Ranking the Guys Night and SugarMac Trilogies (From Worst to Best) · 5:23pm Oct 8th, 2019
People often refer to "Owl's Well That Ends Well", "Dragon Quest", and "Spike At Your Service" as part of an unholy trilogy or trio of episodes. So I think it's nice to look at some trilogies that are actually you know.... good. The Guys Night Trilogy refers to the three episodes centered on Spike, Big Macintosh, and Discord, while the SugarMac Trilogy refers to the three episodes focusing on the SugarMac relationship. Since both trilogies ultimately share two episodes there really is no point in doing a separate list for the both of them. I'll do the Guys Night Trilogy first and then the SugarMac Trilogy. Like always this list is purely the result of my personal opinion so please respect it, and we're looking at how the episodes function overall as part of their respective trilogies not just how well they are individually.
So first is the Guys Night Trilogy, started in Season 6.
3. The Break Up Break Down (Season 8, Episode 10)
Why it's on the bottom: Big Macintosh is really the only guy of focus here, and it's on the predictable "Misunderstanding due to overhearing part of a conversation" trope that has been done to death. Spike and Discord are supposed to have a subplot of Spike trying to get Discord to embrace love on Hearts and Hooves Day, culminating in a bet, but it never gets mentioned again even at the end. It feels like they added it in and then just forgot about it. And Spike and Discord don't really contribute much, heck it's very much Spike's fault that the entire plot unfolds the way it does and his advice is stupid: "If she can't find you she can't break up with you" is not something he should be suggesting at this point in the series. Discord does score a few points at the end when he reveals that he was the one who broke the wheel on Sugar Belle's wagon and allowed Big Mac to catch up, but that's only after he's spent most of the episode being his usual jerkish self.
2. The Big Mac Question (Season 9, Episode 23)
Why it's in the middle: For once, Discord causes a problem not because he's being a jerk or lazy, but because he gets careless with his powers and doesn't think things through. The same holds true for Spike, though his moment of messing up feels kind of stupid (has he forgotten how scrolls and messages arrive through him?). Big Macintosh does get his chance to shine near the end, and I do like the sort of informal rivalry that Spike and Discord have going on about who messes up more. Plus, Spike basically volunteered Discord against his will for the proposal plan. But considering the guys' plot takes up only half of the episode, it ultimately just misses out on the top spot.
1. Dungeons and Discords (Season 6, Episode 18 in production order/17 in airdate)
Why it's on the top: "Brotherhooves Social" paved the way, proving that an episode centered on a male character could actually be enjoyable, investing, and could do so without making jokes at the character's expense. But it was this episode that took the risk of focusing almost entirely on the guys for the whole episode, the girls are only present for the start and end. Even if Discord is being his usual jerkish self here, a part of it is made worse by Spike and Big Macintosh laughing at his expense and sort of ignoring how he doesn't want to play the game. Spike still easily takes command here, he's a great dungeon master and game host, and he doesn't put up with Discord's behavior for a second (he really is great at playing off of reformed antagonists. Sort of disappointed we never got to see him interact with Trixie after her reformation), and we can assume this guys night grew out of his initial one with Big Mac during "The Cutie Map". Sort of a shame they didn't throw in a mention to Shining Armor with Ogres and Oubliettes because I'll bet you anything that it was Shining Armor who taught Spike how to play it. Ultimately, this being the most guys centric episode of the entire show (might have been nice to expand it to include more male characters) is what puts it in the top spot for this trilogy.
Now for the SugarMac Trilogy, started in Season 7. It's probably more of a trilogy since it had one episode each season starting in Season 7, whereas the Guys Night Trilogy took a break in Season 7 and then came back in Season 8.
3. The Break Up Break Down (Season 8, Episode 10)
Why it's on the bottom: Aside from the development of Sugar Belle moving to Ponyville to be Mrs. Cake's baking apprentice, not much happens in this episode. Heck, Sugar Belle does almost nothing here, she's just there to have her heart broken and be misunderstood. There are a few good moments with Big Macintosh, particularly him lamenting ever trying with Sugar Belle, a statement from him that better explains why he became the stotic ("Maybe he used to talk and all it did was get him into trouble!"), and him willing to cherish what moments he had with Sugar Belle when he thinks she's going to break up with him. Alas, the predictability of this episode on top of it wasting a lot of time on a subplot of the CMC trying to find Sweetie Belle's secret admirer (why couldn't they have just throw that into an entire episode?) means that the ship they're trying to focus on gets almost nothing. It's right back where it was at the beginning by episode's end.
2. The Big Mac Question (Season 9, Episode 23)
Why it's in the middle: Even though the focus was more on the proposal than the wedding, it does feel like this episode cut some corners (it seems like that's the case with even the best episodes of Season 9, they feel rushed to meet the deadline) particularly with how abrupt the ending is that makes it feel like we're missing a scene or two. It's nice how they tied it all back to the Apple's parents and their marriage (which was done in secret), and thankfully this episode does manage to do the "Poor communication kills" trope a bit better than most recent episodes. Heck, there's probably a bit of unintentional karmic retribution for Mrs. Cake here in that she has to keep a secret that is taxing to her, sort of like how she made Pinkie Pie keep a similar secret a few seasons back (though not in an overly harsh way, mind you). But Sugar Belle and Big Macintosh largely tack a back seat to their supporters for most of the episode, and they likely could've trimmed a few of those scenes (especially the CMC's subplot) in order to flesh out the stuff towards the end more. Which is why it just misses the top spot for me.
1. Hard to Say Anything (Season 7, Episode 8)
Why it's on the top: I still personally prefer CheeriMac to SugarMac, I do feel like Cheerilee and Big Macintosh had more chemistry together. But SugarMac isn't a bad ship, this episode for me gave me enough to see what both got out of their relationship and how they were drawn to each other. Sugar Belle desired to expand her baking skills now that she was freed from Starlight's control, and Big Macintosh was the only one kind enough to make deliveries to allow her to experiment. It likely started out as just a friendly thing, but as time went by they started looking forward to doing it more often. Sugar Belle isn't just a prize for Big Mac to win over from Feather Bangs, Sugar Belle is treated as her own character who's not going to be wooed over by romantic gestures and fairytale tropes, she's going to be impressed by a pony who respects her as an individual and knows what she wants. And Big Macintosh is forced to overcome his own limitations and come out of his shell in order to truly get Sugar Belle to become his mare friend. So for all those reasons I put this one on the top.
And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll update the rankings for the Valentines Day (Hearts and Hooves Day) episodes.
For me, as far as the Guys Night Trilogy goes, it's:
Big Mac Question (no question)
Dungeons and Discords (great beginning and end, sluggish middle)
Break Up Breakdown (hard to watch in general)
For Sugarmac trilogy:
Big Mac Question
Hard to Say Anything
Break Up Breakdown
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i have to agree; Big Mac Question will be my favorite forever; it's got the right amount/blend of romance, the CMC's, Discord's shenanigans and a lot of mix ups between all of them with the wedding I've wanted for Big Mac and Sugar Belle as the topper.