Triple Threat

Friendship is Magic first impressions review: Triple Threat (s07e15)
by Obake

(SPOILERS!)

We go from a dumb (yet funny) meta episode, to a Spike-centered sitcom. This is anything but Gauntlet of Fire.

Spike, the official friendship ambassador to Ponyville, has accidentally invited Princess Ember and Thorax to town on the same day. This freaks him out to the point of believing that if they meet, they will hate each other enough to start a war between their tribes. Surely Twilight will point out how ridiculous this is, explain how Ember and Thorax are both adults with commonsense, and that just because they are different, does not mean they cannot get along. Nope. Twilight (alongside Starlight) agree to keep the two apart, having Spike spend limited amounts of time with each just to run off and meet the other. It is a common formula, and while not every story that does it is bad, this one certainly is.

Using a comparison of an season 2 episode, Lesson Zero has Twilight behaving unreasonable, as well. It could have even used better buildup. But Zero also has Twilight's friends grounded in reality, and despite them learning they should have listened to her better, not once do their actions feel out of place. It also helped that Twilight's worries stemmed from her already studious nature, and not out of seemingly nothing. In Triple Threat, Spike's friends go along with his neurotic plans for no reason other than to make the formula work.

The result is not very engaging, and even baffling. During the shenanigans, Spike gets called by the map to solve a friendship problem, obviously the one he's creating. Instead he heads into town to solve problems between random ponies. As is almost always the case with the formula, those who are being kept apart eventually meet, and are angry. But the two patch things out later on, and give advice to one another on how to be better leaders (Thorax not to be so passive, and for Ember being friendlier.) Spike pleads for and receives forgiveness. I would not mind Spike causing his own problems if the episode were actually funny, as humor can save just about any formula. There is just not enough here.

Extra notes:

• Proof of Starlight and Twilight's poor characterization: immediately upon learning of Spike's predicament, Starlight comments "How are you going to entertain them both?" Perhaps let Ember and Thorax meet briefly, explain the situation, and take allotted time to spend with each individually? The story could still culminate in the two getting angry with one another, and Spike causing more believable problems.
• Speaking of neurotic, both Ember and Thorax behave a little crazy. Thorax is understandable, as he is still new to his (admittedly hideous) stag beetle form, while Ember is just...weird. While in the castle dining room, she eats the crystal bowl instead of the food inside. Makes sense, as the show's established dragons eat crystals. But she eventually starts eating the walls, commenting how nice it was for the ponies to decorate the room in her favorite food. You mean like the rest of the castle is decorated, as the entire thing is made of crystal?
• Ember takes a muffin from Derpy and smears it on a wall, asking if it is a pony tradition. I don't get it.
• There is an okay gag with Twilight talking to Thorax about the specific uses of her chairs; one with a hard back to help her concentrate, another to relax in when she reads fiction, etc.
• There is a short running gag of Ember getting into a tiff with Starlight and Twilight because they look similar. It seems to be another reference to a fan complaint, perhaps a holdover from last week.
• The best thing about the episode is Thorax confirming that there are still renegade changelings out there. I also admit it is amusing how passive of a leader Thorax is, but it is not enough to save the episode.