinders at a great distance, made it hard to properly target the vessel with weapons or figure out what kind of ship it is.
So she *is* wearing camouflage
Not that green and brown disaster, she wouldn't be caught dead in such a vile and ugly getup!
Thanks for keeping an eye on my story
I think you list very good points in the review. The Not so good episodes are all explained pretty reasonably so I got no qualms about that. I agree that I would have liked to see more Main Cast action, but then again, it's extremely difficult to write in six ponies into one 25 minute episode. There's just more character development done when you focus on a section of the cast.
Contrasting to your thought about 'Ponyville Confidential' I thought that episode wasn't so bad. Can you explain why or is it just me (question mark mine is broken)
Frankly I can't say which season I prefer more. Both were quite good. But... the balance of episodes in Season 2 was different... I mean Season 1 was filled with all good episodes some great, but mostly good. Season 2 was filled with half excellent half letdown (Dragon Quest being a major one). So I'd say Season 2 had more episodes I would rewatch, but I would rather watch a season 1 marathon rather than a season 2, get my drift (question mark)
290603
"Ponyville Confidential" draws some seriously mixed feelings from me, mostly on the negative side. The first two-thirds of the episode are really good, but the last act just self-destructs.
The entire reason the episode happens is because the CMC want to earn their marks in Journalism, and become hits with a gossip column. The reason they're such a hit, though, is because the ponies are enjoying watching everpony around them get their dirty little secrets dragged into the limelight. That is, until Gabby Gums starts targeting them as well with a bunch of made-up stories. And then Rarity learns that Sweetie Belle was behind reprinting her diary in the paper. The whole episode wouldn't have happened if the adults in Ponyville weren't obsessed with a stupid gossip column.
The problem is the way they react, and how the episode treats that reaction. While it's understandable for the adults to be angry at what happened, all of the blame is placed on the CMC. Rarity gets a brief Hypocrisy Nod (since her snooping was what caused the Foal Free Press to become a success in the first place), but everypony else is free to treat the CMC like dirt because they decided to target them. It was all in good fun when someone else was being humiliated, but the minute Gabby Gums comes after them, it's a heinous crime? And the episode never addresses this.
The moral of the episode was that spreading gossip and rumors was bad. And yet, the Mane 6 were among the ones spreading the same rumors. They only changed their tune once they realized they were valid targets as well. But they never receive any comeuppance. Nopony ever calls them out on how they're assaulting three fillies for something they were cheering on only days before. It's hypocrisy of the highest order, and I just can't stand it. And to make it worse, it's a M.A. Larson episode. He's one of the best writers on the show, and he didn't notice this?
That, and the voices were just WAY off, especially on the foals. The printer sounds like he smokes three packs a day.
It's not the worst (which is why it's an honorable mention), and I can see why people enjoyed it, but that last act just ruined it for me.
290746 Hmm Agreed for the most part. It WAS kinda weird how they all suddenly turned on CMC and the episode never addressed the ponies own hypocrisy.
Oh and I asked you a question in the form of a comment here (the latest comment)
I'm under the impression that you kind of like Hurricane Fluttershy.
Not that I blame you, it's a season 2 episode where RD isn't an anti-role model.
To be honest, I like season 2 more than season 1.
The animation is better, the voice acting is better, the music is better.
And I think that the best episodes of S2 are better than the best of S1.
Hopefully, Faust fanboys won't flame my ass for saying that.
290746 I personally really liked PC, but I can see those flaws, too. I guess it comes down to how much or how little they bug us; YMMV.
Season-two Pinkie can burn.
She is the bottom of the barrel for me in all of MLP. Not just FIM, either.