Review of The Saddle Row Review

This easily ties with No Second Prances as my favorite episode of Season Six. And it fascinates me because even though both of my favorite episodes of this season were both written by Nick Conafalone, they feel like very different episodes, at least, in what their biggest strengths were to me. I loved No Second Prances primarily for the great character development for Trixie, Starlight, and especially Twilight. I loved this episode primarily for the great character-driven comedy. And the way the episode was structured, with Mockumentary-style talking heads, really helped the comedy shine.

In terms of analytical stuff, that's all I have to say. In the words of the Mysterious Mr. Enter, it's easier to explain how a cartoon does something wrong than it is to explain how a cartoon does something right. So here is a list of several of the things I liked about this episode:

-So many good facial expressions here. Season six has really pushed the boundaries of expressive faces, and there are plenty to choose from in this episode: Twilight's look of satisfaction after describing how her organization of Rarity's clothes is among her best work, Rainbow's smug look after confirming that her chair isn't clothing, Pinkie's bashful look as she gives her restaurant check to the reporter, Fluttershy's nervous smile/frown as she begs the reporter not to mention locking up Rarity, Pinkie's excited face as she describes the dance club, Rainbow's faux-panic as she imitated Rarity.

-While we're on this subject, this is the third episode in a row where Rainbow has done an impression of somepony. Granted, this is the tenth episode in production order not the ninth, but still; if Rainbow ever leaves the Wonderbolts, she should become a stand-up comic. I mean, I'd pay to see her do impressions of her friends.

-That reference to Too Many Pinkie Pies was absolutely perfect, as was the cameo of a Pinkie Clone, donned in a purple fedora.

-I know that some people hated Mr. Stripes, and I can understand why, but I loved him. Something about his Russian accent combined with his genuine love for his daughter made him very memorable and oddly endearing, despite his lack of screen time.

-They threw in lots of great small details here. I like how in her interview, we saw Plaid Stripes wearing spoon earrings, even before we, the audience, saw Plaid propose the idea to Applejack. I didn't even notice it until my second viewing.

-I like how this episode makes Rarity disliking modern pop music canon. I feel like it fits well with her character, which is why I had Rarity make a similar comment in chapter two of Moving On.

-With Twilight being so excited to organize Rarity's boutique and her little "Sweep Sweep" remix, this episode reminds me of why I love Twilight's character.

-I kind of wish that The Gift of Maud Pie and this episode were the season six opener. This episode did an amazing job of giving all of the Mane Six the spotlight, and I feel like the season opener should do that. I think The Crystalling is a good episode, but you could cut out all of the Mane Six (except for Twilight) from it, and it would be a stronger episode.

-It's a little weird how casually that reporter calls Rarity's friends "ne'er-do-wells", when one of those "ne'er-do-wells" is the Princess of Friendship! I normally don't jump on the bandwagon of Twilight's should use her position as Princess that often, or that background characters should always treat Twilight differently considering she's royalty, but that's something that stuck out as just a tad odd. It's not that big a deal though, I didn't even notice it until my second watching.

Overall, when I wasn't laughing or chuckling at this episode, I still had a huge goofy smile while watching. This is definitely a highlight of season six, with tons of great comedy, and lots of great little character moments jam-packed into twenty-two minutes of screen-time. I'll give this episode 8.9/10.